A list of reasons why the tv series “Tell me lies” is more than just drama
The 2022 Hulu series tell me lies has certainly impacted the media during the last years, creating a huge fan base not only in the USA but all around the world. But what is it about it that captures so much the audience, making all of us empathise with its characters, “bad” and “good” ones?
The core of the series is the really complex texture of relationships that goes on forming itself since the very beginning of the first season. One of the things that strikes the most is the high number of characters-that still all manage to interact with themselves in different circumstances- showing different sides of themselves. This aspect comes out in one of the most significant speeches in season one, which we hear from Evan, one of Stephen DeMarco’s best friends. He makes all of us notice that these characters aren’t actually friends at all: they say things behind their backs, they lie to each other, they behave differently based on who they’re talking to.
Between games of appearance and superficiality many characters loose themselves through the series, and mainly because of their romantic relationships. The one that we have to mention is certainly Lucy, who is also the main character, which is profoundly changed by her partner Stephen DeMarco.
The Lucy and Stephen dynamic
Lucy’s and Stephen’s relationship is the most interesting one of the series, because it leads to tragic events all around them, and because it is a really beautiful display of how a toxic relationship works. It is in fact very well written, both on Lucy’s and on Stephen’s side. The media usually falls into stereotypes with these representations -especially in the writing of the female character -which is often portrayed as clueless and helpless. However Lucy is nothing like that: she is really intelligent and self aware, and she just wants to be liked by other people and be loyal to them. That’s why the audience sympathises with her: she’s just so relatable.
On the other hand we can say that Stephen is not the typical troubled bad guy that we usually find in the media: his character is also really well written and extremely real. Through his family background we really comprehend the psychological processes of his mind, and his need to control others and to always be “the best”, no matter what- a perfect portray of narcissism-.
Lucy quickly falls into that, however after some time she starts reversing these toxic patterns onto him -especially during season one- creating a dynamic from which he cannot escape anymore.
These two characters find themselves trapped with each other voluntarily, becoming dependent from each other, and ignoring the mess they are causing around them.
It’s like a game of power that we follow: they try to target each other’s weaknesses so that they can make each other fall and loose themselves -over and over, by turns- because it is the only way that they’ll fell good in the relationship. They become their worst version of each other when they are together, and they consequently impact all the people who surround them, causing a tale of lies and excuses.
In this decade this series takes upon a huge role, because many people aren’t still able to recognise toxic patterns in a relationship, and they continue to fall for them, mistaking them for “intelligence” or “high sensitivity”.
Anyone who has come across a “Stephen” in their life knows well how difficult it is to free themselves from that kind of dynamic, because it consumes you since the very first beginning -and you give it all until the end-when you are actually drowned of all your energies. But that is not the end of it: you have to be able to recover from it, and to not fall into it again. That is-in my opinion-the most difficult part of it all, which is also very well shown in tell me lies season two and three. The creators give Lucy an attempt at a path of “redemption” in season two, but by season three it is all useless : she’s back into his arms again.
One of the other reasons why this series is so brilliant is that you don’t really have the time to fall in love with one character, because they will surely disappoint you minutes after. Even the ones that seem the nicest at the beginning- like Evan-end up somehow being the worst of them all. That is except for one character which deserves a special mention: Wrigley. He is by far the one who has the strongest character development in the series, and manages to tell off even Stephen. In fact we see him slowly distancing himself from the one who he referred to as his “best friend” in season one: this happens because Wrigley becomes self aware and conscious of the monstrosity of Stephen day after day, and he is no longer inclined to be manipulated by him.
In the end, the brilliant storytelling of Tell me lies manages to actually bring you inside the story, so you live it like you are part of this problematic group of “friends”.
And the series finale?
On the 17th of February the last episode of Tell me lies season three came out, just days after the creator Meaghan Oppenheimer announced that it would be the final episode ever, because the series reached its natural ending by season three.
This left Tell me lies fans shocked and created absolute caos online, with people speculating about what the finale would be like and creating crazy theories on how the creator could possibly wrap up the series with so many questions left unanswered.
The most interesting thing to observe online was how many fans said that the only way the series could end was with Sthepen’s character being killed, showing how he impacted people’s thoughts and minds.
After the release of the final episode, fans seem to be divided: on one hand we can see the ones who are really happy with the finale, and on the other hand there are the ones who feel absolutely devastated and did not appreciate the way the creator ended things.
Personally I believe that Meaghan was able to answer most of the questions that were left unanswered, but there are still many things that I would have liked seeing in that finale episode, or at least would have liked explained to me.
From not seeing how Lucy recovers and takes her life back into her hands after she’s been kicked out of school, to how Diana and Pippa resolve their issues and come back together : these are just some of the gaps that we find in the finale episode.
But what really divided fans was the final scene of the entire series, in which we see how Lucy, after going once again back to Stephen, finds herself being left alone at a gas station after he decided to take off with his car. Her reaction is a really pure laugh, almost an ironic one, while she inhales the air outside her and seems to be at peace with herself.
It was a really powerful scene: not many words spoken, just images passing right in front of you, each one full of meaning.
What I took out of this scene was the feeling of a weight being finally lifted up upon Lucy, and the sense of freedom and finally realising that Stephen will in fact never change, even after all these years. At this point someone might say -did she really need another confirmation of that?- And I would say -YES, she did!-
When you are in a toxic relationship, even after years of no contact, you can easily fall back into it by just seeing the person once. It doesn’t matter if you have been working on yourself, sometimes the journey of recover has to be like Lucy’s: to mess up again and again until you finally get it, and that scene certainly feels like she finally learned her lesson.
I personally think that was what the creator wanted to show us and maybe the reason why many people did not like it was that the ending was not a fairytale, it was realistic.
There are many guys like Stepehen out there, who treat everyone around them like garbage, but still manage to get away with it and have the last word in the end.
Stephen DeMarco really manages to win from everyone’s perspective.
However, I would ultimately say that he is not the only one to come out as a winner: also Lucy does -in her own way- come out as one, because she is finally free of him and can go her own way, forever.
Maybe that’s what the creator meant when she said that the series reached its natural ending: with Lucy finally understanding her lesson, there’s no purpose left to this series and this storytelling.
