THE LYING GAME: “When We Dead Awaken” Everything Changes

“The only way to win a lying game is not to play.”

I think I remember those words in “Wargames“. In tonight’s episode of The Lying Game, When We Dead Awaken, much is revealed and the entire episode leads us to believe that Sutton is dead, then she walks into her bedroom at the very end of the show. I was not fooled but I really loved the journey.

Emma is freaking out over the note and piece of Sutton’s dress that were contained in the gift box. Thayer tells Emma that this is how Sutton used to play her ‘lying games’, and then tells the story of one that she played on a girl at school who didn’t bow down to Queen S. Thayer says she did it the exact same way: stealing some of the girl’s person items then returning them to her in a white wrapped gift box with black ribbons. The girl caved and finally moved away, allowing Sutton to win. Thayer and Ethan convince Emma to continue playing the game until Sutton shows her next move.

At tennis practice, Emma notices a man watching her and taking notes. When she goes after him and asks him what he wants from her, Ted runs up and shakes the guy’s hand, welcoming him. Turns out he is a coach at the college being considered for Sutton to attend. She could get in on a complete scholarship. Emma decides to go with Ted to check out the college. When she starts to have second thoughts, she again tells Ethan she wants to give up the game and go to the police. As they drive up to Ethan’s trailer, they see Dan and Alec arguing. Of course, Emma changes her mind – again. Later, Ethan and Thayer tell Emma that going through with the college plans could be just the thing to draw Sutton out of hiding.

Rebecca completes the procedure committing Phyllis to rehab but the question of what to do with Char still remains. She tells Alec that she’d like to keep Char there with her but that Phyllis would freak out about it. In the end it is decided that Char will go live with her father until Phyllis recovers.

Laurel catches up with Ted and Justin on the golf course and shows Justin that her dad has recovered the bracelet for her. Justin mentions again how special it was and that it was on his mother when she died. Ted says, “It was a car accident, wasn’t it?” Justin looks very upset and just says that it was. What happened to his mother and why is Ted involved? Was Ted the reason for the accident? It’s very clear that Ted knows more about this and that Justin blames him for his mother’s death.

Later in the episode, Laurel meets Justin at school but he acts very cold and distant with her. You know that breakup is coming. When Laurel presses him, Justin finally calls it quits with her. When Emma returns from the college trip, Laurel tells her what happened and Emma advises her to make Justin explain himself to her. Laurel also tells Emma that for some odd reason, she thinks Ted is part of what changed Justin. When Laurel meets Justin later and tries to get him to go somewhere private so they can talk, he allows her to believe there is someone else. Poor Laurel.

Meanwhile, back at the trailer Ethan tries to get Dan to talk about the argument between him and Alec. At first Dan resists, but when Ethan tells him he see’s that Alec has some kind of hold over him Dan tells him about an incident that happened when Dan was about Ethan’s age. Apparently he had gone to a party with a really hot rich girls and got drunk there. Then he found out that this girl also popped pills and that night, she overdosed. Since Dan was the poor kid in the group he was made the fall guy and was facing time in jail for dealing drugs. Alec got him off completely so he feels he owes Alec his life.

Later, when Ethan is on a video chat with Emma, Dan comes up behind him and starts talking trash until Emma hangs up. Ethan yells at Dan and tells him that he and Dan are nothing alike because he has hope. Something that Dan lost when he became Alec’s bitch. Yikes, and good for Ethan!

When Ethan and Emma get together after her college trip, she tells him about a dream she has where she finds Sutton’s grave. She alarmed and thinks that Sutton may really be dead and she wants to tell the family. Just then Thayer arrives after being gone all day long. He tells Emma and Ethan that he now feels that Sutton is dead and he knows who killed her. Thayer did some digging and found out that Annie Hobbs escaped from the hospital a couple weeks ago and vanished. He suspects that she killed Sutton in an attempt to hide the fact that the girls are twins.

Emma finally decides that she’s going to tell the family everything, but when they all get to her house, they find no one home. Sitting in her bedroom, they are all recalling tender moments and memories involving Sutton, when suddenly she walks in the door. End scene.

Closing notes:

During this final scene we watch as Justin empties the contents of the box he has, into the fire while Ted is watching from the patio. What is in that thing?! We catch a glimpse of a newspaper article with partial headlines about an autopsy from a car accident victim. What happened to this woman?

Emma, Ethan and Thayer are puzzled by the fact that everyone seems to be afraid of Alec.

In a conversation between Rebecca and Kristin, Rebecca mentions that dealing with Char has been difficult because she is not her own child. Kristin mentions that dealing with kids is always difficult. Rebecca says, “I couldn’t just take someone else’s child.” Why did she say that to Kristin? Does she know all about the twins and what happened to Annie Hobbs all those years ago?

Where has Sutton been all this time?

We’ll have to wait until next week’s episode, Pleased to Meet Me, airing Monday, Jan. 16 at 9/8c, on ABC Family.