Lie to Me‘s season finale “Black & White” aired September 13, 2010 on FOX.
While the episode was decent, it wasn’t great. The plot line involving the death of Cal Lightman’s reporter friend, millionaire Gordon Cook and Councilman Dale Anslinger was all a bit confusing and dry.
Perhaps the most powerful moment of the show was when FBI Agent Ben Reynolds (Mekhi Phifer) gets shot and viewers are left to wonder if Reynolds lived or survived. Unfortunately, the rest of the episode doesn’t focus on Reynolds at all. We only come to find out through brief dialog that he survived the shooting.
Worked in to the whole season finale was Lightman’s relationship with his daughter Emily. While this seemed to provide a lighthearted break from the heavy atmosphere of the show, the writers decided to end the episode with Lightman having a conversation with Emily in their home.
This really didn’t seem like a season finale at all, but rather another episode in the middle of the season. There was no feeling of climax at the end of the show, no cliffhanger and no insight into what the following season will bring.
We have done some research, however, that sheds some light onto what Season 3 of Lie to Me could bring to viewers.
Here is an excerpt from a write up from FOX News:
“Season 3 will shift Lightman & Co. into more of a private-eye role, (Executive Producer) Cary says. “They’re sort of thorns in the side to regular law enforcement,” he says. “We are leaning into his general conflict with power and authority. We make it clear in the very first episode that he has severed his ties with the FBI because he’s nobody’s lap dog.”
“But he still needs a badge sometimes,” Graziano adds, noting that the finale also introduces a new character, Detective Wallowski (Monique Curnen) who “shares the same disdain that Lightman has for authority.”
Cary also hints that Wallowski could be a possible love interest for Lightman. “She crosses into the gray areas now and again, and that suits Lightman,” he says. “So, it gives him somebody who has a badge, and somebody with whom he can operate on the street, but she also appeals to Lightman.”
And what does that mean for Lightman and Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams)? “He enjoys pulling her pigtails and aggravating her, but it’s all born out of his deep love for her and a professional respect,” Graziano says. “He needs a certain amount of handling, and she enjoys doing that, but sometimes it causes friction between them. But the core relationship is one of respect and love.”
Did you watch the season finale of Lie to Me? How did you like it?
Season 3 of Lie to Me begins Wednesday November 10, 2010 at 8/7 Central on FOX.
I watched it and enjoyed it pretty well. The only real “cliffhanger” is whether Reynolds will be back next season as we’re left with the news that he survived, but the news is still fairly ambiguous.
I think the plot could’ve explored more of Lightman’s background or his FBI history. For a season finale, it left a lot of good potential avenues unexplored.
But I still enjoyed it because I like the show, the characters and the chemistry of the actors. I’m looking forward to season 3.
I stopped watching Lie to Me some time ago, as it was no longer about deception detection, but just one more TV drama. However, I am very saddened to read that next season will show the characters as “sort of thorns in the side to regular law enforcement”. That’s a horrendously bad direction for the show to go, especially a show that some people take seriously. They have definitely lost me as a viewer because of that decision, and I will not be recommending the show to anyone. In real life, I believe that regular law enforcement is to be treated with respect, they put their lives on the line so I can enjoy my freedoms. I have no problem holding law enforcement accountable if they cross the line, but I will not support this kind of a representation of how anyone (including a private investigation agency on a fictions TV show) is portrayed as a thorn in the side to those in law enforcement who are on our side.
Russ, completely agree with you. Our job as researchers and scientists in this field is to aid law enforcement, not be a “thorn in their side”. The fact that the show is going down this road is completely ridiculous and insulting to both law enforcement and individuals in this field.
Thanks for the kind words. I would like to suggest that Lie to Me take a different direction, and one I expect would blend the science and attitude they want – have Lightman (and the team) be a thorn in the side of the bad guys. Have an attitude something like “we can take them down, and we don’t need a gun, a knife, or a fist. We have the truth, which is much more powerful than all of that combined.” They could make it very “street”, very gritty, and still retain the attitude they want to show. If Lightman has a disdain for authority, make it the law of the street that he opposes and stands up to…the tough guys, thugs, drug dealers, car jackers, pimps, and so forth. Be a thorn in their side, expose them for who they really are using the real science that we know, and I fully expect the ratings would go through the roof. I think their three year decline in ratings would actually reverse if they did this. The added benefit is that it would show cooperation with law enforcement, instead of opposition.
Can someone pass that suggestion on to Fox, or Dr. Ekman to pass on to them, if you think it’s good? Thanks,
Russ Conte
I think maybe the part where you said “Fox” is the problem. It seems to me that the network’s programming in general doesn’t know the meaning of the word respect. But I get what you’re saying, something a little more like the episode where Lightman and Foster were about to pull into a parking space and that guy in the Mercedes slips in and steals the spot from them and Cal boxes him in, only directed towards the criminal element.
I suspect the way they’ll play the “thorn in the side of law enforcement” card is sort of like they’ve been doing it all along, where they’re a thorn in the side of inept, lazy, apathetic or corrupt law enforcement and politics. Not quite what we’re looking for but still managing not to hold all of law enforcement in disdain.
But perhaps you’re onto something with your idea Russ. Now it’s a question of whether Fox executives could stomach portraying the good guys in that light and whether the writers would know how to write well from that side of the coin. I’m just afraid that the bulk of Fox’s viewership tends a little towards the “I hate cops they’re all crooks, down with ‘The Man'” mentality. There seems to be an over-abundance of that these days, and they have to be watching something, and it surely isn’t Amazing Race, Biggest Loser or Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.