Image Credit: Sam Jones/FoxThe Lightman Group is severing ties with the FBI in season 3, which means Mekhi Phifer (a.k.a. Special Agent Ben Reynolds) is out of a job.
“We’re going rogue a little bit,” explains Lie to Me executive producer David Graziano. “Lightman [Tim Roth] is going to act slightly in the more old-school PI model of a TV protagonist, [so] we’re doing away with the FBI contract [and] Mekhi is unfortunately no longer going to be on the show.
“The FBI franchise limited our storytelling a little bit because it had to adhere to the FBI structures of ‘Would the FBI take this case or not?’” Graziano continues. “The character that’s going to be our badge this season is a bent cop, Wolowsky [The Unusuals' Monique Gabriela Curnen], who goes about business in a similar way to Lightman. There’s a mutual respect from the get-go. We’re working hard to make The Lightman Group a dysfunctional family.”
Thoughts? Smart move? Dumb move? Waiting to form an opinion until the show returns on Nov. 10? Hit the comments! (Reporting by Archana Ram)
boooo!!! why cant they keep him and just have some FBI approved cases and some they don’t know about/arent involved in?
lame!
agree boo boo. love mehki. amazing actor.
Too bad, he’s a great presence but on the other hand too often it seems like they don’t know what to do with him. Don’t know about the “dysfunctional family” angle, but Curnen was great on The Unusuals so maybe it will work. (Tim Roth is the show though.)
I liked Ben. Don’t like this move at all.-
I like Ben, too. And I’ve always liked Mekhi Phifer as an actor. In my opinion, the FBI interaction allowed them to take more interesting and widespread cases because the FBI deals with a lot of national & some international issues.
At the same time, I fell in love with Curnen on The Unusuals and I want to see what she brings to the table before I pass judgment.
I liked the character, and I like the actor, but the stuff Lightman got away with working with the FBI made no sense. The show has kind of gone off the rails for me.
I think it is a good choice to get rid of him. He kind of sucked the joy out of the show to me.
Yeah this is my favorite show (actually got backlogged on episodes. Just watched the execution one last night). I don’t like this. I actually didn’t like Ben in last night’s but I thought they struck a good balance between those the Feds were involved in and not. And Ben was just a liason officer, so he still could have played a role in some of Lightman’s other stuff. For that matter, maybe Lightman could have offered Ben a deal to become a private eye for him, like Matlock always use to have
Hate this! My husband and I have watched from the get-go and have enjoyed the interaction of the current cast. Can’t see why everything has to be FBI-centric just to keep Phifer around.
I don’t know Monique Gabriela Curnen, but I like the women they have on the show already and hate to throw that dymanic off.
Still.. we’ll be watching and giving it a chance. Hope Phifer finds bigger and better things!
amy, your husband really does not care about this. this is a girls show.
Sorry ythu, but I love this show and my wife (who *LOVES* Tim Roth, btw) could care less about the show. She likes what she has seen ok, but doesn’t watch it with me. I DVR it, then watch it when she’s otherwise occupied.
Right. Obviously crime drama = chick flick. That TOTALLY makes sense.
What’s a bit disingenuous about this is that they didn’t adhere to the “Would the FBI take this case?” thing as it was. Granted, he at times did seem as if he didn’t have enough to do…
And it’s no movie, there’s no Mekhi Phifer…Sorry, it just slipped out..
Ha ha, good 8 Mile reference, Dan!
I think it’s too bad that he’s gone, but I try not to second-guess what the creators decide to do. My least favorite thing about the blogosphere and its Crazy Internet People is that I wonder how much influence they have on creative decisions being made. Let the people who make the shows do their job, I say!
Nice 8 Mile reference. From a very superficial perspective, I am extremely disappointed that we are losing Mekhi. Tim Roth is not nearly as good looking. He has his accent going for him and that’s about it. Another female character won’t make up for what Tim Roth lacks. And it doesn’t make any sense to me that they were limited by the FBI connection. TV never ever is like real life. Ask any doctor, lawyer, judge, or police officer. Those of us not in the field don’t have a clue and don’t care.
I hope they don’t fabricate sexual tension between the new woman and Lightman. When they force those sexual hookups between Lightman and some gorgeous woman, I want to hurl. Tim Roth is a homely gnome – a good actor – but not the stud the writers pretend his character is. In real life (if he wasn’t a well-known actor) he’d have as much likelihood of attracting those beautiful women as he would of making the NBA.
Harsh!! …i think Tim Roth’s sorta cute…
You’re on crack–Tim Roth is smokin hot!
Amen!!
Amen seconded!!!
he is charismatic, way way way out the kazoo. the accent never hurts either
Disagree – Tim Roth is yummy – I’d do him in a heartbeat!!
Roth = hot tamale
Just because Roth isn’t your type, doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of us who think he is HOTTTT.
Tim Roth is gorgeous … how could anyone call him a gnome???
I’m with you, napergirl. He’s not good looking. That’s what Mekhi brought to the table.
Yes ma’am!!!!! Well, about the Mekhi being hot part. I’m so mad they pretty much killed off his character. I’d say 35% why I watched the dang show is so I could see him walk around in his suit and look amazing!!
I’d hate to say I don’t like the new lady, Wolowski, but she’s not bad. I’d prefer Ben, but she’s pretty okay.
I, for one, am happy about this. Television has enough “token” characters on every show, so I’m glad one finally got the boot. I miss shows like Friends, Sienfeld, Cheers, etc. Executives didn’t have to meet some pc “minority quotient “, and as a result, shows were more believable and enjoyable!
He was a token? This is a joke, right?
Why do I suspect that you made this comment to start a flame war and no one (but me I guess) took the bait? Oh well, better luck next time.
Fake Me,
You’re outdoing yourself today – for some reason, today you’ve decided to try to make me sound like some Paris Hilton-loving racist.
iminyjo has the right idea…don’t anyone take this person’s bait.
Knew there was no way the real Ceballos would write that. I’ve been lurking at EW too long. Almost like you are an old friend. No wayit was you.
oldrockchick-
Thanks a bunch. There are a people on this site who I cheesily consider “old friends” too.
(Also, I like to think I’d never misspell “Seinfeld” without immediately correcting myself afterward.)
I knew that was a fake Ceballos (the first post). The real Ceballos has always (with good reason) ragged on Friends, and other New York based TV shows that aren’t racially diverse enough. Fake Ceballos, go away and spout your drivel somewhere else.
Heh. I knew this was Evil!Ceballos before I even saw your reply. I wonder if he has a random goatee, like Evil!Spock.
I am very upset i liked watching Mekhi and though he had chemistry with the cast. I dont why they could not limit the fbi episode and least have him recurring. I dont like this at all
I’m not thrilled about this. I felt LieToMe was just starting to find its stride. They should have at least kept Mekhi part-time and had half the cases be FBI cases & half just be Lightman cases. The show didn’t need another “bent” individual as too many make a show unwatchable. There has to be some normalcy.
This show is dumb, anyways. It is House MD in another scenario. Mekhi can do better than this
It is basically a House knockoff, but the way House has gone downhill the past couple of seasons it’s nice to see the same formula get a kick in the pants. The characters are, on the whole, more likeable as people on Lie To Me than House, too (although some on House are more interesting as TV characters).
This is going to make a Lie To Me/Bones crossover harder. The FBI connection could have worked the two together for an episode. pooh!
Yes, but it frees it up for that all-important “Lie to Me/Glee” crossover.
Yeah, look for the special musical episode of Lie To Me when Glee returns from their winter break
@Brett: Cue my spit-take… Thanks!!
You know, they actually did have a bit of a musical episode last spring. Remember “Tractor Man”? Felicia Day shows up and sings a duet with Loker? I wasn’t complaining, because I ADORE her (and Brendan Hines, too), but it was almost gleeky.
Smart move. I loved Ben/Mekhi, but Lightman needs some freedom from the FBI. Lots of good story potential!
Thank god! The second season lost so much of the first seasons charm I really didn’t like the FBI tie in.