# Tell Me Lies (TV series)

Tell Me Lies is an American drama television series created by Meaghan Oppenheimer, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Carola Lovering. The series was released on Hulu on September 7, 2022. It stars Grace Van Patten, Jackson White, Catherine Missal, Spencer House, Sonia Mena, Branden Cook, Benjamin Wadsworth, Alicia Crowder, and Tom Ellis. The series follows a relationship between Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco as it unfolds over the course of eight years after meeting at college. In November 2022, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on September 4, 2024. In December 2024, the series was renewed for a third season.

## Premise

Set in the late 2000s at a fictional Upstate New York school called Baird College, it chronicles the turbulent romance between college freshman Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and college junior Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White) over the course of eight years.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Grace Van Patten as Lucy Albright, the love interest of Stephen DeMarco.
* Jackson White as Stephen DeMarco, the love interest of Lucy Albright
* Catherine Missal as Bree, Lucy's best friend in college
* Spencer House as Mike Wrigley, a popular college football player and dated Pippa
* Sonia Mena as Pippa, Lucy's best friend in college, dated Wrigley
* Branden Cook as Evan, Wrigley and Stephen's friend
* Benjamin Wadsworth as Drew (season 1; guest season 2)
* Alicia Crowder as Diana, Stephen's on-off college girlfriend
* Tom Ellis as Oliver (season 2), Marianne's husband who is a professor at Baird and having an affair with Bree

### Recurring

* Edmund Donovan as Max, Lucy's love interest in season one
* Zoe Renee as Charlie, Lucy's new roommate at the start of second semester
* Natalee Linez as Lydia Montgomery, Lucy's friend from back home
* Tyriq Withers as Tim. a friend of Wrigley, Stephen, and Evan
* Gabriella Pession as Marianne, Lucy's English professor at Baird
* Thomas Doherty as Leo (season 2), Lucy's new love interest
* Jacob Rodriguez as Chris (season 2), Lydia's younger brother who is a freshman at Baird
* Taia Sophia as Caitie (season 2), a student at Baird who was raped by Chris
* Katherine Hughes as Molly (season 2), has a crush on Evan
* Lily McInerny as Macy Campbell (episode 1) Lucy's roommate who dies in a car accident the first week of school

## Production
### Development

On September 1, 2020, it was announced that Emma Roberts had signed a first-look deal at Hulu via her production company, Belletrist TV, and her first project was adapting Carola Lovering's Tell Me Lies for television. On August 3, 2021, it was reported that Hulu had given the production a straight-to-series order. The series is created by Meaghan Oppenheimer is also expected to executive produce alongside Roberts, Karah Preiss, Laura Lewis, and Shannon Gibson. Production companies involved with the series are Belletrist Productions, Rebelle Media, and Vice Studios. On April 14, 2022, Jonathan Levine joined the series to direct the pilot and executive produce the series. On November 29, 2022, Hulu renewed the series for a second season. Filming for the second season began on January 17, 2024. On December 19, 2024, Hulu renewed the series for a third season.

### Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Grace Van Patten was cast in a lead role. On November 19, 2021, it was announced that Jackson White joined the main cast. On December 9, 2021, it was reported that Sonia Mena, Catherine Missal, and Alicia Crowder were cast as series regulars. On February 4, 2022, it was announced that Branden Cook, Spencer House, and Benjamin Wadsworth joined the cast in starring roles. On April 14, 2022, Gabriella Pession, Edmund Donovan, and Natalee Linez joined the series in recurring capacities. On January 24, 2024, Tom Ellis was cast as a new series regular for the second season. On February 14, 2024, Thomas Doherty joined the cast in a recurring role for the second season. On March 5, 2024, Jacob Rodriguez and Katherine Hughes were cast in recurring capacities for the second season.

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released |
| 1 | 10 | 10 | September 7, 2022 (2022-09-07) | October 26, 2022 (2022-10-26) |
| 2 | 8 | 8 | September 4, 2024 (2024-09-04) | October 16, 2024 (2024-10-16) |

### Season 1 (2022)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
| 1 | 1 | "Lightning Strikes" | Jonathan Levine | Meaghan Oppenheimer | September 7, 2022 (2022-09-07) | 1HMK01 |
| Flashbacks show Lucy has started at a new college. Flash forward it is her friends engagement party. She meets with her ex Stephen who she has a complicated past with during college. Lucy's roommate dies and he comforts her. |||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Hot-Blooded" | Erin Feeley | Samir Mehta | September 7, 2022 (2022-09-07) | 1HMK02 |
| 3 | 3 | "We Don't Touch, We Collide" | Erin Feeley | Mona Mira | September 7, 2022 (2022-09-07) | 1HMK03 |
| 4 | 4 | "Take Off Your Pants and Jacket" | Sam Boyd | Sinead Daly | September 14, 2022 (2022-09-14) | 1HMK04 |
| 5 | 5 | "Merry F*cking Christmas" | Sam Boyd | Chisa Hutchinson | September 21, 2022 (2022-09-21) | 1HMK05 |
| 6 | 6 | "And I'm Sorry If I Dissed You" | Isabel Sandoval | Meaghan Oppenheimer | September 28, 2022 (2022-09-28) | 1HMK06 |
| 7 | 7 | "Castle on a Cloud" | Isabel Sandoval | Bill Kennedy | October 5, 2022 (2022-10-05) | 1HMK07 |
| 8 | 8 | "Don't Go Wasting Your Emotion" | Ed Lilly | Samir Mehta | October 12, 2022 (2022-10-12) | 1HMK08 |
| 9 | 9 | "Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging" | Ed Lilly | Sinead Daly | October 19, 2022 (2022-10-19) | 1HMK09 |
| 10 | 10 | "The Bedrooms of Our Friends" | Robin Wright | Meaghan Oppenheimer | October 26, 2022 (2022-10-26) | 1HMK10 |

### Season 2 (2024)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
| 11 | 1 | "You Got a Reaction, Didn't You?" | Dan Attias | Meaghan Oppenheimer | September 4, 2024 (2024-09-04) | 2HMK01 |
| Returning to Baird for her sophomore year, Lucy tries to avoid drama, while also harboring a troubling secret from Bree. Adopting a new look, Pippa tries to reinvent herself but is getting hate from Wrigley's football team. Stephen and Diana become Baird's new it couple. |||||||
| 12 | 2 | "I Shall Now Perform a 180 Flip-Flop" | Tyne Rafaeli | Matthew-Lee Erlbach | September 4, 2024 (2024-09-04) | 2HMK02 |
| 13 | 3 | "I Can See Right Through Myself" | Tyne Rafaeli | Mona Mira | September 11, 2024 (2024-09-11) | 2HMK03 |
| 14 | 4 | "Just Stable Children" | Eva Vives | Bill Kennedy | September 18, 2024 (2024-09-18) | 2HMK04 |
| As the LSAT looms, Stephen's anxiety begins to boil over, and Diana makes a shocking discovery. Newly single, Wrigley and Evan decide to go out for a guys night. Bree begins to set rules for her new relationship with Oliver. |||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Evil, Ornery, Scandalous, and Evil" | Eva Vives | Nicki Renna | September 25, 2024 (2024-09-25) | 2HMK05 |
| Stephen and Lucy both have weekend guests who visit Baird for Halloween. Evan begins to have seconds thoughts about Bree. Bree and Oliver decide to have a weekend getaway. Meanwhile, an unsettling school wide email is sent that scares Pippa and Diana. |||||||
| 16 | 6 | "Do Your Dirty Words Come Out to Play?" | Ed Lilly | Allison P. Davis | October 2, 2024 (2024-10-02) | 2HMK06 |
| 17 | 7 | "I'm Not Drowning Fast Enough" | Ed Lilly | Victoria Bata | October 9, 2024 (2024-10-09) | 2HMK07 |
| 18 | 8 | "Don't Struggle Like That, Or I Will Only Love You More" | Dan Attias | Meaghan Oppenheimer | October 16, 2024 (2024-10-16) | 2HMK08 |
| In 2015, Max realizes Lucy told Stephen to watch them have sex and breaks up with her. In 2008, Lucy is back with Stephen, but freaks out the morning after and later confesses her love to Leo and they have sex and reunite. Drew comes to visit Wrigley and they make up and spend the night out drinking. At the bar, Wrigley calls Pippa and confesses his love for her while apologizing. Bree tells Oliver she wants a relationship with him and he ends things with her, feeling she is getting too attached. At a Christmas Party, Stephen is upset to see Lucy with Leo, so he insights Leo by bragging that they had sex that same day. Leo beats Stephen repeatedly, while Stephen refuses to fight back to manipulate Lucy. The next morning, Wrigley wakes up to find Drew dead, having taken too many of Wrigley's pills. Bree goes to Oliver's house and tells him she really just wants a physical relationship now and they have sex. After, Bree is horrified when Marianne finds them. Marianne is not surprised, revealing she and Oliver have an open relationship and she has known about her the entire semester and that she and Oliver planned the affair. Evan confesses to Steven that he slept with Lucy, which Stephen records. In 2015, at Bree and Evan's wedding, right before Bree walks down the aisle, Stephen sends her the recording. |||||||

## Release

Tell Me Lies was released on September 7, 2022. The second season premiered on September 4, 2024, with two new episodes and the rest debuting on a weekly basis.

## Reception
### Viewership

Whip Media's viewership tracking app, TV Time, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, reported that Tell Me Lies was the tenth most-streamed original series in the U.S. for the week ending September 8, 2024. It subsequently climbed to ninth place during the week of September 15 before moving to eighth place in the week of October 20. TVision, which utilizes its TVision Power Score to evaluate CTV programming performance by factoring in viewership and engagement across over 1,000 apps and incorporating four key metrics—viewer attention time, total program time available for the season, program reach, and app reach—calculated that Tell Me Lies was the twelfth most-streamed series from September 2—8, 2024. It later moved to twentieth place from September 23 to October 6 before advancing to fifteenth place from October 14—20, 2024. Tell Me Lies remained in Hulu's "Top 15 Today"—a daily updated list of the platform's most-watched titles—for over 50 consecutive days throughout and following its season two run.

### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating with an average rating of 5.4/10, based on 12 critic reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter said Tell Me Lies works effectively through its nuanced portrayal of the toxic relationship between Lucy and Stephen. Han found that the show's deliberate ambiguity about Stephen's character enhances the psychological depth, setting it apart from typical romance dramas. Han stated that the series captures the era's hookup culture with insight and nostalgia. Despite some slow-moving subplots, she noted that the performances and sharp realism create a compelling blend of guilty pleasure and reflective drama. Steve Greene of IndieWire gave Tell Me Lies a B grade, noting that the series straddles a middle ground between idealizing and mortifying college life. Greene found the series' portrayal of the characters' passionate yet toxic relationship compelling but felt that its focus on a tight-knit friend group sometimes limited its broader depiction of college life. Greene praised the performances, especially the nuanced portrayal of Stephen as an enigmatic figure, and appreciated the show's slow-burn approach to developing its central drama. However, he noted that the show's contained narrative and tidy presentation somewhat hinder its potential for greatness.
Elizabeth Logan of Glamour described Tell Me Lies as a drama with appealing visuals and a complex web of secrets, reminiscent of Big Little Lies but with a slower, more frustrating pace. While the show offers intriguing subplots and strong performances, particularly from Jackson White and Katey Sagal, Logan said it struggles with drawn-out revelations and a disconnect between its dramatic elements and realistic portrayal of college life. Logan found the show engaging yet uneven, hoping it will improve in a potential second season with better pacing and sharper dialogue. Katherine Smith of Paste rated Tell Me Lies seven out of ten and said that the show features some positive elements, such as Catherine Missal's nuanced performance, which adds emotional depth and authenticity. Smith also found that the melodramatic subplots offer moments of engagement. However, she stated that the show falls short of transcending typical college romance and melodrama tropes, with its focus on the destructive and eroticized relationship between Lucy and Stephan lacking meaningful insight into toxic relationships.

### Accolades

The series was one of 200 television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2022 to 2023. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.