Lie to Me : What happened to Tim Roth between S2 and S3?

Roth developed all these mannerisms, such as the shambling walk and his mouth always hanging open that appear artificial and actorly. He no longer is believable as Cal Lightman.
This series has stopped being enjoyable and now I can see why it was cancelled.

Also, he suddenly yells " Oi ! " a lot too .

I was just coming here to make the same statement. Well, to say "I gave up early in Season 3".

(And just for the record, it was a change in Dr. Lightman, not Tim Roth)

What the hell happened?

The mannerisms were annoying (I've only watched 2 episodes of season 3), but more annoying was the change in the character.

First, on the topic of the mannerisms. I began wondering if Tim Roth developed Parkinson's Disease. That's not a joke. The way he was constantly moving reminded me of episodes of Spin City after Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's became worse. The constant movement was a ploy to cover the muscular twitches of the disease (I believe that's an accurate description). It was so prevalent, it was distracting.

What I found even more annoying than the new mannerisms and the increased swagger, was the lack of humanity in the character. Sure, we understand that Dr. Cal Lightman is an egotist and a hothead. He's brash, resents authority (except his own), and likes to do things his way. But all through Seasons 1 and 2, in addition to those characteristics, we also saw a humanizing, softer side.

In the two episodes of Season 3 that I watched, the only endearing behavior he demonstrated was with his daughter Emily. In the first two seasons, we saw compassion for Foster, Loker, Reynolds and Torres as well as for his daughter, mother and ex-wife. Those glimpses of decency kept us engaged, kept us rooting for him. Season 3 Lightman is just an ass.

Maybe later in Season 3 there's some explanation as to why the change in his personality, but I couldn't stomach any more. I don't always want a happy ending, and I appreciate realism, but I can't watch a show in which the protagonist is such a complete ass. The writers really screwed up a good thing. It's no wonder that viewership dropped and the show was cancelled.

By the way, I've been a Tim Roth fan since Gridlock'd. And Kelli Williams. Wow! Anytime she was on-screen, she had me in the palm of her hand. She conveys emotion so powerfully that I'm just drawn to her character. (Reminds me of the way I've viewed Maria Bello's acting) To me, Dr Foster was by far the most under-developed character. It would have been nice to see Kelli Williams given more screen time.

when s2 ended they said that they wanted s3 to be edgy. i kinda thought that that was not what would be good direction. it would be more nice to go on the direction they originally had but hell what i know right? in the end s3 was indeed edgy. everyone was stressed and on the move and couldnt settle for a second for more character development maybe. in the end their approach didnt turn up to be right one after all

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when s2 ended they said that they wanted s3 to be edgy. i kinda thought that that was not what would be good direction.

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in the end their approach didnt turn up to be right one after all

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Exactly. They killed the show by changing him into an unlikeable a$$, with no respect for other peoples feelings or professional skills. He became a weird, twisted parody of season one's Cal Lightman. Bad move.

- Actually, he's described very accurate by the self help "Guru", John Stafford, in S3EP06: "Beyond Belief"

You ever wonder how people see you, Dr. Lightman? You override people, ignore them. And when you feel threatened, you get mean - you're a bully, Dr. Lightman!



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But that's just my opinion. [smile]

A little late reply but

I just found this show and have been watching it for the past two weeks, and as soon as I started Season 3 episode 1, I felt the change in tone in the show. I was so thrown by the lack of humanity and Lightman being such an ass that I had to come to the board and see if everyone else did feel the same. If this was their idea of edgy Lightman had such interesting relationships with his colleagues and now he just bashes them all the time and even starts driving stakes between himself and Foster (his best friend!), but what I really can't stand is how he treats Loker (who's just trying to do his best).

I'm really sad cuz I liked the first season and most of season 2 but now I don't know if I want to finish.

Well, even in the first seasons he's a lot like House (in a way, this entire show is a lot like it) and I've always thought they wanted to make him look like House even more. Too bad they completely botched that though.