"How does it feel to be Sutton?"
Very loosely based on a series of books by the same name, The Lying Game is rich teen drama with a twist. Identical twin sisters, Emma (Alexandra Chando) and Sutton (yes, also Chando, but this time with hair and make-up) are abandoned and separated at birth. Sutton hits the jackpot and is adopted by a rich family. Emma bums out and ends up in foster care. When her seriously skanky foster brother frames her for theft, she goes on the run and twin Sutton (who she apparently discovered just before the pilot) comes to the rescue. Sutton proposes that Emma takes her place for a few days whilst she goes and looks for their biological mother. Emma puts on Sutton's expensive cloths, her hair and make-up transforms magically, and she becomes Sutton.
Playing Sutton turns out much tougher than Emma expected, mostly because she discovers that Sutton is a nasty ungrateful piece of work, and Emma is not. Sutton's friends and family are pleasantly surprised by the apparent change in attitude. Emma also starts realising that there is a lot more to Sutton than she could have imagined when strange things start to happen. Uh oh, could someone be lying? Didn't see that coming, did you?
It's all about 25 year old Chando pretending to be a down-and-out teen, who is pretending to be a teen who drives a convertible BMW and hangs out by the pool in designer outfits. You could say it's poorly acted, but honestly, compared to hit teen shows like The OC this is probably Emmy material, so it doesn't really matter, does it? Probably not the next hit teen drama, but an interesting and fun twist to the genre.
The Lying Game airs on M-Net on Fridays at 20h30.
More Monday night Vuzu than Friday night M-Net, this show might struggle to find its audience.
