- - ‘Tell Me Lies’ comes to an end after 3 seasons: The most insane storylines wrapped up

Neia BalaoFebruary 18, 2026 at 2:00 AM

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Three seasons, 26 episodes and two timelines later, the chaos of Tell Me Lies has finally come to an end.

To the dismay of many fans, the Season 3 finale, which became available to stream at 12 a.m. ET on Tuesday, actually marked the end of Meaghan Oppenheimer’s visceral, toxic romance. While Oppenheimer had stated early on that she always planned to end the show after three seasons, some fans were hopeful she’d reconsider. But in the hours leading up to the finale, rumors of a possible fourth season were dispelled — and Oppenheimer confirmed that this would, in fact, be the final episode of Tell Me Lies… ever.

“This was always the ending my writing team and I had in mind, and we are insanely proud of it,” Oppenheimer wrote on Instagram. “Your incredible response to this season inspired us to explore whether there was another organic way to continue the story, but ultimately we felt it had reached its natural conclusion.”

So, how does it all end? How, after just 26 episodes, do we reach a satisfying conclusion to a series that was rife with terrible decisions that absolutely requireconsequences?! Would Stephen finally be taken down? Is a Wrigley and Bree endgame totally unfeasible? And did Lucy actually get the tape back? Or did she hallucinate the whole thing?

Ugh. There’s so much to unpack, so let’s get into it. You’ve been warned, though: Major spoilers for the Tell Me Lies series finale are ahead.

Marianne and Oliver threaten Bree into silence about the affair

In a diabolical turn of events, Marianne (Gabriella Pession) defends Oliver (Tom Ellis) in front of Bree’s mom, Mary (Emily Meade), whom she recently reconciled with, and makes it seem as though the entire affair was in Bree’s head.

Oliver, Marianne, Amanda, and her own mother doing this to Bree made my blood BOIL I was so pissed off for her😤😭#TellMeLiesSeason3#TellMeLiespic.twitter.com/mswy4PE7EM

— Giselle//💥⏳ 💍💫 (@giselleb1234) February 17, 2026

The gaslighting in this scene is infuriating: Marianne basically weaponizes everything Bree (Catherine Missal) told her in confidence; Oliver tells Mary that Bree’s been sending him inappropriate texts; and Amanda (Iris Apatow), the latest freshman that Oliver is sleeping with, accuses Bree of lying, stalking and harassing her. Marianne and Oliver threaten to have Bree expelled if she continues spewing “false” accusations, so they basically bully her into silence — even though Oliver is absolutely at fault.

“In reality, abusers, especially abusers in positions of power, do get away with things — as we’re seeing right now in the world with everything happening,” Oppenheimer told the Hollywood Reporter. “So it felt realistic, unfortunately. But also, we needed Bree to be completely at rock bottom.”

Bree discovers that Lucy and Evan slept together, which prompts her to release the tape

Catherine Missal. (Ian Watson/Disney)

Yeesh. In the final minutes of the penultimate episode, Bree comes across aFacebook photo that confirms that Evan (Branden Cook) and Lucy (Grace Van Patten) hooked up the night of the Hawaiian party. She’s fuming, obviously, after being lied to by her ex-boyfriend — who she’s kind of dating again — and her supposed best friend, for several months. Coupled with the Oliver-Marianne situation, Bree’s hit rock bottom and is desperate for revenge, which is ultimately why she releases Lucy’s tape.

Except Bree takes the tape at face value without knowing the underlying context: Yes, Lucy lied about being assaulted, but she did so to protect Pippa (Sonia Mena).

“I wanted Bree to be the person who had actually been the one who ruined Lucy’s life,” Oppenheimer told the Hollywood Reporter. “She didn’t intend to, but I wanted there to be this group lore where everyone felt it was the worst thing Stephen ever did, and then to actually find out it was Bree. We needed Bree to find out about Evan and Lucy in order to justify that in her mind.”

Lucy is expelled from Baird College — and learns that it was because of Bree

Grace Van Patten and Catherine Missal. (Ian Watson/Disney)

Poor Lucy. Throughout Season 3, audiences have witnessed the gradual deterioration of her mental health: She’s forgetting conversations she’s already had and she’s gone to see Stephen (Jackson White) without realizing it. Fans, at one point, were fearful that Lucy had hallucinated the interaction with Stephen in Episode 7 and that he hadn’t actually given her the tape back. He did, thankfully, but that doesn’t stop it from getting released anyway.

Lucy is expelled from Baird College after the tape is publicized. It’s heartbreaking, really, when you see Lucy struggle to comprehend the gravity of the situation while sitting in the dean’s office: She’s asked if she understands what’s happening, and she says she’s just going home for a bit but will be back next semester for her study abroad program. It’s like she isn’t totally there mentally, and only grasps her expulsion when it’s repeated to her.

In the show’s 2015 timeline, Lucy learns that Bree released the tape — and we learn that Bree has always regretted it.

“I think she was in a trauma response when she released the tape. She was at rock bottom. Bree was spinning, she was in complete fight or flight and was not thinking about the future, and certainly did not think she was going to get Lucy expelled,” Oppenheimer told the Hollywood Reporter. “As soon as she realizes the truth, she feels horrified. And when she realizes Lucy got expelled, she’s beside herself.”

Stephen gives an unhinged wedding speech

Jackson White. (Ian Watson/Disney)

No, because why does Stephen always need to be the center of attention?! After learning that Bree was the one who released Lucy’s tape, Stephen wastes no time in letting everyone at her wedding know. He grabs hold of the microphone and puts his entire friend group on blast: In addition to calling Bree out in front of Lucy, he tells everyone that he and Lucy slept together that morning, that Lucy and Evan slept together in college, and that Bree and Wrigley have been sleeping together despite her being engaged — and now married — to Evan.

Queue Britney Spears’ “Toxic” as chaos and cake-throwing erupt in the middle of the dance floor.

“It felt chaotic. Every take felt insane, but we choreographed it all like a dance,” Oppenheimer told the Hollywood Reporter of filming the wedding disaster. “It felt weird, even though it wasn’t the last week of shooting, it felt like the final party. It really felt like the big culmination of everything. It was very, very fun. And it just went so well.”

Stephen fools Lucy one last time

Grace Van Patten. (Ian Watson/Disney)

After Stephen’s insane wedding speech, he asks Lucy if she wants to leave with him. Desperate to dissuade Lucy from making yet another terrible decision, Bree gives her a firm ultimatum: “We can work out our problems, but if you leave with him right now, this is it.”

Lucy decides to run off with Stephen — and he ends up abandoning her at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. Lucy’s initial shock eventually gives way to laughter. It’s like even she knows that she should’ve known.

the look of relief and sadness all in one. humiliated herself again but was the final wake up call she needed to understand stephen is incapable of change and to finally get one step closer to healing. lucy albright you’re finally free pic.twitter.com/f1h1CETtOg

— Ai ✿ tell me lies s3 (@aiwasnothere) February 17, 2026

Oppenheimer told the Hollywood Reporter that “this actually is the one thing” that would finally free Lucy.

“I realized that as satisfying as it would be for Lucy to have the last word and reject him, that would not have actually freed her because Stephen will always come back unless he gets to be the one to reject someone,” she said. “He will always come back if he’s rejected because he has to have the final word.”

Bree and Wrigley give things a shot

Catherine Missal and Spencer House. (Ian Watson/Disney)

Be still, our hearts! Let the record show that all characters in Tell Me Lies have made awful decisions — but that doesn’t stop us from wanting the best for Bree and Wrigley. Throughout the season, audiences were fed morsels of “what could be” for these two, only to have it ripped away in the final episodes.

Let’s recap the Bree and Wrigley lore: After giving in to their feelings and sharing a kiss, they agree to break up with their respective partners, Evan and Pippa, so they can give their relationship a try. But when Bree finds out that Wrigley slept with Pippa after saying he’d break up with her (Pippa admits to guilting him into it), she’s devastated and decides to stay with Evan. Bree shuts Wrigley out for years, stifling her feelings for him until their encounter at her engagement party in 2015.

bree and wrigley smiling at each other while evan is screaming at him because they realized they are now freed from all the lies and they can finally be together…….YUP #tellmeliespic.twitter.com/sdBqpRVgtr

— dai (@vietbaddie) February 17, 2026

After their affair is exposed at her wedding reception, there’s a moment where Bree and Wrigley smile at each other.

Oppenheimer confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter, “I will state on the record as fact that Bree and Wrigley end up together. Evan and Bree get annulled. I don’t even think they get a divorce. He’s like, ‘I’m annulling this marriage.’ Fair enough. And Bree and Wrigley end up together. I think after they’re like, ‘What have we got to lose? We need to just give it a shot.’”

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”