History Main / LietoMe

* BetterThanItSounds: A LivingLieDetector takes more than thirty seconds to tell if someone committed a crime or not.

* CompleteMonster: Martin Walker, who [[spoiler: waterboarded a girl multiple times, brought her back via CPR, and almost succeeded in burying her alive out in the woods. Not to mention giving the same treatment to Cal, who is ''former British intelligence''.]].
** You find out at the end of the show [[spoiler: that he succeeded with five girls before her.]]
*** Nah, that had been heavily implied throughout the episode. What's ''really'' revealed at the end is [[spoiler:when he was a kid, he watched his older sister drown in the pool in their backyard, and he didn't try to save her because he "wanted her bike."]]
** Andrew Jenkins is one of these as well - a serial rapist who blinded his victims with acid, so they couldn't identify them and (at least, it's implied) because that way, his face would be burned into their memories forever.
** Of course, when Cal shuts these two down, it really is [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOA]] for him.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: See Twerp Sweating below.
** Every scene with Cal on the witness stand being cross-examined by his ex-wife.
** In "React to Contact", Cal and Emily exit an office where the client of the week's son Jake is playing. Cal does a quick introduction as they walk, while Jake immediately starts chatting up Emily. Cal verbally chases her down the hall, and once she's gone, stares at Jake for a long moment (apparently he [[LoveAtFirstSight read something]] he didn't like). [[ToyShip He's like]] [[ToyShip ''nine'']]. But then, [[FetishFuel Emily with her school uniform]]...can't blame the kid.
** Emily studying for and taking her driver's test in "Delinquent", mainly for Cal screwing with her by screaming "PUPPY!" (causing her to crash into a fire hydrant) and their banter at the end.
** Reynolds and Lightman betting on what the photographer would say when they found the gay porn they knew he was into:
-->'''Cal''': 'It's for research' I win, 'it's not mine', he wins. Thanks, mate.
** Cal talking to the shrink at the mental institution, pretending he's delusional and hears voices . . . and oh yes, Reynolds is trying to make him kill people. First, we think it's just Cal fucking with authority figures, then we realize he's ''trying to get himself committed''.
*** CrossesTheLineTwice when Cal gets the info he needs, tries and fails to convince the shrink he's not mentally-ill, walks out of the ward . . . and is immediately picked up by two orderlies and carried back in.
---->'''Cal''': Worth a try.
** YMMV, depending on how dark your humor is, but "YOU OWE ME TWO-HUNDRED BUCKS YOU BASTARD" also can be counted as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
** Drunk!Gillian and Torres in "The Canary's Song", especially Gillian's "up yours!" toast to Cal.

* DudeNotFunny: Cal snarking around in the crazy house and mentioning he has "an intimate connection" to suicide, especially when you remember "Depraved Heart", what happened to his mother, and the fact that 30 years later, he still blames himself for it.

* FetishFuel: TimRoth. Someone on the writing team so far seems to really have a thing about this short guy with a tall attitude cringing away from big guys threatening him and/or beating him to a pulp.
** The PapaWolf tendencies and [[RefugeInAudacity outrageous behavior]] just add to it.
** Emily, with her schoolgirl outfits and general jailbait-ness, is rapidly approaching this.
** In "Delinquent", Lightman forces a drunken Torres [[WetSariScene into a shower, still wearing her clothes]].
** Cal and Gillian undercover at a porn company, discussing filming themselves, threesomes, schoolgirl fantasies, and Gillian wanting to be tied up.
** The writers' love affair with fetishizing TimRoth is reaching new heights in season three. We've got Cal handcuffed in a dive bar by two ex-prisoners, and threatened with a screwdriver and a gun; hitting on a jailbait sadist to get her to confess to lying about being molested; firing guns and letting himself be sucker-punched by a gang member.
** "The Core of It", when Cal tries to talk to a woman's [[spoiler: alternate personality]]. He goes from apologetic and businesslike to "take off your clothes, you filthy whore", grabbing her face and choking her. Needless to say, the [[spoiler: protective personality]] comes out and fucks him up a bit.

* GrowingTheBeard: YourMileageMayVary of course, but most critics seem to agree that the storytelling got much more dynamic with the inclusion of [[TheShield Shawn]] [[TheUnit Ryan]] as co-Executive Producer in the second season.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Obviously, TimRoth. Watching ''ReservoirDogs'' or ''RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'' on the same day as watching an episode of ''LieToMe'' can be kind of uncanny.
** Gillian is [[ThePractice Lindsay Dole]].
** [[{{The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} Andy Goode]] is still alive and calling himself Eli Loker.
*** Or maybe [[TheMiddleman Tyler Ford]] has gone on a deep-cover mission for Fatboy Inc.
** Cal sometimes compares the facial expressions of suspects or other people to the expression of celebrities, like George W. Bush, Simon Cowell, and BarackObama.
** In "Moral Waiver", a rape suspect is Adam from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' (or Sark from ''{{Alias}}'', if you prefer).
** Daniel Sunjata of ''RescueMe'' fame appears in the penultimate episode of season one as the [[EvilCounterpart nemesis of Cal]].
*** And [[{{Carnivale}} Sofie]] / [[Series/{{Heroes}} Audrey Hanson]] was his first victim.
** There's three actors who are Jossverse villains in the 8th episode of season 1. Spotted were Knox, Rance Burgess and Jubal Early.
*** [[{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}} Spike]] appeared in the second season and seems to have joined [[{{Angel}} Wolfram and Hart]] and started working as a prosecutor. That is [[spoiler: until he died. Again.]]
** [[TrueBlood Rene]], the psychotic, fangbanger-hatin' serial killer makes an appearance in "The Core of It" as [[{{Traffic}} Caroline Wakefield's]] brother.
** Cal's ex-wife once got [[{{Flashdance}} soaking wet in a nightclub]].
*** For others she's recognizable as [[{{The L Word}} Bette]].
** It appears [[VeronicaMars Logan Echolls]] has stepped up from "obligatory psychotic jackass" to "serial killer".
** [[{{Dollhouse}} Victor]] and his wife [[{{Supernatural}} Jo Harvelle]]/[[VeronicaMars Meg Manning]] needed Lightman's help with Victor's PTSD in "React to Contact".
** [[HighSchoolMusical Mrs. Evans]] / [[TrueBlood Nan Flanagan]] as the head of a juvie facility [[spoiler: and blackmailing ringleader of a robbery crew]] in "Delinquent".
** "Pied Piper" features half the cast of TheShield.
** Gillian dated [[TheUnit Mack Gerhardt]].
** [[MadMen Jimmy Barrett]] has moved from bad comedy to adult entertainment.
** [[{{Oz}} Tobias Beecher]] is Steven Cook in "Black and White".
** [[{{TheGuild}} Cyd/Codex]] / [[DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Penny]] is now a primary school teacher by "Tractor Man".
** [[CriminalMinds Jordan Todd]] tried to pick up Cal in a bar in "Honey".
** [[BattlestarGalactica Number Six]] is an art thief who gets up-close-and-personal with Cal in "Double Blind".
*** And [[BurnNotice Nate Westen]] is a {{mook}} who gets shot in the same episode.
** [[{{Smallville}} Martha Kent]] has early-onset Alzheimer's in "Veronica", and [[{{Supernatural}} Bobby Singer]] is her brother-in-law.
** [[{{RaisingHope}} Burt]] is a man trying to clear his name of the murder of his wife in one episode.
** [[TheWestWing Admiral Fitzwallace]] is the dying father of a murder victim in "Smoked", although he might be better known for playing James Evans on ''Good Times''.
* HoYay: Cal and Jeffrey, his buddy from Oxford in one episode.
** And Cal comes onto the character played by David Anders, but that's just to get a rise out of him (it doesn't really work).
** Let's face it, Cal/every male character. His complete lack of respect for personal space just amps it up.

* NightmareFuel: The Pied Piper's singsong renditions of "Jack and Jill" and "Ring Around the Rosey" and his "I'm gonna get you" phone call to his victims.
** His "do you know where your daughter is?" to Cal ups it into HighOctaneNightmareFuel.

* WallBanger: Wait, so Cal, Reynolds, and about ''fifteen'' armed FBI agents go looking for the Pied Piper's hideout. Cal finds a huge crate that shouldn't be there, asks one of the agents to hold his flashlight, and breaks into it. He finds the victim in there, still alive, but somehow, ALL FIFTEEN AGENTS have vanished, leaving Cal to be attacked by the Piper.
** "The Canary's Song". There's been a horrific mining accident that caused the deaths of six men and a loss of life, it most likely had to do with the oxygen fans, and the mining company is just going to turn off the fans altogether on Cal's XanatosRoulette orders?! Never mind the fact that it works - because [[ShowyInvincibleHero Cal's always right]] - they just decide to ignore the high possibility of dangerous gas and/or a second explosion?

* NotThatKindOfDoctor: Gillian in "Exposed".

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Gotta give props to the eldest boy in a cultist family. in the second episode of season 2: when it came to escaping his abusive father/cult leader, his mother hesitates to take the chance. He didn't. She follows.
** Cal slugging a dirty cop who [[BerserkButton threatened]] [[PapaWolf Emily]].
** Two episodes of Cal vs The Serial Killer, ''Blinded'' and ''Beat the Devil''. [[spoiler:Just when it looks like Cal has been outsmarted or outlied, he pulls out something of a stinger.]]
*** In ''Beat the Devil'' [[spoiler:he predicts the killer will go after him instead of the bait, setting himself up with a GPS tracker, knowing he will waterboarded, killed and revived multiple times before having to dig his own grave in the woods.]]
*** In ''Blinded'' [[spoiler:all the mistakes and slips Lightman appears to have made were really just a gambit to get the killer off-guard, to an extent that even Foster, Torres and Loker are fooled.]]
** In ''Darkness and Light'' [[spoiler: the HIV positive girl's father walks up to the man who infected his daughter, looking like he's about to punch the infector. The father grimaces and says, "I've always been proud of the fact that I've never resorted to violence. I'll forget your face, but you won't ever forget mine you piece of trash."]]
** Loker ''finally'' growing a set in "The Canary's Song". Cal is surrounded by angry miners in a bar, some with weapons, when from out of nowhere Loker grabs a baseball bat and swings for the fences, breaking a bunch of beer bottles. Cal's reaction? "He's with me!"
*** Gillian getting rid of the FBI and keeping Cal out of jail in the same episode, especially when she wants a "thank you" (and gets it) from Cal.

Lightman is joined by a team of [[OddlySmallOrganization three other analysts]]. Dr. Gillian Foster is Lightman's close friend and the other senior staff member. She usually heads up another investigation while Lightman is busy on a separate case. Ria Torres is a "natural" deception-detector. Lightman found her as a security agent at the airport. Rounding out the band is Eli Loker, a flirt committed to 100% honesty.

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Any time Cal and Emily are in a scene together, it's either [[CrowningMomentOfFunny CMOF]] or this.
** The scene in "Pied Piper" when Emily finds pictures of Zoe pregnant just before she married Cal, and believes she was "a mistake". Cal reassures her that [[BrutalHonesty yes, he was drunk and no, he did not marry Zoe just because he got her pregnant]], but that he would, if given the chance, absolutely do it all over again.

** [[VeronicaMars Weevil]] has turned the PCH-ers into the 96-ers and switched coasts.

** Second season, "Truth or Concequences", Cal tries to get a alternate identity from a woman by grabbing her face and calling her a 'filthy whore' and various other insults (the alternate is a prostitute) and choking her. Needless to say, the alter comes out and fucks him up a bit.

* ThePaolo: Cal seems to have a thing for hot blondes with whom he's in over his head. First Poppy, the Vegas card shark (or, as Gillian calls her, "roulette"); then Clara, the former gold-digging businesswoman who, as of "Teacher and Pupils" [[spoiler: loans the Lightman Group around seven figures worth of money, making her the lead investor and Cal's new boss]]. She lasts until "Bullet Bump", [[spoiler: when we find out that Clara helped a politician's wife cover up a murder]].

** YMMV depending on how dark your humor is "YOU OWE ME TWO-HUNDRED BUCKS YOU BASTARD" also can be counted as a CrowningMomentOfAwesome

** What happened to the girl with [[spoiler: split-mentality disorder]]? After all she's gone through, including some not-too-gentle treatment from Cal, you'd think they'd at least dedicate a scene to showing her as she recovers or something...

* CrazyPrepared: Cal has a safe containing at least three pistols, one shotgun and several cases of ammunition in his office.

->'''Reynolds''': Damn, Lightman. You're not messing around, huh?

** A prosecuting attorney in one season two episode is either [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer Spike]] or [[{{Torchwood}} John Hart]].

** And [[TrueBlood Rene]], the psychotic, fangbanger-hatin' serial killer makes an appearance in Season 2 Episode 1.

** [[{{The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} Andy Goode]] is still alive and calling himself Eli Loker.
*** Or maybe [[TheMiddleman Tyler Ford]] has gone on a deep-cover mission for Fatboy Inc.
** [[{{Dollhouse}} Victor]] and his wife [[{{Supernatural}} Jo Harvelle]]/[[VeronicaMars Meg Manning]] need Lightman's help with Victor's PTSD.

** Gillian has dated [[TheUnit Mack Gerhardt]]. Gillian herself is [[ThePractice Lindsay Dole]].

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: What happened to those two schoolgirls [[spoiler: who bullied another younger girl into taping losing her virginity with a college boy? Seriously, were they really just going to get off like that?]]

* SpecialEffectFailure: in the third episode of the first season, Cal demonstrates the shocking effects of gunfire by firing a semiauto handgun in the air. It's obviously a fake: the slide doesn't move, and no bullet casings come out.

** THe show generally doesn't use this - we don't see pixellated pictures get all cleared up... because they're ''already'' all cleared up. It seems all cameras in the show's universe have ludicrously high resolution that lets them keep detail no matter how much one zooms in...

* AnimalMotifs: Cal's metaphor for women in "Double Blind". He tells Torres to look up the monarch and the viceroy butterflies - predators won't touch either butterfly because they look so similar, but one is harmless and the other is poisonous. He later calls Naomi a "viceroy", when he's figured out she's playing him and thus, poisonous.

HypocriticalHeartwarming: Cal's allowed to treat his team like dirt, but the minute anyone ''else'' does it, he gets pissy.