Lie to Me

Lie to Me (sometimes stylized as Lie to me*) is an American television midseason replacement series that premiered on the FOX television network on January 21, 2009. The main character, Dr. Cal Lightman (portrayed by Tim Roth), aided by his colleague Dr. Gillian Foster (portrayed by Kelli Williams), detects deception by observing body language and microexpressions through the Facial Action Coding System, using this talent to assist various clients (such as law enforcement among others). The show is based on the work of Paul Ekman, a notable psychologist and expert on body language and facial expressions.

Plot[]

Titlecard — Title card. The stylization of the show's name with an asterisk is explained by the disclaimer that appears below the show's title at the beginning of each episode.

Back story[]

Lightman and Foster are partners in a consulting firm. They are hired by clients (including law enforcement, the military, vetting organizations, private security, among others) to detect when, why, and which people are lying in the course of a short-term investigation or project.

Main characters[]

Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, an expert on body language, whose team assists local and federal law organizations in the investigations of crimes. He enjoys spotting the lies of people. As a result, people with whom he has contact get annoyed. Though many people don't trust his science and are apt to quickly prejudge him, he is able to shut them up just as quickly by showing off his skills in a way that embarrasses them. His character is based on Dr. Paul Ekman. (Seasons 1-3)
Kelli Williams as Dr. Gillian Foster, colleague and assistant to Dr. Lightman. She appears to be oblivious to the fact that her husband is cheating on her which for some reason Lightman informs his associates not to tell her. This could be due to the fact that she always tries to look on the positive side of the reactions she reads where Lightman always sees the negative. (Seasons 1-3)
Monica Raymund as Ria Torres, a "natural" at deception detection, and a former TSA agent who now works for The Lightman Group. Though she is a "natural", Loker has pointed out that she lacks the academic knowledge to read certain actions properly and sometimes lets her own emotions cloud her judgement. (Seasons 1-3)
Brendan Hines as Eli Loker, works in The Lightman Group who always tells the truth (stating to have taken a vow to speak 100% of the truth a practice known as radical honesty) and speaks his mind. He is also a hopeless flirt and hits on practically every available woman he sees, although he did tell Dr. Foster that he did not flirt with married women. (Seasons 1-3)
Mekhi Phifer as Agent Ben Reynolds , FBI Agent who, on the most part, resides at Cal Lightman's 'laboratory' to aid in the many criminal cases that Cal and his team handle. (Seasons 1-2)
Hayley McFarland as Emily Lightman, Cal Lightman's teenage daughter. She seems to be put off by the fact that her father can read every lie she says, believing that he doesn't trust her. Promising that he will not 'read her', he still uses his cold reading to screen her boyfriends. (Seasons 1-3)

Recurring characters[]

Jennifer Beals as Zoe Landau, Cal's ex-wife. She's an assistant Attorney General and later owns her own law firm. She moves to Chicago, almost taking Emily with her. (Seasons 1-2)