Based on the trailer, Lucy and Stephen will take toxic to new heights on season 2 of Tell Me Lies.
Hulu released the official first glimpse of the upcoming season on Thursday, August 8, with Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen (Jackson White) returning to college after their messy split. While Lucy is determined to move on from the past, Stephen just can’t help but bring it back up.
“Lucy, I am really sorry for hurting you so badly last year. I embarrassed you over and over again,” Stephen tells Lucy in front of their entire friend group. “I am sure I made you feel terrible about yourself.”
In another scene, Lucy tries to cut all ties with Stephen, telling him, “You are right. I am still mad. You probably love that but I swear if you keep doing this then I will destroy your life.”
Fans likely aren’t surprised that it doesn’t take much for Lucy and Stephen to find their way back to each other. There’s a blink-and-you-miss-it kiss scene between the former couple before Stephen confronts Lucy about her ongoing feelings for him.
“I don’t think you hate me at all,” he says to Lucy in a heated moment, to which she responds, “I promise you I do.”
Despite seemingly finding her way back to Stephen, Lucy starts the school year off with the promise of no guys. That lasts all of a few seconds once newcomer Leo (Thomas Doherty) steps into the picture.
Lucy and Leo form a steamy connection but she’s still haunted by her ex. “You’re not going to be awful to me, right?” Lucy asks Leo, who promises he won’t be. A separate scene shows Lucy reacting in shock to Leo punching an unknown man.
Meanwhile, Stephen is still with Diana (Alicia Crowder) after she won him back last season. The problem? Stephen’s obsession with Lucy leads to him becoming her new TA while lying to Diana that Lucy “switched” into his section “on purpose.”
The drama is just getting started though since Lucy’s secret hookup with Evan (Branden Cook) still hasn’t been exposed. Evan’s girlfriend — and Lucy’s friend and roommate — Bree (Catherine Missal) starts to pick up on his strange behavior. But Bree’s attention quickly gets diverted once a professor (Tom Ellis) enters the picture.
While everyone is figuring out their relationship issues, Wrigley (Spencer House) deals with an injury that prevents him from being on the football team his senior year. The issues between him and Pippa (Sonia Mena) don’t seem to be over either.
Tell Me Lies is based on a novel by Carola Lovering about Lucy’s problematic connection with Stephen. A toxic romance during her freshman year of college turns into an eight-year period of Lucy and Stephen being on-and-off while wreaking havoc in their own lives and creating chaos for their friends as well.
Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer previously hinted at her vision for the show, telling People last month, “This season really cuts me to my core in a deeper way. It pulls on the heartstrings a little bit more while keeping that really propulsive, thrilling, kind of nasty undertone that everyone loves about it.”
Oppenheimer also discussed expanding the Tell Me Lies universe in season 2.
“It’s definitely still Lucy and Stephen at the core. They’re definitely the through line of the show,” she added. “But my intention going into this show, even from season 1 was: What are the repercussions within a friend group from one central set of lies?”
Tell Me Lies season 2 premieres with two episodes on Hulu Wednesday, September 4. New episodes will premiere weekly.
