Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti initially pitched the series to Netflix but were turned down. Lifetime picked up the show for the first season but let it go, leaving the door open for Netflix to step in and acquire the series for its ongoing seasons. Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos admitted that they missed a trick by not optioning the series in the first place, as it has subsequently proved to be one of the platform's biggest hits.
Penn Badgley admitted that he initially didn't want to take on the lead role as he thought it would be too intense. A reading of the scripts changed his mind.
With 0.82 million viewers, this was the most watched episode of the season. The audience swelled considerably when the series moved to Netflix.