One of Us Is Lying Season 1 Episode 1 Recap – Pilot

Simon Kelleher writes a blog post through his AboutTHAT app, boasting he knows what happened to everybody during summer and won’t think twice about posting it. He mentions that his post got half of the basketball team expelled, broke up lots of couples, and revealed who the addicts and anorexics are the previous years. He threatens to take down four of Bayview’s biggest offenders come Friday.

He gives a preview: “I have a bad report card on a straight-A student making her AboutTHAT debut. She might be top of her class, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get her thrown out on her ass.” Bronwyn Rojas reads the preview at their house as she eats breakfast her mom prepared. Her mom reminds her the semester determines whether or not she gets into Yale.

“Now, I know you school spirit sheep can’t wait to cheer on the Wildcats this year. But trust me, I’ll be the real winner when I reveal one MVP’s sweaty locker room secret.” Cooper Clay reads this as he does his morning jog. His dad reminds him the game he’s playing that Friday is Major League Scouts.

“I know you all like a good love story, but I prefer a bad one. So I can’t wait to tell you which of Bayview’s varsity skank squad isn’t as wrapped around her boyfriend’s finger as much as you might’ve thought. Turns out, she’s been wrapped around another guy’s… well, you know.” Addy Prentiss reads this as she gets dressed for school. Her mom tells her Jake has arrived. Jake comes. They kiss and have sex before leaving. When they get out, Addy is shocked to see TJ and Vanessa waiting for them. They were carpooling to school because TJ crashed his jeep.

“My final story on Friday will be about one of my regulars: Bayview’s most eligible felon. I know, even I’ve gotten bored writing about how everyone wants to fuck a bad boy. But believe me, I’ve got so much fresh dirt, his probation officer’s gonna fuckin’ bury him in it.” Nate Macauley wakes up beside Amber and puts his pants on. On his way out the door, Amber’s boyfriend bumps into him. He chases Nate, but he gets away with his motorcycle.

Simon walks with his best friend, Janae Matthews, in school as he rants about the school looking like a clichè. They get seated, and Simon publishes another post. She warns Simon he should not be posting on campus because he might get shut down by Principal Gupta. He tells her the principal cannot trace it back to him because his VPN makes it look like he just posted from Japan.

He posts about FJ, the new girl who sits with the theater nerds. He writes she got kicked out of her former school for stabbing her English teacher. Everyone’s phones beep, and everyone moves away from FJ.

Bronwyn attends AP Physics and gets detention when a phone rings from her bag. She tells the teacher the phone was not hers but to no avail. The teacher confiscates the phone and tells her she will get it back after detention. After class, Evan, Bronwyn’s boyfriend, approaches her and asks if she’s ready to school him in debate. She tells him she needs to stop by detention first. He says he’ll wait for her in the cafeteria.

On her way to detention, Bronwyn looks at the post that’s seemingly about her in AboutTHAT. Simon lurks behind her and tells her he’s flattered; he didn’t know she was a fan. She tells him she’s not a fan. He tells her he thought that she, of all people, would get that what he’s doing is public service.

In detention, Ms. Avery gives Addy, Cooper, Nate, Bronwyn, and Simon instructions about the essay they are to write while in detention. Simon asks permission from Ms. Avery to get his water from his locker. Ms. Avery tells him he can survive without water for 45 minutes. When Simon tells her he can‘t due to xerostomia, the teacher tells him he can get water from the water cooler.

Simon gets water and returns to his desk when they get distracted by an egg thrown into the window of their room. They look out and see the Laguna guys causing scandal downstairs, wearing only their underwear. Ms. Avery hurries and leaves. Simon asks Addy if she recognizes any of those asses, given that she sleeps with jocks. Addy tells him he’s pathetic. He then turns to Cooper and asks the same thing, saying he might recognize them from the locker room. Copper tells him he does not stare into other guys’ asses. They see them get away. Simon boasts no one would get called out in the school if it weren’t for him. He says there are so many privileged people in school who think they can get away with anything because the rules don’t apply to them.

Simon coughs and takes another sip of water. He coughs even more and starts to have difficulty breathing. He falls to the floor. Bronwyn calls 911. Nate and Cooper rummage through his belongings in search of his EpiPen. Addy freezes as she watches the rest get help for Simon. Nate sends Cooper to the nurse’s office to get an EpiPen. Cooper returns and tells them the nurse isn’t there, and the box is empty — he doesn’t have the EpiPen.

The paramedics come and take Simon to the hospital. Addy goes to the field to see Jake and tells him she was so scared. Keely meets Cooper in the gym to check him. She mentions Simon’s post about the jock with a secret and says she’s worried Simon might know. Cooper tells her not to worry because it can be anybody. They kiss then Keely leaves.

Bronwyn spends some alone time outdoors, listening to music. Nate sees her and asks if she needs a ride. He sits beside her and talks about what just happened. Bronwyn tells Nate she’s sorry about his mom; she meant to call. Nate tells her it’s okay and asks her again if he can give her a ride home. She gives in on the condition that Nate goes slow.

They arrive at Bronwyn’s house just as her phone rings. She takes it out of her bag. Nate sees she has Simon’s laptop. He was supposed to ask about it, but Bronwyn tells him Simon is dead.

The next morning, Principal Gupta addresses the whole school and tells them Simon passed away after suffering from an allergic reaction. This takes Janae by surprise. The principal says they will honor Simon at the following night’s football game. Right after the assembly, Janae asks Addy if Simon was scared or if he suffered. Janae even asks if they tried to help him. Addy stutters as she tries to answer, so Jake tells her she doesn’t need to answer Janae’s questions — she has been through enough.

Evan sees Bronwyn and asks her if she’s still up for their plan for the following night. She says she’s coming. Nate passes by; she calls him. He asks him how she’s been, and she tells him she couldn‘t sleep. She tells him they should talk later.

Nate, Addy, Cooper, and Bronwyn get called to the principal’s office. While waiting outside the office, Addy tells Cooper the nurse got fired. They are introduced to Officer Miller, who wants to ask questions about Simon’s death. Officer Miller explains Simon died of anaphylactic shock from his peanut allergy. They found traces of peanut oil in the cup he used during detention. She tells them they need to know how the peanut oil got there and why there were no EpiPens in his bag and the nurse’s office.

Officer Miller talks to the students one by one and reveals Brownyn is a bit competitive with Simon — they both want to be valedictorian. According to the logs, Addy supposedly went to the nurse’s office the day of Simon’s death. Cooper’s school transfer might not only be because of baseball. Nate is currently on probation for drug dealing. After being questioned, Officer Miller tells them they have not found Simon’s bag or laptop and asks them if they might know where it is. Nate tells her they thought the paramedics took it.

Nate comes by Bronwyn’s house and tells her if she has Simon’s belongings, she should get rid of them. Bronwyn tells him she doesn’t have them, but if she did have them, it‘s because she wanted to return them to him when he got better — Simon lives next door. After he leaves, Bronwyn goes outside to bring Simon’s things to their house but changes her mind and puts it in the trunk of their car.

Cooper arrives home. He‘s surprised to see Keely is there with his family waiting for him. After dinner, Lucas confronts Cooper about Keely. Lucas tells him he should break up with her. It is not fair to lie to her when he knows he’s gay. Cooper tells Lucas that Keely is the first person he told about his secret.

Nate comes home to find his dad passed out drunk on the couch. He receives a text from Amber asking for some drugs, so he gives Amber the pills. She asks him to stay, but he refused. He heads out and gets beaten by two guys after getting his cash.

The next day, Addy, Jake, TJ, Vanessa, Cooper, and Keely are in a jacuzzi talking about the dedication game to Simon. Jake says he wants to know about his last post. Vanessa asks why he did not just drink the peanut oil on Monday so he could have revealed who he was referring to in his previews. This gets too much for Addy, who is still freaked out about what happened. She walks out, goes to the bathroom, and takes some pills. TJ follows her and tells her he will not tell anybody about them. Addy tells him Simon knew, and the post about cheating was definitely about them. She tells him their secret died with Simon, and if anybody ever finds out, he will regret it.

At the football stadium, Bronwyn, Maeve, and Evan arrive. Nate gives money to the guy manning the food station. The guy tells him he’s short. Nate explains he was robbed and takes the one-week lead time he has been given to pay up the difference. He approaches Maeve and asks about Bronwyn. Maeve points toward where Bronwyn is, and Nate sees she’s with Evan. He leaves.

Principal Gupta calls Janae on stage to sing the national anthem and signal the start of the dedication game. Instead of singing the national anthem, Janae sings her “Fuck You” rendition until the principal gets the mic back. Bronwyn and Evan get out of the football stadium; so does Nate. He goes to Amber’s after receiving a text from her.

At the party after the game, Addy and Jake enjoy themselves in the pool when everybody’s phones start beeping. A post from Simon’s blog goes live — a confession. Whoever wrote the post says Simon is a person anyone can get away with killing because everybody hated him. The anonymous author also says everyone wanted Simon dead but only he had the guts to do something about it.

Cooper goes to his gay lover’s apartment. Nate wakes up beside Amber. Bronwyn looks for Simon’s laptop where she left it, but it isn‘t there anymore.

Our Thoughts

Woah, so who killed Simon, and where has his laptop gone? If you think about it, the author of the latest blog post is correct: everybody hated Simon. What does he want anyway? We don’t think what he’s doing is public service. If anything, he wants to be famous, and he’s doing it at the expense of others’ privacy. But we certainly don’t think he deserves to die for what he’s doing. We want whoever killed him to pay for what he’s done, but who do we go after?