One Of Us Is Lying: The Main Characters, Ranked By Likability

Spoiler Warning: This list includes detailed plot spoilers from the One of Us is Lying season 1 finale.

The season finale of One of Us is Lying has officially wrapped up and it brought several key answers with it while also opening up plenty of other questions. One aspect that was truly fleshed out was each of the show’s main characters as more was explained about all of them.

There were so many unexpected plot twists throughout the show that the outlooks that many viewers had on characters could change from episode to episode. The finale added more to that, with some characters falling back on old habits, some revealing their true colors and some playing the role of heroes.

8 Jake Riordan

Early on in the series, Jake Riordan (Barrett Carnahan) seemed relatively sympathetic. He was struggling with the fact that Addy cheated on him and seemed to genuinely love her. However, as things progressed, it became clear that Jake was not someone the audience wanted to root for due to how he’d manipulate Addy.

Things really took a turn when it was revealed that he was actually the show’s villain and the reason why Simon died. When he found out about Addy cheating, Jake convinced Simon to help him get revenge and he wanted to make Addy suffer. On top of it all, Jake also then betrayed Simon and left him for dead. He was vicious, conniving, and irredeemable.

7 Simon Kelleher

The entire story was put into motion by the death of Simon Kelleher (Mark McKenna) at detention with the future members of the “Murder Club.” On paper, that sounds like a really sad situation but it is quickly evident that Simon is someone who isn’t meant to be liked by the audience. For starters, his About That app is specifically designed to ruin lives.

While the people Simon often went after had unlikeable aspects of their own, he had no right to divulge their secrets. Simon is also shown to be willing to blackmail and lie to get what he wants. Even though he cared about his best friend Janae, he wasn’t shy about going after Maeve despite knowing it would hurt her.

6 Maeve Rojas

Like most other characters in this series, Maeve Rojas (Melissa Collazo) is someone on who the audience likely changed their views often. In early episodes she’s mostly just an annoying little sister until it’s shown that she stole Simon’s laptop, making it seem like she was the one tormenting her sister and her new friends.

The truth was that Maeve was actually trying to help Bronwyn and that she had a romantic relationship with Simon. Maeve is also the one to defend her sister at the academic debate in front of everyone, becomes a valuable member of the team, and you could understand where she was coming from most of the time.

5 Bronwyn Rojas

Although the four key characters all share the screen often, it can seem like Bronwyn Rojas (Marianly Tejada) is the actual protagonist of the story. Although her About That secret isn’t as close to the vest as Cooper’s, didn’t change a relationship like Addy’s, and didn’t have criminal consequences as Nate’s, she was somewhat the leader of the “Murder Club.”

It’s clear that Bronwyn has a brilliant mind and she put that to good use throughout the show but her biggest flaw might’ve been that she’d act on emotion. When it came to Nate, Bronwyn would typically do things that caused more harm than good. There were also problems with how Bronwyn tended to look down on the others for various reasons.

4 Addy Prentiss

Addy Prentiss (Annalisa Cochrane) portrayed a common trope in teen shows, which is the attractive and popular girl who bucks those stereotypes to show there’s a lot more to her. Following her split with Jake, the audience got to see Addy become a more independent woman who learned more of what mattered to her and not what pleased others.

That growth was great to see, as was her budding friendship with Janeae. Addy did have a rough final episode or two as she backslid into old habits as soon as Jake took her back, falling for his gaslighting. Alas, she stepped up in the end with the help of Janae and stood up to Jake in the woods.

3 Cooper Clay

Like so many other characters in shows from this genre, Cooper Clay (Chibuikem Uche) is in the closet and struggling with coming out to those around him. His father doesn’t want anything to get in the way of his baseball career, while some of his friends seem prepared to disown or diss him if they found out.

Cooper manages to get through this and come out to his father and his friends in the end. Not only was seeing that unfold interesting but watching the things Coopper did along the way made him more likable. He stepped up to help “Murder Club” and made true friends, he was very good to Addy when others weren’t, and he formed a loving relationship with Kris.

2 Nate Macauley

Another character who fits into a traditional teen TV show trope was Nate Macauley (Cooper van Grootel). He was the bad boy with the difficult home life who actually has a heart of gold on this Peacock TV series. Nate was right there for Bronwyn at every turn in ways that almost no one else was and was willing to sit in jail for years to protect everyone else.

Nate also gained sympathy from audience members due to the things going on with his mother and how he fought so hard to not reveal that to anyone. Even though he sold drugs, he was against selling them to Cooper due to his baseball career but when he found out more about Cooper’s own problems at home, he helped him. Nate was the glue of the team.

1 Janae Matthews

Considering Simon’s unlikeable nature, it would make sense if his best friend Janae Matthews (Jessica McLeod) was similar. The opposite turned out to be true though, as Janae was a highlight in every scene. She showed it instantly with her rendition of a Lily Allen song at a tribute to her friend that she viewed as fake.

As Janae grew closer to Addy, she became more likable since viewers got to learn more about her. She had unrequited feelings for Maeve that Simon didn’t respect and when it came to this new version of Addy, Janae was a supportive friend. At the end, when everyone was focused on getting Jake to save themselves, she was the one to remind everyone that Addy needed help too so she wouldn’t be stuck with a psycho, proving that she cared immensely.

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