Pilot (The Lying Game)

"Pilot" was the series premiere of The Lying Game, airing August 15, 2011.

Plot
The Lying Game began with Emma jogging. She returns home and her foster brother, Travis, is taunting her while she changes. It’s clear Travis is bad news from the word go.

Emma receives a video call on her laptop and it’s her twin sister Sutton. Sutton found Emma about 3 months ago when she started her search for her birth mother. She didn’t know she had a twin and now knows her adoptive parents lied to her. The call is interrupted when Travis comes in for further perv duties.

Emma goes outside and hits a tennis ball around when she is called inside by her foster mom Clarice, as her Bruce Willis signed dollar has gone missing. Travis planted it in Emma’s backpack and Clarice calls the cops when she finds it. Travis tries to make a deal with Emma that if she gives him a little “something something” he’ll get the cops off her back. She whacks him with the tennis racket and runs off. She calls Sutton, explains the situation and says she’s coming to see her on an all night bus.

Emma arrives in Sutton’s hometown Phoenix, Arizona and Sutton grabs her and takes her into the restroom. Sutton has a lead on where their birth mother might be and has to go to LA to find out more. She wants Emma to pretend to be her for 2 days so she can follow the lead without her adoptive parents knowing anything. They plan to meet at the cabin in 2 days. They change clothes and Sutton gives Emma a few tips about her such as a hair flick she does and that it’s important no one knows she’s gone. Before Sutton get’s on the bus to LA she tells Emma her boyfriend situation is complicated.

Emma finds Sutton’s car in the parking lot, which is a BMW. She uses the sat nav to find Sutton’s home. When she enters the house she acts differently from Sutton and her family are wondering what’s going on, especially her sister Laurel. Laurel notices Sutton isn’t wearing the necklace her grandmother gave her. Emma finds messages from Sutton’s friends inviting her to a pool party. Emma practices being Sutton in the mirror. Laurel thinks somethings up with Sutton. She and Laurel head over there and Emma gets Laurel to drive. Laurel is stoked because Sutton would never even let her in the car let alone drive.

Sutton’s friends notice she’s different and Sutton’s boyfriend Luke is there. Emma is feeling the pressure and dives into the pool. While she’s under she releases her stress by screaming where no one can hear her. Nisha crashes the party and challenges Sutton to a tennis match. Emma takes up the challenge. Nisha invites the girls to a party she is having in 2 days time.

Back in Sutton’s room, Emma asks Laurel if their parents have ever discussed her adoption. Emma thinks they aren’t telling them everything, which Laurel agrees with. Emma’s phone rings and it’s her step brother Travis who has left a message. Emma’s in big trouble and is being charged with assault. Emma notices someone spying on her. When she runs out her room to confront the person no-ones there but Sutton’s Dad sees her. She goes to speak with him. They have a short talk and then he hugs her. Emma has never had this kind of relationship before, being a foster kid.

The next morning is the first day of school. Everyone at school loves Sutton. She’s the it girl. Emma had the best time ever that morning so far trying to pick something to wear from Sutton’s massive walk in closet. We find out that Char’s mum was talking about Sutton and that all their parents went to school together but none of them get along anymore. Sounds like this might be something we’ll find out about as the series goes on. At lunch Luke kisses Sutton.

Emma beats Nisha at the tennis game. Nisha is clearly upset and angry about this.

Emma forgets her tennis bag and when she goes back, she sees Nisha and Luke kissing but they don’t see her. Emma tells Sutton’s mom about what she saw and what she should do. Later when Emma, Mads, Char and Laurel go to Nisha’s party, Emma confronts Luke. Nisha turns mean again and tries to put Sutton in her place by saying she was abandoned and that even her real mother never wanted her. Emma slaps her and leaves the party.

Emma gets into Sutton’s car and so does the strange guy Ethan. He kisses Sutton and then realizes it’s not Sutton, which explains her weird behavior towards him previously. Ethan tells Emma that he’s Sutton’s boyfriend and that they’ve been seeing each other for about a year. They texted and talked on Skype the whole time Sutton was on summer vacation in Paris. Emma drives away from him and goes to meet Sutton at the cabin, as they previously arranged. When she gets there she finds a necklace but no Sutton. Ethan follows her to the cabin and confronts her again and wants to know where Sutton is. Emma tells him the truth and that she fooled everyone except him. They agree Emma has to continue being Sutton.

When Emma returns home she finds out someone broke into the house. Her bedroom window is broken and her laptop is gone.

At the end of the episode, we see Sutton sitting in a car at a fairground in LA and someone opens the passenger door and gets in just as Sutton gasps.

Also see
Gallery:Pilot

Continuity

 * We learn in the second episode ("Being Sutton") that the person who stole the laptop was Alec with a help from somone.

Title

 * The term "Pilot" is traditionally used in the entertainment industry to identify the first episode of a television series

Cast
{| style="color:inherit;width:660px;"
 * style="width:325px;" valign="top"|

Main Cast

 * Alexandra Chando as Emma Becker


 * Alexandra Chando as Sutton Mercer


 * Allie Gonino as Laurel Mercer


 * Blair Redford as Ethan Whitehorse


 * Alice Greczyn as Madeline Rybak


 * Kirsten Prout as Charlotte Chamberlin

Guest Cast

 * Andy Buckley as Ted Mercer


 * Helen Slater as Kristin Mercer
 * Tyler Christopher as Dan Whitehorse


 * Sharon Pierre-Louis as Nisha Randall

Co-Starring

 * Mitch Ryan as Luke Coburn


 * Kenneth Miller as Travis Boyle


 * Debrianna Mansini as Clarice


 * style="width:325px;" valign="top"|
 * }

Featured Music

 * "Get Ready" by The Daylights (after Emma bashes her step brother in the face, and starts running)
 * "Letting Go" by Sonia and Oskar (in the beginning when Emma is running)
 * "Gun for a Tongue" by Butterfly Boucher (Theme Song)
 * "Rumor Has It" by Adele (song from the Lying Game trailer)
 * "Enchanted" by Taylor Swift (when Emma talks to Sutton over the phone at the bus station)
 * "Been This Way Too Long (Look Alive)" by Wait.Think.Fast
 * "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry (when Emma pulls up in front of Sutton's house in her BMW)
 * "Jump Into the Sun" by Goldenhorse (when Emma gets up to go to school as Sutton and looks in her wardrobe)
 * "Wham Bam" by Clooney (when Emma, as Sutton, plays the tennis match against Nisha)
 * "Again & Again" by 5 Alarm Music (when the girls enter Nisha's party)