The return of ITV’s Liar has received a mixed response, and episode three last night didn’t fare much better with viewers branding an unexpected twist ‘unrealistic’ and ‘far-fetched’.
Season two focuses on the investigation into the murder of serial rapist Andrew Earlham (Ioan Gruffud), with multiple victims and their loved ones lined up as suspects.
In a series of tense sequences, it seemed that Carl Peterson (Howard Charles), the husband of one of Andrew’s victims, Winnie, was being revealed as the killer, as a flashback revealed he’d attacked Andrew, beat him and tied him up before throwing him in the sea.
Believing he’d killed a man, Carl was shown on the cusp of taking his own life, but later in the episode it was revealed that Andrew had somehow survived the drowning, despite spending an improbable amount of time underwater without running out of air.
The actual murder took place some three weeks later, at the hands of an unknown assailant.
Liar viewers were not convinced by a far-fetched plot twist that saw serial rapist Andrew Earlham miraculously surviving a drowning after Carl Peterson threw him into the sea on the ITV thriller last night
Andrew, who was shown floating in the water, managed to untie himself with a knife and swim to the shore
Viewers felt the twist, which saw Andrew spending an unnatural amount of time underwater without air was unrealistic
Last night’s episode focused on whether Carl Peterson was or wasn’t the person actually behind Andrew’s murder.
The revelations happened when Laura Nielson (Joanne Froggatt) visited Carl, accompanied by his wife.
Carl admitted to having waited for Andrew to get out of his boat, before beating and tying him up three weeks earlier.
‘I saw him, I saw Andrew coming off of a boat, he was talking to some guy in a blue cap’ he said, before adding he could not make out who that mysterious character was.
Carl (Howard Charles) was convinced he had killed Andrew and tried to take his own life in last night’s episode
‘I waited for him and I sailed him out to sea, What kind of man am I?’ he cried to his wife.
But Laura told Carl that he did not in fact kill Carl because the row on the boat had taken place three weeks earlier, and that she’d seen Andrew alive since then.
‘None of this make any sense, I just don’t understand how he could have survived that,’ Carl cried.
‘Well he did,’ Laura replied.
In a flashback sequence, the two men had it out in a tense scene where Carl was shown repeatedly striking Andrew in the head.
In a critical scene, Andrew taunted Carl about his wife, saying she ‘knew exactly what was going on’ when he raped her.
Andrew was shown floating underwater for some time before regaining consciousness (pictured)
The serial rapist managed to untie himself by cutting the cable used to tie him up with a pciket knife
Losing his temper, Carl then pushed the rapist into the sea, Andrew was then shown screaming into the water before floating, possibly unconscious, as memories of his son and his previous ‘date’ with Laura were shown on screen.
In the series of blink-and-you-miss-them recaps, Andrew’s relationship with his son Luke played out, as well as key interactions with Laura, including the moment the rapist asked her for a drink, and the actual drinks taking place.
In a stream of consciousness, Andrew was heard saying ‘I have to win, no matter what,’ as a smiling and relaxed Laura said ‘I am the same.’
‘She did this to me,’ Andrew was heard saying
This pushed Andrew, still floating in the water, to open his eyes dramatically before using his bare strength to untie himself.
Viewers did not buy last night’s twist, calling it far-fetched and linking Andrew to the escape artist Houdini
Grunting and struggling underwater to free himself, the rapist succeeded and was shown swimming to the surface where he gasped for air, before swimming the long way to shore.
This failed to impress viewers, who felt this far-fetched escape was the last straw.
‘Liar has become so unrealistic it’s a joke,’ one said.
‘As if he swam all that way. Who is he, f****** Aquaman?’ asked another,
‘Absolutely no idea why I put myself through these ITV dramas. However? *that moment* on ‘Liar’ was without doubt the most ludicrous plot driver I’ve ever witnessed. Not one element came close to being mentally/physically possible,’; said one.
Laura (pictured, played by Joanne Froggatt) assured Carl he did not kill Andrew, and that the rapist had found a way to survive the drowning
Andrew taunted Carl about his wife’s rape before her husband threw him out in the water (pictured)
‘So Andrew can be thrown overboard (hands tied) swim around, breath and shout under water then magic a knife out of his pocket cutting off cable ties before swimming 20 miles to shore,’ said another.
One incredulous viewer even compared Andrew to the escape artist Houdini: ‘Liar has became way too far fetched. Andrew is like Harry Houini remaining under water for so long and magically whipping that knife out.’
The second series of Liar follows Laura Nielson has she tries to prove her innocence in the murder of Andrew Earlham, who was proven to be a serial rapist in the 2017’s first season.
Winnie was another victim of Andrew that was grateful for Laura exposing the truth about him.
In last night episode, Laura, the prime suspect in Andrew’s number, assured Carl that he had not killed Andrew, because she had seen him after the boat show down, and that the police had place the rapist’s death at three days prior, not three weeks as Carl thought.