Hulu’s Tell Me Lies delivered a finale packed with revelations. The show confirmed Stephen DeMarco was responsible for a classmate’s death, and it ended Lucy Albright’s freshman year with a painful breakup. However, one moment completely redefined the story’s central toxic relationship and has stayed with viewers ever since. In the final seconds of Season 1, Stephen calmly revealed he was engaged to Lucy’s former best friend, Lydia Montgomery. This twist, a shocking departure from the original novel, cemented the series’ reputation for ruthless storytelling and continues to be discussed as its most impactful turn.
The Moment That Changed Everything
The finale episode, titled “The Bedrooms of Our Friends,” builds toward a tense reunion set in 2015. Lucy attends the engagement party for her friends Bree and Evan, where she unexpectedly encounters Stephen for the first time in years. Their interaction is surprisingly civil, even charged with a familiar tension. It’s then Stephen drops his bombshell: he is engaged. Before Lucy can process this, his fiancée arrives.
Instead of Diana, Stephen’s ambitious college girlfriend who he left Lucy for at the end of their freshman year, the woman who walks in is Lydia, played by Natalee Linez. The camera captures Lucy’s stunned face as she shares an awkward, silent hug with the person who was once her closest confidante from home. The show underscores the cruelty of the moment with a perfectly chosen song cue, making the betrayal land with brutal force.
“That was actually the end of my pitch to Hulu, before they hired me. I was like, ‘And then he shows up with Lydia.’ I was like, ‘Who’s the craziest person he could show up with?’ And I don’t think anyone will see that coming,” showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer told Decider.
Also Read:
- Survivor 49 Runner-Up Sophi Balerdi Reflects on Her Gameplay and Journey in Exit Interview
- Speed and Love Episodes 19-20: Release Info, Episode Recap, and New Episode Preview
- Wonder Man First Official Clip Out: Simon Williams Meets Trevor Slattery
- Netflix’s Assassin’s Creed Casts Laura Marcus, Its Youngest Series Regular Yet
- Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Showrunner Confirms Major Season 1 Twist Will Be Resolved After Hiatus
- It: Welcome to Derry Season 2 Plot: 1935 Story, Time Twist, and Bob Gray Details
Why This Twist Worked So Well
The genius of the Lydia twist lies in its specific, personal cruelty. Throughout Season 1, Lydia was established as Lucy’s loyal hometown friend. In an early episode, Lydia even comforted Lucy about her intense feelings for Stephen, fully aware of how deep her friend’s attachment ran. For Stephen to end up with her isn’t just a random surprise; it feels like a targeted, intimate act of revenge. It demonstrated Stephen’s manipulative nature in a new, chilling light.
Crucially, this plot point was not in Carola Lovering’s original book. It was a creation for the television series, devised by Oppenheimer to serve as the ultimate season-ending shock. The show intentionally planted no clues, banking on the assumption that viewers would expect Stephen to be with Diana, his more socially strategic match. The complete subversion of that expectation is what made the reveal so effective and memorable.
Actress Grace Van Patten, who plays Lucy, reacted to the twist with shock. “I’m like, why? Like, can he get any worse at this point? I don’t know what happened, I don’t know what went down. But it is messed up,” she said in an interview. She also clarified that while Lucy was aware Stephen and Lydia had dated, the engagement was a new and devastating revelation.
Unpacking the Fallout in Season 2
Season 2 of Tell Me Lies provided essential context for Lucy and Lydia’s fractured friendship. A flashback revealed that the major rift occurred in college after Lucy made a false public claim. In an attempt to support another friend who was a victim, Lucy wrongly stated that Lydia’s brother had also assaulted her. This lie, though motivated by a desire for justice, destroyed her bond with Lydia.
“I knew going into the season that Lucy needed to betray Lydia in some way, sacrificing herself for the sake of one of her friends,” Oppenheimer explained to Vanity Fair, noting the storyline was divisive in the writers’ room but necessary to show the extreme actions people take when systems fail them.
This betrayal gave Stephen an opening. Having met Lydia at a college Halloween party, he later reconnected with her after her fallout with Lucy. The show strongly suggests Stephen’s relationship with Lydia is less about love and more about a calculated, long-game revenge against Lucy for her past betrayals. Actor Jackson White, who plays Stephen, offered an ambiguous take on his character’s motives, hinting at a complex mix of genuine feeling and manipulation.
The ripple effects of Stephen and Lydia’s engagement continued to drive the drama in the Season 2 finale, which jumped forward to Bree and Evan’s wedding in 2015. There, the toxic pull between Lucy and Stephen proved unstoppable, as they betrayed their current partners once again. In a characteristically cruel move, Stephen then sent the groom, Evan, an audio recording proving Evan had slept with Lucy years prior, leaving the wedding’s outcome in doubt as the season closed.
Also Read: Cooking Shows to Watch After Culinary Class Wars
