TV Recap: ‘Tell Me Lies’ Season 2, Episode 1 & 2 [+ Commentary]

Tell Me Lies Recap + Commentary

Prepare to be triggered and traumatized all over again now that the second season of Hulu’s beloved underground hit series Tell Me Lies has returned. The second season premiered Wednesday, September 4 with two episodes and immediately I was drawn back into the drama of Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten), Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White) and their inner circle.

Based on the book of the same name by Carola Lovering, Tell Me Lies follows the toxic and intoxicating relationship of Lucy and Stephen over the course of 8 years from the moment they meet in college to their reunion later in adulthood. Season one premiered back in 2022 so I needed a rewatch as a refresher before getting into the new episodes. Instead of doing a traditional review for Tell Me Lies I decided I’m going to do a weekly recaps with commentary as new episodes drop to share my reactions and offer up any theories on how the rest of the season will go.

The season two premiere of Tell Me Lies released episode one (You Got a Reaction, Didn’t You?) and episode two (I Shall Now Perform a 180 Flip-Flop). The first episode opens similarly to how the first episode of season one did. We find ourselves in 2015 at Bree (Cat Missal) and Evan’s (Branden Cook) engagement party. Stephen is still looking like a creep with that long hair cuddling up next to his fiancé Lydia (Natalee Linez) aka Lucy’s bestie while Lucy looks on uneasy. Pippa (Sonia Mena) teases that she’s seeing someone but it’s just sexual. There’s a moment when Lucy and Lydia have a moment alone trying to play nice, but Lydia cuts the façade and says, “I will never forgive you for any of it.” I have my theories as to why she said that, but we’ll get into that later.

Now back in 2008 and heading into Lucy’s sophomore year at Baird college, we see some familiar faces: Wrigley (Spencer House), who is adjusting to life outside of football due to his injury, Diana (Alicia Crowder), who has worked at her dad’s firm all summer with Stephen, and Marianne (Gabriella Pession), who is ready to give Lucy another academic chance following the shenanigans she pulled last semester. Newcomers include Oliver (Tom Ellis), Marianne’s husband who ends up having an affair with Bree, Chris (Jacob Rodriguez), Lydia’s brother starting his freshman year at Baird, and fine ass Leo (Thomas Doherty), back from “studying abroad” in France.

Throughout the first episode we see Pippa still getting iced out by the football team because of what happened between her and Wrigley. Drew (Benjamin Wadsworth) and Wrigley aren’t on speaking terms, and it appears he didn’t return to Baird. Lucy is not handling the breakup with Stephen well at all. She’s forgetting to finish her make up, repeating herself, and even has a nervous breakdown during class. She attempts to move on by dating Leo but in typical Stephen fashion he tries to embarrass her in front of him with an “apology.” Stephen is the type of narcissist that if you don’t love him, he’ll make you hate him. He just wants you to feel something towards him.

Bree and Evan aren’t doing all that well. The fact that he cheated with Lucy before summer break is eating him up and Bree can see the difference. He’s overcompensating causing riffs in their relationship and petty arguments. He eventually confesses to the cheating, with some “guidance” from Stephen, but he tells Bree it’s with some random girl. At first, she thinks she can move past the cheating but when she flips the situation on Evan, he can’t handle the idea of her doing it, even though she didn’t, and they break up. It’s going to be interesting to see how they get to a point where they are getting married from this current outcome. Meanwhile, Bree has developed an interesting relationship with Oliver, and they end up making out by the end of episode 2.

Now let’s focus on Lucy and Stephen a bit more. Lucy has started dating Leo and not that Stephen is bad looking, but baby, Lucy leveled up with Leo. He is very attractive, charming, and seems to be the ideal replacement for Stephen, but he shows a dangerous violent trait when he headbutts a guy after spilling Lucy’s coffee. So, which is better, the manipulator or one prone to violence? Also am I tripping or do Leo and Stephen have similar tattoos behind their ears? I think it’s something more to their relationship and I’m not too sure if Leo was actually abroad. Maybe he had to lay low somewhere because of something shady he did. But Stephen is doing anything he can do to get under Lucy’s skin including becoming a TA (teacher’s assistant) for one of her courses. This man is a menace!

Last two things I want to discuss. First is the possible reason why Lydia and Lucy have a falling out. During the second episode, Pippa and Chris get cozy during a party. They are seen making out, then they disappear. Diana finds Pippa half dressed and passed out in a room that had a door blocked from the inside. Chris comes out of the bathroom looking guilty before Diana tells him to get out. Diana gets Lucy and they help her back to her room. Diana informs Lucy that the situation felt bad. The next morning Pippa can’t remember anything, and Lucy keeps questioning her about the night before. Because Pippa doesn’t want to cause any drama, she wants the situation to be left alone. It’s insinuated that Pippa could have been assaulted. I think Lucy, because she minds everybody’s business except her own, won’t leave this situation alone and possible start gossiping about what happened tarnishing Chris’ name and reputation therefore causing drama with Lydia.

Lastly, one of the biggest gags of the episode came with the reveal that Diana was the mystery person Pippa is hooking up with. HOW did that happen and what are they up to? When Pippa got back from the engagement party, she told Diana they “both” were there. Both who? Stephen and Lydia? Lucy and Wrigley? I don’t have a theory to what they are planning yet. I need more episodes.

This season is going to be just as messy as the first and I’m so excited!How are you feeling about season two of Tell Me Lies? Share your thoughts and theories with me in the comments.

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Photo: Josh Stringer| Hulu