"Paul Levinson's It's Real Life is a page-turning exploration into that multiverse known as rock and roll. But it is much more than a marvelous adventure narrated by a master storyteller...it is also an exquisite meditation on the very nature of alternate history." -- Jack Dann, The Fiction Writer's Guide to Alternate History

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Lie to Me in Afghanistan

Shawn Ryan - most famously creator, writer, show-runner of The Shield, easily one of the best shows ever on television, and arguably the best - was brought aboard Lie to Me this season to add some visceral punch to the intellectual power Lie to Me already had. This was never more apparent, and successful, than in Lie to Me 2.8 this past Monday.

This could have been an episode of The Unit, another great show executive produced by Ryan. Lightman takes a trip to Afghanistan, to sort through an apparently American Taliban, who may or may not be telling the truth to his American captors - that is, our soldiers, who are under attack.

Back home, Foster's doing her best to keep it together, including keeping Lightman's daughter Emily in the dark about her father's whereabouts. But since the Washington, DC team is helping Lightman, whose interrogations are up on video screens in the Lightman Group's offices, it's only a matter of time until Emily learns the truth.

Meanwhile, there are good twists and turns in the Afghan theater as well. We know, of course, that Lightman won't get killed, but it was good to see him in these life and death situations anyway. He's in a very different physical place than usual, but his keen intellect dominates and illuminates as always.

As I've said before, Lie to Me is one of the few shows with such a sharp variety of storylines, ranging from personal to professional to criminal and now military crises. Shawn Ryan's input looks to be just thing for this mix.






5-min podcast review of Lie to Me


See also my reviews of
Lie to Me and Bill O'Reilly, Saddam Hussein, and Ben Reynolds in Lie to Me 2.6 and Lie to Me 2.7: The Redeeming of Loker






The Plot to Save Socrates


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