Tell Me Lies Season-Premiere Recap: Protect Bree at All Costs

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This recap covers the first three episodes: “You F*cked It, Friend,” “We Can’t Help It If We Are a Problem,” and “Repent.”

Hi everyone! Each week, we’ll be breaking down the show Tell Me Lies, which follows a group of people who consistently make terrible choices, ultimately leading them all to be in the same wedding party in 2015. The show’s main focus is how these college friends ended up with such a dysfunctional relationship with each other, particularly the damaging connection between Lucy and Stephen. Their story starts in 2007 at Baird College, where they quickly become involved, combining their friend groups and sharing an intense connection that takes Lucy a full year to recognize is actually incredibly destructive.

A lot of people need a character they like to enjoy a TV show, but I don’t. I actually prefer shows where everyone is flawed and makes terrible choices – it’s more fun to decide who to support without getting caught up in all the messy details of who did what wrong. Though, if I had to pick, Pippa seems the least awful so far this season, and Stephen is consistently himself.

Let’s quickly review: Wrigley unintentionally caused his brother’s death with pain medication. Bree just ended a complicated relationship with a professor who practiced unconventional ethics. Diana deliberately engineered her split from Stephen. Lucy falsely claimed Chris sexually assaulted her to cover for Pippa. And Evan foolishly admitted to sleeping with Lucy, telling Stephen about it. None of these issues are addressed when Evan and Bree get married in 2015.

Stephen hasn’t shown any sign of turning his life around, so it’s baffling he was invited to the wedding. Even his friends couldn’t stand his behavior back in 2009, so why is he giving a speech at the rehearsal dinner in 2015? He deserves to be in jail! It’s clear Stephen hasn’t changed at all – right before Bree walks down the aisle, he sends her a secret recording of Evan’s confession from seven years prior. But instead of stopping the wedding and cutting ties with Lucy, Bree somehow blames herself for everything. This suggests one of two things: either Bree accidentally killed someone, or she’s been having an affair with one of their friends.

That situation happened back in 2015, but the core issues started much earlier. In January 2009, after a breakup, Bree dramatically changed her hair with bangs and a bob, clearly showing she was struggling emotionally over her inappropriate relationship with her former professor. She claimed she was moving on with her life, but her actions—like trying to befriend the professor’s new girlfriend in a private bathroom—suggested otherwise. This new girlfriend was a fragile 18-year-old dealing with an eating disorder, and Bree found herself wondering if she had been just as vulnerable when she first became involved with the professor. Perhaps that’s why he targeted her in the first place. Eventually, Bree gave the young woman a lecture, full of hypocrisy, about how it’s shameful and inappropriate to have a relationship with a married, older man – even though her own past actions were similar.

It’s difficult to stay upset with Bree. She’s a true friend – the one who jumps in to help Lucy when her awful boyfriend abandons her mid-song at karaoke. And she’s the only one who’s ever dared to ask Lucy, as she rushes back to another damaging encounter with Stephen, if it’s all really worth the pain.

Bree has a special way of supporting Wrigley emotionally without being overbearing, something he desperately needs after his brother’s death. He’s been dealing with intense sadness, recently getting a haircut and seeming a bit more outgoing, but still struggling with dark thoughts and suicidal feelings that Pippa is determined to help him overcome. At the first party of the semester, which has a vague “decade” theme, the group tries to cheer everyone up by buying MDMA from Bree’s old foster brother, Alex. However, Wrigley is so deeply depressed that the drug doesn’t affect him. It’s not until he and Bree are walking back to their dorm, both dressed in eye-catching outfits—Wrigley in a fur-trimmed suede jacket and Bree in rainbow sequins—that he starts to feel comfortable enough to talk. Bree is incredibly kind and understanding, and he begins to feel a glimmer of hope. They end up falling asleep waiting for the bus, in a scene reminiscent of the TV show Skins.

Just so you know, Wrigley and Pippa are officially back together. The complication? Pippa and Diana have started a relationship! It all starts with Pippa impulsively going to Diana’s place because she can’t stop thinking about her. Soon after, Diana tentatively suggests they kiss, and they do! While Pippa is technically cheating on her boyfriend who is still grieving, the show’s ambiguous morality and the surprisingly sweet connection between Pippa and Diana make it hard to feel too critical. It’s nice to see someone finding a little happiness.

Compared to everyone else’s problems, Evan’s are pretty manageable. He discovered his economics professor was having an affair with Bree, the woman he loves, which really upset him. He’s also worried Stephen will reveal his secret about Lucy, but that’s just something he expects from Stephen. Luckily, Evan’s parents are wealthy enough to potentially solve the issue by paying Stephen’s sister’s boarding school tuition – it’s only $28,000 a year.

I’m really worried about Lucy. Just like Evan, she’d do anything to keep Bree safe, but she’s in a terrible situation. She can’t afford to pay Stephen off with money, so she’s being forced to… well, she’s having to sacrifice her own self-respect just to protect her sister. It’s heartbreaking.

Stephen is clearly still upset about Evan and Lucy’s past encounter, and he’s not handling it well. He attempts to manipulate Lucy, who was under the influence of drugs, into admitting if she’s attracted to anyone else, repeatedly pressuring her for honesty. When she insists she only loves him, he continues to punish her emotionally. After she has a panic attack and expresses concern about her appearance, Lucy finally confronts Stephen about his consistently hurtful behavior. It’s a really disheartening situation, but the conflict continues.

Stephen feels deeply betrayed because Lucy didn’t confide in him about Evan, and he can’t move past that. Lucy, however, argues that Stephen overreacts to confessions, calling him cruel. He offers to forgive her only if she tells their friend, Bree, about her affair with Evan. But Lucy, realizing this isn’t forgiveness but a demand for punishment, refuses. She points out that the situation wouldn’t have happened if Stephen hadn’t left her vulnerable at a party, famously leaving her with only a coconut bra to wear. She’s right – revealing the affair now would hurt Bree, and Lucy won’t do that. This means she’s choosing Bree over Stephen, and when he forces her to choose, she does just that. They break up once again, highlighting the strength of female friendship – at least for the moment.

Everyone feels better now that Lucy and Stephen have split up. Lucy, however, mistakenly believes she can move on with Bree’s attractive but troubled foster brother at the Après-Ski party and everything will be okay – but it won’t be. Lucy has a difficult time reaching climax unless she’s being verbally degraded, and Stephen has a history of relentlessly pursuing those who have wronged him. He manipulates Lucy into returning to his dorm by repeatedly calling Bree with veiled threats. Lucy asks what he’s up to, and he reveals he plans to tell Bree about her affair with Evan. Lucy argues that Bree couldn’t handle such a betrayal and begs Stephen to find another way to hurt her without involving Bree.

Lucy seems to believe Bree, despite everything she’s endured – including a traumatic experience in foster care – could handle her ex-boyfriend cheating with her best friend. It’s either poor judgment on Lucy’s part, a self-destructive tendency, a reaction to past trauma, or likely a combination of all three. Whatever the reason, Lucy is now actively helping Stephen sabotage her own life. They plan for Lucy to falsely confess on video that she lied about being assaulted by Lydia’s brother, Chris. Stephen controls the entire process, writing the script and directing Lucy to claim she fabricated the assault for attention, then he saves the video for later. Things are about to get much worse.

For the Group Chat

• Diana is pregnant, which I desperately hope is taken care of posthaste.

Okay, so last we saw, things were getting tense. Stephen was really laying into Lucy’s ex, Max, at a bar, and honestly, I was worried. The show gave us a quick peek into the future, though, and thankfully, Max is still alive. But that’s all we know – the fallout from that confrontation remains a mystery, and I’m definitely eager to see how it plays out.

• Wrigley and Bree are getting awfully close lately, and I don’t know how to feel about that.

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2026-01-14 23:58