History Series / LieToMe

* AmbiguousDisorder: Cal is utterly brilliant. He also has an awkward body language and very little regards to things like tact and the like, and the first line of his second book was, ‘[[spoiler:Let me be clear. I understand very little, least of all the people close to me]].’

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* OverprotectiveDad: Cal is ''very'' protective of his daughter Emily.

%%* FiveManBand
%%** TheHero - Dr. Cal Lightman
%%** TheLancer - Dr. Gillian Foster
%%** TheBigGuy - Ben Reynolds
%%** TheSmartGuy - Eli Loker
%%** TheChick - Ria Torres
%%** TagalongKid - Emily Lightman

Dr. Cal Lightman (Creator/TimRoth) is a LivingLieDetector, able to calculate human honesty through facial expressions - called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-expression Micro Expressions]] - and body language. The pioneer of this field, he operates his own business, working with federal and private clients to solve criminal and civil cases. A case of TruthInTelevision (well, somewhat), as the show is based on the science of Paul Ekman.

* MoralDissonance: Loker. Yay, you made it so thieves got put away. But the people they ruined ''stayed'' ruined. Nice work.

Dr. Cal Lightman is a LivingLieDetector, able to calculate human honesty through facial expressions - called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-expression Micro Expressions]] - and body language. The pioneer of this field, he operates his own business, working with federal and private clients to solve criminal and civil cases. A case of TruthInTelevision (well, somewhat), as the show is based on the science of Paul Ekman.

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, an utterly shameless flirt committed to [[WillNotTellALie 100% honesty]][[note]]His radical honesty disappears quickly in season 1[[/note]]. Lightman's precocious teenage daughter is part of the cast as well.

The show stars Creator/TimRoth as Dr. Lightman. That's right, [[Film/ReservoirDogs Mr. Orange]] knows when you're lying.

* AmicableExes: Cal and Zoe.

* BlackComedy: "What's green and red and goes really fast?" "A frog in a blender." Creepy, but [[SociopathicHero it says something about Cal]] that he knew the punchline before the killer said it.

* BriefcaseFullOfMoney: What Dr. Lightman purported to be trying to hide when he tested Ria Torres at the airport. After he and Dr. Foster end their hiring pitch, they leave behind the briefcase; when Ria calls them on the "forgotten" item, Lightman says nonchalantly that's her hiring bonus.

* CentralTheme: Systematic bias, and how it can affect judgment, cropping up whenever Loker or Torres get involved in a case. Let us say they are both ''passionate''. One episode also implies that bias caused a disaster for Lightman early in his work.
** Another theme that's been popping up is the loyalty between partners (usually a case-of-the-week parallel to Cal and Gillian) and when deception between partners is acceptable.
* TheChessmaster: Cal, shown ''wonderfully'' in "Blinded".
* ChurchOfHappyology: "Scientific Repatterning" in "Beyond Belief".
* ClearMyName: Reynolds in "Lack of Candor", Cal in "Headlock", Burns in "Exposure".

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Pretty much any boy Emily Lightman brings home isn't going to be good enough for Cal.
** He's warming up to Liam. Though not enough to stop calling him "Willy".

** This was pretty much a HeroicSacrifice for a character we had only seen for that episode. And it was [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome]].
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The killer in "Headlock".

* EnhanceButton: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]. "Can you blow up her eyebrows? And do that thing."

* FiveManBand
** TheHero - Dr. Cal Lightman
** TheLancer - Dr. Gillian Foster
** TheBigGuy - Ben Reynolds
** TheSmartGuy - Eli Loker
** TheChick - Ria Torres
** TagalongKid - Emily Lightman

* FriendOnTheForce: Detective Wallowski.

* GiveGeeksAChance: Cal's ex-wife, Zoe.
* GoAmongMadPeople: Twice. Once in Pied Piper, and again in Funhouse.

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Dr. Lightman spent years studying microexpressions, while Ria Torres is a natural. He's somewhat bothered by the fact, but it's also largely subverted. While Torres is incredibly skilled considering her relatively limited experience, Lightman is still far better and doesn't have emotional blindspots.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Loker and his various love interests, including [[spoiler: Emily, in "Bullet Bump"]].

* IHaveThisFriend: Gillian uses this one when asking Reynolds why [[spoiler: her boyfriend would have a passport in another name and charter a boat out of Baltimore for five hours every week]].
** Turns out he has a very good reason - [[spoiler: he's undercover DEA.]]
* InformedAttribute: Eli Loker is said to be a practitioner of "radical honesty", but apart from an occasional tactless line we don't ever see it, though supposedly it should be quite radical. In fact, a major story arc has him lying extensively and dragging Torres into his lies. He was caught lying about his feelings for a woman, and was insincere about his motives when pretending to be Emily's friend in order to keep an eye on her.

* LieDetector: Dr. Lightman points out all the ways polygraphs suck. One of them involves getting a guy to fail the control questions by use of a woman in a sexy outfit.

* MayDecemberRomance: A villainous example - Martin Walker and Helen Dezekis.

* MoralDissonance: Loker. Yay, you made it so thieves got put away. But the people they ruined ''stayed'' ruined. Nice work. * SarcasticClapping* He did get [[WhatTheHellHero called out on it]] beforehand and was punished afterwards.

* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Torres has this for Cal, but in "Pied Piper", Loker calls it into question. Torres accuses him of being a rat fleeing the sinking ship, but Loker (rightly) points out that Cal [[spoiler: got an innocent man executed]]. Unfortunately, Gillian catches them and reams them out, proving her adherance to the trope:
-->'''Loker''': Do you expect us to just share this delusion that Lightman is infallible?
-->'''Gillian''': Without Lightman, you'd be in some university basement doing research, and you [Torres] would still be a glorified baggage handler. Maybe instead of polishing up your resumes, you might want to think about what you can do to help Lightman.

* NotSoDifferentRemark: In "The Royal We", Cal tells how to create a disturbed personality ("constant criticism and lack of affection"), talking about a pageant contestant. Torres points out, "you mean, [[TheChewToy the way you treat Loker]]". She's right - Cal's jerkass tendencies toward his employees (Loker in particular) have edged into downright cruelty.

* OverprotectiveDad: Cal is ''very'' protective of his daughter.

* PlatonicProstitution: The pilot.

* RapeAsDrama: In "Blinded", the criminal [[EyeScream blinds]] and then rapes women.

* TwerpSweating: Emily gets Cal to promise not to do any "covert science things", but...
--> '''Cal''': Hi, Dan!
--> '''Dan''': Hi, Mr. Lightman!
--> '''Cal''': Are you going to try to have sex with my daughter tonight?

* YouCanAlwaysTellALiar: The entire '''''point''''' of this series.
** Which, interestingly enough, it subverts in "Dirty Loyal", when [[spoiler: Cal teaches Wallowski to lie, and IA forces Gillian to decide if she's telling the truth. Gillian is torn between her loyalty to Cal, which would mean she'd lie for Cal/Wallowski and say Wallowski isn't corrupt, and her ability to discern truth, which would mean she sent Wallowski to prison because she ''is'' lying. Gillian ultimately lies, causing conflict between her and Cal.]]

* AmicablyDivorced: Cal and Zoe.

* NotSoDifferent: In "The Royal We", Cal tells how to create a disturbed personality ("constant criticism and lack of affection"), talking about a pageant contestant. Torres points out, "you mean, [[TheChewToy the way you treat Loker]]". She's right - Cal's jerkass tendencies toward his employees (Loker in particular) have edged into downright cruelty.

** 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...

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Dr. Lightman spent years studying microexpressions, while Ria Torres is a natural. In a mild variation, he's actually somewhat bothered by it. However it's also subverted, as Lightman is better at it than Torres and doesn't have emotional blindspots.
** Also subverted in that most of Torres' mistakes come from relying on her natural gift. Lightman does seem to enjoy calling her out on this a bit too much though.

* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: Deconstructs it: Prepared lies in fact generally cause people to answer quicker, not slower, because they have already prepared their story for questioning. The show goes on to explain that the way to catch these people is to ask them to repeat their story ''backwards'', which is a definite case of ShownTheirWork - your average liar won't bother to practice enough to get this right, but someone telling the truth will obviously be able to draw on their memory to answer (e.g. "I went to the park at about midnight, before that I was at the restaurant, and before that I was out giving candy to orphans.")

* HyperAwareness

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Half of Zoe and Cal's banter in "The Whole Truth", especially the scene where Cal's locked up and Zoe's deciding whether or not to bail him out.
** In "Killer App", while talking to a geeky web designer (basically Mark Zuckerberg without the movie), we have this delightful little exchange:
---> '''Zach''': "Great. Voice pattern analysis. Which one of you reads palms?"
---> '''Lightman''': "I'll bet yours are sweaty. And hairy."

* MentorShip: Cal and Helen, at Oxford.