TV Recap: ‘Tell Me Lies’ Season 2, Episode 4 [+ Commentary] Trauma and Triggers In Store For Lucy and Stephen

Another Wednesday has gone by and that means it’s time to recap and dissect a new episode of Hulu’s Tell Me Lies. Things are moving along in season 2 and the forth episode had Lucy and Stephen triggered and their trauma showing. Let’s get into it.

Starting off in the college years, Evan is driving Wrigley and Stephen back to campus. Stephen is prepping for the LSAT and he’s clearly worried about acing the test. They almost have a run in with another car very reminiscent to the accident with Macy, Stephen, and Drew in season one. Stephen is shaken up by it, but brushes it off. In class with Diana, a professor is asking the class about the worst thing they ever did and if they want to be remembered for that one mistake. The professor also questions how criminals are basically marked with a scarlet letter for one mistake they made. It seems Stephen is thinking about the crash with Macy. Diana asks him about the worst thing he did when leaving class and he said it was cheating on her and that she knows him better than anyone. Diana looks stressed.

Next, Lucy and Leo are doing everything but in bed. Lucy asks Leo if he minds waiting, but he assures her he’s loving the anticipation. Side note, Thomas Doherty is so effing hot I can’t stand it!

Meanwhile, boring Bree and Oliver (I don’t mind the situation, but I don’t feel chemistry) are having pillow talk before parting ways after a tryst. Oliver informs Bree she has power over him and asks what that’s like. She then talks about Evan and how they first started hooking up. Oliver basically says Bree’s friends walk over her and that she needs to be more assertive. I don’t want to condone infidelity but some encounters are needed to propel us to be more evolved versions of ourselves and that’s what Oliver is doing with Bree. It becomes evident throughout the episode. Later Pippa is on campus catching up with her dad Raul when they run into Wrigley. Pippa didn’t tell him about the breakup because she doesn’t want him to worry and Wrigley tells Pippa she doesn’t have to tell him because he doesn’t want to break his heart. You can tell Wrigley misses Pippa and is starting to feel a way about how things ended with them.

Leo and Lucy have a cutesy moment then we’re in Marianne’s class with Bree and Lucy. Bree is obviously sizing Marianne up now that she’s having an affair with her husband then Oliver walks in to hand something to his wife. Bree is shocked, but nobody noticed how weird they looked at each other.

Bree runs into Evan, looking like a baddie, and she’s dismissive. Bree later tries to get intel on Marianne and asks Lucy about why she likes her so much and the B Bree got on her paper. Lucy suggest they meet to discuss her grade. Pippa joins Bree and Lucy outside drinking coffee and Lucy catches them up on what’s happening with Leo. She tells them they didn’t have sex yet because she don’t want to be scattered brain by sex like she was with Stephen. Lucy also says she sleeps better next to him and told him she makes all guys wait. Pippa makes a snide comment about none of them having sex and that Bree didn’t have any male contact until college. Bree is offended and speaks up about it. Oliver is rubbing off on her.

Diana and Stephen are quizzing each other for the LSAT when Wrigley asks Stephen what he should do after graduation. Stephen tells him he’s a people person, would do good in sales, and asks him does he have a resume. It’s never too late, but clearly Wrigley is really starting to think about his future now that sports isn’t the main goal anymore. Evan walks in and vents about his encounter with Bree and how she basically blew him off. He misses her and the boys decide he needs to rebound. Wrigley agrees to take him out on “the hunt” at McKinley’s bar.

Bree goes to Marianne to talk about her paper and they set up a meeting for Monday because Marianne is quick to leave, she doesn’t do office hours on the weekend. Bree is trying to keep Marianne talking for some reason and Marianne entertains the conversation. They talk about where they’re from, Rome and New Jersey, and if Bree is liking the class. Here we have another hint into Bree’s troubled past, but again we don’t get much details. Bree shares how she’s bothered by people who don’t know how good they have it and feels her classmates showcase that in their writing. Marianne clocks Bree’s judgement by basically saying you can’t judge a book by the cover.

Clearly it’s only one hang out spot an epsiode because while Lucy and Leo are on a date, Evan and Wrigley come in. Leo tires to say hi to Evan but he ignores him because of Lucy. If these two want to keep the fact that they had sex a secret they need to do a betetr job at not being so damn awkward around each other. Back to playing pool, a girl Leo once dated, Becca, comes over and invites him to a fundraiser at a sorority house, possibly. Lucy asks Leo why didn’t he introduce her and Leo is confused why Lucy is making a big deal. I am too. They eventually leave. Evan and Wrigley are at the bar hanging with a group of girls, one of Diana’s friends, and Evan singles one out. Wrigley looks on creepily.

Back in Leo’s room, he’s about to have sex with Lucy. He goes to get a condom and she reminds him she’s on the pill. Lucy asks Leo if he’s sleeping with other people because he went to get a condom and that he wouldn’t have done that if he wasn’t have sex with other girls. CLEARLY my girl Lucy is traumatized. She goes even further to hit Leo with the “all guys are the same” talk and questions why he didn’t introduce her to the girl at the bar. Leo is so baffled how they went from about to have sex to having this conversation. Becca cheated on him and that’s why they ended it. Leo is pissed and Lucy is loving every minute of it. She’s turned on by the drama and Leo doesn’t want their first time to be after fighting. Lucy leaves although Leo doesn’t want her to. Like Lucy, stop playing with my man please!

Evan and Diana’s friend Molly are hitting it off and they go home together. Wrigley is lonely and texts Pippa to hang. Bree is cyber stalking Marianne and Pippa goes to hang with Wrigley. He apologizes again for the football team treating her dirty and tells Pippa Diana called him out on being a dick. Pippa looks impressed by that. Maybe this is the moment Pippa started looking at Diana differently. The two of them then talk about what happened last year with Drew and the letter. Pippa questions Stephen may have been involved, but Wrigley doesn’t think he did it. We know he didn’t, but he told Lucy and she wasn’t minding her business and sent the note. It seems Wriley and Pippa are finally on the path to moving forward.

Before bed, Stephen is stressed about the LSAT and says he doesn’t have a back up plan, but Diana tells him he shouldn’t worry because her dad will always help them. It’s the morning after for Evan and Molly. They exchange numbers and Evan makes her breakfast. I know some guys are “relationship guys,” but I think Evan may need to spend some time being single and getting to know himself as a single man. He had a girlfriend his whole college experience and now he’s jumping into something again so soon after Bree. Later while contemplating in her room, Lucy is interrupted by Bree knocking at the door. Bree tells Lucy about her affair with Oliver and that she hoped Marianne was terrible but she knows she’s not. Bree tells Lucy how good he makes her feel, but Lucy doesn’t want her to get hurt. Lucy got a big mouth though and I’m not sure if she was the right person to tell. One weak moment with Marianne and I think Lucy will tell her about the affair.

It’s LSAT time and while Diana feels confident after the test, Stephen has a panic attack and falls out. He’s really worried about his future, but do we care? Do we have sympathy for the devil? Diana takes him to the hospital and the doctor tells him everything looks normal but the one weird thing that come up is a small rib fracture that he says could be from sports, a fall, or a car crash and the impact of a steering wheel. It’s clicking for Diana what Lucy told her about Macy and the crash last year. Oliver goes to the love nest to see Bree and she’s cold to him about walking into her class with Marianne. She says he should apologize, Oliver obliges. Bree also adds more fuel to the side piece fire saying she wants to spend the night with him and Oliver agress to work on it. He’s low key creating a monster and he don’t even know it.

Home from the hospital, Stephen takes a shower and Diana does some snooping. She finds pics of Macy on Stephen’s laptop and the pieces to what Lucy told her are starting to fall in place. Diana deletes the pictures. Why? Does she think they can implicate Stephen in any way? Will the Macy accident come up again this year? We’ll have to see. Stephen thanks Diana for taking care of him and tells her she’s the most important thing in his life.

The episode closes out with Lucy going to Leo’s to explain herself and says she’s not used to being with someone who isn’t lying to her and Leo tells Lucy he’s NOT down with the up and down stuff. It happened with his dad in his home and he’s not going to deal with that. Good for him. Setting boundaries. Now with Lucy, is this a Stephen thing? Did he make her so paranoid when it comes to relationships? Or does this stem from what her mom did to her dying dad? I need to know more about this. Lucy and Leo have sweet, tender sex, totally opposite from Stephen, and if Lucy don’t want that pass it to me.

I’m still on the fence on how I feel about season 2. I feel like the pace of season 1 was quicker and it was just mess every episode, but this time around the episodes are spending much more time getting into the mind of the characters. I don’t hate this, it’s just different so I’m adjusting.

New episodes of Tell Me Lies airs Wednesdays on Hulu.

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Photo: Hulu