- Source: Tell Me Lies (TV series)
Tell Me Lies is an American drama television series created by Meaghan Oppenheimer, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Carola Lovering. The series was released on Hulu on September 7, 2022. It stars Grace Van Patten, Jackson White, Catherine Missal, Spencer House, Sonia Mena, Branden Cook, Benjamin Wadsworth, Alicia Crowder, and Tom Ellis. The series follows a relationship between Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco as it unfolds over the course of eight years after meeting at college. In November 2022, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on September 4, 2024.
Premise
Set in the late 2000s at a fictional Upstate New York school called Baird College, it chronicles the turbulent romance between college freshman Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and college junior Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White) over the course of eight years.
Cast and characters
= Main
=Grace Van Patten as Lucy Albright
Jackson White as Stephen DeMarco
Catherine Missal as Bree
Spencer House as Wrigley
Sonia Mena as Pippa
Branden Cook as Evan
Benjamin Wadsworth as Drew (season 1; guest season 2)
Alicia Crowder as Diana
Tom Ellis as Oliver (season 2), Marianne's husband who is also a professor at Baird and is having an affair with Bree
= Recurring
=Edmund Donovan as Max
Natalee Linez as Lydia Montgomery
Tyriq Withers as Tim
Gabriella Pession as Marianne, Lucy's English professor at Baird
Thomas Doherty as Leo (season 2), Lucy's new love interest
Jacob Rodriguez as Chris (season 2), Lydia's younger brother who is a freshman at Baird
Taia Sophia as Caitie (season 2), a student at Baird who was raped by Chris
Katherine Hughes as Molly (season 2)
Production
= Development
=On September 1, 2020, it was announced that Emma Roberts had signed a first-look deal at Hulu via her production company, Belletrist TV, and her first project was adapting Carola Lovering's Tell Me Lies for television. On August 3, 2021, it was reported that Hulu had given the production a straight-to-series order. The series is created by Meaghan Oppenheimer is also expected to executive produce alongside Roberts, Karah Preiss, Laura Lewis, and Shannon Gibson. Production companies involved with the series are Belletrist Productions, Rebelle Media, and Vice Studios. On April 14, 2022, Jonathan Levine joined the series to direct the pilot and executive produce the series. On November 29, 2022, Hulu renewed the series for a second season. Filming for the second season began on January 17, 2024.
= Casting
=Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Grace Van Patten was cast in a lead role. On November 19, 2021, it was announced that Jackson White joined the main cast. On December 9, 2021, it was reported that Sonia Mena, Catherine Missal, and Alicia Crowder were cast as series regulars. On February 4, 2022, it was announced that Branden Cook, Spencer House, and Benjamin Wadsworth joined the cast in starring roles. On April 14, 2022, Gabriella Pession, Edmund Donovan, and Natalee Linez joined the series in recurring capacities. On January 24, 2024, Tom Ellis was cast as a new series regular for the second season.On February 14, 2024, Thomas Doherty joined the cast in a recurring role for the second season. On March 5, 2024, Jacob Rodriguez and Katherine Hughes were cast in recurring capacities for the second season.
Episodes
= Series overview
== Season 1 (2022)
== Season 2 (2024)
=Release
Tell Me Lies was released on September 7, 2022. The second season premiered on September 4, 2024, with two new episodes and the rest debuting on a weekly basis.
Reception
= Viewership
=Whip Media's viewership tracking app, TV Time, which tracks viewership data for the more than 25 million worldwide users of its TV Time app, reported that Tell Me Lies was the tenth most-streamed original series in the U.S. for the week ending September 8, 2024. It subsequently climbed to ninth place during the week of September 15 before moving to eighth place in the week of October 20. TVision, which utilizes its TVision Power Score to evaluate CTV programming performance by factoring in viewership and engagement across over 1,000 apps and incorporating four key metrics—viewer attention time, total program time available for the season, program reach, and app reach—calculated that Tell Me Lies was the twelfth most-streamed series from September 2—8, 2024. It later moved to twentieth place from September 23 to October 6 before advancing to fifteenth place from October 14—20, 2024.
= Critical response
=The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating with an average rating of 5.4/10, based on 12 critic reviews. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 65 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter said Tell Me Lies works effectively through its nuanced portrayal of the toxic relationship between Lucy and Stephen. Han found that the show’s deliberate ambiguity about Stephen’s character enhances the psychological depth, setting it apart from typical romance dramas. Han stated that the series captures the era's hookup culture with insight and nostalgia. Despite some slow-moving subplots, she noted that the performances and sharp realism create a compelling blend of guilty pleasure and reflective drama. Steve Greene of IndieWire gave Tell Me Lies a B grade, noting that the series straddles a middle ground between idealizing and mortifying college life. Greene found the series’ portrayal of the characters' passionate yet toxic relationship compelling but felt that its focus on a tight-knit friend group sometimes limited its broader depiction of college life. Greene praised the performances, especially the nuanced portrayal of Stephen as an enigmatic figure, and appreciated the show’s slow-burn approach to developing its central drama. However, he noted that the show’s contained narrative and tidy presentation somewhat hinder its potential for greatness.
Elizabeth Logan of Glamour described Tell Me Lies as a drama with appealing visuals and a complex web of secrets, reminiscent of Big Little Lies but with a slower, more frustrating pace. While the show offers intriguing subplots and strong performances, particularly from Jackson White and Katey Sagal, Logan said it struggles with drawn-out revelations and a disconnect between its dramatic elements and realistic portrayal of college life. Logan found the show engaging yet uneven, hoping it will improve in a potential second season with better pacing and sharper dialogue. Katherine Smith of Paste rated Tell Me Lies seven out of ten and said that the show features some positive elements, such as Catherine Missal's nuanced performance, which adds emotional depth and authenticity. Smith also found that the melodramatic subplots offer moments of engagement. However, she stated that the show falls short of transcending typical college romance and melodrama tropes, with its focus on the destructive and eroticized relationship between Lucy and Stephan lacking meaningful insight into toxic relationships.
= Accolades
=The series was one of 200 television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2022 to 2023. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.
References
External links
Tell Me Lies on Hulu
Tell Me Lies at IMDb
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