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The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and government agencies uncover the truth. But his skills also make it easier for him to deceive others.
“They're undeceivable.”
2009
A young woman approaches Lightman at his book signing, believing she has seen a murder. Lightman finds that the woman has multiple personalities, and he believes that one of her personalities witnessed the murder. Lightman passes off helping Agent Reynolds vet a potential Supreme Court nominee, instead choosing to pursue the case of the multiple-personality woman. The case is passed on to Torres, whom the nominee does not treat with respect due to her age. Torres puts her preconceived judgments about the man aside when she analyzes the facts. Lightman unlocks the woman's original personality, who helps Lightman find the original murderer. Zoe informs Lightman that she is taking their daughter, Emily, and moving to Chicago to open a law firm. Lightman buys out her stake in The Lightman Group so that she can start her own practice in town.
Zoe enlists Lightman to help with her client -- a 22 year-old black star college football player who has been accused of statutory rape with a white 16 year-old girl. The case hits home for Lightman, who learns that his daughter Emily was friends with the group of girls who attend these college fraternity parties. Through the course of their investigation, Lightman and Torres determine that Zoe's client was set-up by the girl, whose friends leaked the video of the hookup. Lightman figures that the man did not know the girl was underage, noting that his face showed that he knew he shouldn't find underage girls attractive. Meanwhile, Foster and Loker travel to a religious compound to determine whether its claim of IRS exemption is valid. They believe the head of the compound is holding the women against their will. Foster facilitates the escape of one woman and her children, and faces the wrath of both Loker and the government. At the end, the girl's father believes the system is protecting the football player, and decides that someone has to pay. He shoots the prosecutor that dropped the charges against the football player, with whose death the episode ends.
While on vacation in Mexico with Emily, Lightman becomes involved in the case of a missing American woman, who is a single mother on vacation with her daughter. Upon investigation, Lightman learns that the mother got herself involved with an illegal fertility broker and he manages to find her just in time. Back home, Foster investigates D.C.-area hospitals with Lightman's rival, Jack Rader. They try to uncover the reason that five people have grown gravely ill after receiving blood transfusions.
Eric Matheson (Garret Dillahunt) is determined to prove that he didn't murder his wife. Torres is assigned to investigate the murder, and goes to the house of the victim's sister. Matheson finds Torre's car and gets into it after she forgot to lock the door. When Torres returns, Matheson holds her at gunpoint, instructing her to drive to the Lightman Group offices. Cal makes a deal with Mattheson, asking him to let all the employees go as long as he helps prove Mattheson's innocence. Mattheson complies, and Foster, Loker, Reynolds and Torres attempt to solve the case, while Loker has second thoughts about not calling the authorities. Cal and the team find out that Mattheson was actually innocent, and that his wife was actually killed by a creditor. Mattheson demands that he sees the creditor, saying he will either take his life or Cal's. Cal pleads for Mattheson to kill him, but Foster, Loker and Reynolds trick Mattheson into letting his guard down after a disguised Loker pretends to recount the last moments of Mattheson's wife's life. As Mattheson is in a moment of rage before killing Loker, Reynolds draws his gun and shoots Mattheson, disarming him. The episode ends with Lightman at Foster's home, asking if he could sleep in her spare room for the night.
When Cal's old pal, Terry Marsh, comes to town, he brings plenty of trouble with him. Meanwhile, the rest of the team meets with some students from a prep school to determine if any of them are responsible for a threatening tape that was sent to the headmaster.
After a federal witness is killed, the US attorney arrives at the Lightman Group to take the next witness in line, Reynolds, into protected custody. Cal feels that the US Marshals Service cannot protect Reynolds, so he takes him "hostage" and demands that he be able to run the investigation into the witness's death. During his investigation, he finds out that while undercover Reynolds did drugs and killed a man and wants to keep it a secret to avoid prosecution after he finds out that his handler (Alicia Coppola) did not properly report the event. Through his own undercover operation, Cal records the handler admitting that she led Reynolds to believe that everything was all set legally, and the US attorney subsequently takes her into custody. Meanwhile Loker and Torres discover that the original witness was killed after the cell phone that his mistress provided was tracked to his safe house's location.
The Lightman Group helps a teenager who believes he was abducted as a baby, while Loker and Torres try to figure out what caused a deadly stampede at an electronics store.
Cal spends the holidays in Afghanistan, where he relies solely on an American expatriate to help a mission to find a pair of missing Marines.
Lightman, Foster and Reynolds travel to Las Vegas to help locate a missing finalist in the World Series of Poker. Lightman uses his skills to read the other competitors' faces to figure out which one knows about the disappearance. Meanwhile, Loker and Torres analyze Loker's new relationship, and as a result, get closer to each other.
A protesting farmer parks his explosives-packed tractor near the US Treasury building. Meanwhile, Loker plays babysitter to third-graders stuck in the Lightman Group office, actress Felicia Day guest stars as their teacher. Miguel Ferrer guest stars as FBI ASAC Steele, Ben Reynolds' boss.
Lightman investigates one of his mentor's graduate students, whom he is convinced is a psychopath, while Loker and Torres look into a UFO sighting.
An Irish terrorist comes to Dr. Lightman to find out who killed his wife and daughter seven years ago, which reveals secrets about Lightman's relationship with Dr. Foster and his past job working counter-terrorism for the government.
Lightman is an expert witness at the trial of a woman charged with murdering her high-powered, and much older, husband.
Lightman is confronted with unsettling truths about his past while trying to save an Iraq war veteran.
After a grisly shooting in a federal housing project, Lightman is hired to read the face of the paralyzed victim.
When a pregnant girl is found murdered, Cal and the LMG team help Torres try to clear her juvenile-delinquent sister of charges, and protect her from the real killer.
The Lightman Group investigates when a young woman is killed at a political rally in Virginia.
A fighter in an underground club is found dead; Foster discovers a troubling secret.
Lightman and his ex-wife, Zoe witness the execution of a murderer they prosecuted 17 years ago and face the possibility that they sent the wrong man to his death.
After Foster's boyfriend, Dave Burns (guest star Martini), gets abducted Lightman tries to track him down with the help of Burns' mysterious ex partner.
A missing woman leads the Lightman group to discover criminal activity in the adult film industry.
The Lightman Group investigates the murder of a journalist and friend of Lightman’s who was killed while exposing a corrupt politician
2009
The son of a family of devout Jehovah's Witnesses is accused of killing his teacher after being caught fleeing the scene of her murder. Meanwhile, the team is hired by the Democratic National Committee to investigate a second case in which the Chairman of the House Ethics Committee is accused of paying for sex.
When a female soldier charges a commanding officer with sexual assault, Lightman is brought to Fort Meade to find out if there's any truth to the accusation. Meanwhile, the Lightman Group is hired to determine whether the young star of a college basketball team accepted a bribe to play for the university.
The murder of a teenage girl – who is the daughter of a powerful federal judge – leads The Lightman Group to a highly competitive college-prep school where getting to the head of the class means everything. The team also investigates a NASA test pilot accused of intentionally crashing a $250 million aircraft
At a state wedding, Lightman and his team work to prevent the assassination of a South Korean ambassador. But when someone else is shot, Lightman exposes long-held family secrets and lies to identify the assassin.
Lightman and Torres interrogate an imprisoned gang leader who claims to be rehabilitated. If the gang leader is freed, he might help fight inner-city violence or return to his life of crime. Foster and Loker investigate the death of a firefighter who was killed in the line of duty.
Lightman and Foster investigate the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl who may have been murdered. Meanwhile, Loker and Torres must determine whether a famous peace activist is who she claims to be and if her bestselling memoir is true, but Loker's attraction to the socially conscious woman may be clouding his assessment of her.
When Lightman is hired to find a corporate spy at a pharmaceutical company, he discovers a high-level conspiracy surrounding a new drug that could put thousands of lives at risk. The team is also hired by the State Department to assist with negotiations for the release of two Americans imprisoned in Yemen.
Lightman becomes obsessed with his investigation of two young women who committed suicide. Meanwhile, the team tries to recover billions of dollars for investors who were bilked by a Ponzi scheme.
In the wake of a building collapse in a small town outside Washington, Lightman is brought in to determine who is at fault, and he discovers a massive cover-up. Meanwhile, the team is hired by a "dot-com" billionaire to determine if his girlfriend loves him for the right reasons.
When Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Landau, Lightman's ex-wife and Emily's mother, enlists Lightman to help investigate an arson case in which the only eyewitness is a 5-year-old boy, it quickly becomes clear that she and Lightman still have feelings for each other. Meanwhile, Foster and Torres question a rapper who is suspected of murder.
The Lightman Group gets embroiled in the controversial case of a policeman who shot a potentially innocent teenager. Meanwhile, investors who were bilked by a Ponzi scheme are suing The Lightman Group for botching the recovery of their money,
Ben Reynolds, an FBI agent who's been pursuing a serial rapist terrorizing the Washington area, partners with The Lightman Group for its toughest case yet. Lightman infiltrates a prison to befriend Andrew Jenkins, a convicted criminal and a pathological liar who the serial rapist may be copy-catting. Meanwhile, Torres and Loker search Jenkins' fan mail, and Foster questions one of the rapist's recent victims.
After a terrorist bombing outside of Washington, DC, FBI Agent Ben Reynolds calls on The Lightman Group to help identify those responsible and prevent more attacks. The case takes a personal turn for one member of the team and begs the question of whether honesty is indeed the best policy. Zoe helps Lightman with the investigation and both are concerned about their daughter's safety.
Tim Roth
Cal Lightman
Kelli Williams
Gillian Foster
Monica Raymund
Ria Torres
Brendan Hines
Eli Loker
Hayley McFarland
Emily Lightman
2010
Lightman tries to stop a man intent on revenge from robbing a bank.
While defending a wrongly accused man, Lightman uncovers a dark secret that helps a damaged woman and her daughter.
The Lightman Group gets hired by Internal Affairs to investigate an incident that involves Det. Wallowski and her partner Det. Farr.
Lightman becomes involved in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse when he meets a beautiful woman at an art gallery. Meanwhile, Torres is still reeling after her fatal mistake.
When Lightman investigates an explosion that killed six coal miners, he suspects foul play may be involved and goes below the surface to find the truth; the FBI seeks the Lightman Group's help with another case.
Lightman goes head-to-head with the leader of a self-help empire to free a wealthy woman who may be under the control of the cult-like leader. When Lightman begins to investigate, things get personal as he suspects the group of threatening him and his daughter, Emily.
Lightman tries to help a woman with early-onset Alzheimer's piece together her fragmented memories, but it uncovers a deadly secret.
Lightman is hired by a terminally ill restaurant owner to find his daughter's killer as his dying wish.
Cal Lightman questions his own sanity while he tries to get a patient released from a mental hospital.
A wealthy woman asks Lightman to look into her new boyfriend's background.
Lightman investigates three high school students responsible for a deadly traffic accident.
A baby goes missing, and her mother accuses an unknown person of the kidnapping. When Lightman sees she’s hiding something, he digs deeper and discovers a family in need of repair.
Foster’s former patient, one of the founders of a social-networking app, comes to the Lightman Group when she thinks she’s being squeezed out by her partner. When she turns up dead a short time later, Lightman fights against the prevailing evidence to expose the truth behind the murder.
