Just a few hours prior to the release of the season three finale of Hulu’s hit show “Tell Me Lies,” the show’s creator, Meaghan Oppenheimer announced that the show would not be receiving a season four.
“Tell Me Lies” primarily follows a group of six college friends: Lucy, Bree, Pippa, Stephen, Evan and Wrigley as they all make terrible decisions that affect the lives of those around them.
Fans had questioned throughout the season whether or not the show would once again be renewed. Early on in the season’s run, the showrunners made it clear that if the third season were to be the show’s last, it was written as a proper ending.
“This was always the ending my writing team and I had in mind, and we are insanely proud of it,” Oppenheimer said via her Instagram account on Feb 16.
While I believe Oppenheimer’s assertion that the ending we were given was always what she intended for the show, I think it’s very clear that the show was evolving as it went on, making the ending feel disjointed from the rest of the show, especially season three.
Engraining new characters like Alex into the backstory of the show just to drop them, leaving loose threads and cutting others abruptly are only some of the issues that plagued the writers room this season. They also required the creators to explain events that are canon in their minds that viewers didn’t see. Classic backtracking a la I. Marlene King and Pretty Little Liars.
Many fans have a problem with the ending because multiple characters, especially male characters like Stephen and Oliver, don’t face the consequences that fans believe they deserve.
In an interview with entertainment magazine “The Wrap,” Oppenheimer cited the show’s source material by Carola Lovering as the reason for Stephen not being outed for killing Macy.
“I thought that watching him get arrested for Macy would be unrealistic and also a bit uninteresting to me. But I think the fact that he does lose certain things – he loses Yale – that was important to me, and I think he does hurt himself in the end,” Oppenheimer said.
“His desire to inflict pain on other people and to win is so much stronger than his desire for happiness. He’s never going to actually be happy. Being Stephen is a punishment in itself,” Oppenheimer said.
While the finale might be realistic in its representation of men not receiving consequences for their actions, it’s not satisfying. Television offers a means of escape while also providing social commentary. It also doesn’t feel like Stephen actually loses anything as he still becomes a lawyer after having his acceptance from Yale – somehow – and drives off in his G-Wagon after “winning” his relationship with Lucy.
Some fans view the finale as a victory for Lucy because she is finally free of Stephen. Since the writers want to focus on what we didn’t see, technically Lucy was free from Stephen for the six years in between being kicked out of Baird and Bree’s engagement party. In my opinion, Lucy didn’t just need freedom, she needed vindication and justice.
Something else that made the finale feel thrown together was the lighthearted tone of it. “Tell Me Lies” was known for its dark lighting, dark humor and dark mental struggles. The finale is arguably the brightest lit episode of the show. Stephen’s reception speech and the ensuing mania is played for laughs. Even Lucy bursts into laughter as a chapter of her life crumbles around her.
While the finale of “Tell Me Lies” may have been a good final episode of television, it was not a proper ending to the show the writers set it up to be.
Shining moment: Evan laying on the floor with a face full of cake. I’ve hated that man since the beginning.
Biggest grievance: Pippa got the girl and she got away with her grotesque hypocrisy. At least Stephen can admit he’s a terrible person.
Show rating: 4/5 stars
Finale rating 1.5/5 stars
