‘We Were Liars’ Cast Breaks Down the Explosive Ending & What That Twist Means For Season 2 (VIDEO)

Rebecca Perlmutter June 18, 2025, 12:15 pm

[Warning: The following interview contains MAJOR spoilers for We Were Liars Season 1.]

If you’re looking for a summer love story that is sure to keep you on your toes, We Were Liars is the romantic psychological thriller for you.

Set on picturesque Beechwood Island, the summer home of the wealthy Sinclair family, We Were Liars follows the family’s young heiress, Cadence (Emily Alyn Lind), who is returning to the island for the first time following a mysterious incident the summer before. Looking for answers, Cadence reunites with her cousins, Mirren (Esther McGregor) and Johnny (Joseph Zada), as well as Gat (Shubham Maheshwari), the boy who spends his summers on the island with them.

Weaving together once-forgotten moments from the previous summer and clues from her strait-laced family during the present day, Cadence comes to learn that her beloved cousins and the boy who might have well been the love of her life died the summer prior, and all summer she has been spending time with a group of friends who were never really there.

To celebrate the show’s much-anticipated release, TV Insider sat down with Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada, and Shubham Maheshwari, a.k.a. the Liars, to break down We Were Liars‘ shocking Season 1 ending and their hopes for a potential second season.

Emily Alyn Lind, Esther McGregor, Joseph Zada, and Shubham Maheshwari as Cadence, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat in 'We Were Liars'

Jessie Redmond / Prime

Naturally, we had to begin by asking the Liars how they would describe the shocking ending. To our delight, Zada quickly quipped that the ending could be described in six words: “Fire. Death. Destruction. Trauma. Goodbyes. Tears.” Of course, his fictional cousins, McGregor and Lind, added, “Dead dogs” and “dead kids,” both hitting on the tragic reality of that final episode reveal.

McGregor also added that the show leaves off with “one survivor,” and Maheshwari couldn’t help but disagree with that notion. While Cadence is the last Liar standing, Maheshwari reminded viewers of the eleventh-hour twist that “one of them [Johnny] can be seen by someone else [his mother, Carrie].” For that reason, the cast assured us that the Liars are not just figments of Cadence’s imagination (as they might have been assumed to be in the novel): They are bonafide ghosts. As Lind put it, “I feel like you hear a lot of ghost stories, and it’s like ‘Do they have the gift?’ because it’s hereditary.” Adding that this possible “gift” runs in the Sinclair family and could skip generations.

When it comes to the original novel, written in 2014 by E. Lockhart (who also served as an EP and the writer of the final episode of the adaptation), we were surprised to learn that none of the Liars had read the novel when it first came out. However, we did learn that McGregor’s mother, Eve Mavrakis, read the book way back when. The cast told TV Insider that when they did read the book, they were completely shocked by the devastating ending. Zada also shared that he was sure to read the book before reading any of his scripts, “I was thinking about [Johnny] as a character the whole time, and then I got to the end and I was like, ‘Oh, wow.'”

Regarding that juxtaposition between their roles as the living Liars during Summer 16 and the ghost Liars during Summer 17, Maheshwari said “Summer 16 was so much fun,” continuing, “especially the beginning, we were just enjoying and hanging out with the people [we] love.” Summer 17, according to Zada, was vastly different. As he put it, “We know that we burned in a fire, and we’re trying to gaslight [Cadence] the whole time.”

“It was a really good job, though,” Lind praised her cast members, “I feel like you guys had a way bigger load on you.” According to Lind, as the lead actress, many people have been asking her how she portrayed Cadence’s unreliable storytelling. She gave all the credit to her costars. “I just had great actors working against me, that were gaslighting the sh*t out of me,” she said.

Emily Alyn Lind and David Morse as Cadence and Harris in 'We Were Liars' Season 1

Courtesy of Prime

While Johnny, Mirren, and Gat don’t make it out of Summer 16 alive, we couldn’t help but ask the Liars where they think their characters would have ended up if they had survived. While no one could agree if Cadence and Gat would have been in it for the long haul, McGregor swore that her character Mirren “really would have run away with Ebon (Dempsey Bryk),” arguing that “he was [Mirren’s] escape from the jail of being at Clairmont.” As for Johnny, Zada thinks he “probably would have taken out a little bit of money [and] gone traveling around.” He also added that Johnny would have eventually “gotten a little less privileged.” Regardless of where they would have ended up, one thing is certain: The Liars hit a breaking point on Beechwood Island, so maybe they should have just decided to hang out somewhere else, instead of resorting to committing arson.

Author E. Lockhart Talks Bringing Shocking ‘We Were Liars’ Twist to TV

At the end of the season, viewers watch as Cadence leaves the island alone, stealing her family’s motorboat in the process. According to Lind, Cadence doesn’t really know where she’s going. “It’s just her step to sort of be able to say I know that I’m not going to show up for [her grandfather] Harris, I’m not going to take his side. I’m going to walk away from all of it,” Lind explained.

Giving a nod to a potential Season 2 plot point, Lind teased: “The funny thing about families, Cadence’s or whatever, you might leave but you always have baggage… They come with us in a way. So, if you remember the scene before she leaves, or decides to go, Harris gives [Cadence] an ultimatum,” recalling that his sentiment is, “If you don’t stick with the family, then I’ll tell everyone what you did.”

Harris is referring to Cadence’s role in the fire that killed the other Liars. Since Cadence decides to leave regardless, Lind predicts, “She’s probably going to have to at some point face that.” Watch the full video to get more inside scoop about We Were Liars Season 1.

We Were Liars, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video.