TV Recap and Review: “Tell Me Lies” – Season 2, Episode 7 “I’m Not Drowning Fast Enough” Proves You Should Never Date Your Professor’s Husband

Recap:

In Macy’s crashed car, Stephen (Jackson White) wakes up from the crash behind the wheel to find Macy is dead. He has a decision to make, should he stay, or should he go? Lucy (Grace Van Patten) appears and pulls him out of the car and moves Macy’s body to behind the wheel. She assures him he is okay, and Stephen wakes from his unhappy dream in Diana’s (Alicia Crowder) bed. (Gee, what a surprise that the narcissist is now dreaming about another girl.)

Bree (Catherine Missal) is looking through her pictures from Thanksgiving, with Pippa (Sonia Mena) looking on quietly. Lucy enters way too happily for having recently broken up with Leo (Thomas Doherty). According to Bree the pictures are ruined, and when Lucy is caught looking at a picture of her and Leo, Pippa wants to know why she has still not talked to her ex-boyfriend. Trying to play down the importance of Thanksgiving, she tries to say it was a relationship she shouldn’t have been in, but Lucy thinks that Leo was only interested in the good things about her, and she didn’t want to disappoint him with the bad things to her personality. When Lucy praises that Stephen was great for being able to accept her for who she was, the girls look at Lucy with shock. (Good lord, she is still pining for Stephen. Lucy is out of her mind.)

Pippa changes the subject and wants to know what everyone is doing tonight. Lucy tells Pippa that their class is invited to Marianne’s (Gabriella Pession) home for a Christmas party. Lucy asks if Bree is going to go, and she admits that it would look weird if she didn’t, so Bree and Lucy are busy.

Wrigley (Spencer House) is trying to get a letter of recommendation from his coach for an assistant coaching position for next year. His coach is not willing to help him out. In fact, Wrigley’s coach tells him that even though he has been helping with the team this year, he has been mentally absent when his body was present. (Remember when you said football didn’t interest you anymore Wrigley? People have noticed.)

Bree is waiting in Oliver’s (Tom Ellis) office for him to finish some paperwork. They start to make out and when Bree reminds him that they are in his office, Oliver doesn’t care. Bree learns that Oliver is leaving a day early for the Christmas holiday and Bree is still unsure what she is doing for Christmas. She asks Oliver about whether she should go to Marianne’s Christmas party, and he says that it’s up to her if she wants to go. (Bree, this is the most dysfunctional relationship you have, and you need to run a million miles away from this guy. Oliver is too old, and this is so wrong, get help girl.) Oliver gives Bree her Christmas present, and she is shocked to see a brand-new camera.

Stephen and Diana are enjoying a lovely dinner out. Planning to treat her boyfriend, Diana picks up the check (I think I know what will happen here), and Diana wonders how Stephen’s relationship with his sister Sadie is. Stephen talks about how Sadie is afraid of him and won’t talk to him. When Diana offers to speak to her, Stephen wants Diana to talk to her dad about the letter of recommendation he will need from her dad’s firm for law school. (Good to see that the vile villain of Baird College is really broken up over the breakdown of his relationship with his sister.)

Diana starts to think that she needs time off. Thinking she failed because she was burnt out, Diana is telling her boyfriend that she needs a break to get back on track. All Stephen is worried about is what will he do. (Such a caring and compassionate boyfriend that Stephen DeMarco is.)

Just as Stephen wonders what is so stressful about her life, Diana learns from the waiter that her credit card was declined. It looks like her dad is punishing her by cutting her off financially. (Ouch, bold move by her dad, and a gut punch to her stability.) Stephen pays the cheque.

Lucy and Bree enter the Christmas party, and Lucy wants to know what Bree will do if she sees Oliver. Bree’s plan is to pretend she doesn’t know him, and before the conversation continues Marianne asks them to each move a box for her. In the kitchen the professor thanks her students and then offers them a drink. Marianne tells them it’s her favorite tradition of the year. Bree is acting strange, and while trying to deflect from her weirdness, Marianne tells the students to eat and enjoy.

Evan (Branden Cook) is trying to deduce who the man in Bree’s life is by doing some social media snooping. Stephen tells him thanks for letting him crash there, and says that if Diana asks, he is to tell her that he needed Stephen’s help. Wondering what he is doing, Evan tells Stephen about Bree’s new forty-five-year-old boyfriend. (Well Evan didn’t say it like that.)

Furious, Evan explains that he wants to know who it is. Stephen tells him that he should be thankful he is here and plans to help. When Stephen ignores a call from Diana, Evan asks what’s happening, and Stephen explains that she is just not the same lately. Stephen also explains that it feels like Diana is in a hole and unwilling to pull herself out. To Stephen, if he was in her place, would Diana still want him. Evan tells his friend that he never understood their relationship. (Evan, you get the prize for line of the night.)

Pippa is hanging out with Wrigley and bored. Asking if he wants to go out but Wrigley shrugs. He tells her about his encounter with the coach. Pippa tells him that the coach shouldn’t psychoanalyze him, and Wrigley states that the coach is right. Everything with his brother and thrown Wrigley off course. He misses Drew and doesn’t care what happened he just wants to see his little brother. Feeling sympathy for Wrigley, Pippa tells him that he’s broke her, and she will finally play Halo with him.

Looking for the second controller on Stephen’s desk, Pippa finds his glossy head shot photo, and laughs at the ridiculous picture of her enemy. With his resume attached, Pippa starts to read off the document and finds herself laughing and revolted. Wrigley wants to know if Pippa is seeing anyone yet, and she tells him that there might be someone. Wondering if the guy knows if Pippa likes him, Pippa tells Wrigley that the person she likes is a girl. Pippa asks Wrigley not to tell anyone, and that he is like her best friend, and asks Wrigley not to tell anyone. (Please tell me that Wrigley keeps this secret.)

Marianne introduces Oliver to Lucy and praises her student to her husband. When Marianne leaves Oliver and Lucy alone, it gets awkward, and he leaves quickly. Marianne praises Lucy for her change this semester. (Marianne is entering the weird creepy zone. It feels like she is setting Lucy up for something. Are her and Oliver both crazy?)

Oliver is getting something to eat as he stares at Bree from across the room. She walks up to him, and Oliver deftly tells Bree to wipe off her lipstick and to meet him in the back laundry room. (Oh my god, you are at a party hosted by his wife. This is no time be fooling around. What is the matter with you Bree. Better yet, Oliver you clearly must be out of your mind.) In the backroom, they meet and start to make out. (Holy cow, what a disaster these two are.) This leads to very awkward sex.

Bree freaks out after sex; she doesn’t like what happened and realizes that what they are doing is very bad. Oliver calms her down and tells Bree that he loves her. (Oh god, I think he is serious, and if he is, that makes Oliver very dangerous.) This pacifies her because she loves him too. (These two are a disaster on the level of the Titanic.) Rejoining the party, Lucy sees what happened and shakes her head. Bree reenters the room to see Oliver with his arms around Marianne. She returns to the closet and takes off her earrings and leaves them in the laundry for Marianne to find. (Oh, Bree is moving right into the homewrecker level.)

Pippa wakes up next to Wrigley and kisses him which leads to them making out, and sex. Diana walks in and is very embarrassed and leaves.

Bree brings coffee to Lucy, and Lucy tells her friend that she should apologize for making her uncomfortable last night. Bree tells her that she is not sorry, and she knows when someone cares about her and when they don’t. Lucy tells her that she is not with Oliver, that Oliver is with Marianne. Bree tries to defend her actions and tells Lucy that she will never understand what it is like to not have anyone there for her. Lucy asks Bree what she thinks will happen. Lucy tells Bree that Oliver is never going to leave Marianne, and she wishes that she never knew anything about the relationship. Lucy also mentions how scared she is for Bree.

Lucy is out for a jog and meets up with Stephen. He wants to know if Lucy worked things out with Leo, and Lucy tells him no. Stephen tells Lucy that he thinks Leo is an idiot, and Lucy leaves. Back at the dorm, Lucy gets a call from Lydia and is pleasantly surprised to hear from her friend.

Lucy arrives at Pippa’s room and wants to talk to her. She tells Pippa that the college dropped the assault case against Lydia’s brother Chris (Jacob Rodriguez). Apparently, there wasn’t enough evidence to prove rape. Pippa takes the news in and tells Lucy that the night she spent with Chris is not all blacked out, she does remember what happened, and now since this other case was dropped, there is nothing that can be done about it.

Back at Wrigley’s apartment, Stephen finally arrives home, and while Wrigley warns about Diana looking for him. Stephen proceeds to undercut the great time Wrigley had with Pippa by reminding him about his lost connection with Drew. Wrigley calls out Stephen for his treatment, and old wounds get brought to the surface. (Stephen is a virus that needs to be eradicated.)

At the bar, Pippa tells Lucy that Leo isn’t there, and they toast their night. When Wrigley arrives at the bar, they talk with Molly (Katherine Hughes) who sat on the disciplinary hearing and talks about what it was like to sit through the hearing about Chris. Lucy is quite upset with everyone because they put the blame onto the girl and not Chris. Pippa tries to calm down Lucy, and Lucy blurts out that Chris did the same thing to her. (That’s one way to share Pippa’s story without sharing her story.)

In the bathroom, Lucy finds Pippa and though Lucy wants to leave, Pippa tells her to go ahead because she will stay with Wrigley. Lucy sees Diana talking with Molly, and this is sure to lead to some problems. Diana tries to talk to Pippa, and Wrigley interjects, and makes a crack about her being interested in a girl. (Wrigley, you moron.) Pippa lays into Wrigley because he is always making jokes and proceeds to tear into him on a deep emotional damage level.

Diana comes to Lucy’s room and tears into Lucy for lying. She did the opposite of defending and standing up for Pippa. All Lucy did was make things more difficult and prove the case that girls are liars.

The next morning, Wrigley shows up at Pippa’s door, and while she wonders if he has another joke to tell, Wrigley is in tears. He proceeds to tell her how he ruins things, all the time, and that everything he does is wrong. To Wrigley, there is no point to him. Crying, he describes how he ruins everything, and he wonders if there is something wrong with him. He doesn’t feel normal. Wrigley feels sad all the time, and that he is nothing. According to Wrigley, Drew should never talk to him. Pippa tells him that he’s not nothing, and that they are going to fix everything.

 

Lucy gets a message from Lydia, and she describes how Chris told her about what she said at the bar last night. This ends their friendship as Lydia kindly explains how she never wants Lucy to call her again. (Did you expect some other kind of response Lucy?)

Stephen arrives back at the apartment to Diana, and he is less than pleasant to his girlfriend. Telling her he wants her to stop talking, Stephen wonders if Diana fears him. Stephen wants to know if Diana would still want to be with him if he’s as bad as everyone else says that he is. Diana says she knows the real Stephen, and this makes him unhappy, so he leaves for Lucy’s room.

In class Bree sees Marianne is wearing the earrings that Bree left at the house. (Oliver must have told his wife they were a gift and gave it to Marianne. Oh, nice one Oliver in covering your tracks. Bree, you look silly.)

Lucy and Stephen talk in her dorm room. Stephen wants to know if Lucy thinks he is a bad person. She agrees he is. Knowing that he is a bad person, Lucy admits that she still loved him, and Stephen says the same about her. According to him, that’s why they don’t work with anyone else. He tells Lucy that he loves her too. (Barf!) Lucy closes the door to the room. (Good gracious Lucy needs some serious therapy.)

Review:

Once again Lucy makes everything about her and destroys friendships with everyone. Lucy is the female equivalent to Stephen and the thought that they will get back together is a guarantee. It doesn’t mean that I like it, but it’s bound to happen.

Spencer House’s Wrigley has the most character development this season. I love the journey he is on, and how he is trying to be a better person and acknowledging his faults.

I do not like Stephen, and it makes me wonder how Lydia would end up with him.

Overall, a good episode with some great movement towards the end of the season, I just hope we see some resolution with Drew this season. Also, I hope Lucy tells Marianne about Oliver cheating with Bree just as the holidays are about to start.

Lucy and Stephen are two extreme characters, and they are not people to be friends with in real life.  

Bill Gowsell
Bill Gowsell has loved all things Disney since his first family trip to Walt Disney World in 1984. Since he began writing for Laughing Place in 2014, Bill has specialized in covering the Rick Riordan literary universe, a retrospective of the Touchstone Pictures movie library, and a variety of other Disney related topics. When he is not spending time with his family, Bill can be found at the bottom of a lake . . . scuba diving