Tell Me Lies Season 3, Episode 7 revealed Lucy's troubling condition of consistently forgetting things, and this had something to do with her messy situation with Stephen. Season 3 of Hulu's trending romance series pushed Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) to the limit after suffering from long-term emotional abuse from her on-again-off-again romantic partner, Stephen DeMarco. This is on top of her unresolved grief from her roommate, Macy's, death, her troubled childhood, and abandonment issues following her father's death.
While she seems normal in the 2015 timeline of the series, the college timeline of Tell Me Lies highlighted Lucy's never-ending psychotic break anchored by a false confession tape that completely deteriorated her mental health, which led to her forgetting important events and memory lapses.
Why Does Lucy Keep Forgetting Things In Tell Me Lies Season 3?
Although the book and series offer no definitive explanation for Lucy's memory lapses during her college years, many theorize that her repeated forgetting in Tell Me Lies Season 3, Episode 7 stems from intense psychological stress, accumulated trauma, and ongoing emotional manipulation by Stephen. This is on top of his control over her through the incriminating tape of her false confession that he possessed.
Throughout the penultimate episode, Lucy manifested memory gaps, such as the fact that she forgot that she already warned Tegan (the freshman who was dating Stephen) about the toxic nature of Stephen and unknowingly heading straight to Stephen's room as if it was hers. These slip ups proved that Lucy is not okay, and she appeared to have a trauma-induced brain fog that is triggered by Stephen's prolonged abuse.
Tell Me Lies Season 3's penultimate episode all but confirmed that Lucy has been mentally overwhelmed, and it reached an ultimate breaking point when she broke down in front of Stephen and begged him to watch the tape and release it to the public. While Stephen eventually gave her the tape to prevent further harm to Lucy's mental state, the damage had been done due to his psychological domination over her.
If anything, the constant threat of Stephen releasing the tape created a sense of unrelenting terror in Lucy's mind, which explains why she appeared scared all the time. It essentially made Lucy feel trapped, which could also be the reason why she makes terrible choices most of the time.
Speaking with Variety in January 2026, Tell Me Lies showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer confirmed that Lucy "starts to disassociate" in Season 3, pointing out that she is someone "who's always had struggles with her mental health since her father died" when she was a child:
"She starts to disassociate this season. She’s someone who’s always had struggles with her mental health since her father died. We talked about, maybe she’s depressed in Season 1, and she feels numb. And I think that she is. That is the truth of what she was experiencing Season 1, and I think that made her the perfect target for this unhealthy relationship. You’re watching someone who doesn’t have the tools to deal with it and doesn’t have the support of adults."
Disocciation is a psychological defense mechanism where someone feels detached from their thoughts, and this is what exactly is happening to Lucy as she forgets key events from her daily life. She is disconnected from her reality, and the fact that Stephen continued to torment her made it worse.
Why Stephen's Control Over Lucy Could Be His Downfall (As Teased In Episode 7)
Stephen has been Lucy's biggest problem in all three seasons of Tell Me Lies, mainly due to his narcissistic and controlling personality that kept her hooked and one that she could not get away from despite how hard she tried.
While Stephen already ended up with Lydia in the 2015 timeline, Tell Me Lies Season 3 confirmed that he and Lucy slept together during the weekend of Evan and Bree's wedding, proving that the hold that he has over was still there and that's the scary part.
Still, Episode 7 hinted that Stephen still has some humanity left despite how twisted he really is. Giving Lucy the tape represents an act of surrender for Stephen, as seeing her messed up like that made him realize that he had already won.
By showing his vulnerable side directly to Stephen, Lucy could later realize that she could use this as a weapon to get back at him in some way after years of torment that she experienced from him.
