Cinema News: ‘Tell Me Lies’ boss assesses the toxic friend group

February 6, 2026 | View in browser

By Yvonne Villarreal, Robert Lloyd, Josh Rottenberg and Maira Garcia

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who screams "Why are they still friends with Stephen?!" while watching "Tell Me Lies."

Everyone's favorite toxic friend group has brought more unhinged moments and questionable decision-making in the third season of "Tell Me Lies." Based on the book by Carola Lovering, the Hulu series centers on the toxic and manipulative on-again, off-again relationship between college students Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White), whose bond causes a ripple effect of chaos and turmoil for their friend group. Creator and showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer stopped by Screen Gab this week to unpack the friend drama.

Also in this week's Screen Gab, TV editor Maira Garcia previews a packed weekend of sports with a look at how to watch the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which officially begins Friday, and Sunday's Super Bowl LX.

To maintain that Winter Olympics high, one of this week's viewing recommendations is a documentary about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's "Miracle On Ice" victory. While lacking the icy backdrop, the second recommendation is as thrilling — an action-packed collection of films that celebrate the art of stunt design.

ICYMI

Must-read stories you might have missed

'The Muppet Show' special brings back the magic of the original — and a couple of Muppets: A new Disney+ special resurrects the beloved variety program to celebrate the 50th anniversary since it first charmed viewers of all ages.

We say goodbye to Park City with our 9 favorite movies and memories of Sundance: Our three Sundance correspondents, Amy Nicholson, Mark Olsen and Joshua Rothkopf, pick their favorites from this year's lineup and reflect on memories of Park City.

How 'Heated Rivalry' changed the game for Canadian TV: Creator Jacob Tierney, producing partner Brendan Brady and the executives who supported the series explain why it will remain thoroughly Canadian in Season 2.

Don Lemon makes post-arrest appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!': 'They want to instill fear': The former CNN anchor spoke in depth with the late-night host on Monday about his arrest.

Turn on

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

"Miracle: The Boys of '80" (Netflix)

The journey of the U.S. hockey team to triumph against all odds and expectations over the Soviet Union in the semifinals of the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics — before going on to beat Finland for the gold — is the stuff of this rousing documentary, arriving along with the latest edition of the thing itself. A classic underdog story whose appreciation requires no knowledge of hockey past hitting pucks into nets with sticks is exhilarating and moving in a way we understand from the motion pictures, but more so for having actually happened. There is some noise about how a depressed nation needed a win — this contest is the origin of the dreaded "USA" chant — but it's the personal stories that cut through, as blue-collar kids from the Midwest and Northeast, seeing one another at first as foreigners, come together as a team under a tough coach. We see them juxtaposed in youth and age — older selves reacting to footage of younger selves — and hear their stories. Family as a theme, and that coach Herb Brooks determined to hold himself emotionally distant from his players adds a touch of tragedy to an otherwise joyous film — Robert Lloyd

"Stunts!" film collection (The Criterion Channel)

Some of the most thrilling moments in movie history come from people testing the limits of gravity, speed and common sense. The Criterion Channel's new stunts collection arrives as the motion picture academy prepares to add a long-overdue Oscar category honoring stunt work at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028, a reminder of how much of cinema's power has been built on risk to life and limb. Co-curated by legendary stunt artist Buddy Joe Hooker, the lineup plays like a compact history of screen danger. There's the silent-era bravado of "The General" (1926), with Buster Keaton clinging to a runaway locomotive, and "Safety Last!" (1923), where Harold Lloyd dangles from a clock face. Car-chase classics like "Bullitt" (1968) and "Gone in 60 Seconds" (1974) favor velocity over polish. Hal Needham's "Hooper" (1978) doubles as both tribute and warning about the physical toll of the job. Few films make that danger feel more immediate than "The Road Warrior" (1981), whose extended chase across a post-apocalyptic wasteland turns motorcycles, trucks and bodies into blunt instruments. The collection also includes Hong Kong action landmarks like Jackie Chan's "Police Story" (1985) and John Woo's "Hard Boiled" (1992) and "Face/Off" (1997), which push stunt work into carefully engineered chaos. As Hooker notes in his introduction, "There's a very thin line between a badass and a dumbass." These films show how much planning it takes to stay on the right side of that line — and why the people who walk (and jump) it are finally getting their due. — Josh Rottenberg

Catch up

Everything you need to know about the film or TV series everyone's talking about

It's a great weekend to be a sports fan. Today, the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics officially begin with the opening ceremony on NBC and Peacock, which is currently underway and features Mariah Carey as the headliner. If you can't watch it now, don't fret! NBC is planning a prime-time presentation at 8 p.m. PT — it won't be just a sweet fantasy, baby.

Because of the nine-hour time difference, a lot of events will happen overnight for those of us on the West Coast, but some of the more popular sports like figure skating, snowboarding, skiing and luge will be on as we're waking and continue into midday (check out the full schedule here). If you have Peacock, I highly recommend checking out Gold Zone, which takes viewers directly to competitions where a big moment is underway, including medalling events. Peacock's interface was perfected with the 2024 Summer Olympics — getting to watch a particular team or event was just plain easy.

Of course, the other big event this weekend is the Super Bowl, also on NBC and Peacock. Even if you're not a fan of the Patriots or Seahawks (or football in general), you may be tuning in either for the ads or the halftime show, which will feature Bad Bunny. Before the game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. PT, you can catch another musical act — California's own Green Day. The rock band will play at 3 p.m. as part of festivities to celebrate the Super Bowl's 60th anniversary. As for the halftime show, my colleague Itzel Luna has more details on what you can expect from Bad Bunny's highly anticipated performance. We'll also rank the Super Bowl ads.

This is the perfect time to get cozy on the couch with snacks and leave the strenuous work and competition to the professionals. — Maira Garcia

Keep up with California

Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Subscribe to the Los Angeles Times.

Subscribe Now

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they're working on — and what they're watching

"Tell Me Lies" isn't a show with tips for making lifelong friends at college. The dark and twisty series follows a friend group bonded by secrets, animosity, manipulation and fear over the course of eight years — alternating between the characters' college years and their adult lives. Available to stream on Hulu and Disney+, the current third season brought more chaos and WTF moments while also answering some questions. As the show nears its finale on Feb. 17, creator and showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer discusses what prompted the budding romance between Wrigley (Spencer House) and Bree (Catherine Missal), the truth she finds amid the high-stakes drama of this friend group and the bygone TV series — soon to be revisited as a movie — that she recently discovered.
— Yvonne Villarreal

The Wrigley and Bree twist earlier in the season had fans rewatching from the beginning in search of hints about their relationship. We get more of the backstory of how their connection strengthened in this week's episode. When did that pairing take shape for you and what excited you about it?

This was always a potential pairing that I had in mind, and there are little clues in the background of the 2015 scenes — for instance, Bree and Wrigley talking quietly in the background of the bachelorette party in Season 2. But with a show like "Tell Me Lies," there are always a lot of avenues I'm considering, and not all of them end up happening. I didn't fully decide to follow through on this idea until I was prepping for Season 3. I was really struck by how much I personally wanted happiness and genuine love for Wrigley and Bree, after everything they'd been through at that point. And when I pitched it to the rest of the writers, their immediate enthusiasm told me it was a good idea. I was also excited by the fact that nobody had predicted it, and since our audience predicts a lot of things, that felt very lucky and rare.

Sex communicates a lot about the characters on this show. With the volume of it in the series, what was the learning curve of using it as a narrative device? And with the continued conversation in Hollywood about the necessity of intimacy coordinators, what's your take? How important was working with one to make those scenes what you want or need them to be and also comfortable for everyone?

Honestly, I feel like we overdid it with the amount of sex scenes in Season 1. I was trying to lean into the fact that this was partially a story about sexual awakenings in a lot of ways, but accidentally overloaded the season with sex we didn't always need. So we pulled back on them a lot in Season 2. Also with more experience and confidence, I got my more comfortable being louder about how I wanted the scenes to be executed. I was more vocal about keeping things grounded, simple, not trying to choreograph sex in a way that felt overly performative. It could be called "boring" but it was important for me to make it feel realistic — not having these characters doing insane positions or having sex on random furniture that they'd never be doing in real life. And I think intimacy coordinators protect everyone. They protect the actors, but they also protect directors and showrunners. I'm really close with the cast, but I'm still their boss, and I'm aware that they don't want to disappoint me. So it's sometimes more difficult for them to say to me, "Actually I don't feel comfortable doing that." It's easier for them to say that to an intimacy coordinator. I think of the intimacy coordinators like lawyers — they have all the contractual conversations so by the time we get to set, everyone knows exactly what is happening, and there's no room for misinterpretation.

This is a show where gaslighting and manipulation are in heavy supply, primarily by one man using threats to make others bend to him or carry out his bidding. And the show depicts how you can blindly fall victim to a narcissist's persuasive tactics despite having an understanding of his abusive ways. What did you want to avoid or emphasize in diving into that?

My main concern is always keeping things honest and realistic. Asking myself if something rings true, if it feels like it's in alignment with what I've seen in real life. With this story in general, I was interested in making mundane things feel high-stakes. A lot of TV shows rely on murder or crime — but in real life, it's the seemingly tiny stuff that will haunt you forever. That's why emotional abuse can sometimes be more damaging than physical abuse. A comment can unravel your confidence for years.

It's still unclear if "Tell Me Lies" will go beyond this season. You've said that you wrote the season as if it could be the end. With some hindsight, what proved more challenging or agonizing as a writer, crafting that first episode that sets this world up or writing a satisfying potential finale that wraps things up?

Weirdly, writing the first episode was probably harder. By the time we got to the finale, I knew these characters so well, and I knew the actors embodying them. The third season unfolded very organically. The hardest thing was making sure we gave everyone an ending that felt complete but not predictable. It's difficult with such a big ensemble.

About that upcoming finale — tell us something we won't understand now but will once we've watched it.

There are some sneakily placed images throughout the season of scorpions and frogs. That's all I will say!

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

I'm so late to this, but I recently started "Peaky Blinders" [Netflix] and I'm blown away by it. It's such a perfectly constructed show. The pacing, the way it weaves together like a mosaic. And there's an incredible sense of restraint. It's just perfect.

What's your go-to "comfort watch," the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

I have watched the movie "Beginners" [TVOD] by Mike Mills so many times. I just think it's beautiful and it reminds me that a very simple story can still be magical and unique. There's a scene where Melanie Laurent's character has an imaginary phone call with her father, and there's so little explanation in the scene but it tells you so much about her character and breaks your heart. I'm always the most moved by stories that don't over explain things, leave you wanting a little bit more, and I think that's a perfect example.