The secrets are getting deeper and the motives are getting clearer as we uncover more and more lies on our way to the midseason finale of The Lying Game. This week though it’s a classic case of not everything is as it seems.

“Sex, Lies, and Hard Knocks High” has everyone, and us, asking the big questions and trying to get a handle on all the secrets in their lives. From Laurel’s sex life, to the lies Kristen’s been told about Annie, and the hard knocks Char’s been given, who will walk away with the truth? 

Ethan: Just for clarification, are you apologizing for coming on to me, or the fact that you were drunk when you did it?
Emma: Come on, no girl wants to be a drooling idiot when it’s her first time.
Ethan: Your first time?
Emma: Awkward moment.

Everything’s back to normal again this week after Ethan sent Emma’s step-brother Travis packing. (And by sent packing, I mean he was given a few choice words and a fist to the face for good measure.) Of course, Emma’s still a little jumpy after her encounter, but she’ll heal. Although her embarrassment, a side effect of drunkenly propositioning Ethan, may take a little longer to get over.

Alec: We both know why Sutton can never find out who her birth mother is.

But it’s not long before there’s new drama on the horizon when Emma and Ethan overhear Kristen and Ted argue over what to tell Sutton about her birthmother. It’s been hard for me to decide who’s the seedier of the two, Ted or Alec. While Ted seems to be the one who created the original problem with Annie, or so we’ve been led to believe, it’s Alec who Ted’s always calling to figure out what to do. Alec’s clearly the brains of their operation.

And then Kristen’s just collateral damage in the two’s schemes, much like Annie was so long ago. It’s going to be devastating for her once she finds out Ted’s been lying all these years. I’m glad she finally made the decision on her own to tell Emma (pretending to be Sutton) about her birth mother, even if the information Kristen gave her about Ruth Peterson was actually false. At this point, I think Kristen may be the only adult Sutton and Emma can trust.

Justin: I know what lies can do to a family. That’s why you’re my role model. Because I know you’d never lie, right?

And because a mom’s work is never done: Kristen’s also having problems with Laurel after she finds a bright yellow condom in the wash. See, this is another reason why teenagers shouldn’t have sex. You can’t even keep track of your condoms, Laurel? What was it doing in your laundry anyway?

What’s far more interesting though is Justin’s talk with Ted. Can I just say, I loved how Justin was getting under Ted’s skin with his pointed comments about about truth and lies. It’s pretty obvious by now that Justin knows more about Ted than he’s told anyone, even Laurel after he admits to her that her father is not as good a man as she thinks.

Char: It’s just guys, they’re so selfish and unpredictable.

Alec’s up to his old tricks this week, too, and gets Derek to break up with Char. (He just doesn’t like any of the teens being in a relationship, huh? It must be leftover anxiety from all the bad things he and Ted did to Annie.) Yet, it’s the phone call Char gets from Annie that rocked this episode: Annie is Char’s aunt? Wow, I didn’t see that coming.

Sutton [to Clarice]: First of all, get out of my face Clarice, you smell like an airport bathroom. Second I owe you nothing. You’re a terrible person and you are not my mother. And if you ever put your hands on me again, you’ll be asking for a world of hurt.

Sutton was again in the background this week, but at least she had a little more to do. Well, if you count gambling away all of Lexi’s money and then getting it back thanks to a nice guy as something to do. (The best part though was Sutton telling Emma’s step-mom to get out of her face.)

I’m just surprised Lexi knew the whole time that Emma was actually Sutton, and she still let Sutton gamble away all of her mom’s money. That’s friendship, to someone who’s not even her real friend. (And did the writer’s just make a subtle slap to Sutton’s friends Mads and Char back home because they haven’t even noticed that Emma isn’t Sutton? Ouch.)

Ethan: I’m coming with you.

Sutton’s creating trouble back in Phoenix, too, now that the letter to her parents detailing Emma’s infiltration has arrived. Emma manages to intercept the letter before it can be read, but the damage is done, and she decides to leave before Sutton can come back and take over. Ethan’s response? “I’m coming with you.” All together now: Aaw!

Notes and Quotes:

Sutton cleaning her water glass at Lexi’s house and thinking they were going to make her mac and cheese? Priceless.

Next week:

It’s a The Lying Game marathon and midseason finale. Looks like Sutton tricks Ethan in believing she’s Emma, and one of the twins is involved in a car accident. Uh oh!