The Lying Game episode 1

I finally got to watch episode 1 of The Lying Game. It started Monday, so I'm sure that's going to be its regular day for a while. I've already read the first two books in the series and I'm kind of interested in where the show goes because there are a lot of things that are different right now. I'm also curious about how it will compare to Ringer, the CW show with Sarah Michelle Gellar that has a very similar twin plot, but more adult.

I enjoyed the first episode. And, as a fan of General Hospital, I enjoy seeing the GH actors on other shows so I liked that Tyler Christopher was in it (and it looks like he's going to be in several episodes).

ABC Family currently has the first episode up so, if you're interested, go watch it.

Spoilers for the episode and book, too.

The show opens with Emma at her foster mother's house, being harassed by her foster brother. We find out that she already knows about Sutton, her twin, and has been video chatting with her. Apparently, Sutton was looking into her birth family and found that she had a twin that for some reason wasn't adopted with her. This part differed significantly from the book. It changes the whole point of the books, really. In the book, Emma is the one who finds out about Sutton because of a fake snuff video on the internet. She never talks to or meets Sutton before going to Arizona.

In the meantime, Sutton gets back from a vacation to Paris and catches up with her friends. She talks to Charlotte about her mother and Madeline about her brother Thayer. Thayer, who was missing in the books, is at least locatable in the show and Madeline tells Sutton that he is in LA.

Anyway, Emma's foster brother plants stolen money on her and the cops are called. While Sutton had said that she didn't want Emma to come visit yet, Emma can't wait now that the cops are after her. Sutton agrees to meet Emma at the bus station where she surprises Emma with her brilliant plan- Emma will take her place for two days while she follows a lead for their birth parents in LA. I figured that she was going to look for Thayer, but the episode doesn't go that far. They agree to meet at a cabin in two days to switch back.

Emma goes to Sutton's house and meets Sutton's family. There are quite a few scenes with the parents as Emma tries to find out more about why she was left behind. She's also enjoying the feeling of being loved and wanted, even if they don't know it's not Sutton. And while she is acting differently (more agreeable), they don't question who she is.

Neither do her friends or her boyfriend, Luke (I'm skipping over their stuff because it's mostly about Emma trying to be Sutton). The only person who notices something different about her is Ethan. Emma notices Ethan watching her everywhere she goes and finally accuses him of stalking her. Later, he kisses her and then tells her that she is not Sutton. She insists that she is, but doesn't know that Ethan had been Sutton's secret boyfriend for a while. I almost laughed at that part. Who has a secret boyfriend? And what guy would want to be a secret boyfriend while you had a fake one for show? This part is also quite different from the book.

It's time to meet Sutton anyway, so Emma goes to the cabin... but Sutton's not there. Ethan shows up as Emma is searching so Emma is forced to tell him what has been going on.

We finally see Sutton again at the very end of the show. She's in a car and someone opens the passenger door. It ends there.