Tell Me Lies season 2 episode 2 recap: can all be forgiven?

Catherine Missal in Tell Me Lies
Catherine Missal in Tell Me Lies (Image credit: Disney/Josh Stringer)

In Tell Me Lies season 2 episode 2, Bree’s (Catherine Missal) relationship with Evan (Branden Cook) is tested (literally) and Lucy opens herself up to love after Stepehen. We also find out the type of person that Chris really is. 

Read on for our breakdown of what happened in the episode, "I Shall Now Perform a 180 Flip-Flop." (Also, catch up with Tell Me Lies season 2 episode 1.)

A birthday to forget

To celebrate Bree's birthday, she goes out with Lucy (Grace Van Patten), Pippa (Sonia Mena) and Evan. Everyone is enjoying themselves until it gets to gift time. Evan gifts Bree a pair of extremely expensive earrings but she doesn't have the best reaction, not a fan of such a fancy present, which leads to the two of them getting into a small fight and Evan deciding to leave. Bree ends up leaving too while her friends are distracted by Leo (Thomas Doherty), who gives Lucy his number. 

On her way back to the dorms, Bree runs into Oliver (Tom Ellis) outside of a bar and opens up to him about her fight with Evan. 

When Diana (Alicia Crowder) goes searching for Stephen (Jackson White), she finds Wrigley (Spencer House) instead. She brings up how they slept together once and that Stephen knows about it, which is bound to cause some drama eventually. 

Lucy finally goes for drinks with Leo and a kiss marks what is hopefully the start of a new, healthy romance for her. 

Meanwhile, Stephen suggests that Evan tell Bree the truth about what he did, which he actually does. Bree is devastated, but anger settles in once she realizes how he allowed her to feel like she was the problem all summer when it was actually his guilt. She walks out, saying she doesn't know if she’s breaking up with him or not. 

A nightmare of a party

That night, with Bree wanting to stay home alone, Lucy and Pippa go to a party. While Lucy stays with Leo, Pippa hangs out with Chris, but things quickly take a horrible turn. Diana discovers Pippa half undressed, unconscious on a bed with Chris coming out of the bathroom, still dressed. Quickly realizing something is very wrong, she makes Chris leave and takes off her jacket to cover Pippa before running to get Lucy. The two take care of her and bring her back to the dorms. Diana shares what she saw with Lucy, who spends the night watching over Pippa. 

Grace Van Patten in Tell Me Lies

Grace Van Patten in Tell Me Lies (Image credit: Disney/Josh Stringer)

It turns out Bree didn't actually plan to stay home, going back to the bar in hopes of seeing Oliver again. He's there and the two get into a deep conversation about Evan's actions and Oliver's first marriage. He shares that his first wife passed away. They then briefly discuss his marriage with Marianne (Gabriella Pession) until Oliver just lays everything on the table: it's obvious Bree came here looking for something and they should just get to the point. 

She asks if he thinks she’s pretty? He answers, "I think you know I think you're pretty," before suggesting they should each leave. Before they part ways, he kisses her cheek, then Bree kisses both of his until he stops her, saying he can't kiss her. However, under the guise of it being the "British thing," according to Bree, they continue kissing each other but avoiding the lips until her cab gets there.

The aftermath

Bree gets dropped off at Evan's and the two sleep together. The next morning, Bree says she can forgive Evan for cheating and reveals she slept with someone else too. Evan reacts the wrong way, saying her cheating makes it a lot worse, and he is not sure if he can forgive her. The trick is that it was all a test and since he failed, she says there's no reason for her to forgive him. Evan apologizes but it's too late. 

Pippa says she doesn't remember anything that happened, so Lucy relays the information Diana told her. But Pippa just tries to write it off as embarrassing. Lucy insists it's not and keeps trying to ask if anything weird happened but Pippa gets defensive, not wanting to talk about any of it, even adding Chris did not do anything wrong since she chose to make out with him. Lucy then suggests they talk to someone about this, but Pippa shuts the idea down immediately, demanding that her friend not tell anyone about it.

Lucy meets up with Leo at a coffee shop and after a guy disrespects Lucy, Leo headbutts him. Lucy leaves, taking the altercation as a red flag. 

Pippa ends up bringing her clothes from the night before to put in the laundry, clearly wanting to erase what happened to her. 

Now broken up with Evan, Bree seeks out Oliver by going to his office, where the two hook up. 

Finally, still angry with Lucy for breaking his phone, Stephen has found a new way to torture Lucy this semester: becoming a TA in one of her classes. 

New episodes of Tell Me Lies drop every Wednesday on Hulu. 

Sophia Soto

Sophia Soto has a passion for all things entertainment and currently writes for The Nerds of Color. You can see her work on What To Watch, Remezcla, Looper, Den of Geek, Young Hollywood and more. Some of her favorite shows include Grey's Anatomy, The Goldbergs, Riverdale and Roswell, New Mexico. She is a complete Marvel nerd as well!