TV Recap/Review: "Tell Me Lies" - Season 3, Episode 5 "I’d Like to Hold Her Head Underwater"

Recap:

Stephen (Jackson White) is shocked by the large admission envelope from Yale Law School. His future has never looked brighter, and he calls his sister Sadie (Alayna Hester) but she doesn’t answer, so he calls Wrigley (Spencer House) to share his good news. Wrigley doesn’t really care and tries to blow him off from celebrating with a promise to get back to him. 

Diana (Alicia Crowder) is waiting for her doctor’s appointment when her father calls. He tells his daughter that Yale Law has accepted her as well. (Yippie now she and Stephen can go to law school together.) But, she can’t stay long as her appointment at Planned Parenthood has come. 

Bree (Cat Missal) is having a great time at Evan’s (Branden Cook). She decides that it is time to get back to her dorm, and Evan wants to know how Pippa hasn’t figured out that Bree has been sleeping at his place every night for the last week. When the notion of relationship comes up, Evan says they can take it slow.

Evan goes to answer the door and Stephen is there. Bree is shocked to see him, because now he knows. (If Stephen knows then everyone knows. What a disaster!) After Stephen leaves, Bree says that now everyone knows (Ha, Bree is so correct.) When Evan tries to reassure her, she wonders if he still trusts Stephen, and Evan says no. 

As Bree starts to bring up all the moments of awfulness that Stephen has created, she zeroes in on the night Stephen broke up with Lucy (Grace Van Patten) in freshman year. Evan tries to deny that he was there, (oh yes you were Evan) and Bree is telling him that she knows he was there. (So awkward Evan. He tries to deny being there, but Bree knows that this is the night you cheated on her. Why are you drawing attention to the night that doesn’t need anymore scrutiny?) 

Lucy is at Alex’s (Costa D’Angelo) apartment, and while they are discussing what’s happened this week, Lucy is concerned about Alex being weird and thoughtful about how the week has been for her. He admits to her that he heard about what happened with Chris (Jacob Rodriguez), and Alex is worried. Lucy tries to tell him not to worry, and Alex is feeling bad for how he has been with her romantically. Alex doesn’t want to hurt anyone, and Lucy reassures him that he isn’t damaging her, and she definitely doesn’t want him to do anything different than he has done. 

Lucy arrives back at her dorm room to find a disgusting bucket of urine at her door and quietly cleans it up like nothing has happened. 

At the bar, Evan is celebrating with Stephen about his success in getting into Yale. Evan is plagued with phone calls from Molly (Katherine Hughes), and Wrigley reminds him that he needs to talk to her and let her know that their relationship is over. (Wrigley is really the voice of reason, and normalcy, and I really want his character to find happiness.) 

Wrigley wants to leave. Stephen suggests that they go to his dorm room but Wrigley wants to go, and when Stephen presses the issue, Wrigley gets upset and tells his ‘friend’ that he has no desire to go to the dorm room where his brother Drew died. He also tells Stephen that he thinks it’s psychotic that he still lives there.  

Stephen is left at the bar with Evan debating about whether it’s weird that he stayed in the dorm. Evan tells him the truth and explains that everyone thinks it’s strange that he stayed. They head off for another drink somewhere else on campus.

The next day, Pippa (Sonia Mena) is on the phone to Diana talking about the abortion she had. Pippa is trying to be sympathetic, but Diana is not concerned and tells Pippa that she has some good news and will share it with her when they go to the beach pool charity thing. (Wow, another event where everyone can ruin their life.) Diana can’t wait and tells Pippa that she got into Yale.

Pippa meets up with Wrigley and Bree and adores the photography work on the table. Wrigley disagrees and gets some water, while Bree and Pippa talk. Bree asks if Pippa thinks that Lucy is okay and wants to know why Lucy never told her about what happened with Chris. (It didn’t happen to Lucy, but if you listen carefully to what Pippa is saying Bree you will learn that it was Pippa that was raped. My goodness girl, pay attention to what is right in front of you.)

When Pippa asks Wrigley what time they want to go to the beach thing, neither Wrigley or Bree want to go. Bree adds that Lucy is going, but Wrigley wants her to leave campus with him and get food in town. (Pippa, you should go get food in town with your boyfriend.) Pippa feels bad about leaving Lucy alone at the event, (Yeah right, you just want to spend time with Diana.) Pippa suggests that Wrigley take Bree with him into town. (Oh my god Pippa is the matchmaker to the future couple. Wow!)

Wrigley agrees and convinces Bree to go with him. At the pool party, everyone has alcohol, and many people do very unsafe cannonballs into the pool. (Baird College really let them drink at their school pool? I mean there has to be multiple forms of liability for the school. Insurance premiums would be through the roof. Hope no one dies.)

Lucy asks Pippa what they are raising money for, and she honestly has no idea. (This might be the truest form of dialogue to come from their college age characters. Nobody is there for the charity they are there for the booze. This scene is just an excuse for the show to show the cast half naked.)

Stephen recognizes Tegan (Bianca Nugara) from the library and works really hard to convince her and her friend to get in the pool and play a game of chicken with them. 

In the car to town, Wrigley and Bree are silent. (Ok this is a little awkward, but at least they are listening to an awesome song. Fastball’s ‘The Way’ may have been a one hit wonder, but that song rocks. I will fight anyone on this.) Bree admits to Wrigley that she is not going to town but rather going to New Jersey to see her mom. The last time she saw her was in high school and it didn’t go well, so she didn’t want to tell anyone. 

Wrigley makes light of the situation, feeling bad about high jacking her private reunion with her mom. Feeling bad, he offers to drive her the whole way. He tells Bree they don’t need to talk about it, but he just can’t go back to campus right now. Bree agrees, and even though it is a three-hour drive, Wrigley is excited.

Back in the pool, Evan and Stephen have their partners for the chicken game and are fiercely fighting for supreme control of the pool. (I think.) Molly sees Evan in the pool and interrupts. She is annoyed and confronts him for not talking to her in over a week. (Oh Evan, nothing is ever casual when you are in college.) Molly breaks up with him, and Evan reminds her that he was upfront about them being casual. 

At the other end of the pool Lucy and Pippa are sitting on a float, and Pippa tells her that she heard someone left a bucket of pee in front of Caitie’s (Taia Sophia) door. Wondering if anyone has bothered Lucy about the Chris situation, Lucy lies and says no. Pippa can’t help but stare at Diana, and she takes the opportunity to go get Lucy and her a drink, while also talking to Diana. 

Thinking she has a moment of peace, Chris approaches her in the pool and wonders why she is telling everyone that he raped her. He reminds her that they have known each other for so long, and he wants to know why she is doing this. Lucy asks Chris is he really going to pretend that he’s done nothing wrong. Asking about Caitie, Chris deflects and says that even the school said she was lying and looking for attention. Lucy tells him that no one wants attention like this. Trying to defend himself, Chris says to Lucy that he even hooked up with Pippa, and they are cool. (Oh my, now I am wondering did he rape her? Or is Chris a psycho? Probably the second answer.) Their conversation draws everyone’s attention in the pool, and Lucy leaves. 

In the bathroom, Diana and Pippa are talking, and they sneak moment to make out, which is interrupted by Molly. She proceeds to describe her insane conversation with Evan. Diana wonders why she was talking to him. Evan has never treated her right. Why is Molly surprised. She tells Molly that Evan is Molly’s version of Stephen.

On the road trip to New Jersey, Bree wants to know if this was a bad idea, and Wrigley promises not to tell anyone about their trip, even to Pippa. Pulling up to the house, Wrigley tells Bree that he will come back and pick her up whenever, all she has to do is call him. Bree gets out and knocks on her mom’s door. Met at the door by a guy, Bree asks if Mary is home, but is told that she is out. The man wants to know if she wants him to call Mary, and when he finds out that its Bree he insists that she let him call Mary. 

Bree goes back to Wrigley and says that she is out and tells him that they are going to meet her at a brunch spot. Her mom Mary (Emily Meade) meets them, and introduces herself to Wrigley. Bree apologizes for interrupting, and Mary invites them to the table. Wrigley tells Bree that he is going to leave them alone and sit at a table outside. Bree tries to tell him it will be quick, but Wrigley says she should take her time. 

Talking with her mom, Bree tells her that she is not mad at her. When Mary says it’s okay to be mad, she reassures Bree that she is better than she has been. Bree and her mom are complimentary towards each other and we learn that Mary can now have beer and wine. She tells her daughter that if she was constantly denying herself something that was when she would want to binge. (Got it, Mary is an alcoholic.)

Bree starts to describe to her mother that she was seeing an older guy, and while Mary shrugs off the pain of what happened with her relationship with Oliver, Bree lies about how the relationship ended. Curious about her childhood, Bree wants to know what she was like as a kid. Mary informs her daughter that she only had custody of her for a month after the grandmother died. This is surprising to Bree. (Bree, do you really think a younger version of Mary could have looked after you for a year? I’m getting all sorts of bad vibes from your mom.)

Mary tells Bree that her mom had kicked her out when she got pregnant with Bree, and while the grandmother would occasionally let her stay at the house, Mary spent a lot of time staying with other people. When Bree asks if she ever wanted to take her with her, Mary is blunt and reminds Bree that she was fourteen. (Bree, your mother was a child when she had you. It was better for you, and awful for you that you were not with her.) 

Wrigley and Bree give Mary a ride home, and this is when Wrigley tells Mary about Bree’s photography exhibit, and Bree invites her to the opening. Mary brushes off the invitation and just before they drop her off, Bree asks to take her photo, and Mary agrees. Before she leaves, Bree tries to encourage her to come to the exhibit, and Mary says that she will see if she could try and get work off. (Yeah, mom is not coming.)

Bree tells her mom that she has no summer plans, and Mary tells her that she’s housesitting with her boyfriend, and Mary invites her to stay with them if she wants to. (Oh Bree, what are you doing? This is going to cause you so much heartache. Please Wrigley stop this trainwreck.)

Lucy shows up at Alex’s apartment and tells him not to treat her any different than what they have been doing. (Good foreplay Lucy, it leads right to sex.) 

Pippa and Diana are watching a movie at her apartment when her phone rings, and it’s from Chris. She blocks the phone number and goes back to the film. 

Wrigley and Bree are driving back home, and when Bree asks if Pippa is worried, Wrigley tells her that he hasn’t heard from her. When Bree asks what he thinks of her mom, Wrigley mentions that she’s nice. Bree explains that there are so many times when she feels abnormal because of her messed up childhood. She admits to Wrigley that she doesn’t even know how to swim. This inspires Wrigley.

They end up back at the school pool and Wrigley is trying to teach Bree how to swim. (Oh, I’m guessing this is where they are going to kiss for the first time.)

He’s kind and encouraging, and a little silly, but Wrigley wants to help her. He offers to hold her waste so that she can manage to rhythm of swimming. It works, and while they are close to kissing, both stop before anything happens. 

The next day at the library Stephen sees Diana at the library and tells him that he got into Yale Law. She tells him that so did she. When Stephen wonders how because she failed the LSAT, Diana tells her ex-boyfriend that she actually aced the LSAT and lied about it to get away from him. Diana tells him that she would never go to the same law school as Stephen. 

In her dorm room, Bree answers the door to Wrigley and there is some awkwardness before Pippa joins them and invites Bree out for food. Bree tells them that she ate already with Evan and they are kind of back together. This takes Wrigley and Pippa by surprise but for different reasons. 

Stephen is pacing in his room, angry about being outsmarted by Diana, when he scrolls through naked photos of Diana and uploads them to the internet. Lucy comes back to her room wondering why Alex cares for her, and wishes she was treated like garbage. She listens to the hateful message left by Stephen and proceeds to get aroused by the awful words he uses to describe her. (Lucy needs some real psychological help.)  

Review:

For the most part this episode is filled with some heartfelt moments of growth for many characters. I enjoyed the day trip for Bree and Wrigley, and watching the relationship blossom between Pippa and Diana is wonderful.

The is a very confined episode that allows room for some craziness. Lucy needs real help. Family trauma is always a huge scar to heal and the death of her dad has left a mark as deep as the Grand Canyon. Lucy needs help, and I wonder if Alex is the one to help her.

Stephen is a psycho, but Diana is smarter, and seeing someone be nasty back to him is a delight.

Due to all of this, Episode 5 gets a 2 Tequila Rating. Things are starting to build, and while it’s not a blackout of a night at the local campus pub, it will tide you over for the wild ride to come.