With the series finale of Tell Me Lies now released, Stephen Demarco’s actions have had a lasting impact on many viewers. Across the three seasons, Stephen proved himself to be calculating, manipulative, and cruel to his so-called “friends.” Here are eleven of his most evil moments that those who watched the show will never forget.
11. Publicly Choosing Diana Over Lucy
In one of the most unforgettable moments of the series, Stephen abruptly abandons Lucy at a Hawaiian-themed party to reunite with his ex-girlfriend, Diana. He publicly walks down the stairs with Diana, leaving Lucy shocked at the bottom in nothing but a coconut bra. This was just after both Lucy and Stephen proclaimed their love for each other, making it even more of a plot twist.
10. Cheating While Engaged to Lydia
In the flash-forward scenes set in 2015, the audience learns that Stephen is engaged to Lydia, Lucy’s best friend from high school. Stephen and Lydia ultimately decide to get together because of their hatred for Lucy. Despite Stephen being in a committed relationship, he still manages to manipulate Lucy into sleeping with him before Bree and Evan’s wedding.
9. That Voicemail
After Lucy tries to protect his sister, Sadie, by telling her how manipulative and cruel Stephen is, he calls her, leaving her a verbally abusive voicemail. In this message, he accuses her of being obsessed with him and attempting to control her and the narrative once again. The way he was yelling at her was meant to destabilize the healing she was taking after their initial breakup at the end of season one. Lucy gets payback by sending the voicemail to his sister, showing that he isn’t who he claims to be, and ultimately ruining their brother-sister dynamic.
8. Becomes Lucy’s TA After Their Breakup
After their breakup during Season 1, Stephen reenters Lucy’s life by becoming her TA after seeing her there. This move is calculated and aimed at trying to disrupt her getting her life back on track, reinforcing the toxicity between them even after a breakup.
7. Exposing Everyone at Bree and Evan’s Wedding
In 2015, at Bree and Evan’s wedding, Stephen takes the mic for one last extremely memorable moment, revealing so many of his friends’ secrets at once. He tells everyone that Wrigley and Bree are sleeping together, that Bree released the tape of Lucy in college, that Lucy and Evan slept together back then, and that he just slept with Lucy. Although many people already know this information, he tries to regain control of the story one last time, creating hell for everyone’s lives.
6. Convincing Lucy to Leave – Then Abandoning Her Again
After all the conflict is revealed in the series finale, Stephen moves ahead one last time, manipulating Lucy into ditching all her friends to leave the wedding with him. As they are driving away, they stop for gas, and he leaves her at the gas station while he drives away with the car. While this act is ultimately horrible, it leaves Lucy in a position to be free of him and all the harm he’s caused her over the past 10 years.
5. Manipulating Lucy Into Reporting Drew to the Dean
While Stephen is also majorly to blame for the death of Lucy’s roommate, Macy, he escapes consequences because Drew was driving the car that hit them. He uses Drew as the scapegoat for his actions, punishes him by telling Lucy what he did, and manipulates her into writing the dean a letter about it. This letter accelerates Drew’s downward spiral, allowing Stephen to evade responsibility once again.
4. Sending Diana’s Nudes to Her Father
When Stephen learns that Diana is pregnant with his baby, he becomes outraged that she is planning on aborting it without consulting him at all. He storms off to her room, where she tells him aborting it will be the highlight of her year. An episode later, he tells her he got into Yale, and she informs him she also got accepted, but will be attending Stanford instead. Seeing Diana move forward successfully without him angers him so much that he sends her old nudes to her dad in retaliation, worsening Diana’s relationship with her parents.
3. Letting Drew Carry the Blame for Macy’s Death
After Macy’s death in season one, the audience finds out that Drew was in the car that caused the crash. While this was a bad choice, Stephen relishes knowing this information and sharing it with whoever he pleases. He manipulates Drew to put space between them, blaming him for telling Pippa about the accident and thinking she was the one who went to the dean. His silence and manipulation allow him to protect himself while simultaneously destroying Drew’s reputation and mental health.
2. Forcing Lucy to Record the SA Confession
After Stephen finds out that Evan and Lucy slept together right after they broke up, he is furious. He threatens to tell Bree about this act, but Lucy begs him not to, as her friendship with Bree is the most important thing to her. He spares her this, but needs something in return, and forces Lucy to make a tape confessing that she lied about being sexually assaulted by Chris in the prior semester. This is the tape that ultimately destroys Lucy’s life.
1. Lying About Macy’s Death and Leaving Her There
The worst thing Stephen did was leave Macy dead and alone after he was the one who crashed the car that killed her. He lies to everyone about their relationship and never takes accountability for this death. He leaves her for dead and doesn’t even try to go for help, proving his lack of a moral compass as he chooses to protect himself over someone’s life.
Stephen DeMarco’s actions throughout the three seasons of Tell Me Lies prove that he was never just a toxic boyfriend but a master manipulator who thrived on control and chaos. He consistently chose to protect himself and his reputation over compassion for his best friends and family. Whether it was him abandoning Macy, cheating on Lucy and Diana, or exposing his friends, each decision he made proved that he was willing to go even further to protect himself. Stephen’s damage went far beyond messy relationships; he left consequences in the lives of everyone around him.