Jackson White and Grace Van Patten in season three of Hulu’s ‘Tell Me Lies.’
Photo by Ian Watson for Hulu/Disney.
This article contains spoilers.
Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future. This saying sums up Hulu’s Tell Me Lies perfectly. If Grace Van Patten’s Lucy Albright had a crystal ball when she met Jackson White’s Stephen DeMarco her first year at Baird College, she surely would’ve run in the opposite direction. Such kismet meetings can forever alter a life, and that’s the premise of the highly addictive Meaghan Oppenheimer-helmed drama.
This show should be required binge-watching for young adults. If there were a warning label, it would read: This is what happens when you ignore red flags. Chemistry is a force to be reckoned with, and when it’s with the wrong person, well, it can ruin your life.
In an interview just before the streamer dropped the first three of eight episodes of the fantastically twisted third season, Oppenheimer described the series, based on Carola Lovering’s novel, as a “horror comedy.”
When Tell Me Lies first aired on Hulu in 2022, Oppenheimer detailed why she wanted to write this love-gone-bad tale. She also admitted that she could relate to Lucy. “Dating is hard; it’s hell. I went through hell. I have been a Lucy in the past. Heartbreak is timeless and universal.”
She then opened up about her first relationship. “There was dark energy around this relationship that changed me for several years, but I didn’t realize it. I thought it was normal behavior from a man, and it took me so long to learn that it was ridiculous to accept that kind of behavior. I wish young people were taught more about healthy relationships. There should be a class that teaches the things not to do to each other.”
She even warned of the dangers of revolving your entire life around another person. “It’s so sad how often people derail their lives for a relationship. It’s so important to have healthy boundaries. If you feel you cannot breathe without this person, that’s not healthy. People need to have their own lives and interests.”
These are all bits of advice Lucy and her friends could use. If we are honest, so can we. At the time, Oppenheimer described Lovering’s novel as painful and honest. “It showed this female character behaving in ways we don’t often see. Lucy is doing things that are quite embarrassing. She’s undermining her happiness and allowing herself to be belittled.”
Throughout the first two seasons, viewers watched as Lucy made one terrible decision after another, suffering the brutal consequences of her actions and continuously self-sabotaging in ways that make for great television.
Season three opens up the storylines of all of the characters and unveils the truth about each; everyone betrays and is betrayed. If you thought things couldn’t get worse for Lucy, you’ve most certainly underestimated her ability to self-destruct.
According to Oppenheimer, who adapted Lovering’s novel for television, there were specific ideas that she and her team of writers repeatedly discussed while penning the third season. “We had three words as themes from day one: consequences, punishment, and inevitability.”
“It’s a very level playing field this season,” Oppenheimer said in an interview pegged to season three’s January 13 premiere. “I would say the stakes are just higher than they’ve ever been. The consequences are more permanent than they’ve ever been.”
The streamer surprised fans by dropping three of the eight episodes, not two as previously announced. The remaining five episodes will drop one at a time in a weekly cadence through February 17.
So much has already happened in the storyline that surpasses Lovering’s book. Oppenheimer clarified the challenge of adapting a book for television, noting that the first season incorporated material from Lovering’s novel while seasons two and three deviated entirely from the book.
“I always think, and I’ve said this a million times, but I think the show is at its best when it’s as if an evil god is watching our characters and laughing at their mistakes,” admitted Oppenheimer of the many twists and turns this season.
As viewers know, Lucy’s poor decision-making never comes from a place of cruelty, but rather survival and a desire to help others. Her friends, however, are a mixed bag of cruel and calculating.
Lucy didn’t have sex with Evan (Branden Cook) to hurt Bree (Cat Missal); their drunken night together was a result of her heartache over Stephen dumping her for Diana (Alicia Crowder). Lucy’s story about being sexually assaulted was to protect another student and her friend, Pippa (Sonia Mena).
Wrigley (Spencer House), like Lucy, doesn’t have a mean bone in his body; fans will love this character even more after watching the entire third season. There is also so much that unfolds between Bree, Oliver (portrayed by Oppenheimer’s husband, Tom Ellis), and Marianne (Gabriella Pession).
“A lot of the characters have had moments of screwing up before this, but it certainly gets worse this season,” Oppenheimer confirmed. “All of these characters are facing the permanence of their consequences for the first time. I think a lot of them had done things that they thought they got away with, and they’re now realizing this season that it all catches up to you. And, you know, the truth always comes to light.”
If Evan had kept his mouth shut about his one-night stand with Lucy, so many of the threads wouldn’t have ever been knotted in the story. His confession to Stephen about that night set so many things in motion, including the third episode’s storyline of Stephen recording Lucy on video confessing that she lied about being sexually assaulted. A lesson Lucy learns the hard way: Never give a narcissist leverage.
In interviews for seasons one and two, Oppenheimer, Van Patten, and White each theorized that Stephen is a narcissist. For this latest season, Oppenheimer confirmed once more that this show serves as a warning of what happens when you get involved with someone with this type of personality disorder.
The damage that results is long-lasting and forever changes a person. As for the toxic dynamics between Lucy and Stephen, and that triad between Bree, Oliver, and Marianne, Oppenheimer warned, “They’re an example of who a lot of these people could be in their future, or any girl who stays with a guy like Stephen.”
As the saying goes, “Love is giving someone the power to destroy you, and trusting them not to use it.” The third season of Tell Me Lies will prove that if you fall for a narcissist, destruction and emotional carnage are most certainly guaranteed.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danafeldman/2026/01/16/hulus-tell-me-lies-season-3-is-pure-emotional-carnage/
