This New Thriller Series Features 1 of the Best Twist Endings of All Time (& It’s Perfect For The Good Place Fans)

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When it comes to the teen drama, Prime Video is leading the charge in keeping the genre alive. Their latest addition to the genre, We Were Liars, premiered this month, based on the beloved Young Adult novel by E. Lockhart. Adapting the book into an eight-episode format, the series follows Cadence Sinclair and her wealthy family on their private island. The series features two timelines, the first leading up to Cadence’s mysterious accident and the second being the following summer as Cadence tries to remember what happened to her.

The series features many subplots, all of which play into the main mystery of the show, with Cadence identifying potential suspects and motives as she pieces her memories together. The ending of the series reveals what happened to Cadence, shocking many viewers who hadn’t read the book. While a good plot twist can be difficult to execute, fans of shows with a shocking twist, like The Good Place, should definitely give We Were Liars a chance.

What Is We Were Liars About?

The Prime Video Series Is Based on a YA Novel

As previously stated, Prime Video’s We Were Liars is based on the bestselling novel by E. Lockhart, which was released in 2014. The novel followed the Sinclair family, with Cadence and her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, as well as their childhood friend Gat Patil, serving as the core group of characters known as the Liars. The novel debuted at #6 on the New York Times Bestseller List, winning the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult Fiction.

The novel follows the Sinclair family on Beechwood Island, where they spend their summers. The novel features themes of class disparity and privilege, with Cadence’s mother, Penny, constantly fighting with her sisters over their father’s inheritance. Given the popularity of the book, fans were excited when Prime Video announced that an adaptation was in the works, with TV producer and writer, Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) acquiring the rights alongside Universal Television.

The Cast and Storytelling Delivers a Shocking Twist

Fans of The Good Place Will Love the Twist of We Were Liars

The Prime Video adaptation of the series was announced back in December 2022, with the series being released on June 18 of this year. The series featured Emily Alyn Lind (Gossip Girl 2021) as Cadence, with Joseph Zada (The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping) as Johnny, Esther McGregor as Mirren, and Shubham Maheshwari as Gat. The supporting cast featured Candice King (The Vampire Diaries) as Bess Sinclair, Mamie Gummer as Carrie Sinclair, Caitlin Fitzgerald as Penny Sinclair, and Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass) as Ed Patil.

Based on the events of the novel, the series opens with Cadence, the eldest grandchild of Harris Sinclair, passed out on the beach. The series then flashes back between “Summer 16” and “Summer 17” as Cadence tries to remember the events of Summer 16 that led to her on the beach, and the head trauma that resulted from this accident. This series would be a great watch for fans of The Good Place, which featured a rather significant twist ending in its first season’s finale, revealing that the characters were actually in the Bad Place all along.

The Twist Ending of We Were Liars

The Series Gave Several Clues Leading up to the Reveal

The Prime Video series does a great job at adapting Lockhart’s mystery to the screen, with the flashbacks being handled rather well, with Cadence’s drastic change in hair color being a simple indicator to the audience regarding what point in the timeline they are viewing. After Cadence returns to Beechwood, she meets up with her cousins and Gat, who were forbidden to tell Cadence what happened to her on the night of her accident. As the series progresses, Cadence learns the truth; after spending the entire summer dealing with their moms fighting over inheritance, and Harris’ racism towards Gat and Ed (Harris made Carrie choose between receiving her inheritance or marrying Ed, as he didn’t approve of their interracial relationship).

The Liars decide to burn down the family home, Claremont, after their moms leave the island to take Harris to the hospital, hoping that it would give the family a fresh start. With the Sinclair cousins ready to light the fire at midnight, and Gat at the dock with the getaway boat, things start to go seriously wrong. Both Johnny and Mirren get distracted on the upper floors of the house as they prepare for the fire, so when Cadence lights the match, they are trapped.

Gat Patil is introduced into the Sinclair family as the nephew of Ed Patil, Carrie’s long-term boyfriend.

Initially, Cadence remembers running back into the house to save the family dogs, later remembering that her cousins hadn’t made it out either. After Cadence lights the fire, she remembers her late grandmother’s black pearls (which her mother and aunts had been fighting over all summer) and runs upstairs to retrieve them, causing her to be late arriving at the dock. Gat, worried something had gone wrong, ran into the burning mansion to save Cadence, dying in the fire as Cadence runs out towards the shore. The explosion ends up knocking Cadence into the lake, which explains why she woke up on the beach.

What made this twist most shocking was that when Cadence arrived at Beechwood in Summer 17, the other Liars were present, with her begging them to explain why they hadn’t contacted her all year. The reveal that they were actually dead the entire time made for a shocking reveal in the Season Finale. One of the final scenes of the series features the remaining members of the Sinclair family during a photoshoot for Time Magazine, after Harris gives Cadence the black pearls in exchange for playing the part of the surviving Sinclair grandchild, saying that he suspects the fire wasn’t an accident. When the Time magazine reporter asks Cadence about her family, she instead runs off to the dock, fleeing the island and throwing the pearls into the lake, choosing to leave the Sinclair lifestyle behind.

The Series Never Confirms if the Liars are Ghosts or Hallucinations

The Novel and Series Seemingly Imply Different Interpretations

Perhaps the biggest question left unanswered from this shocking reveal is whether or not the Liars in Summer 17 were ghosts or hallucinations. In the novels, it is pretty much confirmed that they were ghosts, foreshadowed by one of the younger Sinclair cousins (a character left out of the adaptation) saying that the island was haunted. The show, however, leans more into the idea of them being hallucinations, caused by Cadence’s head trauma and overuse of pills.

Once the twist is revealed, it becomes remarkable how obvious it actually was, with all the scenes including the Liars in Summer 17 only having them speak with Cadence, with the other members of the family basically ignoring their presence, as they were never actually there. This gives the series a rewatchability similar to The Good Place, with many fans rewatching the first season to spot clues towards the Good Place actually being the Bad Place.

While the novel describes two years in between Cadence’s accident and her return to Beechwood, the series has her return the following summer.

The series also provides a believable explanation of why Cadence was never told that the other Liars had died, with her mother explaining that every time she tried, Cadence would have panic attacks (or ‘episodes’ as the series called it), causing her to pass out and forget all over again. In the final moments of the finale, Ed and Carrie are seen leaving their house at the end of Summer 17, with Carrie going back inside the house to take a Percocet (having struggled with addiction in the past), causing her to see her son, Johnny. This pretty much confirms that the Liars’ presence in Summer 17 is hallucinations, with her only seeing him after taking her pill. This scene ends on a cliffhanger, leading to a potential second season.

The First Season Manages to Set Up a Potential Season 2 Mystery

The Cliffhanger Ending References the Plot of the Prequel Novel

In the cliffhanger ending, Johnny asks his mother if she had ever done anything bad in her past. This would line up with the plot of the prequel novel, Family of Liars, which would likely be the subject of adaptation if the series is renewed for a second season. The series did a good job in the finale of building up this ending, with Carrie sharing a moment with Bess on the dock. In this scene, Bess wonders if losing their children in the fire was divine punishment (a theme heavily discussed in The Good Place) and wonders why Penny was spared, as her daughter, Cadence, was the sole survivor.

Family of Liars tells the backstory of the three mothers during their teenage years, with Carrie dating a boy named Pfeff, leading to some drama with her sisters. This story would explain the “no boyfriends on Beechwood” rule mentioned throughout the first season, while also touching on the death of the fourth sister, Rosemary, who the series revealed had drowned as a child. The novel is narrated by Carrie, telling the story to the ‘ghost’ of Johnny, which is perfectly set up in the finale of We Were Liars.

The series has yet to be renewed, but it has reportedly been discussed, with Julie Plec and Carina Adly Mackenzie stating that there have been “endless conversations” with Prime Video on the second season. This potential season would likely feature an all-new cast, playing the younger versions of the Sinclair family. Fortunately, the first season’s mystery is wrapped up rather satisfactorily, so if the series isn’t renewed, fans won’t be too disappointed regarding unanswered questions.