If there is one TV drama that draws viewers in at the same time as it gets into their nerves, it isTell Me Lies. The onscreen adaptation ofCarola Lovering’s novel has garnered a faithful following since its release in 2022, with audiences left in a chokehold for two years after the events that took place in the Season 1 finale.Led byGrace Van PattenandJackson White, the series follows Lucyas she heads off to college and gets into a toxic relationship with the manipulative and calculating Stephen. As the episodes unravel, their problematic connection instills the worst in each other and their inner circle.
With the show currently airingits second season on Hulu, this feels like the perfect time to revisit everything that happened in Season 1 and how that set the tone for the latest batch of episodes.From Lucy and Stephen’s first meet up to their jaw-dropping break-up, here is every episode from the series' first season ranked.
Tell Me Lies
10"Take Off Your Pants and Jacket"
Most often than not, the halfway point never feels as interesting as either the beginning or the end of the series. That is exactly the case forTell Me LiesEpisode 4, whichfocuses on Bree (Catherine Missal) and her sexual awakening. Deemed as the sweetest and most innocent of the bunch, the character has never slept with anyone before and is positive that Tim (Tyriq Withers) is the right guy to lose her virginity to. To her disappointment, her first time wasn’t as romantic or as pleasing as she wanted it to be.
As Bree tries to understand what she likes and wants in relation to intimacy,her storyline becomes overshadowed by the other characters' narcissistic behavior. From Lucy being too caught up in her on and off relationship with Stephen to the latter being manipulative with his evaluator during the internship interview, this is one of those episodes that get more on the viewers' nerves than pushes the story forward.
9"Hot-Blooded"
Different from Episode 1,not a lot happens in Episode 2other than Drew (Benjamin Wadsworth) being overwhelmed with guilt after Macy’s (Lily McInerny) death (regretting not calling for help after hitting her car) and the two protagonists getting acquainted with each other on their first proper date. After much reluctance, Lucy is convinced by her friends to go out with Stephen, and although their dinner starts off promising, it quickly snowballs when he receives a call from his mother.
Aside from their first romantic get-together,the remainder of the episode is more expository, with Lucy crossing paths with Diana(Alicia Crowder) and feeling intimidated by how open, kind, and ultimately smart she is. Even though she isn’t aware that Stephen still hasn’t closed a door on his relationship with Diana, the lead makes it her mission to prove that she is a much better option to be his girlfriend. When they have a steamy makeout session that turns into something more, it is evident that trouble lies ahead and this is just the beginning.
8"We Don’t Touch, We Collide"
Better than the previous mentions,Episode 3’s greatest strength is its exploration of Wrigley’s (Spencer House) character. The jock who is this close to becoming the captain of the football team isn’t as shallow as many deem him to be. Despite his popularity, Wrigley has a learning disability that he tries to hide from those in his midst, fearing what people might think. His decision not to request extra time to do a test is heartbreaking, because it becomes evident that the athlete would much rather maintain his reputation than be considered dumb by his peers.
This episode alsogoes into the messiness of Stephen’s relationship with both Lucy and Diana, keeping them unaware of his cheating. To viewers' surprise, they aren’t the only college girls that he has been involved with. By the end of the episode, it is revealed that he also had a fling with Macy in secret, which only adds suspicion as to what actually prompted her death.
7"Don’t Go Wasting Your Emotion"
Much like Episodes 3 and 4 dive into Wrigley and Bree’s own personal struggles, Episode 8 focuses on Pippa’s (Sonia Mena) hardships. Since she is the most guarded of the bunch, it is interesting to finally get through to the character and understand why she has a hard time being candid with the people she cares about. Although Pippa seems outgoing and laid-back,she is actually just inserting herself into situations and friendships that allow her to fit in.
When it becomes clear that she isn’t as into Wrigley as she led everyone to believe, audiences can finally clock in that she’s actually more attracted to girls than guys. Her proximity to Charlie (Zoe Renee) towards the end of the episode solidifies this, becausePippa feels her most authentic self with Lucy’s roommate, as opposed to her boyfriend. Her revelation about pretending to be someone else in college so that she wouldn’t face the same level of criticism she experienced in high school feels all too real, making the episode relatable.
6"Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging"
Episode 10 might be packed with surprises, but Episode 9 isn’t too far off. It starts with Lucy’s letter incriminating Drew, getting the latter into a lot of trouble with the authorities, only upping his anxiety about getting caught.With Drew getting blamed for Macy’s death, Lucy and Stephen seem closer than ever, since they have both shown that they will do anything to prevent the truth from getting out. Although their bond is secure, her academic standing isn’t. Lucy’s English teacher accuses her of plagiarizing an assignment which she had written and published anonymously years prior.
Given the contents of the essay, which goes deep into her mother’s betrayal, the character is forced to come clean to CJ (Lucy’s mother, played byJessica Capshaw) and implore that she help her explain to the teacher that the assignment is legitimately hers. This awkward moment is important for Lucy and CJ’s relationship, because now that her mother knows the reason why her daughter has been so hostile towards her all along, itallows her to understand what came between them in the first place.The episode also ends with Pippa and Wrigley breaking up, since the latter is convinced that she wrote the letter against his brother.
5"And I’m Sorry If I Dissed You"
Aware that Stephen had a fling with Macy prior to her death, Lucy decides to pull the plug on their relationship, at least momentarily. Episode 6 focuses on both the character and her love interest’s hypocrisy, with her being mad for his lack of transparency towards her and him being unsettled by the fact that Diana slept with Wrigley way back when. Although this episode is filled with ups and downs, it does add fuel to the fire whenLucy confronts Stephen about Macy, and he nearly has a panic attack.
Her decision to come clean about this allows her to have leverage over Stephen and, in a way, take the upper hand in their relationship.His admitting to being in the car with Macy on the night that he died is a pivotal moment in the show, because this secret ultimately binds them together. The arrival of Lucy’s new roommate, Charlie, even feels ironic considering that audiences now know what really happened to her previous one.
4"Lightning Strikes"
TheTell Me Liesopener sets the tone for all the dramathat unfolds throughout Season 1, particularly Lucy and Stephen’s doomed relationship. Not only does it start off with the lead having a wet dream about Stephen in the morning before seeing him at Bree and Evan’s (Branden Cook) engagement party, but it is notable that she still harbors a lot of anxiety and resentment towards her ex.
To help paint the picture of the before and after, the pilot rewinds seven years to when Lucy was heading to Baird College. By seeing her connect with Bree and Pippa straight away, her twisted first encounter with her toxic love interest, and the climactic end resulting in Macy’s death, viewers get themselves immersed in the plot. Although the beginning of the series isn’t as gripping compared to the bombastic closer, it is stilla well-packaged introduction to the characters and the messy storyline ahead.
3"Merry F*cking Christmas"
Different from most Christmas episodes in TV dramas, this one is far from jolly. With everyone heading home for the holidays, Lucy and Stephen are dreading the thought of returning to their homes and dealing with familial tensions. With Lucy still resenting her mother’s infidelity and Stephen walking on eggshells when in the same room as his mother,this mid-season episode helps viewers to understand the main characters and why they act the way that they do.
Stephen and Nora (Katey Sagal) are two sides of the same coin, both very controlling and prone to acting out if things don’t turn out the way they want them to. Although the toxic male lead is hard to empathize with,seeing him interact with his mother is one of the few moments inTell Me Liesthat his behavior makes sense. In the same way, viewers can finally understand why Lucy is so harsh towards her mom. After all, CJ cheated on her husband with a family friend when he was on his deathbed, and since finding out about the affair, Lucy hasn’t been able to move past it. This revelation helps the audience to make sense of her approximation to Stephen, choosing to disregard his multiple red flags.
2"Castle on a Cloud"
AlthoughTell Me Liesrevolves around Stephen and Lucy, episodes that focus on their entire friend group tend to be more appealing. After all,the problematic couple aren’t the only ones with unresolved issues, and Episode 7 highlights this perfectly. In anticipation of Evan’s birthday, Pippa, Wrigley, Bree, Drew, Stephen, and Lucy are invited to his cabin for the weekend, and it turns out to be wild.
Wrigley and Drew’s sibling proximity gets impacted by Stephen’s lie, blaming Pippa for telling Lucy about the car crash. This interferes with Pippa and Wrigley’s connection, with the latter finding it hard to believe her after that. To further Stephen’s streak of bad behavior, he decides to dump Bree’s camera in the water in attempt to get rid of all the pictures she took of him and Lucy over the weekend. With each person in the group lying and deceiving the other,the only two people that seem sick of the chaos are Evan and Bree, who pair up by the end of the episode.
1"Bedrooms of Our Friends"
Episode 10
The season finale is arguably the best episode fromTell Me Liesbecause it ends with one big reveal after the other, ultimately tying up loose ends and leaving audiences in absolute shock over its last scene. Although Lucy and Stephen seem to be going strong, he decides to call off their relationship in the most jaw-dropping way. The couple attend a Hawaiian-themed party together, only for Stephen to decide to leave the gathering with Diana instead.
If he weren’t evil enough by getting back with his ex minutes after being at the party with Lucy, Episode 10 flashes forward to the present, when the former couple reunite for the first time in years. Despite viewers' assuming that he would still be with Diana, the series catches everyone off guard by showing that Stephen is engaged to none other than Lucy’s childhood best friend, Lydia (Natalee Linez). Now that new episodes of the show are dropping every week, viewers are finally piecing up the clues as to how and why Stephen ended up with Lydia. Butbefore Season 2 began to stream,Episode 10 left audiences in a chokehold for nearly 2 years, eagerly awaiting to have their burning questions answered.
Keep Reading:‘Tell Me Lies’ Season 2 Review: The Twistiest, Most Toxic Show on TV Is Still Irresistible
