Diksha Sundriyal
In Hulu’s ‘Tell Me Lies,’ a toxic relationship unravels between Lucy and Stephen, taking both of them on an emotionally charged journey. It begins in college, but the very first scene of the show makes it clear that there is a lot of unpack in this story as it is not a mere fling that happened over the course of a few months. In fact, there are years’ worth of complications that need to be dealt with, and the first season barely begins to scratch the surface. The timeline becomes an important plot point in the story because it shows us that just when we think Lucy is finally rid of Stephen for good, it’s nowhere near the end of it. SPOILERS AHEAD
Tell Me Lies Sets the Eight-Year Mark for Stephen and Lucy’s Relationship
The first scene of ‘Tell Me Lies’ opens in June 2015, when Lucy is in a relationship with Max. She has to attend her friend Bree’s engagement party and is worried about running into her ex, Stephen. It has been years since she saw him, but even then, the hold he has on her is so strong that she dreads coming face-to-face with him, not knowing where this meeting might take them. To give us a context of her feelings and fears, the show takes us back to the beginning, eight years ago.
We find Lucy in September 2007, packed and ready for college. She has experienced the tragic death of her father and is on bad terms with her mother because of something the latter did. She feels numb to things around her, finding it impossible to be excited at the prospect of anything new. This is why, perhaps, when she meets Stephen and finds her emotions in turmoil, she feels invariably attracted to him and struggles to let go even when she is told, time and again, that he is not good for her.
The first season of the show marks the first year in Lucy and Stephen’s relationship, taking the audience from 2007 to 2008. The season ends just before summer break, and by now, we know pretty much everything there is to know about Stephen and his manipulations. The season ends with what should be a wake-up call for Lucy, but it only throws her into emotional distress, leading her to do something that could ruin the friendships that actually mean something to her.
Stephen and Lucy’s Romance Might Extend Beyond Eight Years
When the show begins, we find out that it has been a few years since Lucy and Stephen broke up. Considering the rollercoaster that she goes through in the first year of their relationship, it makes sense that she wouldn’t want to cross paths with him again. However, by now, we also know that Stephen is not the kind of person who just disappears from your life following a break-up. When he meets Lucy, he breaks up with Diana, but he gets back with her by the end of the season, following a series of hookups that he keeps a secret from Lucy. This proves that Lucy will not suddenly fall out of his orbit now that he is back with his ex.
It’s a vicious cycle that Lucy gets caught up in, and it’s clear that it goes on for a while before she comes to her senses. It takes a lot of breakups and getting back together to show her that Stephen is a sociopath who will always keep her on a hook but never give her the emotionally stable and fulfilling relationship she deserves. What makes things even more interesting is that there is a reason Stephen has been able to get under Lucy’s skin this way, why she has been so ensnared by him even when her friends see him for who he is.
Despite her better judgment, Lucy finds her defenses break down completely in front of Stephen, and she tends to make the wrong decision every single time. She knows exactly how vulnerable she is around him, which is why she prefers not to see him. Considering this, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Stephen used their reunion at Bree’s engagement party as an opportunity to manipulate her all over again and pull her back into the thing she had so desperately tried to escape. The fact that she didn’t bring Max to the party shows that she might still be tethered to Stephen. If so, it doesn’t spell anything good for her.
