Relationship Timeline
A Timeline of Lucy & Stephen’s Toxic ‘Tell Me Lies’ Romance With Grace Van Patten and Jackson White
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Tell Me Lies Seasons 1 and 2.]
Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White) just can’t quit each other. From the moment they met on Tell Me Lies, which is based on Carola Lovering’s best-selling novel, these two were on a collision course filled with gaslighting, secrets, and betrayals.
Even years after their time at Baird College, Lucy and Stephen are still in each other’s orbit despite being with other people. “You haven’t changed at all,” Lucy said in the middle of her pre-wedding hookup with Stephen in the Season 2 finale. He responded, “Neither have you.”
Let’s just be clear: Lucy and Stephen’s relationship has very few bright moments. They’re a toxic romance, and we all know it—even they know it! But sometimes, watching a messy romance like theirs unfold is downright delicious.
In honor of the wild and game-changing Season 2 finale, we’re looking back at Lucy and Stephen’s very complicated relationship timeline so far.
Tell Me Lies, Seasons 1 and 2, Streaming Now, Hulu
Lucy Albright and StephenDeMarco’s relationship timeline on ‘Tell Me Lies.’ (TV Insider)
Lucy and Stephen Meet (Season 1, Episode 1)
Lucy and Stephen first cross paths at a frat party at the start of the school year. Stephen attempts to woo Lucy by telling her that “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” is his favorite song. (She buys it.)
This was Van Patten and White’s audition scene, a pivotal moment they knew they had to get right. “We were all so nervous but had so much energy,” White said.
Lucy and Stephen's First Date (Season 1, Episode 2)
Stephen continues to put his claws in Lucy during their first date (and later hookup). He turns on the charm, even drawing her a rose that will later get him in trouble. Even though Lucy is connected to Macy, the girl he left for dead after a car accident, Stephen is addicted to the chaos.
“It’s like masochism. It’s the same reason he wants to touch this hot stove and mess everyone’s lives up,” White said. “Chaos keeps him safe. Control keeps him safe. Knowing he can get away with something gives him a thrill and safety, and he has a control over the fear.”
White and Van Patten agreed that Stephen really lays on the love-bombing in Episode 2. “I think she just didn’t know how to understand him as a human being. She’s never met anybody like him,” Van Patten said about how quickly Lucy falls under Stephen’s spell
Stephen's Greenhouse Confession (Season 1, Episode 6)
Episode 6 is a turning point for Lucy and Stephen. In a rare emotional moment, Stephen semi-confesses what happened to Macy. He tells Lucy that Macy was driving the car when they crashed (he was), and Drew caused the accident and bolted. This set in motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to Drew’s death.
“That was like the apex of us just riding our chemistry, and I just really feel like that was the first time we got to just bite into each other,” White said.
Van Patten then brought up that there was actually a “love scene written after that,” but it was cut on set. There were even T-shirts made that read, “I had sex in the Baird greenhouse, and all I got was this T-shirt.” Give us the merch, Hulu!
Stephen Says 'I Love You' to Lucy (Season 1, Episode 9)
Does he or doesn’t he? Stephen says “I love you” in the penultimate episode of Season 1, but does he really mean it? “It’s so hard. It’s like the whole question of the show,” White said.
He later added, “I really want them to end up together. I don’t know. No one else does.”
Despite Stephen and Lucy’s chaotic romance, Van Patten acknowledged that there’s an aspect of their relationship that’s “beautiful” to her.
“Something that hit me in the second season is when they both kind of realize they can completely see each other and know the worst parts about them and still love each other, and that’s beautiful,” she noted. “This is to a crazy extent, but that’s what you want when you’re with somebody is to be OK with the bad parts about them and love them fully and wholly. In this case, it’s harder to justify, but that part of it is kind of beautiful.”
Stephen and Diana Get Back Together (Season 1, Episode 10)
Stephen arrives to the Hawaiian party with Lucy, but he leaves with Diana. After a private discussion, Stephen and Diana decide it’s mutually beneficial for them to get back together, so they walk down the stairs hand-in-hand — in front of Lucy, who is shell-shocked.
Van Patten revealed that director Robin Wright had a few choice words for her when trying to get Lucy’s reaction in the moment. “Her note to me was like, ‘Pretend this is Jackson. He is leaving you. He never loved you. He doesn’t even think you’re pretty. He doesn’t even like you,'” the actress said. White added, “It worked and it was amazing, and you were so great!”
Lucy Threatens Stephen (Season 2, Episode 1)
Stephen loves to provoke, and he refuses to leave Lucy alone despite being with Diana. Finally, Lucy reaches her breaking point and storms over to Stephen’s dorm to threaten him in the Season 2 premiere. She vows to expose his involvement in Macy’s death, even if it means outing that she wrote the letter that got Drew kicked out of school.
She breaks his precious iPhone and promises to “destroy” his life if he doesn’t stop screwing up her life. Stephen doesn’t say a word. However, his look says everything.
“I think he goes game on,” White said of Stephen’s reaction. “He is afraid of her, but he likes that. That’s what it is. He’s into that.”
Lucy and Leo's New Romance (Season 2, Episode 4)
Lucy attempts to move on from Stephen with Leo in Season 2. Their romance begins early on in the second season but really ramps up in Episode 4. Lucy’s been conditioned by Stephen, but Leo’s “not turned on by drama.” She begins to realize that what she had with Stephen was not normal.
“That relationship is a really great way to show how you can be affected after a toxic relationship and how you can project past trauma onto a new person and kind of not take in the new person in front of you,” Van Patten said about Lucy and Leo. “It’s a lot of not trusting him and expecting him to do the same thing Stephen did and not being with him in the moment and then realizing, oh, this guy is vulnerable, and I haven’t experienced that yet. He’s sharing his trauma with me. He’s giving me the opportunity to understand him.”
Lucy Sends Stephen's Voice Message to Sadie (Season 2, Episode 5)
Lucy knows how to hurt Stephen in the best and most efficient way. One could argue that Stephen doesn’t have a heart, but he does have a very large soft spot for his sister.
When Sadie comes to Baird for a visit at Halloween in Season 2, Lucy speaks to her at a party, which infuriates Stephen. He sends Lucy a nasty voicemail the next day, calling her “pathetic,” “desperate,” and “completely forgettable.” So, what does Lucy do? She sticks a dagger right into Stephen’s chest and sends the message to Sadie.
“She’s definitely playing his game,” Van Patten said of Lucy’s decision to involve Sadie in her Stephen drama.
Stephen's Most Savage Move Yet & The Wedding Hookup (Season 2, Episode 8)
After torturing each other with stolen glances (including Stephen watching Lucy and Max’s hot tub tryst) all throughout the wedding weekend, Stephen and Lucy finally give in and have sex before the wedding — even though Stephen is still very much with Lydia, and Lucy’s sort of with Max. “You haven’t changed at all,” Lucy said with a smile in the middle of their rendezvous. “Neither have you,” Stephen replied with a menacing tone.
“It’s kind of a dig to him, but it’s also a relief to her. It’s like, ‘Oh, I still got you. I still know how to bring you in,'” Van Patten said of the significance of this exchange.
We all knew Stephen would take Evan’s confession about hooking up with Lucy in college and weaponize it one day. In the Season 2 finale, just before Bree is supposed to walk down the aisle, Stephen sends her the recording of Evan revealing his secret tryst with her best friend. A stunned Bree looks like she’d rather do anything else but walk down the aisle as Lucy stands by her side. Stephen has always been bad, but this is diabolical.
