Exclusive Interview
‘We Were Liars’: Would Cadence & Gat Have Been Endgame? Emily Alyn Lind & Shubham Maheshwari Spill
[Warning: The following interview contains MAJOR spoilers for We Were Liars Season 1.]
RIP Catherine and Heathcliff, you would have loved Cadence and Gat.
Recently, Swooon sat down with Emily Alyn Lind (Cadence), Shubham Maheshwari (Gat), Esther McGregor (Mirren), and Joseph Zada (Johnny), the young actors at the heart of Prime Video’s newest book-to-screen adaptation, We Were Liars, to discuss the devastating end of Cadence and Gat’s relationship.
Cadence Sinclair is literally haunted by her past, even if she can’t remember it. For the majority of Summer 17, Cadence looks to the rest of the Liars (Johnny, Mirren, and Gat) to help her recall what (or who) caused her to forget everything that happened the previous summer. However, no matter how picture perfect the Sinclairs want everyone to believe their summers on Beechwood Island are, nothing is what it seems below the surface.
Throughout the first season of We Were Liars, Cadence recalls being frustrated by their grandfather Harris’ (David Morse) blatant racism towards Gat and his uncle Ed, as well as the mothers’ ruthless attempts to win the family inheritance. Ultimately, she pieces together memories of the Liars deciding to burn down Clairmont (the house at the center of the island) and the family fortune that comes with it. While they were (arguably) good-intentioned, the Liars approached their problem from a place of privilege, not realizing the cost of such a destructive solution. In the final episode, Cadence learns that this cost was not only the lives of their family dogs, but the lives of all three of the other Liars, who have been visiting her the entire summer from beyond the grave.
While We Were Liars is undoubtedly a tragedy, we’d argue that it’s best described as a story of the young love lost between Cadence and Gat. Whether the family’s questionable moral values or the Liars’ youthful approach towards justice is to blame for their deaths, it’s clear that Gat got caught in the crossfire (no pun intended). That’s what makes his final, ghostly goodbye to Cadence so devastating.
Jessie Redmond / Prime
Given Gat’s idealized depiction of what his life with Cadence would have been like (think eating cold pizza with the one you love on the bare floor of your first apartment), we can’t help but wonder if a lifetime of happiness really would have been in the cards for Cadence and Gat, or if their love would have fizzled out somewhere along the way.
According to both Emily Alyn Lind and Shubham Maheshwari, Cadence and Gat would have stayed together. At least, that’s what they told Swooon when first faced with the hypothetical, responding in unison: “Absolutely, 100%” (Maheshwari) and “Absolutely, are you kidding me?” (Lind). However, their costars Esther McGregor and Joseph Zada didn’t buy it.
According to McGregor, the Beechwood lovebirds were far too young to have formed a lifelong romance. She argued, “Sixteen years old? I don’t know about life,” giving them a post-college expiration date. At the same time, Joseph Zada, who is set to portray another young lover as Haymitch in Sunrise on the Reaping, gave a rather spicy take, hypothesizing, “I feel like they would have gone on for like two years, and then Gat would have cheated again.” Here, of course, he is referencing Gat’s not-so-secret relationship with Raquel, which he ultimately broke off during Summer 16 to be with Cadence.
Inspired by Zada’s vision, Maheshwari joked, “I think Raquel would have come back.” He continued by taking a page out of another one of Prime Video’s teen dramas, The Summer I Turned Pretty, arguing, “It would be like a nice love triangle.” To which Lind, in defense of her character Cadence, warned: “Choose your next words carefully.”
Thankfully, Cadence and Gat may get a second chance at ending up together in Season 2 of We Were Liars, or at least they would if Zada were in the writers’ room. As he put it, “I think Johnny’s thinking about opening up a portal to bring everyone back.” Problem solved!
“Is that the brand new book? Is that what happens?” McGregor questioned, referring to E. Lockhart’s next We Were Liars book, We Fell Apart, which hits shelves in October. However, Zada assured her that the series’ author was not involved, admitting, “I’ve been dabbling on my own.” Lind added, “[He’s] been working on [his] own draft.” While we fear We Fell Apart (Joseph’s Version) may never see the light of day, Mr. Zada, if you’re reading this, please send us a copy the second you’re done.
Cadence and Gat’s love story may have been cut short, and we can never be 100% certain if they would have stayed together for the long run. However, given the cast’s opinions and just a twinge of hopeless romanticism, we can offer you this conclusion: Young love never dies.
Do you think Cadence and Gat would have stayed together forever? Vote in our poll and share your reasoning in the comments below!
We Were Liars, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
