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The Review Geek
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
We Were Liars Season 1 Review – A faithful adaptation with flaws and all
Season 1 Episode Guide Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 2 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 3 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 4 -| Review Score – 3/5 Episode 5 -| Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 6 -| Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 7 -| Review Score – 2.5/5 Episode 8 -| Review Score – 2.5/5 It doesn't seem like Hollywood's era of reboots, adaptations and remakes is going to be ending anytime soon. Not with that perfect shot-by-shot live adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon. And now, say hello to the TV adaptation of the iconic novel, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. While we were mostly obsessed with dystopian books or John Green romances in the 2010s, E. Lockhart snuck onto us out of nowhere with her jaw-dropping thriller. And while it may have taken a decade to get an adaptation, the wait seems to have been worth it. Adapted by Amazon Prime, this psychological thriller has everything from family drama and betrayals to teen angst and memory loss. We Were Liars Season 1 first dropped in June 2025 and has complex themes of manipulation, privilege, memory loss and burying weaknesses, perfect for those who are fans of thriller dramas. The 8-episode show stars Emily Alyn Lind, Shubham Maheshwari, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada and more. Additionally, it is helmed by CW regulars, Julie Plec and Carina Adly Mackenzie, while Lockhart herself worked closely on it. Season 1 begins in Summer 17 with an amnesiac Cadence Sinclair trying to recall why she washed up on the beach of her summer house on Beechwood Island, injured and naked, a year ago. The Liars, comprising Gat and her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, were her best friends but haven't spoken to her all year. Desperate to figure out what went down and who is responsible, Cadence heads back to Beechwood for answers. Summer 16 is happy, carefree and perfect, that is till Cady starts noticing all that is wrong with her rich and privileged family, the Sinclairs. Her mom and her aunts' sibling rivalry gets worse as they vie for the biggest slice of the inheritance. The racist and classist patriarch, Harris pits his children against each other to prove themselves. Gat seems to have gotten hot but also conscious of the Sinclairs' prejudice. And Johnny is hiding something that is more than just a kiss gone wrong. We Were Liars Season 1 starts off strong with just enough exposition to keep viewers intrigued but not too much to bore them. All of the characters are fleshed out, including the supporting cast, so that there is enough suspense. One never knows if it is a Liar or a Sinclair adult that is responsible for Cady's incident. But it is the main cast that are the heart of the show. Alyn Lind keeps the attention on the mystery as her Cady investigates Summer 16. Maheshwari and McGregor tug at heartstrings with their pitiable Gat and Mirren who only love and want to be loved. Zada steals the attention as the temperamental Johnny that you just can't hate. The show goes all out on the aesthetics to bring to life the extravagant life of the Sinclairs. From themed events where everyone wears yellow, the food is yellow and the flowers are yellow, to illegal ivory elephant busts, Beechwood Island oozes luxury. The two varying colour palettes of the two different summers continue to highlight their status, even though it is supposed to represent Cady's mind. Summer 16 is bright and vibrant which complements the classic Clairmont mansion. Summer 17 is cold, grey and clinical for Cady's emo phase and the new Clairmont's urban complex. The show's budget for the music is wild because if one thing they did right, it was the soundtrack album. It's got a whole lot of Hozier, Khalid, HAIM, Conan Gray and alt-J among others. And we are bringing up the music because one of the highlights, without a doubt, is Johnny dancing to 'Old Time Rock and Roll'. If you weren't pumped for Zada as young Haymitch in the new Hunger Games prequel, you will be now with the range he shows as Johnny. Hozier's 'Eat Your Young' is a nice touch when the kids are taking a stand against the adults. But it is a little disappointing given that this poignant anti-capitalist song is used for an actually shallow and performative storyline. To put it simply, We Were Liars Season 1 is a bit of a mixed bag. Thriller-wise, it is definitely entertaining, keeping us on our toes every step of the way. The moment Cady figures something out, another shocking plot twist arrives and throws our predictions out the window. The final big plot twist is like a punch you see coming but still fail to avoid. But while the mystery and its resolution are all well and good, the show fails thematically. The big plan that leads to the whole mystery is terrible and its execution is equally terrible. In a show about complex and morally grey characters, no one gets the justice or closure they deserve. And you may say that one can't change so quickly and it is not realistic, but this is a fictional show for teenagers with a really warped message. While most 'rich perfect family' stories have the rich but likeable characters still coming out on top, there is usually a lower-class underdog who wins as well as seen in some recent shows like Sirens, The Perfect Couple and The Better Sister. However, We Were Liars ruins its underdogs and also doesn't redeem the snobby, rich, privileged brats that the Sinclairs are. Let's be honest, the racism angle was pretty iffy in the book and is what prevented it from being a terrific story. We had hoped that in the show, the adults' bigotry would head somewhere different from the book. But by being a faithful adaptation, the book's weakness becomes the show's weakness.
The Review Geek
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Review Geek
Has We Were Liars been renewed for Season 2? Here's what we know:
Summary We Were Liars is the latest Amazon Prime Video Original. This psychological thriller has everything from family drama and betrayals to teen angst and memory loss. Amazon Prime Video determines whether to renew a show based on various factors such as completion rate, viewership numbers, production costs, and more. As of now, there's no news regarding the renewal of We Were Liars, but we look at the possibility of a Season 2. We Were Liars is another exciting Amazon Prime Video Original that graced our screens in May 2025. With complex themes of manipulation, privilege, memory loss and burying weaknesses, it's for those who are fans of thriller dramas. The 8-episode show stars Emily Alyn Lind, Shubham Maheshwari, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada and more. Based on the book of the same name by E. Lockhart, it is helmed by CW regulars, Julie Plec and Carina Adly Mackenzie. With bittersweet moments and plot twists, the season finale will have viewers on the edge of their seats. If you've watched the first season and want to know if there will be a second, this article has all the details you're looking for. Here's everything we know: What is We Were Liars Season 1 about? We Were Liars begins in Summer 17 with an amnesiac Cadence Sinclair trying to recall why she washed up on the beach of her summer house on Beechwood Island, injured and naked, a year ago. The Liars, comprising Gat and her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, were her best friends but haven't spoken to her all year. Desperate to figure out what went down and who is responsible, Cady heads back to Beechwood for answers. Summer 16 is happy, carefree and perfect, that is till Cady starts noticing all that is wrong with her rich and privileged family, the Sinclairs. Her mom and her aunts' sibling rivalry gets worse as they vie for the biggest slice of the inheritance. Her grandparents pit their children against each other to prove themselves. Gat seems to have gotten hot but also conscious of the Sinclairs' prejudice. And Johnny is hiding something that is more than just a kiss gone wrong. We have extensive coverage of We Were Liars Season 1 on the site, including recaps for all episodes. You can find those HERE! Has We Were Liars Been Renewed for Season 2? At the time of writing, Amazon Prime Video hasn't renewed We Were Liars for a Season 2. Amazon tends to look at views and the drop-off rates before renewing or cancelling the show, along with the critical success. Some shows are instantly renewed like Reacher or Fallout while others take years such as THEM and Upload. Popular Amazon Prime Originals do get renewals most of the time but only time will tell if We Were Liars will get a Season 2. But with the novel's prequel, 'Family of Liars' being acquired by Amazon as well, it seems like the studio is interested in renewing the show. What do we know about We Were Liars Season 2? Not much is known about We Were Liars Season 2 at the moment, given that it has not been greenlit. There are two ways it can go. If it is a prequel, it will follow 'Family of Liars'. Some of the novel's premise has already been set up in Season 1 with the mention of Rosemary, the dead fourth Sinclair sister, Carrie's addiction and plastic surgery, her friend, Yardley, Bess' apathy at Rosemary's death and Penny's sinister participation in whatever happened when they were 16. If it is a sequel, there is ample scope for that as well as Season 1 ends with Johnny getting stuck on Beechwood. If the show does return, you can expect a season with approximately 8 episodes, each lasting around an hour. Nothing is confirmed yet, but we'll be sure to update this page as soon as any new information comes in. Would you like to see We Were Liars return for a second season? Or do you think the story has run its course? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
We Were Liars EPs Talk Book-to-Show Changes, Including Which Sinclair Family Member Didn't Make the Cut
Summer has officially begun on Prime Video with the premiere of We Were Liars, a series adaptation of E. Lockhart's best-selling tale of romance, revenge and Ralph Lauren. Just like its 2014 source material, We Were Liars tells the story of Cadence Sinclair (played by Gossip Girl's Emily Alyn Lind), a 17-year-old trust fund princess haunted by the fractured memories of a tragedy no one in her uber-wealthy family wants to discuss. Over the course of one fateful summer on Beechwood, the Sinclairs' private island just off of Martha's Vineyard, the horrifying truth about what happened to Cadence — along with a slew of other family secrets — is finally brought to light. More from TVLine Eric Dane: My Countdown Task Force Leader Is 'Unapologetic, Determined' - and Wears the Hell Out of a Suit Does Jensen Ackles' Countdown Hero Have BDE - Big Dean (Winchester) Energy? 'There Are Familiar Aspects,' Says Supernatural Vet For First Time, Streaming Viewing Topped Broadcast and Cable Combined in May But while the basic premise remains fully intact, 'there were a lot of difficult changes made' in bringing the book to life, showrunner Carina Adly Mackenzie tells TVLine. 'Every time we made a change, I was clinging to the original kicking and screaming, sometimes to my own detriment, because I really didn't want to f–k this up.' Fellow showrunner Julie Plec considers the eight-episode finished product to be a 'very faithful adaptation' of the 2014 novel, except for one key distinction: 'It also involves a lot of elements that we borrowed from the prequel, Family of Liars, that we now get to take into future seasons because we've done all the foundational work with the adult characters.' Released in 2022, Family of Liars turns back the clock even further via flashbacks to Beechwood in the late 1980s, as the Sinclair sisters — Carrie, Penny and Bess, played on screen by Mamie Gummer, Caitlin Fitzgerald and Candice King — rattle yet another skeleton in their family's walk-in closet of tragedies. A third installment in the book series, We Fell Apart, is due out in November. Having already adapted several books for TV, most famously The Vampire Diaries, Plec isn't too concerned about fans getting upset about major changes. 'The things that are gone are very much up for debate, and I think the audience will have a good time debating why they're not there,' she says. 'And then there are things in the show that are not in the book, and I think the readers will have a good time debating why they're there too.' One relatively significant change readers will probably notice is the absence of Mirren's youngest sibling Taft, who was dropped in an effort to service the central characters; on the show, Bess' brood consists solely of Mirren and the twins. 'We would like to apologize to Taft Sinclair Sheffield,' Mackenzie tells TVLine, while Plec isn't quite as remorseful, explaining that 'Taft hit the cutting room floor before there was any footage to cut.' How much of We Were Liars have you already binged? Have you noticed any significant book-to-screen changes yet? If so, did they bother you? Grade the Prime Video adaptation in our poll below, then drop a comment with more of your thoughts. Best of TVLine Yellowjackets' Tawny Cypress Talks Episode 4's Tai/Van Reunion: 'We're All Worried About Taissa' Vampire Diaries Turns 10: How Real-Life Plot Twists Shaped Everything From the Love Triangle to the Final Death Vampire Diaries' Biggest Twists Revisited (and Explained)
