Tell Me Lies season 3 ending explained: Stephen DeMarco continues to be the worst person ever

*Warning: This article contains full spoilers for the final episode of Tell Me Lies season 3.*

We already knew that the Tell Me Lies season 3 finale was going to drive up our blood pressure and boy, did it. Series stars Grace Van Patten and Jackson White had already exclusively revealed to Radio Times that the final episode was set to be "a perfect ending" and it certainly tied up a lot of loose ends.

White told us: "It's the correct ending and that’s what I knew immediately when reading it. I thought, 'This is the correct way to end this season absolutely'."

While fans have been ideating about potential twists all season, the final episode saw a major scandal explode at Baird, which implicated Lucy (Van Patten) and had devastating consequences.

Like most episodes of Tell Me Lies, it'll leave you wanting to shout at the screen, and namely at TV's worst character ever – Stephen DeMarco. However, it turned out he wasn't the only one being sinister this time around.

With it also having now been confirmed that was the last ever episode of Tell Me Lies and it won't be returning for anymore, fans may need to take a moment to process just what happened. Thankfully, we've got the full breakdown below so read on to find out more about the Tell Me Lies season 3 finale.

Tell Me Lies season 3 ending explained: What happens to Lucy?

The episode starts in 2015 during Bree (Catherine Missal) and Evan's (Branden Cook) engagement party, months prior to their wedding. Bree's smoking by herself in one of the hotel rooms, not realising it's actually the room allocated to Wrigley (Spencer House), who walks in.

They confront each other about their misunderstanding years before, with Wrigley telling Bree that he only had sex with Pippa (Sonia Mena) after their break-up out of sympathy for her because she was sad at the time. Bree and Wrigley confess their feelings for each other and start having sex, only to be interrupted by voices from the hallway and then stop.

In the past timeline back at Baird, we see that after figuring out Evan and Lucy slept together on the night of the Hawaiian party, Bree storms out in search of Lucy. Lucy gets ready to attend Stephen's on campus Yale event and leaves her room, which Bree comes to find empty. Not knowing what to do next, she then gets a surprise call from her mum Mary (Emily Meade), who informs her that she's actually on campus and wants to talk to her.

When Bree arrives to meet her mum, she whisks her away to a room where Oliver (Tom Ellis), Marianne (Gabriella Pession) and Amanda (Iris Apatow) are sat waiting. It turns out that Marianne and Oliver have made out as if Bree is taking her "crush" on Oliver a step too far, citing the fact that she came to their house the other evening as evidence and saying that none of Oliver's texts to her suggest they were having an affair. A sinister and clever play on their predatory part, indeed.

They have also elicited a nervous-looking Amanda to say that Bree has been stalking her and that her affair with Oliver never happened. It's clear that many lies are being told in that room (and not on Bree's part) so it's no wonder she storms out in distress, horrified that her own mother didn't rise to her defence.

While many have wondered if it was Mary's drinking that proved to be detrimental to her relationship with Bree, it's actually this event that cements them as estranged, with Bree saying she never wants to see her again.

At the Yale event, Lucy tries chatting to a Baird alum about Stephen's behaviour but is interrupted by the man himself. He apologises for her, making out as if Lucy is having "an episode" and says that it's "the stupidest thing you've ever done". We all know that's a veiled threat of some sort but as for what ramifications that'll have, that comes later in the episode.

The next morning, Lucy tries to have a heart-t0-heart with Pippa who has been ignoring her recently. Lucy apologises for her actions and lying about Chris's sexual assault and it seems as though the two have turned a corner as they confide in one another. Pippa admits to cheating on Wrigley and in that moment of truth, Lucy also takes the opportunity to confess to sleeping with Evan. However, Pippa does judge her for sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend, saying that as girls, they shouldn't treat each other this way and calling Lucy "pathetic and weak".

Pippa later finally admits to Wrigley that she has been cheating on him for the past few weeks and also comes out to him as gay, something that surprises Wrigley but it's clear that there's no hard feelings between the pair and they shall remain friends.

But in their conversation, Pippa later asks Wrigley why he's still friends with someone as bad as Stephen and informs him of the fact that Stephen sent old nude photos to Diana's father, saying that Diana isn't going to Yale because he's also been accepted. While Wrigley doesn't make excuses for Stephen, Pippa does underline the fact that he doesn't do anything about it – nobody actually does anything about his awful behaviour.

Later that day, Lucy is finally met with her worst nightmare and sees that people are watching the video Stephen recorded of her admitting that she lied about being sexually assaulted. The whole campus knows and she confronts Stephen about it, accusing him of leaking it. However, he says he actually didn't and never made a copy of it. As we know, Lucy has been having moments of forgetfulness and so, could she have released it herself in a bid to punish herself? That's what Stephen wants us to think, after all.

Lucy goes to see Alex (Costa D'Angelo) but he refuses to let her into his apartment, disappointed in her lies. Clearly the subject matter is one that strikes a chord with Alex due to his own past and he says that it's simply the one thing you don't lie about. Once Lucy leaves, we then see that it's actually Bree who's hiding out in his apartment and she's told him about Evan and Lucy.

It seems as though Pippa's words about Stephen have struck a chord with Wrigley, who later suggests to Stephen that someone should be checking in on Lucy after the release of the tape. Although he states his innocence, Stephen does double down and say that if anyone deserves to have their life ruined, it's Lucy. How charming! That evening, we see the impact of the day on Lucy who hides out in her room after an onslaught of social media abuse.

The next day, Pippa tells Bree the truth about what happened with the tape and the fact that Pippa was actually the one who had been sexually assaulted by Chris. Bree is shocked to learn the truth and why Lucy has been lying about this, even if it is all a bit convoluted.

Scared that Lucy may not be alright, Bree says they should call the resident assistant to open up her room as she's not been answering. When she does, Lucy is lying on her bed but is told by the RA that she needs to go with her to the dean's office. Once there, Lucy is told that the lie and her recent behaviour is so alarming she has been kicked out of Baird. Lucy doesn't seem to think the news is that bad as she continues to look forward to her study abroad opportunity, not realising that's a Baird programme that she won't be able to qualify for as she'll no longer be a student there.

Lucy seems broken as she paints on a fake smile and leaves the office, returning to her room to tell her friends that she's been expelled. Her mum's on her way to pick her up and she's been told to clear her room so it looks like that's the end of Lucy's Baird journey. Even though Lucy's done a lot, Bree hugs her and tells her that she loves her regardless.

Lucy leaves to pack and then, Evan comes to Bree's room to see what's happened. Bree asks him simply if he had sex with Lucy last year and he admits he did, with Bree saying that it's something they can move past. Bree says that Lucy has been punished enough for the tape so makes a pact with Evan that they're not to tell anyone – even Lucy – about the fact that Bree now knows.

When Evan asks Bree why she's forgiving him, she simply says it's because he loves her, eerily having parallels back to what Marianne told her about finding someone that loves you more than you love them.

We later see that Diana comes to speak to Lucy after hearing the news that she's been kicked out, even helping her pack her things. But Bree is the only person there to help her load the car and wave goodbye, with Lucy leaving college in a cloud of shame as Stephen, of course, looks on from the sidelines.

What happens to Stephen?

Stephen gets a call from someone on Yale's admissions team and is told that his offer of acceptance to Yale Law has now been rescinded on account of him breaching their code of conduct.

When he presses her about what he's supposedly done, she informs him that they've been notified of severe online harassment of Baird students, including distribution of pornographic material – thus, finally being faced with the consequences of what he's done to Diana.

Stephen crashes out on the phone, showing his real personality, and as he shouts asking who reported it, we then get a shot of a triumphant-looking Wrigley making his way through the halls. He's come to Pippa and Bree's room and it's clear he's there to see Bree, but is interrupted to find Evan there too. Bree is cold with Wrigley as she makes subtle reference to the fact that she knows Wrigley and Pippa slept together, making the moment even more awkward by kissing Evan and telling him that she loves him.

Who released the tape of Lucy?

After Evan and Wrigley leave her room, Bree is seen sobbing against her door, clearly upset at the decision she's made – but there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. She's not just upset at what's happened between her and Wrigley, she's harbouring quite the secret and she dashes across her room to her bedside drawer to retrieve none other than the SD card with Lucy's incriminating tape on it.

In her anger, she smashes it to pieces and continues crying, with it all too clear that in the midst of her anger at Lucy, Bree was the one to leak the video.

We're then transported back to 2015 as Bree and Lucy enjoy some time together on the wedding dancefloor. Everyone's happy, we find out that Diana did end up going to Yale and Bree says that she hopes being her bridesmaid wasn't too stressful for Lucy.

On the side of the hall, Stephen and Lydia (Natalee Linez) start arguing and Stephen tells her that he slept with Lucy that morning, continuing to twist the metaphorical knife by saying that he only got together with her to annoy Lucy. He tells Lydia that he wants to break up and that she should go, with Lydia chucking her engagement ring at him. Everyone hears them and Bree tells Lucy that she's so glad that's not her life.

What happens to Bree and Wrigley?

Just as Bree is taking a moment to herself, Stephen approaches and is armed with the truth. He tells her he underestimated her and asks how long she's known about Lucy and Evan, going even further and saying that he has not only noticed how sad Wrigley looks, but also realises that the only other person who hated Lucy as much as he did at that time was Bree – making her the person who released the tape.

Stephen can't resist hogging the limelight and destroying everyone's lives for one final time, taking the microphone before the final song to give a damning speech. He plainly tells Evan he hates him, reveals that Evan and Lucy slept together back in college and then points at Bree, telling everyone that Bree has known about it for years. He tells everyone that Bree was the one to release the tape and even throws in the fact that Bree and Wrigley have been having an affair for months. Evan and Bree blow up at Stephen, with Bree hilariously throwing wedding cake at him and Evan confronting Wrigley.

Evan goes to run at Stephen, who ducks out of the way and Evan ends up face-planting into the cake himself in what has turned into a comedy sketch moment. Diana and Pippa make their swift exit and Lucy is left visibly hurt by Bree.

Stephen positions himself as the only person with Lucy's best interests at heart and the fact that nobody will respect her after all of this anyway. Stephen says he's going to get his car and bring it round the front for her, but Lucy doesn't know what to do. Bree tells her that all Stephen cares about is winning, not about her and reminds her that this is a chance not to make another embarrassing decision.

In the midst of all the chaos and Evan shouting in his face, Wrigley locks eyes with Bree and they just simply smile at one another, clearly in love.

Do Lucy and Stephen end up together at the end of Tell Me Lies?

With a major decision to make and fans willing her to make the right one, Lucy continues to prove that she is in fact a terrible decision-maker and joins Stephen in his car.

Stephen tells Lucy that his life has been fine without her, not exactly the loving words any person wants to hear – but it's something that clearly works. Lucy is all too aware of Stephen needing to win and reminds him of such, but Stephen asks her why he would've blown up his life in such a way for her if he just cared about winning.

They drive in silence, with Stephen pulling up at a gas station. Lucy says that she'll go in to get them some coffees but when she comes back out, she finds that Stephen has driven off and left her by herself in the middle of nowhere. He has left her handbag by one of the gas pumps though and Lucy is left to do nothing but laugh, staring into the distance as the sun rises on the next day.

Tell Me Lies season 3 is available to stream on Disney+ in the UK, along with seasons 1 and 2. In the US, it airs on Hulu.

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