Warning: This article includes MAJOR SPOILERS for We Were Liars!
Although the ending ofWe Were Liarsseason 1 reveals a shocking twist, the show provides many subtle hints that are easy to overlook or miss.Based on the titular book by E. Lockhart, We Were Liars weaves together a teen mystery drama that keeps you guessing until the very end. The story follows Cadence “Cady” Sinclair, a rich teen who spends every summer on her family’s private island. On Summer 16, she has a terrible accident that leaves her with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic amnesia.
Against the wishes of her mother, Cadence tries to piece together what really happened that night. By theend of We Were Liars, she figures out that she and the other three Liars decided to get back at the Sinclair family for being a dysfunctional, privileged, toxic mess. They lit the house on fire. Unfortunately, Gat, Johnny, and Mirren get stuck inside. As such, the characters in Summer 17 are actually just ghosts who have come back to help Cady. While it’s a genuinely shocking reveal, We Were Liars provided many subtle and not-so-subtle hints about the truth of that night.
12Cadence Asking Gat If He’s Real In A Flashback
Gat & Cady’s Introduction Foreshadows The Ending
One of the first hints that the Liars were actually dead the whole time is Cadence’s introduction to Gat. She asks him, “Are you real?” and he says, “I think so.” It’s easy to write it off because Cady was obsessed with fairytales, and she hadn’t noticed anyone who looked different from her on the island before. However, in reality, it foreshadows the fact that Gat, Johnny, and Mirren aren’t living beings during Summer 17. They exist in an ambiguous state between real and imaginary.
11Nobody Else Interacts With The Liars In Summer 17
The Liars Are Isolated From Their Family
Throughout the show, the Sinclair family is seen around the Liars in summer 17, which hides the fact that Gat, Johnny, and Mirren are dead. However, there’s one small detail that hints at the truth. NoWe Were Liarscharactersever talk directly to the other Liars besides Cadence.They only ever speak directly to Cadence.Considering the Sinclairs basically hate each other, viewers could write it off as there being grudges or favorites.
In reality, the family cannot talk to the other Liars because they’re ghosts appearing to Cady to help her process her grief. The only person who maybe can see them is Carrie, who interacts with Johnny’s ghost at the end of We Were Liars.
10The Bookstore Calls Cadence’s Mom To Take Her Home
Gat Couldn’t Take Cady Home Because He’s A Ghost
In We Were Liars season 1, episode 6, “When Lies Gives You Lemons,” Gat and Cadence go to the library so she can look up the news about the accident. However, she has an episode and ends up back home on Beechwood Island. Gat says he couldn’t do anything to help her, so they called Cady’s mom, Penny, to get her home.
This hint is very subtle because it makes sense that a teenage boy wouldn’t know how to help his friend with a TBI. However, the bookstore also would call Penny if Cadence had an episode while alone.
9The Neighbor Mentions Cadence Jumping Off The Cliff But Not The Liars
Cadence Is The Only Person Penny Mentions
One of the reckless choices that Cadence makes while trying to recover her memories is jumping off the cliff into the water. Johnny and Gat are shown jumping in after her to save her from drowning. When Penny confronts Cadence about that, she says the neighbor saw her jumping off the cliff.
This is another instance where there’s a high number of plausible deniability. The neighbor could have not seen Johnny and Gat going in after her. They could have only mentioned Cadence jumping because they knew about the TBI. However, in retrospect, the other Liars aren’t mentioned because they’re ghosts.
8The Home Is Redesigned In A New Style
Throughout We Were Liars season 1, Harris seems like a man who is deeply stuck in his own ways. He likes to do the same traditions every year. He wants his family to look exactly the same – light-skinned with blond hair. He refuses to change his language to be less racist.
Because of this, it seems thatHarris would only ever redesign his home in a new style if he had no choice. While this alone wouldn’t indicate that the house was set on fire, it is one of the many hints that point to the twist ending.
7Johnny’s Mom Reacts Drastically To Seeing Her Son’s Phone
Johnny’s Mom Bawls When She Sees Johnny’s Phone
When Cadence suspects that Johnny might be hiding something, she goes looking for his phone. She unlocks it and finds the video evidence of her cousin beating a boy and leaving him to die. The shocking contents of the phone could have been the cause of Carrie’s distressed reaction. However, it’s revealed that she already knew about what Johnny did. As such, her drastic, emotional reaction to seeing her son’s phone is a hint that he’s actually dead.
6Bonnie Reacts Strangely To The “Ghost Story” Interaction
Bonnie Thinks Cadence Is Joking About Mirren Being A Ghost
When Cadence is lying out on the beach with Mirren, Bonnie comes down to lie with them. She asks Cadence to tell her a ghost story. She says she’s all out of stories and Bonnie should ask Mirren instead. Bonnie has a very strange reaction to this comment, acting like Cady’s statement was a really bad joke. Ultimately, the only way this statement would be a dry-humored joke is if Mirren was a ghost. That makes this moment one of the more obvious hints about the Liars being dead.
5Cadence Makes Up Memories About Gat In Summer 17
Cadence’s Memory Can’t Be Trusted
The first moment where Cadence starts to question her own grasp on reality is when she wakes up in her bed after the library incident. When she questions him about their first official date, Gat informs her that they never went to have ice cream or watch the sunset.
While it doesn’t directly hint at the fire or the Liars being dead, Cadence making up memories is probably the biggest hint that she is an unreliable narrator whose memory of the present-day or the past can’t be trusted. Up until this point in the story, only her memories of the past are in question.
4The Liars Didn’t Come To Visit Cadence In The Hospital
The Liars' Friendship Is Strong Enough That They Should Have Visited
One of the most pressing questions that Cadence has when she returns for Summer 17 is why none of the Liars came to see her in the hospital, called her on the phone, supported her during her recovery, or even just contacted her.The group essentially went from being best friends to disappearing all of a sudden.
It would be difficult to make the leap from “they didn’t visit” to “they’re dead” without further pieces of the puzzle. However, it ends up being a significant but easily forgotten or overlooked early hint about the end twist.
We Were Liarsseason 1 continues to provide hints about the truth all the way up until the reveal about Cadence’s accident. This includes a statement from Ed in episode 7 that’s utterly harrowing in retrospect. When he talks about whether the Liars can be better than their parents, Ed tells him that they have a whole life ahead, and they can choose how to live it. Ed’s statement is very, very subtle foreshadowing that the Liars will take some kind of drastic action to change the Sinclair family for good.
