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Tell Me Lies: 1X5 Merry Fucking Christmas
🕑 Added 2025-01-04 02:01:58 +0000 UTCMan was this episode telling to how Stephen ended up the way he did. Good lord. Not that I'm excusing any of his behavior, but this certainly explains some of it.
So, we've got both Stephen and Lucy's POV for their Christmas. Both have complained about how horrible their mother's are. And they seemed to bond a bit over it. But, when we look inside both of their homes, they are nothing alike.
Stephen is in a tiny home with his mom and two siblings. And his mother is a nightmare. She's obviously got some kind of mental health issues. She's emotionally manipulative, narcissistic, and a stalker.
In contrast, Lucy is in a huge home, that is clean and well decorated for Christmas. Her mom and sister both seem kind and pleasant to be around. But, we know that Lucy's mom has done something that she can't forgive her for.
And we find out when Stephen ditches plays with her. So she calls up Max and they meet at a hotel for sex. When he tells her he likes his family, she apologizes for pulling him away and said she just need a distraction from her awful mother. And we finally get the story. Her dad died when she was 15. And they were doing hospice at home. Lucy was alone with him when he died. She tried to call her mother repeatedly. It took her 3 hours to call her back, and it turns out, she was sleeping with her dad's friend (or work colleague or something similar) while her husband was dying.
Okay, I can understand why you be upset about that. But the strangest part is, her mom has no idea that she knows. Which means, Lucy just runs around being a passive aggressive bitch to her, and her mom has no idea why. She probably just thinks her daughter is a brat.
Back at Stephen's his mom has planned a Christmas Eve dinner, coincidentally (🙄) at the same restaurant her ex and his new girlfriend are dining. Later, when the kids are upset about it, she guilt trips them and blames Stephen. And then, she accidentally (🙄) burns herself to garner sympathy from Stephen. No wonder this kid is messed up.
Comments
Dana Licciardello
Really! I swear, Katey Sagal is in everything. I had no idea that was her son! Oh god, I would hope so. Agreed. I understand why Lucy is upset, but these are so two totally different scenarios. As far as we can tell from right now, Stephen has been dealing with this his entire life. And Lucy's mom made a mistake. Yes, a terrible and really shitty mistake, but it was just one thing. Not a lifetime of emotion manipulation and abuse (yes, I totally classify this as abuse). I'm totally with you. I'd be pissed off too if I were Lucy, but these two things are not comparable. But, I'm sure this is a case of 'walk a mile in my shoes.' You don't know how good you have it until you get a glimpse into someone else's life. And again, that's not meant to discredit Lucy's feelings. She has every right to feel that way, but it's just not the same. That's interesting. Diana is certainly very sympathetic to Stephen's home life. I wonder if that's part of why she keeps coming back to him.
Melissa
Fun fact, Stephen’s mother is actually the actor’s mother. Based on a couple podcasts I’ve seen of them, they seem to have a healthier relationship in real life lol. I really like this episode cause you get to see their backgrounds. Like you said, you kind of feel bad for Stephen but mostly it just deepens his character which is more interesting and makes the earlier episodes when his mom was calling during his date with Lucy make more sense. I get why Lucy is upset and I think it’s valid but it’s weird to watch as she’s on the phone with Stephen and is insistent that no one could be worse than her mother cause we’re watching Stephen’s home life be “worse” overall. Lucy’s mom made a mistake in one area years ago but is generally a good person and mom while Stephen’s poor relationship with his mom is insidious, long-term, and not contained to one event. Again, not to say that Lucy isn’t allowed to be mad at her mom and to have trouble forgiving her, but she has had a more privileged home life and a family dynamic like Stephen’s wouldn’t occur to her without being confronted by it. I wonder if Diana, cause of her privilege, had a similar mentality until she actually met his mom or if she saw it before that.
