This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
trigger warning (TW): The following text discusses traumatic events related to violence against women.
Meaghan Oppenheimer’s series reaches its peak in season three, answering long-standing questions while delivering an abrupt and unsettling finale. The show closes one of television’s most toxic relationships with a conclusion that feels both frustrating and painfully realistic.
This season dives deeper into Lucy’s psychological state, portraying her struggle with MADD (Mixed Anxiety-Depressive Disorder) and exposing layers of her behavior we hadn’t fully seen before.
Grace Van Patten’s character has often been criticized for her self-destructive tendencies and her dependence on her manipulative partner Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White). Many viewers have asked: why didn’t Lucy just leave?
But the series stands out precisely because it portrays emotional abuse from the victim’s perspective, showing how manipulation reshapes reality, and how difficult it is to walk away. In interviews, Oppenheimer has reflected on society’s tendency to harshly judge female characters. Lucy’s flaws are uncomfortable, but they’re also painfully human.
Unexpected alliances, betrayals from unlikely places, and the constant weight of deception define this season.
*Attention! Spoilers ahead*
A friend over a boy
After reconciling at the end of season two, Lucy and Stephen quickly fall apart again. Stephen pressures Lucy to confess to Bree (Catherine Missal) that she once slept with Evan ( played by actor Branden Cook) while he was dating her.
Instead of exposing the truth, Lucy chooses to protect Bree. In response, Stephen manipulates her into confessing another mistake — ammunition he can later use against her. Stephen’s games resume.
The fallout of a borrowed trauma
In season two, Pippa (Sonia Mena) is sexually assaulted by Lydia’s brother, Chris. Ashamed and traumatized, she remains silent. Lucy, enraged, lies and claims she was the victim to protect her friend.
During the latest season, Stephen forces Lucy to record a tape confessing she fabricated the assault, making her say that she lied because she wanted attention.
When the tape is released, Lucy is expelled from Bayard College, pushing her deeper into depression. And you know what the most painful part is? Pippa stays silent, even as Lucy faces the consequences alone.
Grief makes strange allies
Season two hinted that Bree may have had an affair before marrying Evan, but the identity of the other person is revealed only now: Wrigley (Spencer House).
Though their relationship was never obvious before, it makes emotional sense. Wrigley returns to campus, changed by grief over his brother’s death, and this season shows a more mature and protective version of him. That shift becomes clear when he reports Stephen to Yale, after discovering he sent Diana’s private photos to her father.
His connection with Bree begins innocently but grows into something deeper. He supports her as she reconnects with her mother and accepts her without judgment. It’s unexpected, yet grounding.
Six years of guilt
When Bree reconciles with Evan, she still doesn’t know about his past with Lucy. She eventually discovers the truth through a Facebook photo from the night Evan claimed he cheated with a “random girl”.
Meanwhile, Stephen returns Lucy’s tape unexpectedly, which feels suspiciously out of character.
After learning about Lucy and Evan, Bree impulsively releases the tape. Only later, when Pippa reveals that Lucy lied to protect her, does Bree understand the damage she caused.
Her guilt lingers for six years, resurfacing on her wedding night. She nearly confesses to Lucy, but ultimately stays silent, keeping the secret buried.
The wedding afterparty
Before Bree and Evan’s ceremony, Stephen strikes again, sending Bree an old audio of Evan admitting he cheated with Lucy. Though Stephen hopes to cause a scene, Bree goes through with the wedding, because, as we know, she discovered that information a long time ago.
At the afterparty, Stephen exposes everything: Bree and Wrigley’s affair, the tape, the lies. That’s when chaos erupts.
Stephen thrives in destruction, and for a moment, it seems he has won again. When Lucy learns Bree released the tape, she faces a choice: leave with Stephen or stay with her friend. But, in the end, she chooses Stephen.
Winning by losing
As Lucy leaves the wedding with him, it seems history is repeating itself. Diana’s earlier advice echoes: “You have to make Stephen think it was his idea”.
In the car, Lucy no longer believes his manipulation. When Stephen abandons her at a gas station — convinced he still controls her — he unknowingly sets her free. Lucy smiles in relief. By letting him think he has won, she finally escapes his grip.
Stephen doesn’t go to jail. He doesn’t face any dramatic consequences, and that may be the point. When Lucy tells Diana that he never gets punished, Diana replies: “That’s how it is for some people”.
In the end, Tell Me Lies refuses to offer catharsis. There is no grand punishment, no moral resolution; only the quiet, unsettling aftermath of choices made in fear, pride and pain. Season three strips away the fantasy that toxic love ends with a dramatic reckoning and instead leaves us with something far more uncomfortable: growth that is subtle, freedom that is fragile and villains who continue walking untouched. Lucy’s smile at the gas station is not triumph, it is survival. And perhaps that is the show’s final, most honest lie. Sometimes closure doesn’t look like justice, it looks like walking away.
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The article above was edited by Isabella Messias.
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