The protagonist of the story, Wrigley, has a lot going on in his life. He has to deal with his brother, Drew, who is a difficult person. Wrigley is also embarrassed to ask for extra time to write a test because he cannot read properly.
The younger brother hasn’t been himself since Macy’s incident. He has built a wall around him and has become inaccessible. That has Wrigley worried to no end. Pippa is someone who also makes him nervous. The two haven’t put any labels on their “thing”, yet. Their reluctance to embrace each other as partners is a worrying sign of a more severe emotional shortcoming. Lucy and Steven’s relationship is going well. She is majoring in English and the response to her assignment is not as she expected. Her fictional character is based on her own personality and the people in her group find the character “too distance, cold, and uncompassionate”. Just like her.
In Professor Schultz’s class, Steven and Diana, who both get a perfect score on the test, compete for a position as a research assistant to Schultz, an inviting proposition. In the canteen, Steven makes fun of Wrigley for reading very slowly. Wrigley reaches the disability office to get himself extra time on the test but is embarrassed when Tim, one of the boys from his group, sees him there. Tim is feigning sickness to get free Adderall.
After Pippa reveals that she changed high schools in her senior year, Bree and Lucy share an emotional bonding session. Pippa also refuses to call Wrigley her boyfriend, indicating emotional and attachment issues. After a love-making session, Lucy finds out that the hair tie Steven gives her from under his bed isn’t hers. He confesses that he wouldn’t feel bad if Lucy slept with other guys. Lucy is confused and unclear about the idea. Pippa goes with Steven to Diana’s party, whereas Lucy and Bree go to another party as only freshmen and plus ones are invited to the former.
Pippa warns Lucy not to share her feelings with Steven for him, saying her value will “decrease in his eyes” if she opens up. Girl, you are emotionally damaged! She definitely has issues to sort out and hopefully, by the end of season 1, we will see her progress. At the party, Pippa and Bree flirt with each other while Lucy and Max barely avoid getting arrested for being drunk. Drew gets a bit too drunk and falls off the stairs. Diana arranges transport for Wrigley and Steven to drop him off at his house. ..
With Pippa and Macy around, things are looking up for Wrigley. They have been able to show their care for each other by being honest with each other and by not admitting their feelings. It is clear that they both care about each other, but they are not admitting it to the world. With time, it might improve and Wrigley may even pass his test. Max approaches Lucy as Bree is called away by Tim to another party. She says she is single and sleeps with him, acting on Steven’s advice and showing she is equal to his in terms of dating independence. As expected, Wrigley isn’t able to complete his test and will most probably fail. Drew sits outside his room and sleeps on his couch, indicating that Wrigley’s efforts to get closer to him are working out.
Schultz reveals he has given the position to Diana. Steven goes straight to her dorm after this and waits for her to come. When she does, they have hate sex with each other, and then Diana decides she cannot see him again. Steven says her problem is that she cannot let things go, indicating her bitterness with Steven cheating on her. Lucy watches a video of Diana singing and gets even more jealous and intimidated by her. Wrigley confesses to Pippa he didn’t want to drag her into this drama and apologizes. He asks if she will still hang out with him and she says yes. Steven goes straight to Diana’s dorm after Schultz’s announcement, waiting for her there. They have hate sex, after which Diana declares that she can’t see him again - indicating that she’s bitter over his cheating on her earlier in the semester. Meanwhile, Lucy watches a video of Diana singing online and becomes even more envious of how close she seems to be with Wrigley; Pippa also confesses that she doesn’t want any part in the drama unfolding around them, but Wrigley assures her they’ll still be friends. ..
Steven and Lucy have another date, where the former makes a raunchy confession to the latter about having him all to herself. Steven then receives a call from Diana about maybe getting back together but keeping their “hanging out” a secret for now. Steven says he can be “her secret” but as it turns out, he is someone else’s secret too. He starts browsing the photos on his laptop of the girls he has been with. Soon enough, we see photos of Macy on the laptop, and in some pictures, she is barely in her underwear. Seeing her face, he gets a tear in his eyes, indicating they did have something special and he was indeed the “embarrassing secret” that Macy was about to confess to Lucy in episode 1.
The Episode Review
Episode 3 of “The Mindy Project” was all about exploring the psyches of its main characters and revealing hidden secrets about their past. Almost everyone has something that they’re hiding from the rest. The balancing act of protecting the suspense in the story and the drama in the exposition was good in this episode. Creators are gradually beginning to find their feet and bring out the inherent perversity of the literary source. Things are just about to start getting weird and all over the place; the chaos has served the readers of the novel well. The show will benefit from some of that in action onscreen.
I found myself feeling a bit let down by Season 1 of Tell me Lies. The show felt too formulaic and unoriginal for my taste. Episode 3 in particular seemed to go in a predictable direction, which detracted from the overall experience. Some extra brownie points for bucking the easy path.
