4 out of 5

Created by: Danny Brocklehurst

The approach of the series takes an episode to sink in, as the darkly humorous setup and playful music seem to lean toward comedy, but once ‘Ordinary Lies’ digs in – into some incredibly realistic dialogue, and its rich network of lies – believable or outlandish, all within the realm of possibility – it’s gripping stuff, roping you in to its little world with its one-character-per-episode approach.  This vignettey breakdown somewhat prevents the series from having an overall arc, though; writer / creator Brocklehurst does try to trail out tidbits through the first five episodes that lead up to its last, but things nonetheless feel rather stunted when they conclude.  However, as that doesn’t impact the strength of the focus of any individual episode, I can’t knock things too much for that.  ‘Ordinary Lies’ is about the workers at an auto dealer, from the boss-man to the maintenance crew to the salespeople to the secretaries.  Everyone seems to get shuffled through the camera’s eye such that the setting does come to life, staffed with real people, but each episode will generally boil down to a particular person, and a lie – or lies – they tell.  The title holds true in that, for the most part, we’re led to understand the how and why of the lie, and can see (and relate) to how things spiral out from that little white source.  Of course, some lies are particular whoppers, such as in the first episode, but Brocklehurst still manages to keep reality in line, following the whoppers with a logical extrapolation and, satisfyingly, a conclusion, which also makes up for the overall open-endedness mentioned above.  The acting is all around solid, even those who would be stereotypes – the “cool” mechanic, the nervous secretary – given incredible life by the script and actors.

‘Ordinary Lies’ might not have the kind of epic sweep we seem to desire in shows nowadays, but neither is it a simple procedural or sitcom.  It’s a rare breed of world building that allows for encapsulated stories that populate the reality of the show, deftly blending black humor with some pretty heavy drama.