Hulu has dropped Tell Me Lies season 3 episode 3 a week early — and its shock cliffhanger could be the show's most brutal ending ever

• Tell Me Lies season 3 episode 3 gets a surprise early release, which means episodes 1-3 are all now streaming on Hulu
• Hulu originally stated that only the first two episodes would be released on January 13
• The predicted season finale date is now February 17, moving up a week from February 24

If you've been itching to get back to Baird College, fear not – Hulu has gifted us an extra episode of Tell Me Lies season 3 as part of its premiere. You can now stream the first three episodes of the new season, despite the streamer originally stating that only the first two would be available on January 13.

With eight episodes set to be released in total, we can now expect the season finale to arrive on February 17 rather than the first reported date of February 24. However, just because there's one week less of binging doesn't mean the drama is half-hearted.

Basically, it's completely the opposite. If you're yet to stream the first three episodes on Hulu or Disney+ look away from the next half of this article... because Lucy's (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen's (Jackson White) relationship is even darker and more disturbing than ever before at the end of episode 3.

Opinion: Stephen takes his humiliation of Lucy to dark new depths in Tell Me Lies season 3 episode 3

WARNING: spoilers for Tell Me Lies season 3 episode 3 ahead.

At the end of the season 2 finale, we found out that Stephen sent Bree a recording of Evan (Branden Cook) admitting to cheating on Bree with Lucy while they were at university. Oh, did I mention this was shortly before the pair's wedding in 2015?

As season 3 takes on the gang's final months before their graduation in 2009, Bree is none the wiser about Evan and Lucy, and Lucy is determined to keep it that way. When she breaks up with Stephen for the umpteenth time in season 3 episode 2, Stephen uses Evan as the ideal leverage to keep Lucy under control.

In season 3 episode 3, this extends to Stephen filming Lucy admitting to having lied about a rape allegation because Lydia (Natalee Linez) – who was actually assaulted – didn't want to come forward. The final scene in the episode is Lucy crying on camera, distraught that her life is falling apart in every possible way.

It's a disturbing new low, even for the notoriously manipulative and callous Stephen. As his friends constantly remind him, he takes out his internal frustrations on whoever is closest, but with Lucy, there's an extra power dynamic at play.

We know that the truth is going to come out eventually, it's just a question of when. In the immediate future, I think Lucy is going to make herself so ill that she'll be barely able to function, crawling back to Stephen exactly when she shouldn't. She's tried to find a bit of casual fun in Alex (Costa D'Angelo), but I can't see the distraction lasting for long.

Tell Me Lies has been rife with shock cliffhangers, but this is the only moment in the show's history that's left me feeling physically sick. Sure, Lucy has made mistakes, and she's the first one to admit that. But Stephen's abusive behavior has gone on for far too long, and I think he's finally pushed his luck too far.

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