Am I the only one who has no sympathy for the protagonists?

Same here. No sympathy for either of these turds. As for whey they didn't come forward, it's because Lukas didn't want anyone to know he was hanging out with Phillip. It would ruin his precious reputation.

What I don't understand is why they didn't come forward after witnessing the initial murders and just omit the fact that they were hooking up. They were up there filming the blonde guy doing stunts on his bike. That should have been all the cover they needed. Just leave out the part about the slap-and-tickle session and tell the cops the rest.

I think their reaction is part of the point-eyewitness. So many people never come forward for many reasons. You can tell Phillip is feeling the guilt, & he seems to want to say something. But he's in a "weird" situation. He doesn't fully trust his foster mother. He's gay(although I agree with other posters, that people know this already). He's afraid the guy will kill him, if not the people he cares about. Not to mention, he is a kid. There are plenty of adults out there in the real world who wouldn't come forward, just because they don't want to get involved.

I'm not sure I really feel for them all that much either but they do amuse the hell out of me. 😂 So I like them well enough. They act pretty much how I would expect two teenage boys to act. All teenagers have secrets, and often those secrets can get them into situations that they can't get out of. All because they are afraid to go to the adults in their lives and let them know what's going on. For that however silly Lukas and Philip are reacting to the predicament they are in, or whether we should feel sympathy for them or not, they are teenage boys so the way they act is pretty believable imo.
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Vigorli~Harmony~Thorki~Stucky I SHIP IT!

I think it's a number of reasons. First that's what happens in the original it's based on although the original show didn't have the added plot of one of their school friends being killed by the murderer in a case of mistaken identity. I agree that point makes it harder to get why they would still stay quiet since they knew before it happened that the murderer was after the wrong kid. I think it would have made more sense if they hadn't had Philip twig that the murderer was after Tommy because of his jacket before it happened because I had a hard time buying he wouldn't tell someone at that point just because Lukas is afraid of being outed.But I guess now the guilt and possibly shame of not speaking up earlier and someone else dying because of it is possibly another reason why they might continue stay quiet.

I also agree it didn't make much sense that they thought they couldn't tell because people would automatically assume they were making out, but I guess that falls under the heading of they're teenagers and sometimes common sense isn't their strongest suit. They know so I guess they feel everyone else will just automatically know if they admit being together. I suspect with Lukas even though he's afraid of anyone knowing what he's really afraid of is his father's reaction if he finds out, but we don't really know much about his relationship father to judge whether that's a legitimate fear or all in his head so it's hard to sympathize that much. I do kind of get why they'd be initially afraid to say anything though outside of the Tommy thing. They're young, doing something at least one of them feels they shouldn't be doing and the murderer is still out there and possibly looking for them and I agree it's not exactly uncommon for people to witness a crime and either not come forward or take a long time to come forward even as adults. I would say most teenagers in these circumstances even if they didn't go to the police wouldn't be able to stop themselves blabbing to other friends, but Philip doesn't seem to have any other friends and Lukas is obsessed with people not finding out that he likes boys.

Apparently none of you are gay and have lived in a small town. Before I came out, I think I honestly would run the risk of being murdered than have someone find out.

In many cases, eyewitnesses don't come forward after witnessing crimes. Look it up. There are studies as to why.

I very much care for the protagonists. The initial lies about witnessing the murders is kind of integral for the whole feel of the show in my opinion.

Lukas' fear is a driving force of the show. Living in a small rural town where his feelings could literally get him killed himself in ordinary circumstances, now they have this big thing that happens to them on top of the initial weirdness of the situation. He can't let his friends, family, the whole town know that he has these kinds of feelings and is this person. Them not telling the cops initially has nothing to do with being rational or bad writing for the show...it's one of the major emotional plot points of the show in general, and the repercussions for everyone involved is shown by this one decision that is totally and wholly founded in fear of revealing his true self.

All the characters in this shoe are so raw, I'm really enjoying it!

If you keep up on it, you'll have to let me know how you feel in the end.

+ER+

None of the characters in Eyewitness really inspired me much. Other than Gil Bellows' character, no one seems fleshed out well. So tired of seeing deeply flawed or error-laden characters with little critical thinking capacity. Have little interest in the private sexual awakening of guys, gals, dogs or cats. Love Julianne Nicholson, so had very high hopes for Eyewitness. Loved Julianne's character, Helen, but was, generally, disappointed with weekly developing storylines. The Episode 10 scene with boys in motel room receiving texts from Phillip's dead mom...terrible acting...horrible scene. Later, FBI Agent/Killer is allowed to simply drive off from warehouse? No shooting tires? After shooting Killer at the end of the car chase, Helen picks up Killer's gun, putting her prints on grip? Please... Do like cinematography style. Music detracts, though; sometimes even conflicts with emotional context of scenes. Best takeaway from Eyewitness? Lying never makes life or relationships easier. Lying, generally, leads to damage and destruction.