NEED TO KNOW
Tell Me Lies returns for season 3 on Jan. 13
Star Grace Van Patten tells PEOPLE she’s “scared for the audience” ahead of the premiere, as she teases an even more “tangled and intertwined” story
“It is the peak of all these people’s worst decisions,” she says of season 3
Buckle up, Tell Me Lies fans: Season 3 is not for the faint of heart.
The addictive Hulu drama returns for its third installment on Jan. 13, and Grace Van Patten, who leads the series as complicated college student Lucy Albright, can’t wait for fans to get their hands on the new episodes — but she’s not really sure what the response is gonna be like.
“I’m scared for the audience,” she tells PEOPLE of what’s to come in season 3. “Everything’s coming to a head, and everything’s getting more and more tangled and intertwined.”
The drama is reaching “the point of no return,” she says during a conversation about her trip to Miami with Bombay Sapphire for the E1 GP. “You start to see these characters actually face consequences, which is new.”
“I just want it to come out,” an eager Van Patten, 28, says. “I’m so curious to hear what people think — and I’m obsessed with the ending. I’m really excited for the reactions to that.”
Disney/Ian Watson
Van Patten knows she has to have empathy for her character, who has been tangled in a toxic relationship with upperclassman Stephen (Jackson White) since season 1 premiered in 2022, but it can be “hard.”
“I think maybe people will see the struggle in her,” she teases of this season. “It’s always a controversy, whether you’re rooting for her or you’re not, but she’s definitely going through it in a way that you… I mean, she’s always going through it, but it’s different this season, for sure.”
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox star is as impressed and terrified as fans are by the “endless” drama that creator Meaghan Oppenheimer whips up each year. “Every season, I’m thinking, how is she going to top that? Or get more crazy, more traumatic?”
As for whether the speculation online that season 3 could be the show’s last has any truth to it, Van Patten says that “in some ways,” this could be the end, but admits, “We never know if there’s going to be another season or not.”
“I mean, Meaghan does such a good job at ending every season with a crazy cliff[hanger], that also could sum it up, and she did it again,” she says. “She did the perfect combo. There always could be more.”
Disney/Ian Watson
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Per the official synopsis, season 3 picks up in the college timeline with Lucy and Stephen back together as the spring semester begins.
“While they promise things will be different this time, past indiscretions hinder their best intentions, and Lucy finds herself embroiled in a controversy she wants nothing to do with,” the synopsis reads.
“Meanwhile, the disastrous repercussions from the previous year also force Lucy and Stephen’s friends to face their own destructive behaviors. As scandalous secrets fester around campus, vicious consequences threaten Lucy and everyone in her circle.”
Tell Me Lies season 3 premieres Jan. 13 on Hulu.
