For anyone who’s been following “Tell Me Lies“, you already know that season three dropped mid-January, and the drama wasted absolutely no time unraveling. Five episodes in, the chaos is already impossible to miss, and the show has fully re-embraced its favorite formula: emotional manipulation, blurred boundaries, and Stephen DeMarco causing problems for literally everyone around him.
From his fixation on Lucy to his growing involvement in her closest friendship with Bree, Stephen’s behavior feels intentional, invasive, and increasingly hard to ignore. Whether it’s control, jealousy, or something bordering on narcissism. Here’s hoping Stephen DeMarco gets everything he deserves this season… and then some.
Consider this your official spoiler warning for the first five episodes.
The Wedding Might be A Setup, And Wrigley is right at the center of it.
The future wedding timeline has been one of the most unsettling parts of the season so far, largely because it feels less like a celebration and more like something waiting to implode. While Bree saying “I do” to Evan initially reads as a choice for stability, the moments surrounding the ceremony suggest there is far more happening beneath the surface. Wrigley may even be the key to it all.
Leading up to the wedding, Bree was shown taking a phone call alone in her dressing room, a detail the show lingers on. While we never saw who was on the other end, many viewers believe it could be Wrigley. That theory gained traction in episode four, when Wrigley admitted to Pippa that he is “pretending she’s the one he’s still in love with,” before the camera immediately cut to Bree dancing with Evan. It is also revealed in episode five that Wrigley and Bree share an almost kiss in the pool.
Stephen, meanwhile, is operating exactly as expected. He sent Bree a voicemail from Evan confessing that he cheated on her in college with Lucy, a message Stephen clearly saved for the perfect moment, hoping it would derail the wedding altogether. Sitting beside Lydia with a smug expression, Stephen looks confident as the ceremony begins. Bree even met his gaze on her way down the aisle and smiled. When she said “I do,” it was clear Stephen did not get the reaction he was counting on.
The tension escalated when Wrigley appeared to leave his phone unlocked in front of Stephen during the reception, baiting him into snooping. Stephen found multiple outgoing calls to Bree, and if you look even closer, one to Diana, which raised questions given their lack of closeness. Some fans now speculate the phone may not have been Wrigley’s at all, but Pippa’s, intentionally planted to make Stephen think he was about to expose something explosive.
Whether the wedding is a carefully orchestrated setup or simply layered with secrets, one thing is clear: Stephen expected control, and for once, he lost it.
Bree, Oliver, and the Illusion of Control
By the time season three begins, Bree’s history with Oliver already carries weight. In season two, she walked away after learning his marriage is open, and after Oliver called her out for enjoying the thrill of being with someone unavailable. Bree rejected that framing entirely, stormed out, and later destroyed his car in a moment of justified rage.
That’s what makes Oliver’s behavior this season hit harder. After Bree returned from winter break, she learned through observation that he’s been flirting with a freshman girl, and the timeline feels uncomfortably close. The overlap matters. Oliver wasn’t moving on after their “breakup.” He was already redirecting his attention elsewhere.
This time, Bree’s reaction isn’t explosive; it’s observant. She recognizes a pattern. Oliver isn’t just careless or selfish; he seeks out women who are easy to read, easy to destabilize, and easy to control. Almost makes you wonder why Marianne, his wife, lets him get away with it. For someone like Bree, whose past already makes her vulnerable to validation through attention, the realization lands differently.
By season three, Bree isn’t just angry at Oliver. She understands him. And that awareness marks a shift, not just in how she sees him, but how she sees herself as someone who was deliberately targeted.
Alex as a placeholder
Alex’s role in the college timeline feels deliberately ambiguous. He’s not positioned as a savior or a villain, but as something in between. Almost like a temporary stand-in for Stephen rather than a replacement. While he’s hooking up with Lucy, the dynamic lacks the calculated emotional manipulation that defines Stephen’s relationships. Instead, Alex exists in a quieter, more understanding space, offering Lucy a semi-connection without the control.
What complicates Alex further is his shared history with Bree. Having grown up together for a time in a group home, Alex knows a version of Bree that predates college, relationships, and social hierarchies. That familiarity adds weight to his presence, even as the show withholds clear intentions. For now, Alex isn’t framed as good or bad; he’s simply interesting.
Pippa and Diana
One of the most overdue payoffs this season is the way Pippa and Diana’s relationship evolves from friendship into something more intimate and emotionally grounded. Early in season three, we saw a moment where Pippa confessed to Diana that she likes her and can’t stop thinking about her, which lines up with where their story is headed in the flash-forward wedding timeline. This development feels earned because both characters have grappled with trauma, isolation, and self-doubt in different ways, and seeing them find connection offers a welcome contrast to the relentless drama around them. An interesting theory swirling around about these two is that they’re actually plotting something at the wedding — and whether that’s against Stephen and Lydia is up for question.
Stephen’s leverage over Lucy
Stephen’s constant hold over Lucy is one of the darkest parts of this season. After Lucy drunkenly slept with Evan at the end of season two, Stephen wants her to tell Bree, because it’s the only way that he knows how to “hurt her.” She refused, and he followed through by repeatedly calling Bree himself. And his threat isn’t empty, as in episode three, he coerced Lucy into recording a confession that she lied about being sexually assaulted the previous semester. She told this lie in order to protect Pippa, who was actually sexually assaulted by Lydia’s brother, Chris. Lucy’s decision wasn’t malicious in intent, but it left her vulnerable to Stephen’s manipulation.
This isn’t just gossip or regular leverage; it’s a weapon that he holds over her identity and reputation, reinforcing the idea that Stephen doesn’t only want control over Lucy’s actions, he wants control over her narrative and sense of self.
Diana, Pregnancy, and the Loss of control
Stephen never wanted a child. What he wanted was control. When Diana told him that she planned to have an abortion and called it the “highlight of her fucking year,” it was the first time this season that Stephen visibly lost his grip on a situation. His reaction wasn’t about grief or fear. It’s pure panic. Up until that moment, the pregnancy represented leverage, another way he could tie himself to Diana, and by extension, to her father and his law firm. Once Diana made it clear that the decision was already made and she doesn’t need his approval, Stephen spirals. He shows up begging, proposing compromises, acting concerned, and framing the situation as something they could “work out,” not because he wants to have a family, but because he can feel the power dynamic slipping away. Diana choosing herself leaves Stephen with absolutely nothing to manipulate, and that loss of control is what truly enrages him.
The most satisfying part of it all was when Stephen realized that Diana was fully in control of their breakup, pulling the strings all along. This is not something that he’s accustomed to, as he relishes control. Diana revealed in episode five that she never bombed the LSAT; in fact, she got a 178 (out of 180) and got into most of the law schools she applied for.
What all this chaos reveals
At its core, Tell Me Lies isn’t just about toxic relationships; it’s about power, control, and the moments when control finally slips. Five episodes into season three, the chaos feels less random and more revealing. Bree learns to recognize when she’s being targeted. Diana reclaims autonomy when Stephen assumes ownership over her choices. Pippa finds a relationship that feels rooted in honesty rather than secrecy. And Lucy, still tangled in guilt and fear, becomes a reminder of how easily manipulation thrives when the truth is buried.
Stephen, meanwhile, remains exactly who he has always been: someone who confuses leverage for love and access for intimacy. What’s different about this season is that more characters are beginning to see right through him. Stephen isn’t becoming more dangerous; he’s just becoming more desperate.
His tactics haven’t changed, but the people around him have. As more characters recognize the patterns and refuse to play along, the control he relies on starts to erode. If Tell Me Lies has been building towards anything, it’s not redemption. It’s exposure. And once the leverage is gone, Stephen DeMarco has nothing left to hide behind.