LIE TO ME: THE THIRD AND FINAL SEASON
(not rated)
MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
“Lie to Me” was one of those series that came on strong but sat on the edge of the bubble for two years before finally getting the axe. It was a pretty amazing concept that has quite a bit of basis in fact, and it was acted extremely well and anchored by film star Tim Roth. The series followed Roth as Cal Lightman, a man who used his knowledge of human behavior and microexpressions to tell him when someone was being truthful or not.
There were some elements improved upon in the third season of the show, unfortunately not enough to avoid cancellation. However, with the introduction of characters like a female cop to balance out Mekhai Pfeiffer’s abrasive role, some things had improved. Additionally, the extra characters helped temper the already existing ones. Cal’s proteges became less annoying in this season and took a back seat in the show. As interesting as they were, this was a good thing considering Tim Roth was the reason I liked the series.
Additionally, the overt explanations and obvious not-so-micro microexpressions were toned down enough to be believably subtle. The only real character sticking point was Cal’s daughter in this season, who was too much of a rebel under her dad’s weak thumb to still be likeable. This character could have learned a lot from the daughter in “Castle.”
Still, the series had some neat episodes, ripping the ideas from the headlines, including such topical subjects as children’s beauty pageants, mental illness and Internet millionaires that resemble Mark Zuckerberg but aren’t really Mark Zuckerberg for legal reasons.
There were still some special features to round out this four-disc set, which contains the 13 episodes of the third season. Many episodes feature deleted scenes, and there’s a short “In Character” spotlight on Tim Roth that’s worth checking out.