Desperate Lies Review: Ginormously Lengthy and Devoid of Logic

In Desperate Lies, we get a crash course on Heteropaternal superfecundation that leaves our protagonist, Liana, in shambles. The series has 17 episodes, each with a runtime of around 60 minutes.

Desperate Lies Netflix is such a melodramatic and sensationalized watch that it makes you cringe but glues you to the screen at the same time. With 17 episodes to hate these characters who seem to be neither mature nor moral, the series tests your patience and leaves you burning with a sort of passion that makes you go undone.

The story here is that Liana has two kids, fraternal twins, one with her husband Tomas and one after she is raped by her best friend’s brother. The rape part is hardly acknowledged for some reason and we immediately run out to understand the family dynamics that this gives birth to (hehe). You know this can’t be healthy, especially without any therapy, and as the adults make one bad decision after another, you feel the life draining out of you.

My problem with this series is that it tries to manufacture conflict when there are easier solutions. Many times through this huge show, Liana and Tomas had the option of taking care of their family without getting into the drama but their passive attitude gets on your nerves because they never really do anything permanent to keep Oscar away. Over and over again this man tries to invade their lives but other than screaming about it with each other, there’s hardly anything done. The storyline drags on for hours on end and drops off one insane dramatic moment after another, slowly turning your brain into mush.

That being said, for all the drama llamas like me, this is going to be a salacious and juicy watch. There’s a ton of twists and turns as Liana and her family cope with the adults’ bad decisions and it definitely keeps you occupied, to say the least. As characters try to ignore this huge elephant in the room that threatens their peace and security, you munch on popcorn and watch on as you pray that this doesn’t befall you.

Another problem with Desperate Lies Netflix is the fact that none of these characters are moral in any way. Liana and Tomas, although not evil, cannot differentiate between right and wrong. They lash out at the wrong people, do not go to therapy and thus are unable to cope during stressful times and are a menace in general. On the other hand, we have Oscar, who is a rapist so there’s that and his sister Deborah, who is okay with her brother raping her best friend and doing illegal things. You can’t really root for anyone as none of them are rational adults, leaving you to question who you are expected to follow here. Everyone makes your head hurt.

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The only relationship that is actually without drama is between Liana and Silvia – the latter of whom is the person with the least red flags. These two share such a loving bond, which is sometimes rare for melodramas like this one. However, that’s the extent of the feel-good factor. There are several very triggering sequences that show Liana’s assault in several episodes – it feels cheap and a forced attempt at getting a reaction out of the audience. The bad decisions and plot holes are unrelenting and make you slowly lose your mind as you go through the episodes and you question the validity of everything that you’re seeing after a while.

I feel like the series’ long episodes sometimes rush through moments and jump through several sequences while slowing down at moments that don’t need that much attention. While sometimes Desperate Lies gives you whiplash, at other times it focuses on such bland moments for minutes on end that you lose interest. The juicy drama is great, sure, but the pacing is not balanced out to be enjoyed. Plus, the lack of logic is just so blatant that it will make you cringe at times.

That being said, the series features some fantastic performances from everyone, especially Vladimir Brichta, whose portrayal of Tomas as he slowly loses his bearings concerning the insanity in his personal life is especially striking. Juliana Paes is great as well but her character is given some of the worst character progressions I have ever seen, making us not want to follow her at all.

Desperate Lies Review: Final Thoughts

Desperate Lies isn’t like the other salacious shows on Netflix that are all sex and no substance. The series discusses the negatives of building a fortress of lies that will inevitably crumble and how lying to oneself never makes that lie the truth. However, the show’s downfall is that it is too long and that there are too many plot holes to ignore. None of the characters make any sensible decisions making us hate them and things happen without rhyme or reason only because they need to catch the audience’s eye. If this was a shorter series, I would’ve made an attempt to recommend it. But at 17 episodes, it simply can’t hold onto your interests.

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