Tell Me Lies Creator Vows That “Not All of the Season Is This Dark”

Last season of Tell Me Lies, Hulu’s soapy, sardonic drama about a toxic on-and-off relationship between college students Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), ended with a bang—literally. Stephen’s jealous rampage against Lucy, which often consumed their dysfunctional friend group, led the exes back into bed, convinced this time that things will be different. Based on Carola Lovering’s eponymous 2018 novel, Tell Me Lies is a bit like its central romance: a sordid guilty pleasure that a generation of viewers scrolling TikTok and following DeuxMoi have devoured—even when exceedingly bitter.

“College is the most unserious time of your life—trust me,” a new character named Alex tells heroine Lucy in the show’s third season, streaming weekly on Hulu. “I think he’s wrong—the damage can be lifelong,” series creator Meaghan Oppenheimer tells Vanity Fair. “You’re building your entire life in these years. Lucy has some things happen this season that genuinely impact the entire direction of her life for years to come.”

Shows like Heated Rivalry and The Summer I Turned Pretty have gained popularity for their upbeat depictions of young love, but there is a place for Tell Me Lies’ darker portrayal of adolescent romance. “I do hope that we serve as a bit of a warning. When I was this age, I was certainly in relationships like this,” says Oppenheimer, “and there was nothing on TV that showed the impact of emotional and mental abuse. I hope that people are watching it and maybe getting out of those relationships quicker. I certainly would have if I had seen something like this. It’s nice to see people behaving terribly, and going down really, really dark paths of desire because all those things live in all of us.

Offscreen, Oppenheimer is happily married to Welsh actor Tom Ellis, who plays a predatory professor on the series, but in writing Tell Me Lies, she channeled some of her own harmful early dating experiences into the show’s alternating timelines. In 2008, as Lucy and Stephen attempt to reconcile during their spring semester at Baird College; and in 2015, as college friends Bree (Catherine Missal) and Evan (Branden Cook) tie the knot. But in the collegiate timeline, the pair is nowhere near exchanging vows. Attempting to heal after heartbreak with her married professor (Ellis), Bree unexpectedly connects with Wrigley (Spencer House), the current boyfriend of her roommate, Pippa (Sonia Mena), who is developing feelings for Stephen’s ex Diana (Alicia Crowder).

Bree (Cat Missal) and Lucy (Grace Van Patten) brace for impact on wedding day.Ian Watson

Meanwhile, Stephen dangles the prospect of a normal relationship before Lucy, then blackmails her for sleeping with Evan behind Bree’s back during freshman year. “I wanna hurt you,” Stephen tells Lucy, “and I don’t know how else to do it.” Once Stephen coaxes Lucy’s biggest secret out, he has the perfect ammunition. In season two, Pippa is sexually assaulted by fellow classmate Chris. When Pippa refuses to come forward or press charges against Chris, Lucy falsely claims she was also one of his victims so that he might face consequences. Stephen finds out about the cover-up, then forces Lucy to record a video saying she lied about the rape for attention to keep as collateral—should she ever choose to cross him.

At the conclusion of the season’s first three episodes, Lucy flees from Stephen in disgust, then seeks a release through having rough sex with the aforementioned Alex (Costa D’Angelo). “Tell me how fucking pathetic I am,” she cries, as audio from her taped confession echoes.

As audiences sit beneath that storm cloud until next week’s episode, Oppenheimer warns that some light is on the way. “Don’t come for me! Don’t come and burn my house down,” she laughs. “Not all of the season is this dark. Definitely buckle up, but there is a lot of laughter and romance and a lot of joy along with more of this carnage.”

Vanity Fair: You’ve described season one as a twisted love story, season two as a war story, and season three as a hostage situation. Why?

Meaghan Oppenheimer: In previous seasons, Lucy had the ability to walk away if she wanted to. But this season, she does not have the choice. She does try to make the smart decision and get away from Stephen once she sees what he’s trying to do to her relationship with Bree, but she doesn’t have the ability to because he has this leverage over her. So in that sense, she is his hostage.

Stephen (Jackson White) forces Lucy (Grace Van Patten) to divulge her biggest secret on camera.Ian Watson

Last season, Lucy falsely claims she was a victim of sexual assault in order to protect what actually happened to her best friend Pippa. What was important to you in advancing that controversial storyline for the third season?

The main thing that I wanted to be very careful about was Lucy’s intention behind it all, and continuing to remind the audience that she did not do this for attention. She didn’t do it for any malicious reason. She didn’t even do it just to get Chris in trouble. She did it to protect her friend. And it was a dumb thing to do, but it came from a good place. I really wanted to be careful that we weren’t making any kind of statement that girls lie [about sexual assault] because I don’t think that girls really do usually lie about this, but this is such a unique and specific situation. And making sure that Lucy continued to reject any public sympathy or public attention, so that it never got misconstrued with her liking it or seeking it.

Lucy’s decision regarding Pippa’s assault last season upset fans and divided the writers’ room. How much of her season two journey was informed by those intense reactions?

It continued to be a divisive storyline in the room. I love our audience so much, but I do feel a bit hurt on Lucy’s behalf at how hard they are on her. They have asked for a lot of punishment for her, which I don’t think she deserves. Audiences are just harder on female characters. That has become very obvious to me while writing the show. So I was posing a question to them with this season: are you happy now? It was about getting her to a place where she was a caged animal. There can’t be too much time to think of other escape routes for her. It has to be right then and there. He’s going to call Bree right then. Otherwise, it falls apart.

The audience might think they know what they want, but it’s not always what’s best for the storytelling. But people send me all the memes, all the reaction videos, and I fucking love those. There are moments when you’re in the trenches, so stressed, and then you get the funniest TikTok video ever about a reaction. It gives you a bit of bounce in your step.

The Bree and Evan romance is beloved among Tell Me Lies fans, but this season you introduce a budding flirtation between Bree and Wrigley. When did you decide to explore their dynamic?

It was always on the table. It just became very clear by season three that these are the two purest people on the show. And I thought that those two really deserved that pure thing. Once we decided for sure that that was where the season was going to fully go, it happened so organically and their chemistry is just amazing. Also, last season, my God, we put Bree through the ringer. And we’ve always put Wrigley through the ringer, so they both needed some joy.

Wrigley (Spencer House) captures Bree (Cat Missal) amid an unexpected season 3 romance.Ian Watson

Do you anticipate that people are going to prickle at this new connection or be pleasantly surprised by where things are headed?

I think people will love it, because all of us loved it while making it. The crew really loved it. The editors really loved it. We were all very moved by it. And also, Evan gets a little messy this season. Evan gets a little complicated, so that’s going to throw a wrench into what people want for him or think of him.

This season, a character very confidently gets an abortion and isn’t emotional over the choice. What did you want to express about reproductive rights with how you depicted her decision?

I am so tired of seeing abortion on screen as a tragedy, and seeing it solely displayed as this heavy decision that people have to make. It absolutely can be that, but not always. It is a small, casual decision for some people. And I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I know that’s going to offend certain people. It did raise some eyebrows during the writing process. We did get a little bit of pushback. There were a few people who felt it was too harsh, or too careless, but that’s the reality for some people.

As Stephen continues to do the worst things imaginable, it becomes harder to buy that he’d stay friends with the group to the point of attending Bree and Evan’s wedding. Is that ever a concern in melding the two timelines?

I’ve been to a lot of weddings and there are always people there that I’m like, how the fuck have you stuck around this long? We did have to build in reasons that Evan would keep him around, and reasons that Stephen would be trying to stay in Evan’s life. But as long as that relationship made sense, then I could buy him being at the wedding, even if no one else wanted him there. We forgive a lot of the people that we’re young with, even though they don’t deserve it.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.