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For three seasons, fans of “Tell Me Lies” have watched its characters fall into repetitive toxic patterns, all refusing to face their demons. The series is a cautionary tale of how one bad college romance or friendship can ruin your life.

Adapted from Carola Lovering’s novel of the same name, the Hulu original series centers around a tumultuous romance between Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), their dysfunctional friend group and — as the name suggests — the lies they tell one another. The finale aired Feb. 17, ending the group’s drama for good.

Lucy and Stephen meet in Season 1, during the first week of Lucy’s freshman year. She’s freshly 18. He’s a 21-year-old junior — already a recipe for disaster.

Throughout the series, viewers are brought back and forth between two timelines: the college years (2007-09) and a present-day 2015 wedding between two other members of the friend group. Every season comes back to Bree (Catherine Missal) and Evan’s (Branden Cook) wedding, leaving viewers wondering how their college events lead up to it.

For three seasons, Stephen and Lucy can’t stay away from one another, despite the countless lies and constant manipulation. They represent how toxic relationships repeat when both parties refuse to change.

Set during the spring semester of Lucy’s sophomore year, Season 3 (also the series’ final season) wastes no time pulling her back into Stephen’s orbit, rekindling their destructive relationship.

In past seasons, Stephen’s psychological effect on Lucy is shown through her angry outbursts, breakdowns and bad decision-making. But Season 3 goes deeper; it explores the more harmful impact Stephen has on Lucy’s psyche.

While the series has always been dark in tone, Season 3 is by far the most cynical. It emphasizes the show’s deeper messages of how toxic relationships can lead to mental derailment. The season is well executed, driving home the show’s more destructive motifs.

Van Patten owns the season, delivering an even more sympathetic and vulnerable portrayal of her character. As the show’s protagonist, Lucy is a divisive character, with many fans claiming she’s just as bad as Stephen himself.

But in the past, showrunner and creator Meaghan Oppenheimer has urged viewers to reevaluate how harshly they judge Lucy. While Lucy’s no stranger to terrible decisions and pent-up crashouts, unlike Stephen, her actions rarely stem from cruel intentions.

In Season 3, Lucy begins to crave degradation from a newfound love interest, Alex (Costa D’Angelo). She deems herself unworthy of good things. It’s disturbing and saddening to watch her character spiral into a deeper pit of self-hatred than ever before.

To Stephen, it’s all a game — a recurring motif throughout the series. In a pivotal moment of the season, Lucy begs him to return a tape he filmed of her admitting to a deep-rooted lie.

To her surprise, he does, but not out of good nature. Stephen finds pleasure in toying with Lucy’s emotions, and when she shows genuine signs of weakness, it isn’t fun for him anymore. He returns the tape because he’s almost grossed out by Lucy’s pleading.

White’s unsettling portrayal of Stephen is impressive and haunting; he leans into the character without tipping into caricature. His vacant stare and calculating demeanor left me distrusting of the actor himself.

Season 3 would be incomplete without a final twist reveal. It comes when Bree learns that Lucy was the person her boyfriend Evan cheated on her with. Up until this discovery, Bree is the golden girl — she’s a good friend, and she honestly attempts to move past her childhood trauma. But, that changes now.

In a moment of anger, Bree leaks Lucy’s tape, causing her to be expelled from school. Bree has been Lucy’s loyal best friend for the entirety of the show; this moment reveals a darker side to Bree. Her impulsive actions prove even the do-gooders can succumb to harmful patterns. It’s yet another example of these characters turning to betrayal rather than communication in conflict.

Season 3 opened up another secret pairing (talk about incest friend group) between Wrigley (Spencer House) and Bree. The two confide in one another, connecting over shared traumas and becoming the show’s only genuine relationship.

In a series filled with men who manipulate others to redeem their poor actions, Wrigley ends up being the only one to confront his own shortcomings and hold Stephen accountable. In the last episode, Stephen’s acceptance to Yale Law School is rescinded. It’s heavily implied Wrigley exposed him for distributing nude images of his ex-girlfriend Diana (Alicia Crowder).

In the end, Wrigley and Diana are the only characters who get and deserve happy endings. The two were once the closest people to Stephen, and by the finale, their hatred for him further solidifies Stephen’s apathy toward anyone in his life.

Leading up to the finale, fans theorized about ways Stephen would finally get the ending that he deserved. But, he never does. In the final 10 minutes of the show, Stephen exposes the entire group’s secrets at the end of the wedding, then asks Lucy to leave with him.

To my dismay, Lucy goes with him, and he plays her one last time — no surprises there. Deserted by Stephen at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, Lucy realizes she’s once again been made a fool.

At first, this ending seemed almost comedic. When Lucy realizes Stephen’s stranded her, she laughs out loud, then a look of relief washes over her face. By letting Stephen have the final play, she realizes she may finally be free.

I, like most fans, would have loved to see Stephen behind bars or worse, dead, by the end of the series. But the show’s ending reflects a true reality: Narcissists often get away, and their victims are left to pick up the pieces.

While the story’s outcome is extremely disheartening, a show like “Tell Me Lies” was always going to perpetuate the narrative that justice is rarely served. And for that, I found the finale to be a worthy ending.

The series’ finale leaves threads dangling and offers little closure, and many fans remain dissatisfied. But if you’re looking to television as a form of escapism from the cruelties of life, “Tell Me Lies” isn’t the show for you.

Established on a bed of elaborate lies, the series had to end with the truth setting everyone free.

Published on February 23, 2026 at 11:13 pm
Contact Claire: cmzhang@syr.edu