Lie To Me

Tim Roth, most well-known in the United States from the movie "Pulp Fiction," is the star of the Fox series, "Lie to Me." Roth plays Dr. Cal Lightman, the head of The Lightman Group. The Lightman Group is a firm that uses applied psychology, a facial mapping software called the "Facial Action Coding System," the study of micro-expressions and body language to determine whether someone is telling the truth or not.

Dr. Lightman is an expert in interpreting the signs of dishonesty while being a pretty good liar himself. Lightman's got a teenage daughter, Emily, that lives with him part-time at the beginning of the series and full-time with him at the end when his ex-wife moves to another city. His partner at The Lightman Group is Dr. Gillian Foster. There's a great deal of chemistry between Dr. Foster and Dr. Lightman throughout the three seasons.

While it is never fully realized, Lightman shares that he loves Dr. Foster to Emily at the very end of the series. The main premise of the show is that Dr. Lightman, with his team at The Lightman Group, works with various law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, vets political figures and potential spouses, and it is also intimated that he worked with British Intelligence at points in the past.

Dr. Lightman often uses unorthodox methods to throw accomplished liars off their games to get a micro-expression and body language that will allow him to make an accurate read. His interest in the field is somewhat of an obsession. His mother committed suicide when he was younger and the fact that no one saw it coming left him with a desire to try to determine when the signs were given. He is seen intently studying old film footage of his mother at various points in the series.

"Lie to Me" first appeared in January of 2009 as an off-season show for Fox. The first season had 13 episodes, the second had 22 and the third had only 13. The series finale left a number of open ends, but it was wrapped up as well as could be, given the short notice cancellation. The series went from drawing over 12 million viewers during the first episode to less than half that by the airing of the first episode of season three in October 2010.

The network seemed to be in a hurry to air the completed episodes. The second season ended September 13, 2010 and the third season premiere was moved hastily to October 4, 2010. While "Lie to Me" was very well written, the low ratings after the first season can easily be explained by the repetitive cases The Lightman Group took on.

It seemed, at first, that there would be more character development, but it fell to the wayside as the episodes became more and more formulaic and Tim Roth's quirky portrayal of Dr. Cal Lightman could no longer totally carry the show. However, it is still an entertaining watch, even if a person only takes in the first season.