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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lyinggame01.jpg]]
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3->''"A few months ago I discovered I had a twin sister. And then she asked me to take her place. Keep the secret, find our real mother, and'' try ''to stay alive. Put yourself in my shoes - how long could you keep up [[TitleDrop The Lying Game]]?"''
4-->--'''OpeningNarration'''
5
6''The Lying Game'' is an Creator/ABCFamily series based off the novels of the same named by [[Series/PrettyLittleLiars Sara Shepard]]. It follows the adventures of Emma Becker and Sutton Mercer, two long-lost twins living in different parts of the country. When Sutton decides to go looking for their real parents, Emma is forced to move into her home and take over her life. ''The Lying Game'' premiered on August 15, 2011 and was cancelled on July 15, 2013.
7
8Has a characters page in need of some love.
9
10Not to be confused with ''Manga/LiarGame''. Or ''Film/TheCryingGame''.
11----
12!!Tropes appearing in this series:
13* AdvertisedExtra: Nisha is billed as a main character despite only appearing in a few episodes. Compared to Alec who is a recurring character but has been in [[FakeGuestStar all but one episode]]
14** She was demoted in episode 11.
15* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: {{Subverted}}. One would think this was the reason Sutton was attracted to Ethan, but he actually turned out to be a fairly decent guy.
16* AlliterativeName: Char Chamberlain and in season 2, Rebecca Rybak.
17* AlphaBitch: Nisha Randall comes off as this. It's implied that Sutton may have some AlphaBitch tendencies too.
18* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Emma and Sutton.
19* AnalogyBackfire: In "Bad Boys Break Hearts", Laurel says her and Emma are both like Literature/{{Cinderella}}. Emma points out that in the Cinderella story, "everything went to crap" at midnight.
20* AscendedExtra: Thayer (but not Alec) was promoted to main cast in episode 10 and Rebecca was a regular in Season 2.
21* BecomingTheMask: Justin
22** Emma started out only pretending to date Ethan, but eventually fell for him, which caused ''friction'' with Sutton.
23* BetaCouple: Laurel and Justin. Dan and Theresa.
24* BettyAndVeronica: Ethan between Emma (Betty) and Sutton (Veronica).
25** Emma between Thayer (Betty) and Ethan (Veronica).
26** Laurel between Baz (Betty) and Justin (Veronica).
27* BigBad: Initially, it seemed like it was Alec Rybak who's behind the major mysteries of the show, but after the airing of the season finale, "Unholy Matrimony", [[spoiler:Rebecca is actually the one manipulating the events and Sutton is collaborating with her in carrying them out.]]
28* BigBrotherWorship: Mads, who adores Thayer.
29* BigSisterInstinct: Laurel with Sutton.
30* BilingualBonus: In "Sex, Lies, and Hard Knocks", Lexi is conjugating "je mens, etc". It so happens she's conjugating the French verb ''mentir'' - "to lie".
31* BrilliantButLazy: Sutton, who could be just as smart as Emma but just doesn't care. When she does care, though, it's usually for something nefarious.
32* CassandraTruth: Emma tries to confess her secret to Dan, but he doesn't buy it.
33* CastingGag: Creator/CharismaCarpenter due to her role in ''Deadly Sibling Rivalry'', a movie about a TwinSwitch that came out at the same time as ''The Lying Game'' and its Dueling Show ''Series/{{Ringer}}''.
34* TheChessmaster: Sutton was already shown as quite the chessmaster but the season finale revealed that [[spoiler: she was collaborating with her mother Rebecca]].
35* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Justin is gone by Season 2 with no explanation where he went.
36* ClarkKenting: Emma is different from Sutton in almost every way except for appearance (Sutton is a slacker, Emma is smart. Sutton is kind of a bitch, Emma is nice. It goes on.) and yet the whole town continues to believe that she is Sutton ''simply because she says so.''
37** Makes sense in that when someone you know is acting differently you don't automatically assume that they must have switched places with a long lost twin.
38* ConsummateLiar: Sutton. [[spoiler: She apparently inherited this from Rebecca.]] Alec is also a pretty big offender.
39* CoolBigSis: Sutton failed to be this for Laurel, but Emma makes up for it.
40* ContrivedCoincidence: From the books, [[spoiler:it turns out that Thayer and Sutton just happened to meet up at the same place at the same time where Sutton's Father was meeting with her birth mother, Becky. Becky and Sutton's Father's meeting had nothing to do with Sutton's death.]]
41* CreatorCameo: Pieter Schlosser (episode composer) plays the MC of the Black and White Ball in "Black and White and Green All Over."
42* CutShort: Especially since the show's second and final season was only 10 episodes.
43* DemotedToExtra: Creator/KirstenProut (Char) was demoted to recurring status. Sharon Pierre-Louis (Nisha) was also demoted but she had never really been a major character in the first place. Neither appeared at all in the second season.
44%%* DisneyDeath:[[spoiler:Sutton.]]
45%%* DoggedNiceGuy: Thayer to Sutton.
46* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Sutton and Emma. Laurel's relationship changes depending on which one is playing Sutton.
47* {{Foreshadowing}}: Rebecca says this to Emma!Sutton after [[spoiler: Ethan's murder charges are dropped]] in episode 18.
48--> '''Rebecca''': Sometimes [[spoiler:a m...]] (catches herself) an older person knows best!
49* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: A very extreme version between Emma and Sutton. Sutton and Laurel are a pretty tame version in comparison.
50* InLoveWithTheMark: Justin, who was initially just using Laurel as a means to get to Ted, ends up falling in love with her.
51** Derek only began dating Char in order to spy for Alec and ends up genuinely liking her. Alec is less than enthused.
52* LadyDrunk: Char's mother, Phyllis.
53* OneSteveLimit: Averted with Annie Hobbs and Annie Sewell. PlayedStraight in that the latter goes by her middle name, Rebecca.
54* OutOfCharacter: InUniverse. Emma, [[TwinSwitch in her role as Sutton]], is often noted to act in ways that contradict Sutton's personality. (Agreeing to give her sister a ride, apologizing to someone she'd angered, etc.)
55* ParentsAsPeople: The parents are arguably more screwed up and entangled in lies than the teens.
56* PolarOppositeTwins: Emma and Sutton
57* PreppyName: All of the wealthier kids (Sutton Mercer, Laurel Mercer, Thayer Rybak etc.)
58** And their parents Theodore "Ted" Mercer, Alec Rybak, Phyllis Chamberlain.
59* PromotedToParent: Dan to Ethan due to their ParentalAbandonment.
60* PutOnABus: Char in episode 12.
61* RaceLift: Of the Type 4 variety. In the books, Nisha (whose last name there is Banerjee) is Indian. In the show, she's African-American, with the last name Randall.
62* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Laurel and Baz's relationship was ended because Allie Gonino and his actor broke up.
63* RefugeInAudacity: How Emma gets away with having a different personality and no knowledge of her twin's past. Everyone knows that something's different, but no one is guessing that it's a TwinSwitch.
64* TheReveal:
65** No not that Rebecca [[spoiler: is the twins mother]] It's the fact that [[spoiler: Sutton seems to have known all along and they have some sort of plan put together]].
66** Annie [[spoiler: is not the twins mother, Rebecca]] is.
67* {{Revenge}}: Sutton is pretty pissed at Emma for "stealing" her lifestyle and is probably planning some kind of revenge, despite the fact that this was neither Emma's desire nor her intent.
68* RichBitch: Nisha. Sutton herself.
69* SecretKeeper: Ethan and Thayer, who know Emma and Sutton's secrets. Later, Emma brings [[spoiler: Mads]] into the secret. Alec and Ted also keep the secret about Emma and Sutton's mother.
70* SeparatedAtBirth: The premise of the entire show.
71* SiblingTriangle: Sutton and Emma over Ethan.
72* SiblingYinYang: Sutton and Emma
73* TangledFamilyTree: [[spoiler: The show has implicitly stated that the twin's parents are Ted and Rebecca. This causes a whole bunch of tangles and relates the twins to almost everyone in the cast. This makes Laurel their biological half-sister, Char their cousin, Phyllis their Aunt, Kristen and Alec their step-parents, and Mads and Thayer their step-siblings.]]
74** It gets even more tangled when you add in [[spoiler: Jordan, Rebecca's stepson]].
75* TwinSwitch: The plot of the series is based on one.
76* WhamEpisode: The SeriesFinale "To Lie For": Jordan [[spoiler: killed his brother]], Rebecca [[spoiler: tries to kill Alec by throwing him through a glass ceiling]] and [[spoiler: Thayer is shown with the murder weapon that killed Teresa.]]
77* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "Hi Mom."]]
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