Diksha Sundriyal
The first three episodes of Hulu’s ‘Tell Me Lies‘ Season 3 stir more chaos for Lucy Albright, as her ex-boyfriend, Stephen DeMarco, pushes the boundaries of his manipulations and lies. In the previous episode, he succeeded in getting a confession out of Lucy and even got it on tape. When she asks him what he’s going to do with it, he says he doesn’t know what he will do and, more importantly, when. For now, he is satisfied with the fact that he has something to hold over Lucy, something that can totally obliterate her reputation. Years later, on Bree’s wedding, when Pippa reminds her of what he did to her in sophomore year, this is most likely what she was talking about, unless Stephen found something much worse. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Stephen Finds Out About Diana’s Pregnancy
The end of the previous episode revealed that Diana is pregnant with Stephen’s child. Though they broke up at the end of the previous semester, it hasn’t been that long. At the beginning of the fourth episode, we find her calling an abortion center where she sets a date for an abortion. Molly catches up with her and asks to cover for her next class because Evan has made a booty call. Though Molly claims she knows it’s casual with Evan, Diana can’t help but point out that she runs to him whenever he calls. In turn, Molly notes her frustration, and Diana lets it slip that she has been trying to get a date for her abortion, and the people at the clinic are not making it any easier, what with the consultations and all.
This slip turns out to be a major mistake, because Molly tells Evan about it, who realises that the baby is Stephen’s. Molly begs him not to tell Stephen, but when has Evan ever kept a secret from his friend? Stephen’s morning had been going well since his sister, Sadie, started talking to him again, thanks to Evan’s father for paying her tuition because Evan thought he could make amends with Stephen through this approach. As soon as Stephen sits down with Evan and Wrigley, Evan tells him about Diana’s pregnancy, which catches Stephen completely off guard. He is angry about the fact that Diana was never going to tell him about it, and made the decision to abort the baby without consulting him.
Wrigley, however, points out that Diana didn’t need to consult him. Moreover, it’s not that Stephen wants to father a child at this point in his life. Wrigley acting as Diana’s advocate infuriates Stephen even further, especially as Evan backs him, saying that he would want to know if his ex was pregnant with his child. When Pippa arrives at the table, Stephen shares the news with her as well, even though Wrigley had told him not to only moments ago. Stephen storms to Diana’s dorm, confronts her, and offers a plan. Since he believes that Diana and her father are still on bad terms, he sees the baby as a way to enter that dynamic and earn some points with her father. Diana, however, brushes him off, revealing that things are good between her and her father.
Alex Makes Lucy Face Her Past Mistake
Realising that Diana and her father are on good terms again makes Stephen realise that perhaps they were never at bad terms and that Diana played him. To make matters worse, she tells him she is looking forward to aborting his child. She throws him out of her room, saying that he cannot manipulate her anymore. However, she regrets her actions the moment he leaves. Later, when Pippa comes to her dorm to hang out and asks about her pregnancy, Diana confesses that she shouldn’t have irked Stephen because he is not the kind of person who lets things go. She is scared of him. Pippa consoles her, and this segues into them having sex. Speaking of being scared of Stephen, Lucy continues to be on edge.
Having handed her the most incriminating thing about her, which could possibly land her in jail and ruin her credibility permanently, Lucy worries about what Stephen plans to do now. While he stews over Diana, Lucy gets a message from Alex to hang out. They meet at the bar, and Lucy says she was surprised he called her to meet, since he must think really low of her, following how things went down between them the night before. Alex tells her to relax, claiming that that’s not the worst thing he has done with anyone while being intimate. At the same time, Lucy notices that Max is also in the bar and tells Alex about how she broke his heart. When he asks her if she’s told him she’s sorry, she says she plans to do it sometime in the future.
Alex prods her to make the apology now, or she doesn’t really mean it. This prompts her to go to Max’s table, which makes him as well as his date a little uncomfortable. However, she says her piece and leaves. Outside the bar, inside Alex’s car, she has sex with him while he tells her to keep saying “I’m sorry.” Meanwhile, Stephen finds a way to vent his anger. He knows he cannot hurt Diana, at least not right now, but he can do something about Lucy. He finds Caitie Parker on Facebook, the same girl who lodged an official complaint against Chris, Lydia’s brother. The next day, Lucy is called into the dean’s office, where she also finds Caitie and Marianne in the room. It turns out Stephen has made his first move.
Stephen Makes a Move Against Lucy
It turns out that Caitie has found out about Lucy’s claims of being assaulted by Chris, which has given her the hope to reopen her own complaint, which was previously shut down because of a lack of evidence. Lucy is confused about how Caitie found out about it, and tells her she doesn’t want to do anything about it. As she leaves, Marianne tries to talk to her, but Lucy advises her to take care of her husband first. Later, Bree tells her about a Facebook page about Chris’ sexual assault, and it names Caitie and her. Bree is shocked to discover that Chris assaulted Lucy and feels guilty about not being there for her while she was busy with her affair with Oliver. Pippa is in the same room when this happens, and her words make it clear that she doesn’t want the truth to come out. Not yet.
Rattled by this new information, Lucy finds Diana and tells her everything, including the confession she gave to Stephen on tape. Diana is baffled at Lucy’s bad decision-making skills, but she advises her to do nothing, because whatever she does next, no matter how well-intended, will only make it worse. Meanwhile, the discovery of Chris being a predator makes Bree think about how the men are around her. Earlier, she had an encounter with Oliver, where he told her how needy and insecure she is for sending her the photo with Amanda. When she claims she told the dean about it, and he will be fired, he calls her bluff by revealing that he had a coffee with the dean that same morning, and she seems to have forgotten about firing him.
Oliver’s words cut so deeply that Bree’s happiness about being selected for a photo exhibition in her photography class fizzles out. Later, as she chooses the pictures for her portfolio in her room, Wrigley comes looking for Pippa. Bree invites him to wait with her, and they look at her pictures together. Wrigley notices that she is a bit down, which prompts her to ask about how Evan talks about her. Did he ever mention her as needy and insecure? Wrigley assures her Evan has always talked highly of her and that he is still obsessed with her. The conversation turns into a tender moment between the duo, and when he finally leaves (since his plans with Pippa fall through because she is going to Diana’s), they share a hug.
Bree and Wrigley’s Secret Comes to Light
All the stuff with Oliver and the revelations about Chris make Bree think about Evan and how much better he is compared to them. The thought makes her knock on his door, and it seems she has made up her mind to get back together with him. Here, the scene jumps to Bree and Evan’s wedding years later. They dance together, while Stephen sulks that his plan to ruin Evan’s big day and destroy Bree and Lucy’s friendship didn’t work out. When he sees Pippa and Lucy shedding happy tears for their friend, he intervenes. He tries to rile up Lucy, reminding her of what happened between them earlier that day (they slept together), and how she must hate seeing him with Lydia.
Lucy, however, seems to have wised up in the past couple of hours. She says that his actions have only validated her because now she knows he will never change, not even for Lydia. When Lydia catches the duo talking, she takes Stephen away, and they have an argument about why he was talking with Lucy, and more importantly, about what. Lydia leaves in anger, while Stephen stays behind at the bar, where he meets Bree, who pointedly tells him that she will not let one mistake ruin her otherwise great relationship. At this point, Stephen feels defeated, but he finds something to balm his wounds soon enough. As Bree and Evan dance, Wrigley and Pippa take to the dance floor too.
The exchange of looks between Bree and Wrigley suggests that something happened between them. Wrigley confirms he loves Bree when he tells Pippa that he is pretending he is still in love with her, and she knows exactly what he is talking about. He looks at Bree longingly, while she looks at him guiltily, and Stephen catches that. It takes him one look at Wrigley’s phone and the scores of calls he made to Bree to confirm that Evan isn’t the only one who cheated in this relationship (now marriage). Something is up with Wrigley and Bree, and things may have taken quite a turn for Bree to turn a blind eye to Evan and Lucy’s betrayal. The problem, now, is to find out what Stephen will do with this information.
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