Just when you thought Stephen and Lucy’s relationship on Tell Me Lies couldn’t get any messier, the show is about to cause even more chaos.
In the official season 3 trailer, which Hulu released on Wednesday, December 17, Lucy (Grace Van Patten) records a cryptic video message following an event.
“I need to apologize — to everyone,” she says. “So I am making this tape to say that I am so sorry.”
The third season, which premieres January 13, picks up after Lucy and Stephen (Jackson White) decided to give their relationship another try.
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“My friends think I am crazy. We have to be nice to each other this time,” she tells Stephen, who pointedly doesn’t make the same promise. “I just really feel like things are going to be different this time.”
Lucy’s words don’t age well as her romance with Stephen appears to fall apart. “I have made some mistakes,” she admits. “But I haven’t done anything close to what you have done.”
Stephen, for his part, appears unbothered by the havoc he causes his girlfriend.
“I want to hurt you and I don’t know how else to do it,” he reveals to her in the sneak peek clip.
The last time viewers saw Lucy and Stephen, they reconciled in the past and present. When they got back together in college, the drama escalated when Stephen found out Lucy had previously hooked up with his friend Evan (Branden Cook).
Stephen seemed to take the news well — until Tell Me Lies jumped to the present day at Evan’s wedding to Lucy’s friend Bree (Cat Missal). No one could find Stephen as Bree received a voice message from Evan confessing to cheating on her with Lucy.
“I can’t say too much, but fans are in for a crazy ride this season! I think it’s the messiest yet and it truly feels like the peak of all these characters’ worst decisions,” Van Patten, 29, teased exclusively to Us Weekly in September. “I can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve been working on.”
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Tell Me Lies has no shame when it comes to its characters making some unfavorable decisions. In season 2, for example, Lucy’s effort to support Pippa (Sonia Mena) after she was sexually assaulted by Lydia’s (Natalee Linez) younger brother, Chris (Jacob Rodriguez), took a turn for the worse. As their classmates questioned the claims, Lucy lied about being one of Chris’ victims.
“It’s a really challenging story line,” Mena, 29, exclusively told Us in October 2024. “It was definitely a heavy thing to hold and very interesting to see [Pippa] not speak about it.”
Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer previously explained how the show tries not to pass judgment on Lucy and Stephen, despite their toxic relationship.
“[It is all about] trying to be as honest with them as possible and letting the characters speak organically as you are creating the scenes,” she told Us in August. “I generally have a lot of empathy for flawed people. I never want to write a character who I’m completely judging just because I think it is boring.”
Tell Me Lies returns to Hulu on January 13, 2026.
