One of Us Is Lying Season 1 Episode 3 Recap – One of Us Is Not Like the Others

Flashback to Cooper’s first day in Bayview: Keely switches places with Walt in giving Cooper the school tour because she likes him. While roaming the school grounds, Cooper bumps into Simon. Cooper apologizes. Simon says, “No worries, Cooper,” even before they got introduced. He says Cooper’s reputation precedes him as he walks away. Keely explains Simon is the mayor’s son and Bayview’s resident tech-genius-slash-anti-hero weirdo. She says he’s like a walking burn book, and he should steer clear of him; he has a way of knowing everything.

Back to the present, Addy waits for Jake to pick her up and texts him numerous times. Realizing he is not coming, she asks her mom for a ride. Ann tells Addy she should have spent time on her makeup if she really wanted Jake to listen because she cannot put the genie back in the bottle with just words.

Vanessa approaches Keely and Cooper as she talks about what everyone discovered about Addy. Vanessa asks Cooper if he’s not worried he will be next. Cooper tells her he doesn’t have anything to hide, so he’s not afraid. Addy passes them by and ignores them.

Bronwyn sees Addy and asks if she’s okay. Addy tells her Bronwyn shouldn’t expect her to believe it’s a coincidence that she forced her to confess her secret, and then it gets posted an hour later. Bronwyn tries to defend herself, but Addy says she doesn’t have time for her and goes to look for Jake.

Addy goes to the classroom and does not find Jake. She leaves immediately; TJ follows her. When TJ catches up with her, he explains he has not told anyone, but Addy does not believe him. TJ tells her he has been in love with her since 9th grade, but he didn’t tell her because he thought he did not have a chance with her. He assures Addy he might not have his life planned as Jake had, but he definitely would want to have a life with her.

Jake sees them talking closely and realizes TJ was the new boy-toy mentioned in the post. Jake comes at TJ and punches him. TJ fights back. Their fight attracts the school’s attention. Several students, including Vanessa, film it. Cooper stops them and is pushed against the lockers, hitting his shoulder hard. When the fight stops, Jake asks Addy if it is true. Addy tries to find her words but fails. She tells Jake she loves him, but Jake tells her she doesn’t. Vanessa approaches Addy and calls her out for sleeping with TJ. TJ tries to explain to Vanessa, but she walks out. Principal Gupta asks TJ to come with her to the office.

A new post goes live in AboutThat: “It’s your lucky day, Bayview. Spilling Addy’s secret was so fun, I think I’ll give you another one. We all know Bayview’s resident bad boy, Nate Macauley, deals drugs, but did you know he almost dealt a deathblow this summer when he sold to a junior who OD’d? Don’t blame the victim, though. Nate saw she was drunk on cheap liquor and bad ideas and still sold her the pills that almost killed her. Is this what will finally land him in jail?”

Evan comforts Bronwyn because she’s worried she’s next on Simon’s list. He tells her nobody would believe a rumor about her right away because she isn’t a drug dealer, unlike Nate.

Nate is smoking a joint at the cinema when he receives a text from his supplier saying he’s cut off and needs to find another job. Addy comes and smokes with him. She tells him she thinks Bronwyn is the one posting in AboutThat, and she knows Nate has a thing for her. Nate tries to deny it, but Addy tells him the way he looks at Bronwyn makes it obvious. Addy says she is the only one smart enough to pull the whole thing off, and she knows her secret and Nate. He tells her Bronwyn would never do it.

Copper and Bronwyn come and call them out for smoking weed. They try to pry who the girl who overdosed was, but Nate refuses to tell. Bronwyn tells them they have to figure out who’s posting the secrets. Addy quickly points out it cannot be her or Nate, so it just leaves Brownyn and Cooper. Bronwyn asks her why she thinks the one posting is one of them when it could really be anyone with the password. She suggests Janae might have the password because she was Simon’s best friend, and she might have taken over the blog as some tribute. Cooper tells her to stop pointing fingers because he thinks whoever is posting on AboutThat is doing it from Simon’s laptop. Since the laptop was in detention with the four of them, it can only be Bronwyn because he knows he didn’t take the laptop, and only Nate and Addy got screwed over. Nate tells him he cannot be sure because the night is still young.

Brownyn warns her parents at dinner and tells them something might be posted about her on the blog. Her mother tells her she has nothing to worry about because they know she has nothing to hide. Maeve scoffs and laughs at the thought that a teenager wouldn’t have secrets. She stops laughing when blood comes out of her nose. Bronwyn rushes to Maeve’s room to get her bag so they can go to the hospital and sees Simon’s laptop in her closet.

The next morning, Bronwyn tells Nate about Simon’s laptop. Nate asks her if she thinks Maeve’s posting their secrets, and she tells him she cannot be sure. Nate suggests they get the laptop from Maeve’s room so they can see what she’s been up to.

During lunch, Addy was supposed to join Vanessa, Keely, Cooper, and Jake, but Vanessa puts a bag in the chair next to her and tells her not to even think of sitting with them or coming back to cheer again.

Cooper remembers when she told Keely about his secret. Keely is in tears as he explains he needed to pretend like he was in love with her because he was scared Simon might figure out, and it would cost him his baseball career. Keely offers to continue pretending because her crazy ex hasn’t shown up since they started dating, and her parents trust him enough to allow her to have a social life again.

Back to the present, everyone gets notifications on their phones, and a new post goes live: “Breaking news on Bayview’s baseball MVP. Turns out Cooper Clay isn’t the natural talent everybody thinks he is. OJ isn’t the only juice fueling those fastballs…” Keely tells Cooper it is good news because it means Simon does not know about him. She says all Cooper needs to do is to play hard at the showcase and take a drug test right after so they’ll know he’s clean.

Bronwyn and Nate go to Bronwyn’s house to retrieve the laptop. On their way, they read the post about Cooper, which gave them the idea that Maeve couldn’t have done it because the laptop isn’t with her at the hospital. But when they got to Maeve’s room, the laptop was nowhere to be found. Bronwyn calls her mom and finds out that her dad brought the laptop to the hospital at Maeve’s request, and her dad is on his way back to the house at that very moment. Nate finds a picture of Maeve, Janae, and Simon, with Simon’s face scratched out.

Bronwyn and Nate hurry to get out of the house, but her dad gets there fast and catches Nate at the house. He grounds Bronwyn and confiscates her phone.

At school, Addy steals Janae’s phone. She reads her text messages to Simon and gets so shocked she drops the phone when she hears a school announcement asking her to proceed to the principal’s office. When she arrives, Addy gets asked who started the fight between Jake and TJ. She lies and says TJ started the fight so she can get on Jake’s good side.

Addy goes after TJ as he walks away after being given three weeks‘ suspension. He tells her he wishes she would see herself as he sees her, instead of thinking Jake is the best she can do. He explains he tried to keep their secret from coming out in all the ways, including ways he’s not cool with.

While practicing, Cooper’s father asks Cooper if the news is true. Cooper tells him he will never do anything to jeopardize everything they have worked for so far. His father tells him he sometimes does not know who Cooper is because of what he did in Mississippi and reminds him to make him proud the next day at the showcase. After his father leaves, Cooper throws a few balls against the wall until his shoulders hurt — he winces.

Flashback to Jake’s party, Simon tells Cooper he should tell his girlfriend he likes men after Cooper asks him to leave the party. He sarcastically tells Cooper he should relax because he has not outed anyone yet.

Back to the present, Kris gives Cooper a massage to relieve his muscle pain. They hear a knock on the door. Cooper panics a bit. Kris tells him it’s his dealer. He gets the door, and when Cooper hears it’s Nate, he hides in the closet. Kris asks Nate to come in and gets confused when he finds Cooper gone. Nate sees a Bayview High Wildcats hoodie on Kris’ bed but does not say anything. Nate leaves after telling Kris it is his last transaction for a while because he’s laying low.

Kris laughs at Cooper. “You in the closet, seriously?” Kris says. His smile fades when Cooper tells him he knows Nate. He realizes Kris is really not out yet. Copper explains gay and baseball don’t mix, and he has no choice but to stay in the close because baseball is a non-negotiable for him. Kris asks him what he’s going to do with his shoulder if that is the case.

Bronwyn goes to the hospital and confronts Maeve for stealing Simon’s laptop. Maeve tells her she just stole the laptop to hack into AboutThat and try to keep Bronwyn’s secret from dropping. She says she tried really hard, but she failed. Maeve shows her phone to Bronwyn. A new post in AboutThat reads: “First time this app has ever featured good girl Bronwyn Rojas. She’s top of her class, but about to take a mighty fall. She didn’t get that A in Chemistry through plain old hard work. Unless that’s how you define stealing exams from Mr. C’s filing cabinet. Someone call Yale.”

The next day, Bronwyn arrives at school with Evan waiting by her locker. He asks her if she’s okay, and Bronwyn asks him if he will ask if the post was true. He says he knows it’s not true, and he was just going to ask about Maeve. She tells him she’s being discharged soon. He kisses her goodbye and leaves. Brownyn closes her locker and gets surprised when she sees Nate. He hands her a phone and tells her she can use it if she ever needs to talk. “Aren’t we in enough trouble as it is, Nate?” she says. Nate sadly leaves.

Addy sees Bronwyn in a corner and asks if she’s okay. Bronwyn says she has been better and asks Addy if she thinks she’s still the one posting their secrets. Addy says she thinks she’s just the only one smart enough to pull it off, and it was meant to be a compliment. Addy tells her she stole Janae’s phone, and she knows Janae hates AboutThat, based on her messages to Simon.

Cooper meets Nate in a remote location and asks if he can get him some painkillers. Nate tells him he doesn’t deal with painkillers. Cooper tells him he needs to do well in the game that night because they moved there even when they cannot afford it so that he can play and get noticed. He explains his shoulder hurts, and he cannot play in that state. Nate tells him again he does not do painkillers. Cooper leaves.

Vanessa records a live video and insults Addy, saying she has no idea why she ended up with Jake. She says she just wanted a puppy and her parents said no, so she adopted Addy. Before she can continue, Jake comes and tells her to stop. Addy approaches Jake and tells him she’s glad he didn’t get suspended. Jake tells her they’re even and they’re done because he cannot trust her again. He even asks Addy if she killed Simon. “How could you ask me that?” Addy responds and then walks away.

Addy goes to the restroom and cries. She hears another person from a closed cubicle cry as well. She discovers it’s Janae and offers her help. Janae tells her to leave. Addy explains she has been crying for the past 48 hours and says if Janae needs tissues, she has plenty. She slides a pack of tissues into the cubicle and says it’s softer than toilet paper. Janae slides it back. Addy tells her she’s going to leave. She also says she’s sorry about what happened to Simon. She starts to walk away, but Janae comes out of the cubicle. Janae tells her Simon would find them talking to each other ironic because Addy had never said a word to her before. Addy tells her she’s free if she ever needs to talk. Janae tells her she’s better off without Jake, and she sucks 20% less.

In their house, Brownyn gives Maeve the photo Nate found of her, Janae, and Simon. She asks Maeve why she scratched Simon’s face. Maeve hesitates at first but eventually reveals she is in love with Simon. She explains they had a thing over the summer, and she thought he really liked her too, but then he ghosted her. She further says she stole the laptop to see if he had something on her and why he ghosted her, but mostly to help Bronwyn. Maeve asks why Bronwyn stole the laptop, and when Bronwyn refuses to tell her, Maeve says she’s just afraid anyone will find out she’s not perfect.

Before the showcase, Nate gives in and gives Cooper the painkillers. Cooper thanks him and asks him why he changed his mind. Nate explains he knows what it’s like to have people relying on him. He reminds Cooper what happened was a one-time thing, and he doesn’t deal painkillers because they fucked up his dad’s life, and it’s even worse than his mom being gone. Cooper shares that his mom is dead too, and he wasn’t old enough to remember, unlike him. Nate asks him how he’ll pass the drug test with those pills, but Cooper says he’s taking chances that they aren’t checking for painkillers. Nate leaves after wishing him luck. On his way out, Nate sees Kris.

The showcase starts, but before Cooper makes his first throw, he sees Detective Wheeler talking to Keely. He also notices Kris sitting on the bleachers. He gets a flashback: he does not give in to Simon’s threat to out him in AboutThat. Instead, he fights back and tells Simon he is a sad, pathetic bully, but he will never be able to bully him.

Cooper throws his first ball, and it reaches 91 mph. The crowd cheers.

While having dinner with her family, Bronwyn admits to cheating and explains she got stuck at 78 in Chemistry no matter how hard she studied. She explains she feared not becoming valedictorian and not getting into Yale, so she felt she needed to steal the exam questions for midterms and finals. She says she didn’t kill Simon. Her mom tells her that Robyn advises that even if the post is true, they should continue to deny it because it cannot look like Bronwyn has a motive. Maeve tries to argue, but their father declares that is the last time they will talk about what Bronwyn did.

The showcase ends, and Cooper does great. His family hugs him, and Keely comes to hug and congratulate him as well. The reporters come to take pictures. Keely takes the opportunity to kiss him. Kris sees this and walks away sadly. Cooper follows Kris to the parking lot and explains Keely is in on pretending. Kris tells him he’s great at being different people than throwing balls, and he doesn’t know what to do with it. “Goodbye, Cooper,” he says and leaves. From a distance, Detective Wheeler watches.

Feeling sad about what happened at dinner, Bronwyn finds herself using the phone Nate gave her. She calls Nate. Nate doesn’t answer at first because he thinks it is best not to talk to her, as she said. But Bronwyn calls again. He picks up and says, “You want more trouble, Rojas?” Bronwyn smiles.

Our Thoughts

If there is any consolation in this episode, the Bayview Four is starting to form a bond, given that most of them did not talk to each other before what happened. Maybe this was a good thing, and sadly, it took Simon dying for it to happen. Well, speaking of Simon, as the story develops, we learn how annoying and manipulative he is. We understand now why everyone hated him, because hey, we hate him too! Friendship starts to form between Addy and Janae, but we don’t know if we like it. What we do like is Bronwyn and Nate getting closer. No offense to Evan, but we think Bronwyn and Nate look good together.