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PORTSIDE CULTURE

TELL ME LIES PAINTS AN ACCURATE PORTRAIT OF CONSEQUENCE-FREE TOXIC
MASCULINITY  
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Saloni Gajjar
January 19, 2026
AV Club
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_ In the Hulu drama's ongoing third season, Stephen is irredeemable
but hardly one-note. _

, Photo: Ian Watson/Disney

 

The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” might be triggering to those
who’ve watched _Tell Me Lies_
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punched up a crucial season-one finale moment when Lucy Albright
(Grace Van Patten) stood frozen in place as her college boyfriend left
a party they arrived at together, holding hands with his wealthy ex,
Diana (Alicia Crowder), indicating a quietly cruel breakup. Stephen
DeMarco (Jackson White) didn’t so much as glance at or say a word to
Lucy while walking past her, publicly crushing her heart mere days
after they confessed their true feelings and exchanged dark secrets
from their respective pasts that he then used to manipulate her. This
betrayal helped cement Stephen as an antagonizing villain instead of a
troubled love interest with potentially redeemable qualities. 

Complex relationship issues are built into similar melodramatic
dramas. Yet, this turn of events was shocking enough that social media
had a ton of videos
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documenting people losing their minds over this scene, as if it was
_Game Of Thrones_‘ Red Wedding
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or _Severance_
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Scout yelling, “She’s alive!” The visceral response is because
the show realistically
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frighteningly) depicts his layers of emotional abuse and how they trap
those around him. In its ongoing third season
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Hulu’s drama continues to evoke a primal response to Stephen’s
increasingly vile behavior. As Lucy’s friend declares in the
premiere, “He _is_ evil incarnate.” And she doesn’t even know
half of the things the guy’s done, like accidentally killing
Lucy’s freshman-year roommate (whom he was secretly hooking up
with!) while driving drunk and blaming it on someone else, among a
laundry list of awful deeds. 

_Tell Me Lies_, based on Carola Lovering’s 2018 novel, initially
appears to unpack a romance between Stephen and Lucy in the vein of
_Gossip Girl_‘s Chuck and Blair or _Euphoria_‘s Nate and Cassie.
It’s the one where destructive, entitled young men don’t get
sufficient character growth, but they still end up with the women they
desire. In this case, the two Baird College students are drawn to each
other and begin a steamy relationship before it spirals into a
catastrophe, largely due to Stephen’s chilling narcissistic
tendencies. Series creator Meaghan Oppenheimer doesn’t seem
interested in justifying his gross actions. The show pointedly does
the opposite to dissect how his misogyny messes with Lucy, who begins
losing her sense of self along the way. In a _Forbes _interview
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last year, Oppenheimer said she that aimed to make a show that
“explored how we undermine ourselves when we fall for the wrong
people.” 

Stephen is not a broody antihero like _GG_‘s Chuck or _The Vampire
Diaries_‘ Damon Salvatore, nor is he a grown-up taking advantage of
someone younger and more vulnerable, like _Pretty Little Liars_‘
Ezra Fitz. A lot of shows about young romances have gotten away with
masking problematic behavior under the guise of calling it passion,
igniting ‘shipping wars and fandom discourse. Granted, it’s easier
to take The CW dramas like _TVD _or _PLL _less seriously because of
their over-the-top tones. _Tell Me Lies _insists on keeping things far
more accurate at the cost of pushing the protagonists and the audience
to the edge. The chances are high that you’ll pause after every
episode to let out a scream, but the rage bait is worth it
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especially in season three. 

Lucy gets roped in by Stephen’s words and charm again, briefly
reuniting with him after he deludes her into believing things will be
different this time. But he’s acutely aware of how she functions and
why she seeks validation, so he doesn’t use violence or a loud voice
to control her. Instead, he strategically breaks her down mentally.
Episode three, “Repent,” ends with the show’s most
stomach-churning scene so far
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with White telling _The Hollywood Reporter _that he had to walk off
the set to calm down during its filming. After learning that Lucy
slept with his best friend because he dumped her, Stephen admits he
wants to hurt her. So he forces Lucy to make a tape, guiding her into
repeatedly confessing that she lied about suffering a sexual assault.
The scene is intercut with Lucy later hooking up with another man,
asking him to shame her during aggressive sex. In talking about this
with _THR_,
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Oppenheimer said that “[Lucy] is in such a shame spiral that she
believes this is what she deserves.” 

To the show’s credit, Stephen’s actions aren’t absolved, but his
character isn’t one-note either. His own turbulent upbringing and
complicated relationship with his mother (played by White’s
real-life mom, Katey Sagal) factor into his behavior, but it’s not
presented as an excuse (something _Gossip Girl _and _TVD _heavily
relied on). _Tell Me Lies _feels further realistic because Stephen
seemingly doesn’t face consequences. As the future timeline reveals,
he’s a successful lawyer and is engaged to Lucy’s childhood BFF.
But it’s just another way for him to torture her long after
they’ve graduated, with the two falling into a similar cycle when
they reunite at a wedding. This push-and-pull dynamic mirrors real
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psychological abuse patterns and trauma bonding. While previous shows
about young relationships have their fair share of terrible young men,
including “bad boys,” _Tell Me Lies _captures an unsettling
reality. It may be chock-full of steamy sex, juicy storylines, and
unhinged decisions, but the show offers nuanced commentary on toxic
masculinity that makes it both compelling and vital.  

SALONI GAJJAR IS _THE A.V. CLUB_‘S TV CRITIC. 

* tell me lies
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* Hulu
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* toxic masculinity
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