Tonight, a show I thought had gone the way of the dodo bird, returned to the air. The show is called "Lie To Me". It's about an agency that specializes in deception detection, or how to spot lies, and their efforts assisting law enforcement & other government agencies in exposing the truth. Based on the actual scientific discoveries of Paul Ekman, the premise of the show is that whenever a human being lies, the body unconsciously signals that lie. If you can read the signals, you can tell if someone's lying or not. Tonight's ep was the one episode I was TRULY hoping they would make. I've always wondered how the science they use in the show would work against a psychopath. You know, a dyed-in-the-wool killer. Given the nature of the show, the endgame of each ep can be fairly predictable, but the journey there usually holds one or two surprise turns for me. This ep was no different. I knew that Lightman (main character of the show, played by Tim Roth) would be running game, and that the hammer would most likely fall on him, but to take the game to the point of withstanding torture... It was an amazing thing to see.
In reading on the inevitable buzz about Lie To Me's return, I did see a remarkable amount of comparisons to "The Mentalist". While I do like "The Mentalist", I think it's unfair to compare the two programs. The basis of "Lie To Me" is the detection of lies through small unconscious body gestures. The signals that contradict what the person is saying. It's about dichotomy between the body and the mind, and figuring out what the biology says about our psychology. That study and interpretation is what makes episodes like the one tonight so intriguing. It's an example of scientific inquiry into a mind that is, for lack of a better term, an aberration. "The Mentalist" is more focussed on law enforcement using unorthodox tactics, like Lethal Weapon, where "Lie To Me" is more about cutting edge behavioral science proving to be useful for law enforcement, like cutting edge mathematics was useful in the show "Numb3rs".
If you haven't watched the show, dear readers, please tune in and check out "Lie To Me", it airs Mondays on FOX. It'll be a good time
