ONE OF US IS LYING

EPISODE 1

Ok, we are not even 5 minutes into the show and I already have issues with it. Simon did not give them any warning of what he was planning on posting, that was part of the beauty of it. None of them knew it was coming so it was crazy for the cops to think that it gave them motive because they had no idea he knew.

Next, why you gotta change what room detention is in? I know, stupid to care about but still… and then the distraction isn’t even the same. The tv show has kids throwing eggs at the window and then “streaking” through the yard and the book is a car accident which is pivotal to the story later. So now they are going to have to change how they put the dots together to figure out it was Simon all along.

I also felt that in the first episode they are really pushing the Bronwyn and Nate relationship and the book is more of a slow burn, and he doesn’t even have to get her drunk in the TV show to get her to agree to ride on his motorcycle which I feel kinda changes her personality. Also, why do they have Bronwyn and that other boy hanging out? That never happened in the book. Yeah, she was crushing on him but that was about it because then all of her time became consumed by the investigation.

I also feel like the scene of them being questioned by the cops where they already know they are suspects is pretty soon as well, but hey its only 8 episodes so they have to cram it all in quickly I guess. 

Another thought: Cooper's brother already knows he is gay and so does his girlfriend?? What! Oh, and having Bronwyn steal Simon's backpack, what's that all about? They were handed a perfectly good story in a book but now they are changing it. Why? 

EPISODE 2

I feel like in episode two they took the book and threw it out the window. I am pretty sure that nothing happened in this episode that actually happened in the book other than Simon's mom did ask Jake to come pick something of his to remember him by. 

Also I really feel like the show is trying to show Addy as the main suspect where I didn’t get that from the book. I felt like the blame was being equally passed around.

EPISODE 3

So in Episode three after throwing the book out the window it must have caught fire and rolled down a hill. First of all, in the book, the app did not expose each of their secrets, they were released by the police all at the same time. They also changed some of the secrets for the TV show, Nate didn’t almost kill somebody and Bronwyn didn’t steal the tests from a filing cabinet. I know it might be something stupid to get hung up on but considering that this episode had nothing from the book it’s kinda the only thing I have to compare straight to the book.

Another thing: what is this business about Maeve being in love with Simon? So did he not write the awful post about her that made Bronwyn threaten to kill him? Oh and Maeve stealing the laptop that was never even in play in the book, so who knows where that is gonna lead now.

We do finally get Nate giving Bronwyn a cell phone for them to communicate with so hopefully we get something there.

Cooper’s shoulder, no issues in the book, here in the TV show it got banged up when Nate and TJ are fighting (another thing that didn’t happen in the book, Nate just randomly punches TJ after he finds out about him and Addy, no full blown fight) and now he needs pain meds from Nate but Nate doesn’t deal pain meds. And Cooper's mom is apparently dead, which I don’t recall being a thing in the book. Also Cooper isn’t broke in the book but he acts like it here and he is kinda the new kid where in the book Jake ditched Simon for Cooper when they were freshman in high school.

Also what is this theater they keep meeting in? In the book it was a house that was under construction in a fancy neighborhood that they met in maybe twice.

EPISODE 4

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Now at this point I have come to accept the fact that this tv show has taken the characters/basic plot line from the book and written their own story but please still enjoy my commentary about it.

We could have avoided the dramatic break up scene in the cafeteria between Bronwyn and her boyfriend (cuz you know in the book there is no boyfriend) and put in some actual material from the book, but no, dramatic break up scene it is. That probably brings in more viewers though.

I am kinda curious about the whole picture of the four of them meeting being leaked out, cuz now isn’t it obvious that it wasn’t one of them. Because how could they have taken the picture and be in it at that kind of distance.

I will admit we do have some late night phone calls between Nate and Bronwyn like in the book and this episode does end with his mother showing up and Addy chopping her hair off so we are still kinda trying to pretend to follow the book.

EPISODE 5

Well I am pretty sure that absolutely everything that happened in this episode never happened in the book. They are starting to use the F word quite frequently which I don’t appreciate, but it is a MA rated show so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I am curious if they are changing the end of the story cuz they are really trying to play it like Janae had nothing to do with it and has no idea what is going on. Also side note, Cooper's boyfriend is pretty funny.

EPISODE 6

This entire episode takes place during their homecoming dance–which never happens in the book–and they decide that TJ is the culprit. But alas, by the end of the episode they clear his name. Janae has also become a member of murder club basically. But back to what did happen in the book, Nate was officially arrested for the murder of Simon, but the EpiPens were found in his motorcycle rather than in his locker.

EPISODE 7

What can I say about episode 7? It was something that’s for sure. They are finally onto Simon but the police don’t believe them so there’s that. Oh, and it ends with Addy realizing that Jake and Simon were talking prior to his death so I am thinking that at least they are gonna stick to the whole Simon and Jake plotting together storyline. But the major question is are they gonna pretend that Janae wasn’t involved?? I guess we will see. There is only one episode left.

EPISODE 8

Ok I have two words to describe the final episode–Holy Crap! What did I just watch? They played it out like Jake was the mastermind and Simon was never supposed to die?? And Jake has been shot and is presumably dead, but guess what folks? He didn’t die in the book. He simply got arrested so I wouldn’t be surprised if somehow he is still alive in the show, but that gunshot wound was pretty convincing. I am assuming the whole Simon Says thing is the next book but I can’t be sure cuz I haven’t read it, but if not, then the show has gone completely rouge if they haven’t already.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Not gonna lie, I quite enjoyed both the book and the show. I think it is one of those things where you have to look at them as completely different things and not one in the same, otherwise you will go nuts over the difference as I clearly already have. I can’t say that I would ever watch the show again, I could see myself reading the book again years down the line. I can’t say for certain if I will read the second book or watch the second season at this point. The show had some language in it that I didn’t appreciate and the last episode did have some bare bottoms being shown in a locker room so who knows how much further they would go in the next season… Moral of the story I enjoyed them both but I would have to say I did enjoy the book’s storyline more than the shows, I thought the motivation behind the “crime” in the book was more flushed out and dare I say realistic than the show.