One of Us is Lying - Pilot Review

"One of Us Is Lying" is based on Karen M. McManus' New York Times best-selling novel of the same name. The teen mystery series surrounds Bayview High when five students walk into detention and only four walk out alive, leaving one dead just as he was about to reveal life-changing secrets about the others in a gossip app.

Each of the students, Bronwyn, Addy, Nate and Cooper, had the opportunity and individual motives to murder their classmate, but all claim to be innocent as the case revolves around which one of them is lying. From the first scene, this pilot gave the vibes of a 2011 drama that had been shelved for the best part of a decade and updated ever so slightly for a modern audience.

Don’t get me wrong; I read the book when I heard the rights had been bought to adapt it into a TV series years ago. Karen M. McManus' writing was fine and a tiny bit predictable, I quickly guessed correctly who the killer was. So already, I was going into this episode with a vague idea of who everyone was and remember who the villain was.

Having said that, this show leaned very hard on creative choices that were very familiar from previous YA adaptations. The essence of this pilot reminded me very much of the likes of Gossip Girl, Thirteen Reasons Why or Pretty Little Liars. There was no individuality or uniqueness in this show. It gave strong 2000s CW tones.

This carried over into the introduction and overall writing of our main characters, many of whom were very one-dimensional. Mark McKenna plays Simon, the deceased student who lacks the acting range of Kristen Bell to make him an intriguing gossip columnist or sinister narrator.

Annalisa Cochrane, Chibuikem Uche, Marianly Tejada, and Cooper van Grootel as the main suspects, with Barrett Carnahan, Jessica McLeod, and Melissa Collazo in supporting roles. Honestly, none of them had strong material to work with in this episode, to begin with, but the leads in particular lacked the spark or charm to make them empathetic or compelling protagonists. Their performances ranged from safe to stale, and the characters were written more like stereotypes of their roles rather than complex individuals.

The pitch of this series was Gossip Girl meets How to Get Away with Murder meets the Breakfast Club. Sometimes this concept was handed a bit too heavily, especially when you compare the detention scenes from both the Breakfast Club and One of Us is Lying - some of which are almost shot for shot, despite being two different genres and mediums.

Strangely, there were some unusual pop culture references. Songs featured in this episode included an unsubtle rendition of Lilly Allen's "Fuck You" and a cringe-worthy motorbike montage underscored with Florence + the Machine. That, among other things, made me think this series should have been set in 2011 or 2012. This would technically make this a period piece but could have made the writing and characterisation more believable in a less social-media-heavy era. With the many platforms and ways to connect nowadays, I highly doubt Simon's blog would be as popular as it is portrayed in this show.

Truthfully, the pacing of this episode was too slow, and with two characters' secrets being revealed in any underwhelming way, I didn't find the opening episode engaging or intriguing. The screenwriters refused to delve into anything dark or bold - which is saying something when four of your main characters share a collective trauma, and it's written and played at a surface level; it barely adds tension.

I actually had no intention of watching the remainder of the series, especially as I found the style too safe and bland when the concept alone should be the exact opposite. That still has not changed, even with the second season confirmed - maybe the show gets better, but I found the introduction to this series a difficult and unmotivating watch. Therefore, I am more than happy to have an undetermined hiatus from watching the rest of the show.

My rating of the pilot episode of One of Us is Lying is ★★. UK viewers can watch this show on Netflix, whereas US viewers will be able to stream the series so far on Peacock.