Tell Me Lies: Season 2 Episode 3 – Review & Recap

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Storyline Recap

How Long Have They Been Prepping For This Wedding? – Bree, Evan, Pippa, Max, Lucy, Stephen

While we move weeks and months in the past, it seems we can barely move days in 2015, as we remain in August, and it is Bree and Evan’s shared Bachelor and Bachelorette party. Do people question why they are combined? Yes. However, the bigger question, especially for Lucy, is why her current boyfriend, Max, is so chummy with Stephen?

While time has passed, neither Lucy nor Pippa have forgiven him or have any desire to give him grace. Heck, Diana seemingly didn’t want to go, not only because it would require coming out but also because she didn’t want to see Stephen.

This Is Lust Not Love – Bree, Oliver

Oliver seems very torn about what to do regarding Bree. He loves his wife and tells Bree he won’t leave her, but he is drawn to Bree, lusts for her, and doesn’t want to blow up his life. However, with Bree taking some initiative, Oliver finds himself negotiating internally and setting some boundaries with Bree, and thus they begin their affair.

I Know You Still Want Me – Stephen, Lucy

From being a TA in one of her classes, which Lucy drops, to how they keep orbiting each other, there is the need to question if there is still something there? The answer is yes. Diana accidentally gets a hold of Lucy’s ID after the whole Pippa situation, and Stephen takes it upon himself to return it, interrogate Lucy, and then successfully seduce her.

However, unlike Oliver, he stops before he is firmly cheating, but with Stephen and Lucy nose to nose and him undoing the button holding her pants on her hips, you can see if he wanted her, he could maybe have her.

I’m Trying To Do Better – Diana, Lucy, Stephen, Pippa, Wrigley, Leo

Relationships are hard and require a certain amount of grace, effort, and accountability. This is true for relationships that are no longer romantic, like Pippa and Wrigley’s, which has led to Pippa being harassed and Wrigley and Diana being utterly silent. This is also true for burgeoning relationships, like what Lucy has with Leo, who admits to having anger issues. Lastly, you can see this between Diana and Stephen, who have established intimate relationships.

However, the problem we often see on “Tell Me Lies” is that not enough people are proactive but reactive. Pippa going off in front of Diana and Wrigley leads to Wrigley saying something to his boys, and Diana realizing that, as Pippa accuses, she isn’t a girl’s girl like she wants to believe. With Lucy and Leo, Lucy wants to hold herself accountable for the relationships she gets into but also believes Leo should be given grace on his journey to improve. After all, as much as many push the idea you have to work on yourself before you should be with someone else, what better incentive is there to do better, be better, than having someone to be that for?

As for Diana and Stephen? The issue at hand is that Diana doesn’t have grace for herself or her mother, and her effort to perhaps not be like her mother lacks self-awareness about how she is in a relationship similar to what her mother is in. Stephen is manipulative and will raise Diana up while putting her mother down, and Diana eats this up. Lucy can reveal Stephen’s part in Macy’s death, but unlike Lucy, who is holding herself to task over who she has dated and enabled, Diana isn’t there yet.

Diana is still focused on feeling chosen, having a man who can step up when she needs him, and while he has also shown he will step out on her, it seems she is willing to give an abundance of grace, forego accountability, and accept the effort Stephen is willing to give, even if it may not be what Diana needs to grow.

Review

Highlights

Pippa

What we love about Pippa is that she doesn’t feel like a trope. She can go off on Diana, a bunch of football players, and Wrigley and then make small talk with Wrigley after he apologizes. Then, later on, she somehow ends up with Diana and pair that with the awkwardness of her and Chris, a topic she continues to refuse to talk about? What is there not to like?

Add in her telling Stephen to leave Lucy alone, with expletives, and the desire to know her better lives on.

Understanding Why Diana Is Still With Stephen

Questioning why Diana is with Stephen isn’t hard. She’s smart, not socially isolated (well, more so in season 1), and she seems to come from an engaged family, yet she is somehow ensnarled in Stephen’s trap. Well, this episode seemingly solved the puzzle: Her mother.

I would submit that Diana’s ambitions stem from her not wanting to be like her mother, but in her lack of empathy and understanding of her mother, it appears she is following in her mother’s footsteps. She, Diana, is with a manipulative man, Stephen, who you don’t leave or let go; they do that to you. Season 1 is a prime exhibition of that.

Following that, she worries about coming off as pathetic, but look at Stephen as he reasserts his power over Lucy when he gets the chance. Never mind, while capable of making her own friends, because of her relationship with Stephen, the ladies we see her around, whether Lucy or Pippa, push her back. Thus, she finds herself with people like Wrigley, with whom she has an awkward relationship. It’s sad, but not pathetic, though you can see how Stephen could bring her to such a low in time.

Heck, I believe that paper she worked on that was suddenly erased; Stephen probably wiped it out so she could become even more, not dependent on him but thankful that he is in her life.

On The Fence

Bree and Oliver

Bree’s good girl gone bad storyline feels lukewarm, and no amount of nudity is going to make it hot. I wouldn’t even say I’m curious as to how Bree and Evan got back together for Oliver has pretty much made it clear Bree won’t rise above being a mistress. So, with that, this feels like a phase that is simply going to burn out.

The Present Day

This episode dedicated more time to what’s going on in the present day, or rather 2015, than most episodes do, and I wouldn’t say it felt special. It felt like the same conversations in different scenarios, but with Lucy bringing someone new to the situation. Stephen was still trying to work his mojo and could have possibly succeeded; Wrigley existed without purpose, Pippa was being mysterious, Bree and Evan presented the idea things were perfect, despite us knowing they aren’t, and it goes on and on.

Which, in some ways, makes sense, why would things change when it is mutually agreed upon that the messiness is comfortable? But as a viewer, you would hope there would be a notable shift to make things interesting or give you something to look forward to beyond how Diana and Pippa got together.

The Gist

The TLDR Recap/ Review

1. For longer than normal, the show focuses on the cast in August 2015, as Evan and Bree prep to get married. During that time, we watch Lucy becoming uncomfortable with her boyfriend, Max, who is getting close to Stephen.
2. As this happens, Pippa notes to Diana how she isn’t fond of being a secret, which Diana promises they’ll talk about when they get home.
3. After that, we’re back to the past and it is your usual stuff of Stephen messing with Lucy’s mind but, alongside that, Wrigley and Pippa making peace, Lucy spilling to Diana what Stephen’s role was in Macy’s death, and Lucy giving Leo a chance.
4. As for Bree? Oliver is willing to have an affair, but you can see there is notable hesitation, which pushes the idea he has never done this before and is aware of how bad it could end. Yet, an agreement is made, and they begin their affair.
5. Honestly, Pippa has quickly grown to be my favorite character on this show, mainly because she not only maintains that air of mystery but doesn’t push the idea the mystery is due to being underdeveloped.
6. Rather, she is someone who doesn’t believe that every feeling needs to be expressed and that what she is going through needs to be a topic of conversation.
7. I appreciate that, for it makes her come off like a real person rather than a character to entertain viewers and suffer their judgement.
8. With that said, I am slowly regaining an interest in Diana too as we hear about her mom, and slowly get the vibe that, as much as she thinks she is running from becoming like her mom, she may end up just like her. Perhaps leading to her leaving Stephen and his friend group behind and finding Pippa’s embrace.

General Information

Additional Information

• Previous Episode: Season 2/ Episode 2
• Series Page

Episode Title

I Can See Through Myself

Release Date

September 11, 2024

Network

Hulu

Director(s)

Tyne Rafaeli

Writer(s)

Mona Mira