Summary
A strong start to a promising season.
We recap the Peacock series One of Us Is Lying season 2, episode 1, “Simon Says Game On,” which contains spoilers.
All eight episodes of One of Us is Lying season 2 premiered on October 20th, meaning viewers can dedicate several hours to uncovering the mystery of who Simon Says is. The season opener follows the Murder Club in their futile attempts to return to being normal teenagers after the events of the first season. Of course, they can’t ignore a foe who’s threatening to reveal their secret about what happened to Jake.
Recap- what happened in One of Us Is Lying season 2, episode 1?
The first episode starts seconds after Bronwyn, Nate, Addy, Cooper, and Janae receive an ominous text from Simon Says (S.S.), letting them know their secret is not as well kept as they thought it was. At first, the Murder Club doubts S.S. has any concrete proof of what happened on Halloween night, and they decide to ignore their new foe’s attempt at blackmailing them for $5,000. Addy is the most in denial, and Janae’s concern for her is growing.
Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to move on from the unpleasant events from the first season. Cooper’s coming out is proving to be an asset to his baseball career as he’s about to land a sponsorship deal. His dad also seems more open to accepting his sexuality. Bronwyn’s mom briefly appears as pushy as ever, helping her prepare for the big Yale interview. However, when she has to attend the actual interview for the prestigious college, Bronwyn gets angry about a question referring to the events of last season and walks out. Nate decides to move out of his house after getting home to find his mom drunk.
Addy’s mom is as (un)supportive as she was last season. As the episode progresses, it becomes more clear that the young girl is not handling Jake’s demise too well. To make matters worse, S.S. sends her the gun used to kill Jake. She asks Janae to get rid of it, but Janae keeps it instead.
Vanessa spends most of the episode live-streaming her theories about Jake’s disappearance. She clearly doesn’t believe the story of him having murdered Simon and fled to Mexico, so she appears determined to get the “truth” out. In her attempts, she approaches both Maeve and Evan (Bronwyn’s ex from last season) for help. Speaking of Maeve, she reveals to Bronwyn that Janae’s been a bit distant since the kiss they shared, which she is finding more and more worrying.
In an attempt to restore the school’s good name, Principal Gupta has Nate start tutoring with Fiona, the girl Simon revealed to have stabbed her teacher. Nate and his new tutor seem to hit it off straight away. Perhaps another love interest for Bay View’s resident bad boy?
While most members of the murder club are trying to move on with their lives, Bronwyn sets a trap for S.S. by filling a bag with paper instead of money and staking out the meet-up spot. Unfortunately, Nate followed her, and while the two were busy arguing, they both missed their mysterious blackmailer opening the bag and discovering the ruse. S.S. proceeds to send another ominous text to the group, warning them they made a “BIG MISTAKE.”
The ending
Towards the end of the episode, Simon Says gets the Murder Club to meet back at the Hollywood Cinema, their old meetup spot. As they arrive, they find name tags for each of them on the front row seat. S.S. starts showing a video that’s a deep fake of none other than the dearly departed Simon. Fake video Simon tells the group that S.S. wants them to pay for hurting Jake. It’s also revealed that S.S. has a video from Halloween night, proving the Murder Club members were in the woods the night Jake disappeared.
The whole episode has been switching between the present day and flashbacks of that night. We learn that it was, in fact, Addy who pulled the trigger on her ex. As he was dying, the group considered calling for help, but Brownyn was against it. She let Jake die, then had Janae and Nate dispose of the body while instructing Addy and Cooper to go back to the party and pretend nothing happened. Bronwyn didn’t know for sure the Xbox recordings between Jake and Simon would exonerate Nate, and she was worried the police might arrest them anyway.
In the final scene, Addy, overwhelmed by guilt after Jake’s brother, Cole, confronts her outside her home, starts seeing her ex. As in, he appears to her as an actual ghost. He was creepy when he was alive, but he’s even more terrifying now he’s dead.
What did you think of One of Us Is Lying season 2, episode 1? Comment below.
