Grace Van Patten, Jackson White and more talk 'Tell Me Lies' season 3: What to know
"Tell Me Lies" season 3 is here, and the plot has thickened.
The show, which follows the lives of a group of college friends, returned to Hulu on Jan. 13 for its third season, and fans' jaws are already on the floor.
Ahead of the season 3 premiere, the "Tell Me Lies" cast and writer/co-creator Meaghan Oppenheimer spoke with "Good Morning America" to chat about what lies ahead for the group.
"It's a crazy season," Jackson White, who plays Stephen DeMarco, told "Good Morning America" co-anchor George Stephanopoulos on Jan. 12. "People are gonna be really shocked."
Grace Van Patten, who plays Lucy Albright in the series, added, "It gets pretty dark. Everyone's really starting to face consequences this season, which they haven't before. So everyone's going through it."
What happened in season 2?
The show's explosive second season included Lucy's continued downward spiral from her toxic relationship with Stephen, Bree's (Cat Missal) entanglement with a married teacher named Oliver (Tom Ellis), a budding romance between Pippa (Sonia Mena) and Diana (Alicia Crowder), and the death of Wrigley's (Spencer House) brother Drew (Benjamin Wadsworth).
Additionally, after Pippa chooses not to come forward after being sexually assaulted by classmate Chris, Lucy falsely claims she was one of his victims, forcing consequences he might otherwise avoid.
Haunting all of them was the death of Macy (Lily McInerny), Lucy's roommate, who died in a car crash during freshman year. It was revealed in season 1 that Stephen was driving the car with Macy in the passenger seat when Drew hit them and caused them to crash into a tree. The event explored how secrecy and unresolved guilt rippled outward, affecting friendships, romantic relationships, and more.
What has happened so far in season 3?
In the first three episodes of "Tell Me Lies" season 3, fans saw Pippa telling Diana that she has feelings for her.
Stephen also coerces Lucy into confessing on video that she lied about being sexually assaulted.
The show, which also has a time jump to Evan and Bree's wedding in 2015, shows Bree walking down the aisle.
What else is in store for Lucy and Stephen in season 3?
In an interview ahead of season 3, Van Patten told "GMA" that audiences will continue to see Lucy and Stephen's relationship unravel and spoke about what keeps pulling them together.
"I think they're really stuck in this cycle that they can't break," she said. "They have shared secrets. They have been through so much together. They're completely trauma-bonded, and I think they have no one else who would ever accept them for all the bad parts about them."
She added, "I think in some weird, messed up way, that makes them really close and really hard to separate from each other."
What will fans see unfold in Bree's story?
A clip of Bree and Oliver running into each other on campus is included in the season 3 trailer. Lucy asks Bree if she still thinks about him and Bree replies, "Yeah, obviously."
Missal said Bree's world expands in season 3 with the introduction of her family members, which she says was "exciting to give audiences a little bit more of her past and her story."
The actress also teased a new "beautiful relationship" for Bree, where she "finally feels understood."
"I think there's a darkness that she carries that is often masked by this kind of air that she feels like she has to bring around with her to not only keep herself above water, but keep everyone kind of at bay," she said. "With this person, she doesn't feel like she had to do that. There's something understood between them that's beyond words, that they don't even need to speak about, but it's there."
Will anyone redeem themselves this season?
Since season 1, "Tell Me Lies" has taken audiences on a twisted journey through the lives of each character. As they begin a new semester of college, some cast members reflected on how their characters have evolved.
House said his character Wrigley has a "redemption arc." He told "GMA" that following Drew's death, Wrigley realizes that "he needs to grow up really fast."
He continued, "He's always had a kind of a persona that isn't truthful to himself that he portrays to others, and now the mask is slipping a bit."
Others like Branden Cook, who plays Evan -- and whose history includes sleeping with Lucy in season 1 after Stephen gets back with his ex, Diana (Alicia Crowder) -- see their character regressing, despite moments of maturity.
"I think Evan goes through a slight bit of immaturity, maybe midway through, and then he slips back into his immaturity and strictly his feelings," Cook said.
How are intimacy and sensitive topics handled onscreen this season?
Some say they have resonated with "Tell Me Lies" because it reflects emotional experiences many viewers recognize, particularly the disorienting nature of toxic relationships.
Ahead of the new season, Oppenheimer said that she met with intimacy coordinators and every cast member to discuss their character's arc. She also said that her biggest priority was "making sure that the cast feel comfortable and safe."
"The most important thing is just to listen and try to make sure that they feel comfortable and answer any questions that they have, answer any concerns that they had, and not be afraid to make changes if people are uncomfortable with certain things," she said.
When it comes to some of the intense scenes in the show, Van Patten and White, who are a couple in real life, said that trust and being present is the most important thing to have.
"I think we just trust each other so much that whatever we're given in the scripts, we know we're gonna approach it like these characters," Van Patten said.
"We know these characters so well, we've been living with them for 3 seasons and I think we just trust each other with that, so that on the day, we can just be there and listen to each other and be present," she added.
Who else stars in season 3?
Season 3 introduces a new character, Alex (Costa D'Angelo), who is Bree's foster brother and finds himself caught in Lucy's world.
When asked if he knew how messy the show was going to be before signing on, he said he was "warned." The Australian native added how the show is popular is among his friends.
"It's a massive show in Australia," he said. "When I tell my friends I got this job, a lot of them are massive fans, so they said it's crazy. It's obviously exciting to come into a job with such a massive fan base behind it as well."
Also starring in "Tell Me Lies" are Gabriella Pession, Natalee Linez, Edmund Donovan and Katherine Hughes.
The first four episodes of "Tell Me Lies" season 3 are out now on Hulu. New episodes will drop weekly every Tuesday.
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