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Disney/Ian Watson
Toxicity, manipulation, drama.
Those are three words that first come to mind about the Disney+ series Tell Me Lies, which has become a huge talking point on TikTok as we watch characters' secrets and choices unravel on screen.
The show follows the on-and-off romance between Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), which began in 2007 at Baird College. Fast forward to a 2015 time jump where the toxic exes reunite for Bree's (Catherine Missal) and Evan's (Branden Cook) wedding.
Yes, all the characters are morally grey with their own lies and secrets, but something viewers unanimously agree on is that Stephen is the most diabolical of them all.
*Spoilers ahead for S3 if you're not caught up yet*
Steven and Lucy's toxic relationship
Disney/Ian Watson
One of the uncomfortable scenes this season included Stephen forcing Lucy to confess that she lied about sexual assault on tape to stop Stephen from telling her best friend Bree that she slept with Evan. We then see how this leads to Lucy's mental breakdown in the last episode (7).
"It’s really heartbreaking and intense, and I think people are going to have a pretty visceral reaction to that," White told The Hollywood Reporter about that particular scene, while Van Patten noted, "I would never have guessed he would make her go on tape confessing [she lied about sexual assault]. He takes it really far, and the writing takes it really far. So in that case it’s unpredictable, but it’s inevitable that it’s going to be messy and that they are going to hurt each other."
Life coach and author, Michelle Elman, who has been posting episode breakdowns of the show, shared her thoughts with Indy100 on this unsettling dynamic.
"Stephen sees Lucy as a toy to play with but in the third season, we see him realise he could actually break this human and whilst he has similarities to his mum, it seems he doesn't actually want to stop the game so realises when he's gone too far where Lucy might actually break. She is on the verge of such dissociation at this point that I think all viewers are concerned for her," she said.
After seeing another scene (exclusively shared by Indy100), viewers had big opinions about was in episode 6, when a tense Lucy (Grace Van Patten) is called over by her ex-boyfriend Stephen (Jackson White) at a party as he introduces his date Tegan (Bianca Nugara), while Alex (Costa D'angelo) can sense Lucy's fear of her ex who holds all the cards with her confession.
"WTF IS HIS PROBLEM??? WHY DID LUCY GO TO HIM???" one viewer asked, while another wrote, "Omg the pit in my stomach."
Although Lucy's breakdown leads to Stephen giving the tape back to her later in episode 7, viewers remain suspicious of his motivations heading into the season finale.
It's this unhealthy dynamic between Lucy and Stephen that has sparked much of the online discussions, as many can relate to "being with a Stephen" at some point in their life.
"Most people have been in toxic relationships and therefore see themselves in characters like Lucy or had a similar friendship group where they all get with each other, obviously not to that extreme but it really recalls that nostalgia from a certain time in someone's life in university or even in that era with the styling and the change in technology," Elman said.
She also noted how a lot of the characters "have come from pretty messed up backgrounds to various extents, and we see that playing out in their behaviour."
For instance, Bree is seeking safety in the men she dates because she doesn't have the safety she had when she was younger, growing up in foster care, hence why she chose to stay with Evan, arguably the more stable and secure option over Wrigley (Spencer House), despite their growing feelings for each other.
We'll have to wait and see how this all plays out in the finale.
Viewership surge and TikTok impact
Tell Me Lies Season 3 premiered in January and saw a notable surge in popularity, with 5 million views worldwide across Hulu and Disney+ within its first seven days - that's a 150 per cent increase compared to the Season 1 premiere in the same timeframe, Deadline reported.
But why the rise in interest for S3?
As a viewer who has been watching the show since the first season came out in 2022, I couldn't help but notice the increasing amount of Tell Me Lies content on my feed.
Like TikTok favourite Ieuan Cooke (@ieucooke), who was left speechless after watching episode one of Tell Me Lies, asking his audience, "why do I feel the need to consume every single episode?"
The statistics confirm this trend, as the hashtag #tellmelies has 79.6K tagged videos - an increase of 142 per cent in the past year, with viewers, like Elman, discovering the show for the first time, catching up to tune in when the new season arrived.
"I started watching the show a few weeks before Season 3 dropped," she explained. "I hadn't heard much about the show but I'd been told it's about toxic relationships and given my background as a life coach and the fact that I enjoy human dynamics, I might enjoy it!"
“The popularity of Tell me Lies really speaks to the passion of the communities on TikTok," Madolyn Grove, Head of Entertainment, TikTok UK, told Indy100.
"TikTok has become a home to fandom and a space where culture thrives, driven by creators sharing their critique, their passion and their unique point of view. Tell me Lies is a powerful example of how the TikTok community can extend the experience of a show far beyond the screen and into a broader cultural conversation."
Elman noted how Season 3 "has escalated everything and the cliffhangers leave us on the edge of our seats every episode."
Especially since it hasn't been confirmed that the show will return for season four, as showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer told US Weekly, before the series premiere, "In terms of future seasons, it’s impossible to really know at this point," and added, “I certainly had always thought this was always more or less the ending I’d had in mind.”
There will be plenty of viewers on the edge of their seats to see how the drama unfolds when the highly anticipated finale drops tomorrow (February 17).
Tell Me Lies S1-3 are now available to watch on Disney+.
Elsewhere from Indy100, Tell Me Lies S3 episode 6: Tension is in the air in exclusive clip, and Tell Me Lies Season 3: What happened in episodes 1-3?
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