A surprise character death in the We Were Liars second episode seems to set the tone for the rest of the season as more Sinclair family secrets are unveiled.
The second installment, titled “Wrap Her Up in a Package of Lies,” opens with Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind) waking up in a hospital bed following the mysterious accident at the end of Summer 16.
“Here’s what I do remember, I shared a perfect kiss with Gat on the beach in June and I woke up in the hospital in August,” Cadence tells the audience. “Everything that happened in between is lost in the black hole of my brain injury.”
A montage of Cadence’s recovery shows her popping pain medication, chopping off her blonde hair and dying it a dark brown. The character’s voiceover reveals that she has amnesia triggered by her Traumatic Brain Injury.
“The Liars haven’t spoken to me all year, the pills only work for the headaches, but to cure the heartache, I need to know the truth,” the voiceover continues. “I have to return to Beechwood.”
Cadence convinces her mother Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald) to take her back to Beechwood for Summer 17. When they arrive on the island, things have changed. Her grandparents’ home has been completely redone — and kind of resembles a prison — while Carrie (Mamie Gummer) is pacing Beechwood at night as a result of her insomnia.
The episode is told through flashbacks between Summer 16 (ahead of the accident) and Summer 17 (present day) as Cadence starts to get her memory back after reuniting with The Liars.
In Summer 16, Cadence discovers that her kiss with Gat (Shubham Maheshwari) means he cheated on his girlfriend at home. The two get into a huge fight, which ends with Cadence in tears and drinking with Johnny (Joseph Zada).
Present day Cadence in Summer 17 finds a letter that Gat meant to send to his girlfriend — but never did. This leads to a confrontation between Cadence and her mom about why the family is keeping secrets about her accident.
“Did I try to kill myself, that night in the water? Is that why you’re telling everyone not to talk about it with me, because you’re scared I’ll do it again?” Cadence asks. Penny tells her that’s not what happened, but still doesn’t offer any answers.
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Back in Summer 16, the Sinclair family is celebrating Father’s Day and the moms are competing for Harris’ (David Morse) love with their gifts. When he doesn’t pick a favorite out of Penny, Carrie and Bess (Candice King), it’s revealed that there’s a missing sister.
“Let’s be real, we don’t stand a chance. None of us is going to be his favorite daughter. We grew up, we got messy, and Harris hates mess, so his favorite is always going to be the daughter that didn’t grow up,” Carrie explains, alluding to a potential sibling death.
The three women are sitting with their mom, Tipper (Wendy Crewson), outside for the remainder of the evening. When they get up to go to bed, it seems Tipper has fallen asleep — however, she fails to wake up.
“Beechwood is a fairytale in our castles made of sand, we ignore signs of trouble, we pretend our pain away,” Cadence’s voiceover says as Tipper’s body is discovered. “But not every fable ends happily, some stories have no heroes at all. Sometimes all the king’s horses and all the king’s men never do put the pieces together again. Sometimes, the castle crumbles.”
All episodes of We Were Liars season 1 are streaming now via Prime Video.
