Image via Josh Stringer / ©Hulu/Disney / Courtesy Everett Collection
By
Carolyn Jenkins
Published 12 minutes ago
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Carolyn Jenkins is a voracious consumer of film and television. She graduated from Long Island University with an MFA in Screenwriting and Producing where she learned the art of character, plot, and structure. The best teacher is absorbing media and she spends her time reading about different worlds from teen angst to the universe of Stephen King.
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For over two seasons, Tell Me Lies fans have been waiting for Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White) to finally get his comuppeance. The college-set series doesn’t trade in heroic characters. Instead, it delves into the complex nuances of people. No one is clean, but Stephen has gone from toxic boyfriend to full-blown supervillain in Season 3. Viewers first meet him as a possible romantic interest for Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) in her freshman year at the fictional Baird College. Like anyone on the cusp of a dangerous relationship, Lucy had no idea what she was in for.
This changes when Stephen lures her into his web, all the while gaslighting, manipulating, and outright lying to her. Stephen is the unequivocal villain of the series, despite the mistakes that Lucy and the rest of her friends make. His worst crime was a literal one in the eyes of the law, as he was responsible for the death of a freshman girl during a drinking and driving incident. Even worse, Stephen never gets any repercussions for his actions, but during the three episodes that just dropped on Hulu, that may be about to change.
Bree Is Becoming the First Real Threat to Stephen
Part of the reason why Stephen has been able to get away with what he has is that no one has been clever enough or confident enough to beat him at his own game. Stephen’s intelligence, without any moral compass, makes him the most dangerous character in the series. He becomes even worse in Season 3 when he punishes Lucy for sleeping with one of his friends when they weren’t together.
Stephen’s arrogance makes it possible for someone else to take him by surprise. When the season first starts, it’s clear that he has an incredibly low opinion of Lucy’s best friend, Bree (Catherine Missal). Arguably, the only character in the series who has never maliciously wronged anyone, Bree was the one shining light in the series. This changes in the season premiere when she states she is the worst person Lucy has ever met.
Lucy – and the rest of the audience – tends to doubt this because of how good Bree is at heart. As the season unfolds, however, it is starting to become clear that everyone needs to take her at her word. The trouble starts when Bree learns that Oliver (Tom Ellis), the professor who destroyed her self-worth after having an affair with her, is sleeping with another student. Still devastated, Bree makes it her mission to befriend this freshman girl and dredge up these issues.
Episode 3 shows Bree purposefully sending Oliver a picture of her and his new fling, which could be the start of her flirtation with the dark side. While fans don’t know the fallout of this quite yet, it is clear that it is just the beginning. In the flashforward to her wedding with Evan (Branden Cook), Bree turns out to be the only person to take Stephen by surprise.
Stephen Underestimated Bree Too Much
Since the Season 2 finale, fans had been waiting to see what would happen after Stephen dropped his bomb that was eight years in the making. Right before she was going to walk down the aisle, Bree received a text from Stephen that revealed Evan and Lucy had slept together. Stephen anticipated this would ruin the wedding, and he could finally have revenge for Evan sleeping with Lucy.
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Stephen hammers home how naive and trusting Bree is, which forces Lucy to do something horrifying out of fear that she would ruin their friendship. As Stephen dangles this possibility in front of Lucy, he never sees what Bree is capable of. The product of foster care, Season 3 hints at the horrors she endured but doesn’t talk about. She is also on the path of revenge herself as she still has Oliver in her sights. Bree is starting to become dangerous in a way that Stephen could never attempt to be. He is obvious in his rage, as everyone expects him to do something awful. Bree is much more subtle about what she is willing to do, and as her wedding has proven, she knows much more than she lets on. If there is anyone smart and cunning enough to beat Stephen at his own game, it is Bree, even if she is underestimated by everyone around her.
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Tell Me Lies
Like Follow Followed TV-MA Drama Mystery Release Date September 7, 2022 Network Hulu Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer Directors Isabel Sandoval, Jonathan Levine Writers Meaghan Oppenheimer, Carola Lovering, Allison P. Davis, Bill KennedyCast
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Grace Van Patten
Lucy Albright
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Jackson White
Stephen DeMarco
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Tell Me Lies
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Tom Ellis
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