Warning: Tell Me Lies Season 2 finale spoilers ahead.
In the wise words of The Killers: “It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?”
Never in our wildest dreams did we think a simple kiss between Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White) in Season 1 of Meaghan Oppenheimer’s hit Hulu drama could possibly set the stage for one of the most toxic, messed up, irresistible shows on television — but hey, here we are!
Once you’ve watched the Season 2 finale or read Decider’s detailed recap, we’ve got an extra Tell Me Lies treat for you: a behind-the-scenes breakdown!
Read on to see what showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer and Tell Me Lies stars Jackson White, Thomas Doherty, Cat Missal, Branden Cook, and Alicia Crowder have to say about the biggest moments of Season 2’s shocking finale — from that festive fist fight to the “diabolical” voice message and more.
Diana The Mastermind
In Tell Me Lies‘ Season 2 finale, Stephen called it quits with Diana after he realized she likely wouldn’t love him if she knew how awful he was. Oh, and her LSAT scores were bad and her dad’s connections were of no use to Stephen anymore, so what use was Diana? In the moment, Diana initially seemed upset by the breakup, but later in the episode, she met with a counselor who told her she had a perfect shot at Yale early admission thanks to her high LSAT scores. That’s right! She lied to Stephen — and not just about the test! Diana called the bank and asked them to lift the hold she placed on her own credit card to make Stephen think her dad cut her off. Then, when her father arrived to pick her up, she told him she had to make Stephen think the breakup was his idea. A queen!
“I think that Diana is a survivor at her core, and I think she is always going to protect herself,” Oppenheimer told Decider.
“I think it had been building, for a really long time. I think it was seeing the photos. I think that was really the nail in the coffin, and [that and his x-ray that suggested he was in a car crash] happened in the same day,” Crowder, who plays Diana, added. “Just solidifying that — because everything up until then was kind of hearsay. There wasn’t any concrete evidence. But when she saw those photos, she was like, ‘OK. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of this, but I got to get out of this somehow.”
Merry Fisticuffs
After Lucy slept with Stephen and Leo on the same day, then decided to get back together with Leo without telling either guy she slept with the other, it was a bold move to go out to a college party. But that’s what she did! And that’s how her two guys ran into each other and started fighting!
Leo worked so hard to suppress his rage and resist Stephen’s attempts to bait him this season, but in front that lit Christmas tree, he let loose and beat Stephen’s smug face bloody as Lucy begged him to stop. When the one-sided fist fight finally ended, a horrified Lucy screamed, “What the fuck is wrong with you? He wasn’t even fighting back.” As she turned away from Stephen to put Leo in his place, the OG Tell Me Lies villain flashed a smile in a secret show of victory. He got what he wanted. Lucy and Leo were done.
“I love that moment,” Jackson White, who plays Stephen, told Decider in reference to Stephen’s smirk. “There’s a couple scenes at the end [with Thomas Doherty]. He’s really more of a Lucy hang. But it was cool. He’s hilarious. It was really, really fun.”
Doherty agreed that filming the fight scene “was really cool,” but admitted he did feel it afterwards. “My arm was so sore,” Doherty told Decider. “It was like a Theragun. I remember doing it all the way through. And the cameraman was like, ‘You can just chill.’ And I was like, ‘I’m fine! I’m fine!’ but by the fifth hour… When you’re working with stunts and stuff, it’s very choreographed for safety. But then once you familiarize yourself with it, and start to introduce emotions, that’s when it eats up. It was over the course of four or five hours.”
Does Anyone Have Eyes On The Evan Earrings?
After learning that Oliver and Marianne had an open marriage and she knew about her husband’s affair the entire time, Bree stormed out of Oliver’s house — but not before Marianne caught up with her and returned those cursed birthday earrings from Evan.
As for where those earrings are now, Cat Missal, who plays Bree, said, “I wasn’t able to [keep them]” before laughing, “They’re cursed anyway. I don’t want them.”
Stephen, And Lucy, And Lydia — OH MY!
In the Season 2 finale, Lucy and Stephen infamously sleep together ahead of Bree and Evan’s ceremony, which has us wondering “Where the heck is Lydia? Was that engagement even real? Was she in on the revenge plot from the start?!”
When asked if he believes Stephen and Lydia’s relationship was also born from a deep desire for revenge, White said, “Gosh, it’s hard to say. I think he genuinely finds something he loves or admires in the people he’s dating, but there’s this certain layer of it that’s maybe even part of the manipulation. He’s manipulating himself. He’s so deep, man. He’s so messed up. I feel like, it’s probably both. We also know that her family is really well off. And he tends to go for girls with families that are well off. That seems to be a theme. So probably some of that too.”
That said, he also added, “I think it’s pretty impressive the lengths he’ll go to to get one over on someone,” so maybe his long con runs even deeper than we know.
As for whose wrath Stephen should fear most after the wedding day stunt? Out of Lucy, Bree, Evan, and Lydia, White says, “I think always Lucy’s. Always. Lucy’s going to be the one that he confides in and who knows the most about him and really just holds that bomb. I think he’ll always be afraid of and in love with Lucy.”
The “Diabolical” Voice Message
Before Season 2’s finale ended we hop forward to 2015 where Bree and Evan are moments away from getting married. Before the ceremony, Stephen was nowhere to be found, and as Bree did one last check in the mirror, he texted her a damning audio file from 2008, in which Evan confessed to cheating on her with Lucy.
“The voice message was diabolical. Honestly, that was some long-con psychotic shit, but it was great TV. Season 3? I don’t even want to think about it, just because it would give me nightmares in real life, that situation,” Branden Cook, who plays Evan, said. “Poor guy. It was crazy. Reading it, too, was crazy. Finding out that’s how it was going to end and what was going to happen. And Evan can’t quite get a break. Even when he thinks he does. So it was it was crazy.”
As for White’s thoughts on Stephen’s big move? “I was mostly impressed by the technological aspect of transferring a file from a flip phone to a new phone, and how many steps and cables that must have taken,” he said. “That’s the most impressive thing.” Amazing.
After Bree listened to the voice recording, a haunting cover of “Mr. Brightside,” a throwback to the song’s inclusion in the Season 1 finale, started to swell. This time, however, it was sung by absolute icon Cat Missal, who also sang the “Crazy” cover in Season 2’s premiere.
“Oh my god, the music is so much fun,” Oppenheimer told Decider. “I love doing the music. It’s one of my favorite parts of the whole thing, because I’m basically just using my high school and college playlists that I listened to… I always knew I wanted Cat to create something for the show, because they’re an amazing singer and musician.”
When asked about getting to incorporate their love of music into the show, Missal explained, “It’s amazing. Honestly, my favorite kind of music is like early 2000s or 2010, and so much of that is in the show. I was so excited and thrilled that Meaghan asked me to do this, because she knows that I make music… It was really cool.”
What Season 3 Hopefully Has In Store
When Decider asked Oppenheimer if she had a set arc in mind, here’s what she had to say: “I think it really just depends. I think most shows nowadays do well with three seasons. I think that’s a very clean, good number to me — especially when it’s something that’s a smaller story, not a big procedural thing.”
If there is a Season 3 (which, there has to be!), here’s what some cast members would like to see for their characters.
“I think it would be nice for Evan to distance himself. He already did, kind of, as you saw in the future. But I think it’d be nice for him to get away from the toxicity and grow up a little bit and be able to have that space to mature, and really get better, and make better decisions,” Cook said.
As far as getting some distance, Spencer House, who plays Wrigley, agrees. “This past season Wrigley really starts to wake up a little bit to Stephen’s antics and his manipulations. I think I’d like to see it go in that direction. I think it’d be interesting.” And if Doherty somehow returns as Leo, he’d like to see him make amends with Lucy. “He’s been corrupted, and there is intertwined in it. It’s not who he used to be.”
As for what else Season 3 could have in store, be sure to read more of Oppenheimer’s comments and what we know about the future of the series.
While we eagerly await Season 3 updates, Tell Me Lies Season 2 is now streaming on Hulu.