Breaking Down Lucy’s Decision to Lie About Sexual Assault on ‘Tell Me Lies’
Lucy's latest lie about sexual assault may have serious implications on Tell Me Lies.
During the newest episode of the Hulu series, which started streaming on Wednesday, October 9, Lucy’s (Grace Van Patten) effort to support Pippa (Sonia Mena) after she was sexually assaulted by Lydia's (Natalee Linez) younger brother, Chris (Jacob Rodriguez), took a turn. As their classmates questioned the claims, Lucy lied about being one of Chris’ victims.
"It's a really challenging story line," Mena, 28, exclusively told Us Weekly. "It was definitely a heavy thing to hold and very interesting to see [Pippa] not speak about it."
With one episode left in season 2, Mena is "very curious to see" where Pippa goes from here.
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"Especially with what happens with Lucy in the end, there's so much ammo inside of her. There's so much happening inside of her and we haven't quite gotten to the point of seeing what she is going to do with that," the actress noted. "Because we see her [throughout the season] whitewashing herself with the blonde hair and trying to disappear and be somebody else. Then we see her in the future and she's embraced her natural hair. She's open about her relationship with Diana."
Mena has hope that Pippa will find her voice again — especially in the aftermath of Lucy's problematic decision.
"There's a lot that happens — and that doesn't happen — just by quietly sitting in your room and healing. It happens through actions: good, bad, ugly and misguided," she continued. "So I hope we get to see a lot more of what is she going to do. She's got so much rage and just stuff to say and she hasn't said it yet."
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Based on Carola Lovering's novel of the same name, Tell Me Lies follows the messy relationship between college students Lucy and Stephen (Jackson White). Their problematic on-and-off romance ends up lasting eight years — and everyone around them is affected by Lucy and Stephen's ups and downs.
Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer previously explained how the show tries not to pass judgment on Lucy and Stephen.
"[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."
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Pippa, meanwhile, is arguably one of the least problematic characters on the show — alongside her future girlfriend, Diana (Alicia Crowder). Since Tell Me Lies has dual timelines, viewers know that after college Pippa and Diana find their way to each other but do they have a chance of making it?
"I hope so. That'd be cool. I think that they both deserve it. They've both been through so much because of external factors — but also because of this group of people," Crowder, 27, shared with Us. "But yeah, I really hope so. It looks like they're in a good place. Obviously no relationship is perfect and we have some issues. I think that we're working out. But I really hope so."
New episodes of Tell Me Lies premiere Wednesdays on Hulu.