I know I say this often, so you probably think I’m a miserable person…but I promise I’m actually quite happy most of the time. There are a few things that anger me to my core — most of them revolving around television series — and I must speak up when it’s right.
So while I’ve harped on Emily in Paris and My Life With The Walter Boys, I actually have a Mortal Enemy #1: Tell Me Lies. And it’s not that the show’s writing is weak, per se. It’s a much bigger issue because there is not one likable character.
But I’m getting ahead of myself here. No need to hate too early on, we have the entire article for that. Tell Me Lies Season 2 just released on September 4, and with a weekly rollout on Hulu, fans can anticipate regular episodes.
The show is based on the novel by Carol Lovering, and to be fair, I have not read it. So I cannot attest to whether or not Lovering is behind the atrocities that occur in the show.
In case you completely forgot what happened in Tell Me Lies Season 1, let’s recap why I’m angry and believe every character in the show should be imprisoned.
Tell Me Lies Season 1 Recap
I meditated before writing this article so I could level my emotions. It starts with Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White), who meet while at Baird College and embark on an eight-year-long, on-and-off, emotionally abusive, toxic relationship.
Lucy is a freshman when she meets Stephen — a junior — who asks her on a date. But before that can happen, Lucy’s roommate Macy is killed in a car accident. I wish the story ended there, but sadly, I’m forced to continue.
Turns out, Stephen and most of his friends are directly involved in the accident that killed Macy. Even worse? Lucy’s best friend, Pippa, knows about it. But this isn’t fully revealed until the end of season 1, so as you can imagine it only gets worse.
As the season progresses, we’re caught up in a web of will-they-won’t-they with Lucy and Stephen…who truly traumatize everyone in their path.
If you are entering your freshman year of college, heed my advice: do not put yourself through emotional hell for a junior boy with no aspirations and multiple potential felonies. It’s not worth it. It’s rare that the boy you meet freshman year is “The One.”
But anyways, Lucy and Stephen can’t get it together over the course of season 1. Finally, Lucy finally discovers that Stephen was involved with Macy’s murder. Stephen was with Macy in the car and he got away with it by pushing her body into the driver’s seat and deleting all their messages. Here’s the freaking insane part: Lucy stays with him.
They go on a weekend trip to Stephen’s roommate Evan’s lake house for his birthday…where just about everyone is disrespectful to Evan’s parent’s mansion. This aggravates me simply because (at this point in the narrative) Evan is relatively harmless, but even he ends up disappointing me.
So Lucy writes an anonymous letter to Baird’s Dean of Students blaming Macy’s death on Drew. The school then launches an investigation and Lucy provides Stephen with an alibi.
But how does Stephen repay Lucy for all this? By cheating on Lucy at a party with his ex so he can get an internship with her lawyer father. And how does Lucy react? By hooking up with Evan, who is dating her best friend, Bree.
Tell Me Lies Season 2 So Far
The show flashes forward 8 years later where a different picture is painted. Evan and Bree are getting married, so the gang is forced to reunite for the first time since college.
It also looks like Stephen’s now engaged to Lucy’s best friend from home — Lydia — which feels like another manipulation tactic. Throughout the wedding rehearsal dinner and festivities, there’s clear tension between Lydia and Lucy.
While the show flashes back and forth between college and the wedding, we discover that Lydia’s younger brother Chris went to college with Lucy. At a party, Diana finds Pippa unconscious in a room with Chris, who claims he was only using the bathroom.
Pippa comes to and is confused and embarrassed while Diana and Lucy take care of her. Pippa admits she doesn’t remember anything beyond kissing Chris. This could be the start of the rift between Lydia and Lucy, but that’s all on the case for now.
The entire show is dedicated to Stephen manipulating different people. For example, he knows that Wrigley hooked up with Stephen’s ex Diana when they were freshmen…but rather than telling Wrigley he’s upset, he enacts a plot of psychological revenge.
Oh, Lucy. I want to feel bad for you, but I don’t. Because you committed multiple crimes for a boy who is an awful person. It’s one thing to be a doormat, but this just hurts to watch.
Tell Me Lies continues to build the tension between every character. We watch Lucy continue to break under the pressure of her affair with Evan…who confessed to Bree that he cheated, but didn’t reveal who it was with.
Bree then turns around and starts having an affair with Oliver, a professor at the college who is married. Again, we all know this is such a bad idea. At the end of the day, no one is a hero in this story.
In the meantime, Stephen’s tormenting Lucy for having feelings for him in the first place. So, Lucy threatens to tell everyone the truth if he keeps harassing her. I’m sure this will go well.
The episodes end in present time, when everyone goes home to their significant others. Pippa, now in a clandestine relationship, finally reveals her lover is none other than Stephen’s ex, Diana.
Now that we’ve recapped the entirety of the show, can you understand why it’s so hateable?
