Wait. Stop. Before you dive into the Sinclair family’s glossy, miserable world of private islands and ivory towers, we need to talk logistics. If you've spent any time on TikTok or BookTok over the last decade, E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars has probably already broken your heart. It’s that kind of book. It’s visceral. Now that Amazon's Prime Video is finally turning the 2014 bestseller into a high-stakes series, everyone is asking the same thing: how many episodes of We Were Liars will there actually be?
The answer is ten.
Ten episodes. That is the official order for the first season. It feels like a lot for a book that you can technically read in a single sitting on a beach (which is the recommended way to do it, honestly). But the showrunners—Julie Plec and Carina Adly MacKinnon—aren't just stretching out a thin plot. They’re building an entire world. If you know anything about Julie Plec (think The Vampire Diaries or The Originals), you know she loves a slow-burn mystery and a cast of beautiful people with massive secrets.
Why Ten Episodes Instead of a Movie?
You might wonder why this isn't a two-hour film. It feels like a movie, right? A summer on Beechwood Island. The Liars. The fire. The trauma. But a movie would likely strip away the nuances of the Sinclair family's toxicity. To understand why Cadence does what she does, or why the aunts are constantly at each other's throats over their father's inheritance, you need time. You need the "filler" that isn't actually filler. You need the flashbacks.
The ten-episode count allows the series to breathe. It lets the audience live in that hazy, summer atmosphere before the rug is pulled out from under them. Most modern prestige dramas on streaming—think The White Lotus or Big Little Lies—hover around that 6 to 10 episode mark. It’s the sweet spot for a limited series that wants to feel like a "long movie" without overstaying its welcome.
Who are the Liars anyway?
If you're new here, the "Liars" are the four friends at the center of the story: Cadence, Johnny, Gat, and Mirren.
- Cadence Sinclair Eastman: Our narrator. The eldest grandchild. She’s the one trying to piece together her memories of "Summer Fifteen."
- Gat Patil: The outsider. He’s the one who challenges the Sinclairs' sheltered worldview and, predictably, becomes the love interest.
- Johnny and Mirren: The cousins who round out the group. They are the energy, the fun, and the tragedy of the island.
The show has cast some incredible talent to fill these roles. We’re looking at Emily Alyn Lind as Cadence, which is a perfect choice if you saw her in the Gossip Girl reboot. She has that "sad girl with a secret" vibe down to a science.
Breaking Down the "How Many Episodes" Question
When we look at the breakdown of how many episodes of We Were Liars we’re getting, we have to look at the source material's structure. The book is divided into five parts: Welcome, Vermont, Summer Seventeen, The Look, The Truth, and The After.
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It's highly likely the TV show will follow a similar trajectory, but with much more expansion on the "adult" drama. In the book, the aunts (Penny, Carrie, and Bess) are often seen through Cadence’s skewed perspective. In a ten-episode TV show, we’re going to see their fights in real-time. We’re going to see Harris Sinclair, the patriarch, being the manipulative puppet master he is. That takes time. Probably two episodes just to establish the family's internal politics before the real mystery kicks in.
Honestly, the pace is everything. If they go too fast, the ending doesn't land. If they go too slow, people get bored and click over to Reacher. Ten episodes suggests they are confident they have enough narrative meat to keep you hooked through a full season.
Will there be a Season 2?
This is where it gets tricky. We Were Liars is technically a standalone novel. However, E. Lockhart did release a prequel called Family of Liars in 2022. That book goes back a generation and looks at the mothers when they were younger.
If the first season is a massive hit, Amazon could easily pivot into an anthology-style series or use the prequel for Season 2. But for now, those ten episodes are designed to cover the main arc of the original book. It’s a self-contained mystery. You get the setup, the "summer of love," the accident, the memory loss, and the devastating reveal.
Production Details and What to Expect
The show was filmed in some pretty stunning locations to mimic the vibe of a private island off the coast of Massachusetts. They’ve gone for that "old money" aesthetic that is so popular right now. Think linens, sailboats, and hidden resentment.
The scripts have been handled by MacKinnon and Plec, who have a long history of working together. They know how to write for a younger audience without talking down to them. They understand that the "Liars" aren't just bratty rich kids; they are products of a deeply broken system.
Expect the episodes to be about 45 to 55 minutes each. That’s standard for Prime Video originals. If you do the math, that’s nearly ten hours of content. Compare that to the few hours it takes to read the book, and you realize just how much extra "Sinclair drama" we’re going to get.
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Does the episode count affect the twist?
Without spoiling anything for the three people who haven't read the book yet: the twist is everything.
The concern with a longer episode count is always whether they will "telegraph" the ending too soon. When you have ten hours to fill, you have to drop clues. If you drop too many, the audience figures it out by episode four. If you drop too few, the ending feels like it came out of nowhere (and not in a good way).
The writers have a tightrope to walk. They have to make sure that the questions surrounding how many episodes of We Were Liars actually matter to the pacing. Every episode needs to feel like a breadcrumb leading toward that final, crushing realization.
What You Should Do Before the Premiere
If you’re planning on bingeing this the second it drops, here’s a bit of advice from someone who has lived and breathed this story for years.
Don't Google the ending. Seriously. If you haven't read the book, stay off the Wiki pages. Stay off the "ending explained" YouTube videos. This story relies entirely on your willingness to be confused alongside Cadence.
Re-read (or read) the book.
Even though the show will be ten episodes long, the book is the blueprint. It’s short. It’s sharp. It will give you a baseline for what to expect and let you appreciate the changes the show makes. Sometimes seeing how a creator expands a 200-page book into a 10-hour series is the most interesting part of the experience.
Watch the Prequel Rumors.
Keep an eye out for news regarding Family of Liars. If the show starts pulling in characters or flashbacks that weren't in the original book, it’s a sign they are planning for a long-term franchise, not just a one-off limited series.
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Final Logistics for Fans
Amazon usually follows a specific release pattern. While we know the count is ten, we don't always know if they'll drop all at once. Lately, Prime has been experimenting with "hybrid" releases—dropping the first three episodes and then going weekly. This is great for building hype, but brutal for those of us who want to know the truth now.
The Sinclair family motto is "Be a warrior. Be impatient." Maybe take that to heart.
The reality is that We Were Liars is a tragedy wrapped in a mystery, dressed in a Ralph Lauren sweater. Ten episodes is plenty of time to break your heart into a million pieces. Just make sure you have some tissues ready by episode eight. That’s usually when the wheels start to come off.
To get the most out of your viewing experience, track the weather in the show. The Sinclairs are obsessed with the "perfect summer." Notice when the fog rolls in. Notice when the sun is too bright. The environment is a character itself, and over ten episodes, you’ll see that environment slowly rot alongside the family’s secrets.
Keep your eyes on the casting of the parents too. While the Liars are the heart, the parents are the architects of the disaster. If the show spends enough time on them, you'll understand that the "Liars" never really had a chance to be anything else.
By the time you reach the final credits of episode ten, the question won't be about how much content you got, but how you’re supposed to move on from it. That’s the E. Lockhart way.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Set a Calendar Alert: Prime Video typically updates at midnight GMT, so adjust for your local timezone to avoid spoilers on social media.
- Audit Your Prime Subscription: Ensure your membership is active and check if you have the "Ad-Free" tier if you want an uninterrupted experience, as Amazon has recently shifted their default model.
- Read the Prequel: If you have already finished the original book, pick up Family of Liars. It provides essential context on the "Grandfather" figure, Harris Sinclair, which will likely be a major plot point in the later episodes of the season.
- Download the Prime Video App: Use the "Follow" feature for the series within the app to receive push notifications the moment the first batch of episodes becomes available for streaming.