Tell Me Lies: Season 1/ Episode 8 “Don’t Go Wasting Your Emotion” – Recap/ Review (with

It’s a long overdue Pippa-focused episode, and it might be one of the best of the supporting characters.

Aired (Hulu)	10/12/2022
Director(s)	Ed Lilly
Writer(s)	Samir Mehta
Introduced This Episode
Raul	Reinaldo Faberlle

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Recap

I Guess For Her It’s Different – Diana, Stephen, Lucy, Evan, Bree, Nora

Lucy accidentally slips up and says “I love you” to Stephen while having sex. Well, she does a last-minute fix and says she loves having sex with him, but he knows what she meant, and flipping her over so he can finish without looking at her raises a red flag. One that leads her to, as always, go to Evan, who is now obsessed with Bree, so she can dig up some information. Specifically, when it comes to Stephen and Diana, did they say they loved each other, to which Evan says yes.

Because of this, Lucy makes it a point to establish she is with Stephen as Diana performs with her acapella group on stage, and she confronts Stephen about this. Even addresses how miserable he seems, which he makes clear isn’t a Lucy issue as much as it is Nora not funding his housing next year. Which Nora claims is a money issue, since Stephen’s sister got into that boarding school, but by the end of their conversation, it becomes clear this is meant to punish Stephen for his part in making this happen.

This leads to Diana wanting to console Stephen with sex, but with him wanting to be faithful to Lucy, Diana realizes what he has with her is real and decides to retreat once again.

Everyone Knows You Send Out Your Representative – Pippa, Wrigley, Raul, Charlie, Drew

Pippa’s dad, Raul, comes to campus, and when he meets Wrigley, he is happy for Pippa but asks the kind of questions that makes him wonder if she is putting up a façade. Wrigley doesn’t fully catch on, but it seems he might be the only one oblivious to Pippa trying to be everything to everyone. Drew knows it and even calls Pippa out about it, but Charlie is the one who not only breaks it down but gets Pippa to open up.

The story is, since around 1^st grade, Pippa didn’t have friends. She didn’t move to a different town and doesn’t make any claims of being an ass. She was just apparently deemed a loser since elementary school, and then in junior year, she was pranked. AIM was her main outlet for some kind of human connection, and some girls at school made her believe she met a guy who she clicked with. But that wasn’t the case, and her messages to him were spread across the school, hence her transferring senior year, as she told Lucy.

But it doesn’t end there. Pippa reveals that the reason she is how she is with Wrigley is that he is her first. Wrigley is her first love, the first person she had sex with, and him choosing her is why she fakes it like she does and is the dutiful girlfriend. She feels so lucky to be chosen that she doesn’t want to lose that feeling.

And it is perhaps feeling so close to Charlie that she can take her mask down that leads to them making out, Charlie getting to eat Pippa out, and Pippa partly realizing she is doing it again. She is being who Charlie perhaps wants her to be or what would keep Charlie around, and with that, things are awkward, but Charlie gets it. So it seems the friendship is still intact.

I’m The Exception – Pippa, Lucy, Drew, Stephen, Wrigley

Now, as for why Pippa is opening up to Charlie? Well, beyond being needy and not liking to be alone, as Charlie notes, it is also because Bree and Lucy are attached at the hip to their boyfriends. Which, in the case of Lucy is worrisome since Stephen isn’t a nice person. But maybe Lucy isn’t either?

Yes, she defends Pippa when Drew is nasty towards her, but when Pippa reveals Drew’s part in Macy’s death and Stephen blackmailing her, Lucy doesn’t believe Pippa. Also, she makes it clear she could break Stephen and that maybe she isn’t the one Pippa should worry about.

Then, to prove she is right, when Stephen gets pissy with her for touching Wrigley in an affectionate way, she reminds him that she will not be talked to any kind of way, and with him breaking down, she knows she has him. But, to get back in her good graces, Stephen scrambles. He can’t get on board with snitching on Drew due to his involvement and because he is poisoning Drew’s mind against Wrigley and Pippa as a long game. Also, he can’t reveal what he told Diana about Nora and the truth about his internship since he doesn’t desire or have the ability to be vulnerable with Lucy.

However, when she decides to blame Drew for Stephen’s erratic actions, Stephen doesn’t say no or correct her. He doubles down with the idea that Wrigley and Drew getting away with so much and him being helpless is why he has been an ass. So, taking note that no one is willing or able to openly call out Drew, Lucy puts a note in the Dean’s mailbox and hopes for the best.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Is Pippa potentially lesbian or bi and faking it with Stephen just because he was the first to talk to her?
2. Did Pippa ever mention anything about her mom?
3. Is Charlie at Bree and Evan’s wedding?
4. Was Diana going to offer Stephen help in exchange for hooking up or getting back together?
5. How bad is Stephen and his dad’s relationship that he can’t ask him to fund his final year of school?

What Could Happen Next

1. Drew’s situation blowing up, and him questioning who snitched
2. Diana confronting Lucy
3. Wrigley learning Stephen has been talking shit
4. Lucy’s mom meets Stephen and not liking him at all and trying to wake her daughter up to who he is

Collected Quote(s)

Don’t come fishing for things if you don’t want me to be honest.
— Charlie

Review

Highlights

How Stephen’s Face Shifted When He Realized He Didn’t Have To Tell Lucy The Truth

There is something about an actor seemingly being in the moment, not putting on a performance but being their character, that is spine-tingling. It reminds me of the final scene in “Cry Wolf,” where the killer is found out, and you see their entire persona shift. But in Stephen’s case, it isn’t sinister but a shift from appearing desperate to finding a means to control the situation and hoping on it.

Diana’s Complicated Feelings Towards Stephen

It’s clear that for Diana, things are complicated. Yes, Lucy has Stephen’s body, but she can read Stephen’s body language. He allows himself to be vulnerable with her to the point of talking about his mom, his insecurities, and his fears. That is seemingly what is tripping Diana up. He still lets her in but now has cut her off sexually.

One could submit, this might be because he needs a friend out of her more than a lover. But not everyone is capable of downgrading their relationship and providing that. Especially since Diana didn’t get a clean break. Everything about the end of Stephen and Diana has been messy, and while closure won’t fix things, you can see a real conversation, not avoiding each other or trying to forgive and forget, is called for if they want to be in each other’s lives.

Finally Getting Pippa’s Backstory

Pippa’s storyline could make me cry. Why? Well, consider this: many people romanticize growing up in the same town and having a stable foundation. But for many, that life, never moving, getting to be someone new, and reinventing yourself, sucks. For then, like in Pippa’s case, it can feel like, because you didn’t get things right the first time, you’re stuck in this persona forever.

And while, yes, eventually, she got into college and moved away, that took more than a decade. So imagine your teen years with no physical friends, just random people on message boards or chat rooms that you hope aren’t creeps or, in Pippa’s case, people taking advantage of you for a joke.

Then, add in her transformation to whatever fits the situation so she can be the cool girl around Lucy, Bree, Macy, and Wrigley? It’s sad. She is so insecure about who she is that she rather be someone else who is foreign to her. Yet, while she presents this representative, puts some kind of adhesive on her mask, and pretends it is her actual skin, people see through it easily.

Well, at least Drew, and especially Charlie, did. But, from what it seems, Pippa may finally be willing to be herself. She did tell Wrigley she didn’t cum, so maybe she is ready to be honest about who she is and how she feels now, with a willingness to lose people along the way.

Stephen’s Long Game Against Wrigley

It’s terrible that Drew is a pawn in Stephen’s game, but there is just something about watching Stephen go after Wrigley’s one major weakness and excel. Even though, one way or another, this will backfire. Either Drew will cite Stephen for planting all these thoughts in his head, or Drew will possibly hurt himself.

Charlie

My name is Amari, and I admittedly am not only a pessimist, but I expect too much from Black characters, movies, shows. I’m just being honest. But, I will say, in the case of Charlie, I appreciate that they are beginning to expand what that means and what that can offer “Tell Me Lies. Her relationship with Pippa is reminiscent of Stephen’s with Diana. Only Charlie can see through the airs and graces and kindly let Pippa know she isn’t fooling anyone. Never mind creating a safe space to tell the truth rather than figure out a new lie or double down on the one they have been telling themselves.

And when you consider how each character has that one person they go to for the truth, be it Lucy with Evan, Stephen with Diana, and Bree with Evan, and vice versa, it’s nice for Pippa to find her person. Also, seeing Charlie be this way with Pippa leads to the hope maybe we may get a Charlie-focused episode to see what her life is like, since Lucy seemingly isn’t bonding with her much. Also, maybe we can find out, since it has been brought up, was Pippa hooking up with Charlie a vulnerable moment or a sign that Pippa has been suppressing her sexuality?

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