Emily Alyn Lind as Cadence "Cady" Sinclair Eastman, the eldest grandchild of Harris and Tipper who suffers from memory loss after an accident and one of the Liars.
Caitlin FitzGerald as Penny Sinclair, the middle Sinclair sister and Cadence's mother
Mamie Gummer as Carrie Sinclair, the eldest Sinclair sister and Johnny's mother who is a recovering drug addict. She is in a long-term relationship with Ed.
Candice King as Bess Sinclair, the youngest Sinclair sister and Mirren's mother
Rahul Kohli as Ed Patil, Carrie's long-term significant other and Gat's uncle
Shubham Maheshwari as Gat Patil, Ed's nephew and one of the Liars
Esther McGregor as Mirren Sinclair Sheffield, Bess' eldest daughter and one of the Liars
Joseph Zada as Johnny Sinclair Dennis, Carrie's eldest son and one of the Liars. He has a problematic temper that causes tension between his mother and grandfather
David Morse as Harris Sinclair, the patriarch of the Sinclairs who owns the Clairmont House on his private island known as Beechwood Island. He uses his money to hold over his daughters' heads.
Recurring
Wendy Crewson as Tipper Taft Sinclair, Harris's wife and the matriarch of the Sinclairs
Dylan Bruce as Brody Sheffield, Bess's husband and Mirren's father
Dempsey Bryk as Ebon, a teenage water taxi driver and Mirren's love interest
The wealthy Sinclair family arrives on Beechwood Island for "Summer 16" (when the oldest grandchildren were 16). Cadence spends her time on the island with her cousins Mirren and Johnny, as well as Gat, her aunt's partner's nephew whom she has developed feelings for; the four teenagers dub themselves "the Liars". Cadence invites Gat to watch a meteor shower together, but Johnny convinces them to attend a boat party instead. Cadence leaves the party, upset, but Gat follows after her and they kiss. Two months later, Cadence washes up on the beach alone and with no memory of what happened.
Cadence has amnesia and severe migraines after the accident. With no contact from the remaining Liars, she spends the year withdrawn from life, self-medicating with painkillers and alcohol. She arrives on Beechwood Island the following summer, determined to find out the truth about the accident, which her family has been keeping from her. In flashbacks, Gat clashes with the Liars over their privilege. He also acts strangely toward Cadence after the kiss, and she finds out that he has a girlfriend back home. After the family spends Father's Day together, Tipper dies in her sleep.
Cadence confronts Harris about his decision to rebuild and modernize Tipper's beloved Clairmont house. In flashbacks, the Sinclairs attend Tipper's funeral. Blake Beaumont, Johnny's rival, is also at the funeral, and Johnny is surprised to find out that he has been sexting Mirren. Johnny angrily accuses Blake of using Mirren to provoke him, and the two get into a physical altercation that escalates into a heated exchange before they are interrupted by Cadence. Meanwhile, Penny, Carrie, and Bess fight over Tipper's black pearl necklace, leading Harris to harshly reprimand them and cut them off.
In flashbacks, the Sinclairs celebrate the Fourth of July, despite the loss of Tipper. Each facing their own financial difficulties, Penny, Carrie, and Bess plan to win back Harris's favor. Carrie admits to Harris that she drained her savings to solve a problem Johnny got into. She later rejects Ed's marriage proposal to appease Harris, who does not approve of the relationship. Meanwhile, the Liars throw their own party, and Cadence gets drunk and flirts with several boys in an attempt to get over Gat. Gat later tells her that he broke up with his girlfriend, and the two share a romantic moment. Mirren sleeps with a cute teenage water taxi driver, Ebon. In the present, Cadence unlocks Johnny's phone and watches a blackmail video from Blake, showing Johnny violently assaulting another boy.
In flashbacks, Penny, Carrie, and Bess each instruct their children to stay in Harris's good graces to ensure their financial security. As tensions rise between the sisters, a storm rolls in. Mirren and Ebon stay in the lighthouse and have a romantic moment and sex again, and it seems like they're catching feelings. The family panics when they realize that Johnny's brother, Will, is missing. Gat and Johnny take a boat out to sea to save him, but nearly drown before being saved by Ed. Johnny later confesses to Gat that he assaulted a member of a rival tennis team in a prank gone wrong, and that his mother had to pay everyone off to preserve the family name. In both the present and in a flashback, Cadence and Gat have sex.
6
"When Lies Gives You Lemons"
So Yong Kim
Gursimran Sandhu & Allison Sanchez
June18,2025(2025-06-18)
In flashbacks, Gat's mother, Maya, visits Beechwood Island during the Sinclairs' annual lemon hunt. Harris states that whoever collects the most lemons will receive the family's Boston home, and whoever finds the lime will be the sole inheritor of Beechwood Island. While the Sinclairs frantically scour the island, Maya expresses concern over Gat suppressing his true self to fit in with the family. The hunt culminates in an argument between Cadence, Mirren, and Johnny, before Gat reveals that he found the lime, locked away by Harris. The cousins, realizing they were manipulated, give all of their lemons to Gat. Rather than awarding Gat the Boston house, Harris instead recommends him for an internship that will keep him away from Beechwood Island the following summer.
In flashbacks, tensions come to a head at a family dinner where Penny, Carrie, and Bess air out each others' secrets and Cadence, Mirren, and Johnny sabotage any chances of inheriting Harris's estate. After Cadence accuses Harris of being bigoted toward Ed and Gat, Harris slips and hits his head. While the sisters rush him to the hospital, Penny instructs Cadence to find the last draft of his will and to burn it if it does not favor them. Left alone on the island, Cadence rallies the Liars to commit a multimillion dollar arson, burning Clairmont to the ground in an act of rebellion and purification, not revealing that Harris bequeathed Beechwood Island to her.
Though Cadence remembers the fire, she still does not know how Summer 16 ended. For her 18th birthday, Harris gifts her the black pearl necklace, which triggers an episode of flashbacks. The Liars arrive to comfort her, but Cadence confronts them about abandoning her after the accident. The Liars tell her the truth; while carrying out the conspiracy to commit a multimillion dollar felony arson, she lit the house prematurely, killed the three of them, and has been speaking to their ghosts. Cadence tries to return the necklace to Harris, but he calls her entitled and tells her that he lied about the cause of the fire to protect the family. Instead of indulging his wishes and speaking to a reporter for a puff piece about their family, or turning herself in for murder, Cadence leaves the island, stating that she was once a Sinclair, but will always be a Liar.
In March 2024, it was announced that Nzingha Stewart would direct the first episode of the series.[7]
Casting
An open casting call for the series' four lead roles was posted on Lockhart's Instagram page on April 1, 2023.[8][9] On May 30, 2024, it was announced that Emily Alyn Lind, Subham Maheshwari, Esther McGregor, and Joseph Zada were cast as Cadence, Gat, Mirren, and Johnny, respectively.[10][11]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 60% approval rating based on 25 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "We Were Liars might be Succession-lite, but its juicy family dynamics mixed with psychological intrigue will leave viewers amply satisfied and quietly shattered."[21]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 53 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average".[22]
Reviewing the series for The Age, Kylie Northover gave a rating of 4/5 and described it "essentially a junior Succession, but there's enough adult soapiness for We Were Liars to appeal to a broad audience.[23] Lauren Thoman of TheWrap said, "Overall, We Were Liars is a solid entry into the hazy summer melodrama canon, sitting comfortably beside other twisty, sun-soaked series like Big Little Lies and Cruel Summer.[24]
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