Have you ever wanted to watch a show centering around toxic relationships, interpersonal drama, and is just generally messy? No, I’m not talking about the show “Euphoria.” I have zero interest in watching that.
What I’m bringing to you today is a Hulu show adapted from a 2018 novel by the same name, “Tell Me Lies,” written by Carola Lovering. The show’s first season follows Lucy, a freshman in college who enters into a toxic love affair with a junior named Stephen. Throughout the season, Lucy and Stephen’s destructive relationship shakes not only them, but their friend groups as well.
I’ve never read the source material, so I can’t give a comparison. However, in reading a few articles from those who have read and watched “Tell Me Lies,” many have said the show is quite similar to the original story, although there are notable changes in characters and thoughts in the book that never appear on screen, since the mediums are different.
After the first season’s success, another was released two years later in 2024. The “Tell Me Lies” book is a standalone, meaning for this second season, showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer didn’t need to try and stick to any source material. She was able to make this show as messy as she wanted, and she did.
Because, wow, that season was absolutely…there’s no other word for it but a mess. So much drama happened to all of the characters. More awful relationships came about, mental health issues were on the rise, and most of the characters, arguably, got worse.
I can’t emphasize enough that this is a very character-driven show. There isn’t an external villain that the cast has to battle, and instead the story is about each characters’ internal conflicts, as hard as they are to watch.
Recently, on January 13th, the third and final season of “Tell Me Lies” released its first three episodes. A few months ago, I rewatched season two to prepare and remember a lot of what happened.
When season three released, I watched the episodes, and, of course, my jaw touched the floor by the time the episode ended. That’s what watching this show is like for me. The experience also includes screaming at my TV and having full-blown conversations with myself on why I wouldn’t make any of the choices these characters make, even if I am the same age as them.
Target audience if anyone wants to feel that way too.
Before I close out this recommendation, I’d suggest looking up the content or Trigger warnings for “Tell Me Lies.” Being that it’s a college drama, there are some heavier themes such as mentions of SA, depictions of toxic relationships (which encompasses verbal and emotional abuse) adult content substance abuse and in season two there’s a storyline dealing with a teacher/student relationship that could be uncomfortable to watch, understandably.
Based on the first three episodes of this new season, the show seems to be taking a much darker turn than it did in season two, so keep that in mind if you choose to watch as well. There are certain scenes that made me almost press pause a few times.
Anyways, thanks for reading! If you choose to watch “Tell Me Lies,” I hope you enjoy it.
