Hulu’s latest drama/thriller Tell Me Lies has finally dropped with the first three episodes of the show. Here is a recap of all that we learned.
Episode 1: “Lightning Strikes”
Lucy (Grace Van Patten) is about to get together for an engagement party with her college friends. While her partner Max offers to join her, Lucy discourages him, and attends alone. She meets up with her college friend Pippa (Sonia Mena), Lucy is assured that she will be able to avoid Stephen (Jackson White), her ex-boyfriend. As the party progresses, Lucy can’t avoid the past, and the audience is transported back eight years to Lucy starting college. This is not a happy time for her. She breaks up with her boyfriend just before leaving for college, and the car ride with her mom is an unfriendly experience, with a lot of hostility coming from Lucy to her mom.
At school Lucy moves in and meets her roommate Macy, and the across the hall neighbors Pippa and Bree (Catherine Missal) as well as Pippa’s boyfriend Wrigley (Spencer House). There is something strange about Lucy’s attitude. Her new friends notice that she doesn’t seem to be as excited as they are about an invite to a party that night.
The new friends go to the party, but Lucy keeps to herself. She meets Diana (Alicia Crowder) who cautions her around Wrigley. While Lucy is taking to heart what Diana says, she meets Stephen, and her night will never be the same.
While Stephen is smitten at first, Lucy is cold in her response, and that motivates Stephen to pursue her. Lucy stays in the next night, only to learn that her roommate Macy has died in a car accident leaving a party. Macy had desperately wanted Lucy to come with her to the party, but she declined and is now left picking up the pieces.
The new group of friends is hit hard by Macy’s tragedy. They try to take their minds off the sadness at another party, where Lucy drinks too much, and is ultimately looked after by Stephen. In her moment of weakness, she admits to him that she’s not a nice person. Stephen and Lucy share stories about their homelife and they spend the night together.
Stephen leaves the next day only to meet up with Diana, his ex-girlfriend, and promptly lies about spending the night with Lucy. Called by Wrigley, Stephen arrives at his apartment to learn that Wrigley’s younger brother Drew (Benjamin Wadsworth) is upset because the night Macy died, Drew was the reason that she had the accident. He never stopped to help or called 911. The three agree to keep the secret amongst them.
Episode 2: “Hot Blooded”
The next episode picks up from the explosive reveal. Stephen rationalizes to Wrigley and Drew that there was nothing that could be done, and that telling anyone right now wouldn’t bring Macy back. It would only ruin everyone else’s life.
Lucy and her friends are at grief counseling, and while everyone is willing to share their feelings, Lucy is reluctant to say anything. When Macy’s parents arrive at the dorm to collect her things, Lucy is there and offers her condolences, but desperately wants to get away.
While Stephen continues to flirt with Diana, Lucy accepts a date, and she and Stephen enjoy a night out at a fine restaurant. Their competing personalities come out during the date, and a phone call from his obsessive mother ends the good vibe to the evening. Lucy is walked back to her residence, while Stephen seeks out Diana. But that doesn’t last long, and she kicks Stephen out of her room.
At a fundraiser organized by Diana, Lucy learns that Stephen and her used to date. At this fundraiser Stephen learns that Wrigley is having trouble getting in touch with Drew. He tells the worried older brother not to worry.
Lucy and Stephen meet up, and the instant chemistry they had is followed up with a much more physical relationship.
Episode 3: We Don’t Touch, We Collide
Wrigley is getting ready for football season and must take a drug test before the season starts. As the test is being administered, Stephen and Lucy’s relationship is progressing at a fast pace. The two are very close, but they know little about each other. But one thing is certain, Stephen likes making Lucy feel uncomfortable.
Lucy isn’t having as much luck in class. Her peers cut to shreds her latest story, and Lucy does nothing to defend herself to her peers or professor. Lucy can’t seem to explain to her classmates why anyone should care about her characters. Across campus, Wrigley finally locates Drew and wonders why he has been ghosting him lately. (Gee I wonder why? Could it be that Drew feels guilty about getting Macy killed?)
The physical relationship between Stephen and Lucy continues and this leads to a discussion about whether their relationship is exclusive. Lucy says she is not with anyone else, but Stephen remarks that it wouldn’t bother him if she was.
As the friendships continue to grow between Pippa and Diana, Bree and Lucy head out to a local bar where the two bond over the common interests which Pippa doesn’t have. And even though Lucy told Stephen she wasn’t seeing anyone else; she ends up separating from Bree and spending the night with the server at the bar.
The tension boils over with the Drew situation as Wrigley tells Pippa what happened and ensures that she keeps it a secret. Wrigley also struggles with his Learning Disability. Despite not applying for special accommodations and failing his latest test, he will get another chance to write it with the proper accommodations, because his position on the football team is so important to the college.
Lucy is now engaging in a relationship with Max, the server, and Stephen is still hooking up with Diana, but both Stephen and Lucy somehow manage to maintain their relationship.
Bill’s Perspective:
There is so much to unpack with these three episodes, but I can safely say that I do not like Stephen or Lucy. Stephen is a hotheaded arrogant, manipulative pig, who has his moments of good, that just barely shines over the awful characteristics that he displays to everyone. He may be a loyal friend to Wrigley and Drew, but the way he treats Diana and Lucy is just terrible. How does Diana go back to him and hope to change him? Stephen has shown his true colors.
Lucy is someone who I felt bad for at the start, but it quickly dawned on me that she isn’t that different from Stephen, they are both manipulative and conniving, and their attitudes are less than reputable for many reasons. It’s the ability of Jackson White and Grace Van Patten to let little moments of humanity shine through their characters that enable the audience to want to see more and hope for a redemptive arc for their characters.
The best part about Tell Me Lies is the lies that are told everyday by everyone, and the audience gets to see how those lies are so false, but in a real-world conversation they come off as genuine responses to questions. The fibs and tales being spun by the characters are not far off stories that are complicated, just simple fabrications that anyone could and probably has used at some point in their life. One thing that we do know is that the more lies one tells, the bigger the lies become, and that could have some serious consequences. Macy is dead, and we are only on episode 3, what else could the lies lead to?