“It’s over,” Nate announces, slightly breathless. Meanwhile, a troubled Addie watches and jokes, “I think it’s just getting started.” Cut to a brooding camera shot looking up at six anxious teens staring over the side of the boat from which they threw a corpse and, well, welcome to season two of One of us is lying.
Kudos to the creator of the series Erica Saleh, which has peppered her small screen version of Karen M. McManus YA murder mystery book with plenty of hiss and suspense. Long gone are those high school days when the biggest concern was passing AP Bio and landing a prom date. Ah how sweet. Not so into One of us is lying.
Season One of the Popular Streaming Series – An Upgraded breakfast club featuring six shots of creative espresso – introduced us to the “Murder Club” and an ominous online antagonist named Simon Says after the shocking death/murder(?) of Simon (Mark McKenna) in detention. The shocking event forever changes the lives of Simon’s classmates: Addy (Annalisa Cochrane), Nate (Cooper van Grootel), Bronwyn (Marianly Tejada) and Cooper (Chibuikem Uche). Flashforward a slew of episodes and we learn that Addy’s handsome beau Jake (Barrett Carnahan) was responsible for Simon’s downfall. A struggle in a dark forest later and Jake is shot and dies.
What now?
As season one arced, the Murder Club stared at their incoming texts, threatening to reveal what had happened to Jake. The story continues, much to the delight of Saleh, who tells MovieWeb what she’s most excited about for season two and what’s at stake.
Raising the stakes in season two
MovieWeb: What felt most terrifying about getting into season two when you went beyond the original source material?
Erica Saleh: Honestly, we always hoped to make this a multi-season show and knew that changing the ending of the book was the key to doing that. We demolished that in season one, thinking about what we would struggle with in season two. Most of the time it was just really fun to bring these characters that people know and love and see what happens to them after the book. Such as: How do you continue after a traumatic event? And what do these friendships look like when they are really put to the test? I think the discouraging thing – which we definitely think about – was that people loved the book and the characters. We are now taking them in new directions and telling a new story.
MW: What was the most convincing for you to move forward?
Erica Saleh: Starting a little darker was the most convincing. I think in season one the characters all did some screwed up stuff at that point. They’re all hiding these secrets they’re not proud of from season one. But they realized that part of being human is to make mistakes and live honestly, and that will be good for them. Season two lets us grapple with the gray areas a bit more and challenge the morality of the characters – they don’t always make up for them. Because people are not always good.
MW: What inspired the new plot twists ahead?
Erica Saleh: I definitely came into the writers room to find out who I thought Simon Says was and I knew an overall arc for the season. But I have such an amazing staff of writers who have pushed some of the characters into areas that took me by surprise. I didn’t necessarily intend to take the trips we took with them. I think some of the friendships, antagonists, and characters that were quite minor in season one really explode in season two.
Going beyond the original source material
MW: What was it about the book that really caught your attention and made you want to make something that went further?
Erica Saleh: It was the characters, sure. The book takes these four types: breakfast club teenage archetypes and starts peeling away the layers of saying that humans are more complicated than that. That’s what I loved about the book, and I wanted to show what happens when you start being honest about who you are. It’s not always easy. People look at you in different ways. And you have new friendships with people who are very different from you. And that can be very complicated. I was very excited to explore that.
MW: So, what movies or TV shows really inspired you growing up?
Erica Saleh: I like that question. My so called life really grabbed me as a teenager. That was the first time I saw kids on the screen that weren’t shiny. It felt real. I thought, “Yeah, those are real honest emotions.” That was so exciting for me. I was also a big Buffy fan. It was great to see this tough, cool, powerful young woman at the heart of the show taking on the superpowers we all wish we had. Those two shows really got me through high school.
One of us is lying streaming on Peacock On October 20, 2022.