Amazon Prime Summary:
One year after a mysterious accident left her with amnesia, 17-year-old Cadence returns to Beechwood, an island off Martha’s Vineyard, seeking answers. As three generations of the distinguished Sinclair family gather at their private summer utopia, no one will talk about the accident – neither her childhood friends “The Liars” nor her first love Gat, forcing her to uncover the truth herself.
FYA Summary:
I suppose we should start with the fact that I loved We Were Liars when it was published in 2014; you can tell by my glowing review (and the fact that we made it a book club pick). I haven’t re-read the book since then but I definitely remember the bare bones of the story and E. Lockhart’s gorgeous writing that made me feel the ocean breeze in my hair and the golden sheen of life on Beachwood Island. Given all of that, I was super excited about this adaptation, especially with Lockhart’s direct involvement and Julie Plec’s role as a co-creator.
And then I watched it. Oh boy, y’all. Ooooh boy. I was… not a fan. So apologies in advance if you really enjoyed it (and honestly, good for you! Anything helps in these current times), and if you haven’t watched it yet (or read the book), please note that I will be spoiling the twist.
So let’s get into it below!
Familiar Faces:
L-R: Emily Alyn Lind as Cadence; Esther McGregor as Mirren; Joseph Zada as Johnny; Shubham Maheshwari as Gat
Okay, I will say, the casting for this is SPOT. ON. Like, A+ and all the gold stars to the casting directors. These actors looked exactly as I imagined the Sinclairs (and Gat). Unfortunately, some of them were better at embodying the characters than others.
Emily Ayln Lind (she was in the Gossip Girl reboot) had the difficult task of portraying Cady, who—as the show alternates between the summer when she’s sixteen and the summer after the “accident”—is privileged and selfish and then (with her hair dyed black to distinguish the next year) is broken and anguished and generally unwell. I will say, it was easier to empathize with Cady as a reader, because you’re truly in her head, but on this show, she just comes across as an entitled brat. Which is a major problem since the show kinda, like, hinges on her?
Then there’s Gat, played by Shubham Maheshwari, who is a relative unknown. He’s definitely handsome, but I didn’t feel the chemistry between him and Cady, which is another problem. Then again, in my review of the book, I only gave them a Swoonworthy Score of 5 and wrote, “While I felt the tug of Gat’s charisma, I also recognized his headstrong idealism*, unchecked by age, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a time or two at some of his more youthful moments. Together, he and Cady make quite the pair of star-crossed lovers, and their story is both exhilarating and exhausting.” Let’s just say that this adaptation only increased the eyerolls and the exhaustion while damn near eliminating any of the exhilaration. Basically, their relationship is an utter DRAG, with them constantly fighting then making up then fighting and not even having the frisson to justify it! Ugh.
Fortunately, we have Johnny and Mirren to keep this boat afloat. Joseph Zada (soon to be Haymitch in Sunrise on the Reaping!!!) is a pitch perfect Johnny—an asshole whom you still want to party with, and a jester who can be surprisingly genuine. And then there’s Esther McGregor (you may have seen her in Babygirl) as Mirren, my absolute FAVORITE. Esther is rocking some serious Young Princess Di vibes, especially when her hair is short, and her character is weird and funny and sweet. I honestly can’t think of a single moment in this series when Mirren did something I didn’t like, and that’s saying a LOT given the number of transgressions committed by everyone else.
L-R: Candice King as Bess; David Morse as Harris; Wendy Crewson as Tipper; Mamie Gummer as Carrie; Caitlin FitzGerald as Penny
Maybe it’s because I’m middle-aged, but I found myself more invested in the adults on the show—at least, for the first few episodes before they all became bickering bitches. I do want to give kudos to Caitlin FitzGerald (who was Tabitha on Succession and Serena on UnReal and whom I always confuse with Elizabeth Debicki, compliment!) as Penny, Cady’s mom; she was sublime in her Sinclair perfection and stiff upper lip, and she even managed to make me feel bad for her? A little? Maybe? Also gotta shout out Candice King, a.k.a. Caroline on Vampire Diaries!
My favorite adult character is the obvious one, Ed Patil, who is played by Rahul Kohli (Ravi on iZombie!). Rahul infuses him with such warmth and charm, which is a welcome contrast to the icy Sinclair family.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Cuddledown
I think my experience with this series would’ve been better with company; I needed someone to react with me during each episode as well as debrief after. For example, why are the parts of the show that we’re supposed to despise, a.k.a. the wealth porn, the funnest moments while Gat preaching about racism and Cady deciding to read Caste the most eye-rolly parts?!! (Or am I just a bad person, and if so, a friend would have told me that?!) And perhaps it was easy to see, having read the book, but wasn’t the twist obvious from, like, the third episode? I would have loved to watch this with someone who hadn’t read the book to see their reaction.
Also, can someone tell me how Johnny’s phone still had power after a year of being in his desk?! I’m sorry, I know that’s nitpicky. BUT if I’m gonna be petty, I might as well mention the “fun montage” of them… cleaning up the dinner table and kitchen? Because they’ve (minus Gat) never done it before? And we’re supposed to think that’s cute? Damn this show has some mixed messages about privilege!
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Don’t Burn the House Down
Okay so yeah, there’s a lot of drinking in this show, and I wasn’t mad about it until it made four teens with zero arson experience dumb enough to molotov cocktail a mansion. HOWEVER! It’s perfectly appropriate to sip on some Chablis or a glass of nice whiskey while you ooh and ahh over the dinner parties and beach picnics and easy boat access and overall fabulous Sinclair lifestyle. (Alcohol also helps you get through the endless fighting and ridiculous melodrama.) Just… don’t get stupid.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: Unmemorable
Unlike the novel, which legit punched me in the gut, the We Were Liars series failed to leave the slightest mark on me. The only thing that actually gave me pain was the soundtrack, which featured about 20 songs per episode, each playing for 5 seconds at the most. It was jarring, y’all. While the casting was on point, and the set design was gooooorgeous, the core of the show felt empty and soulless, and I’d be lying if I said this adaptation did the book justice.
– I felt like knowing the twist actually made the show more enjoyable to watch, since I was basically playing detective at all the moments that were supposed to be tricksy.
– The attempted misdirection/obfuscation scenes were rough. I can’t remember how the book handled it, but I assume not that ham-fisted??? (I did think it was better at the Sixth Sense fake interaction scenes with other people, aside from the miracle phone that doesn’t need to be charged.)
– Agreed on the adults being more compelling until they started to bicker over heirlooms, and the racism/privilege aspects were SO CLUNKY.
I haven’t watched (yet? It doesn’t sound like it’s worth it, but I am now super curious to see how bad it is, especially because Mandy W was live-messaging me her thoughts when she binged it so there’s moments I feel like I need to see!). It’s a bummer it wasn’t better, especially as I saw E. Lockhart helped with the scripts?? Girl, what happened??
I didn’t know Rahul was in this! I love him; he is such a great presence on screen and totally steals the show in everything he’s in.