Tell Me Lies – Season 1 Episode 5 “Merry F*cking Christmas” Recap & Review

Merry F*cking Christmas

It’s Christmas time and Lucy’s mom, CJ, is coming to collect her. Lucy is staying the night at Max’s but is ready to leave after her mother calls her. Before she leaves she sends a message to wish Max Merry Christmas, to ensure she’s capable of wishing Max on an actual day. He scolds her as an idiot for saying this (*sighs*).

Stephan will be waiting to meet Lucy in her dorm. They say goodbye to each other prior to when CJ arrives on campus. Because they are near to one another, she suggests they might have a reunion a day after Christmas, and Stephan says yes. She again lies to him about having an evening with her friends and puts on Stephan’s sweatshirt which smells like his.

Stephan’s sister Sadie takes him to the car. When they arrive at the house, Vince the brother of Stephan smiles at them and reminds them to remain quiet. Their mother is suffering from a migraine and just fell asleep. There’s a sound, however, and she’s awakened. She calls Stephan who walks over and says hello. Nora wants Stephan to tell him “hi” the next time she calls him back, without hesitation. Grace arrives home and is informed of the news that she’s been accepted and admitted to the seminar for advanced students. Lucy is invited to go to Macy’s memorial just a few hours after Christmas. In the meantime, CJ asks her about the man she’s been in love with, according to what Georgia had previously told her.

Lucy is a bit sly when it comes to particulars, and CJ is surprised when she discovers James’s dream of becoming an attorney. The doorbell rings. Lucy feels shocked and astonished to see James and we aren’t sure of the reason. CJ invites him to the house as well as confronts Lucy about the incident. Lucy is further offended when she spots her father’s Christmas socks on display in the living area and then storms out of the home.

At the DeMarco home, Sadie shows off the foster cat she has taken charge of Freddie as he searches for an appropriate home. Vince admits that he received an offer from Long Beach and is moving back to be nearer to Nora. Stephan is slightly shocked however Nora dismisses the idea. They shop for groceries together and then go to the store to pick up some flowers.

In the shop, she gazes at her florist from a distance but does not tell Stephan the problem. She gets into a heated argument against Stephan while driving when Stephan refuses to acknowledge that she has “objective beauty”. It’s an oddly intense scene that reveals so much about the mother-son bond. Sadie provides more information about her aloof behavior by revealing how upset she was and how she didn’t speak with her for a week following her outing with her friends for her birthday. Sadie states she’s looking for boarding schools that aren’t in town, but she needs her parents’ signatures. Stephan says he’ll manage the matter.

Lucy speaks about her mother to Lydia Lydia, the best of her friends from high school. Lucy is worried about her boyfriend Rob. Lucy is concerned about James and asks Lydia if her parents are aware of her social life with someone.

The Christmas dinner is served and The DeMarcos take their children to the Louie’s, but the kids are shocked to discover exactly the same lady from the florist along with their father. The name of the woman is Abby and she’s expecting a baby. The father is furious and has to leave to show respect for Abby. The kids are also angry with their mother, who is in the process of taking them to the place and causing an atmosphere.

While at home Nora claims innocence, and it appears that she wanted to let him know the things he’s missing from his family. Stephan phone calls Lucy and says that the holiday season is difficult for him at home. Lucy is also feeling the same way and wants to stay at his house the following day. However, Stephan turns away and tells her to stay away. Lucy does not hesitate in taking the phone and making a call to Max to inquire about plans. Diana speaks to Stephan about his problems at home and insists that he sign up for different job opportunities. Lucy and Max spend the night at the hotel. Diana is surprised by Stephan at his home and they take a selfie inside the vehicle.

In a vulnerable moment, Lucy shares a story with Max about her late father, for the first time ever in the show. She confesses to Max that he died at the age of fifteen due to a prolonged illness. Lucy is also clear that she was compelled to go out regardless of whether being with Stephan or Max to escape to be away from her mother. After it became clear that he wouldn’t get better and he was getting worse, the Albrights returned him to the Albrights for the past two months. James was a friend who he worked with, and was able to help out at the house. He was likely to be their closest friend to James. One day, as she was at home with her father, CJ left to see a doctor and he began to fall asleep. Lucy naturally called her mother, but she received the call three hours after.

He would keep wanting CJ and hadn’t come to terms with death, however, Lucy weeps and confesses. Later, she learned that CJ was in a relationship with James throughout the entire time. However, she isn’t sure Lucy has any idea. If Max says that Lucy could be depressed, dealing with so many emotional issues She gets defensive. They get into a dispute. Max declares that he knows she’s seen other people, and Lucy insists that he ought to be with someone else nicer than her. Max claims that Lucy is decent enough. But she’s not mature enough. It’s not for him, and the girl won’t come back Maybe.

A tearful Lydia phoned Lucy and she invites her to her hotel room. Lydia confesses that she saw her boyfriend having sex with a girl at an event. Lucy proposes to hit Rob in the face to Lydia at the party, and she does so, with a stunning display of force. Lucy decides to also go to the memorial if Stephan isn’t able to pick her phone up. Diana remains with Stephan when she notices Lucy calling his number. Stephan dismisses the situation and says she could have an interest in him. They’re both smoking marijuana and Wrigley’s name pops up.

While high Diana confesses that she slept in a secluded room together with Wrigley in Wrigley’s Welcome Week when she was drunk. Stephan is clearly angry with her, and we are not sure exactly where the conversation is headed. He is again fighting with his mother who purposely burns her hand with hot milk in order to convince Stephan to look after her once more. Lucy walks into the bedroom of Macy at her home and spots an image of the fake plant Stephan sketched for him during the first night they met. Then, Lucy learns that Stephan and Macy have actually met and he’s not told her of it yet.

The Episode Review

This must be one of the worst and most depressing “Christmas times with family” on TV. Like, ever. Of all episodes to date, “Merry F*cking Christmas” is perhaps the most captivating because of similar reasons.

We finally made it out of the awful college environment and into an even more enlightened environment. Being in the house and meeting the people that both Lucy and Stephen have grown up with certainly gave them a better understanding of their antics. I found that Jackson White handled his part very well in this show. It was helped by his real-life mom Katy Sagal played her real mother, Nora. Their relationship was far superior to that shared by Grace Patten.

When it comes to her I’m still not entirely convinced of how she portrays Lucy. I am sure that Lucy is supposed to be cold and emotionally unattainable. However, she’s never in a position to communicate the suffering she is hiding in. The emotional trauma she suffers is likely to be so overwhelming that it will pour out in ounces at the very least. Even when she shared the story about their father’s death with Max and Max, there was not any emotion. This was supposed to be the most important event for Lucy to date in the series, but Grace Patten came up way far too soon. Perhaps Max has a point about her. She’s just too young to handle her emotions in the present. When it comes to acting Katy Sagal was indeed the shining star of this show.

Her commanding character placed her effectively in the dynamic of the family dynamics, however, the veteran actress took advantage of the opportunity. Apart from Grace Patten’s mediocre show episode 5, episode 5 on Tell Me, Lies, is a step above the other episodes of season 1.