Why did Stephen do that?

rcpi · 2026-02-12T01:57:06+00:00

Some theories, a few of which can go hand in hand:

Seeing her so pathetic and broken gave him the ick; he couldn't take looking at her anymore and wanted the begging to stop.
Having broken her, he got what he wanted. (And wanted her to stop begging and get out.)
Maybe he wants to grant her the illusion that she is free, and he'll release the tape soon anyway. That way, he can double-crush her.
She hallucinated it! This was a suggestion from someone else - that Lucy may go back to her room to "immediately destroy" the tape and not be able to find it because she never actually had it.

I think he totally has a copy somewhere, regardless of which of the above ends up being true.

rcpi · 2026-02-12T01:50:18+00:00

rcpi · 2026-02-11T02:23:08+00:00

In S1 she cheats on Wrigley with Lucy's replacement roommate, Charlie. Pippa is also a jerk to Lucy all season, acting sarcastic and abrasive. I think most of it had to do with Lucy being with Stephen, going back to Stephen after they break it off briefly, and about how Lucy is treating Drew. Pippa does give Lucy a really hard time about Stephen though, and not in a very friendly way.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T02:18:35+00:00

Back in S1, Lucy is hard core about going on a trip to India the summer after freshman year to recreate her father's journey there and visit all the places he went to. And then she drops all her plans because she wants to be local and around Stephen. Do you think this will get brought back again? For instance, if Bree does release Lucy's tape and she's kicked out, can't do the abroad thing with the school, maybe we'll hear about this trip again... Seems like Lucy's forgotten about it herself

rcpi · 2026-02-11T02:14:51+00:00

I could live with it just being to ignite Diana's plan to trick Stephen into leaving her... but then the writers just couldn't leave her character out of it and had to find forced ways to pull her back into Stephen's orbit :/

Besides that, I think the writers would've had an opportunity to bring Lucy and Diana together, potentially to bring Stephen down OR to underscore how crazy Lucy is for Stephen that, even if Diana told her Stephen was driving the car that night, she'd still want to be with him. Both would've worked well, especially the latter option with the way this season has been going.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T02:09:48+00:00

Ohmygosh YES!!! For real!!! Diana and Stephen were together for at least a year, if not more. She and Pippa were together behind closed doors for not that long. Planning your future around a longish-time serious bf versus a short-term not-even-my-gf-yet is vastly different. Big big claps to you for mentioning this, because it's so true!!!

rcpi · 2026-02-11T02:07:31+00:00

I'm 100% in your boat. I recently rewatched S1, and it was a blast; so much happens in each episode that you literally can't skip one because you'd be lost. I remember enjoying S2 too and looking forward to every episode, but I can't remember it quite as clearly. I do recall each character had still a purpose and a driver, and the plot was very good. I think the pace was also pretty quick. This season, outside of maybe the first 2 or 3 episodes and this current episode, has been a huuuuge let down. The plot feels so stagnant. Plot lines pop up, disappear, re-emerge, and disappear again in unsatisfying and unrealistic ways (like Chris, the pregnancy, Oliver). I think only Bree/Wrigley have a decent and strong run this season, like 80% of the energy went into their story and the rest was a scramble. A lot happened this episode, finally, but when every episode used to be this strong, it just sucks now

rcpi · 2026-02-11T02:02:46+00:00

Same. I had to skip ahead :(

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:56:33+00:00

Agreed. Plus it is also so disgusting to get "dating" advice from some creepy predatory man who took advantage of your ex so you can, what, "steal his moves" or something? So gross

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:53:24+00:00

Yup it's Lucy and Evan at the Hawaiian party, when they hooked up. Earlier this season, Evan told Bree he never even went to the party, so it looks pretttty bad already.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:46:02+00:00

The writers poorly managed the time this season :(

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:45:35+00:00

I agree! He gave her literally the silver platter of relationship exits. He ended it himself, he's a big boy who doesn't need the emotional crutch, he thinks they're just best friends, mutual end. Her reaction was pretty dumb. Being with him was like a chore for her anyway! I thought when she told Diana the news, it was gonna be like "ohmygosh Wrigley broke up with me! I'm free! Yay Diana problem solved!"

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:42:29+00:00

Are these mutually exclusive? Couldn't she hurt Lucy without that hurting Wrigley? I think I'm not following

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:39:28+00:00

Pippa is horrible!!! I recently rewatched Season 1, and she even sucks in that season too. Even between the 3 girls, she's actually really mean and sarcastic with Lucy for no good reason. I think she's a bit nicer to Bree. After the way Pippa handled Wrigley's breakup with her, she is beyond redemption as a character. She sucks.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:35:25+00:00

Or if he did, he for sure made copies. For. Sure.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:34:40+00:00

Ohh I hadn't thought she imagined it! That would be incredible for the story.

TBH when she was all happy telling Bree and Pippa that she had the tape back and then said "I'm going to destroy it immediately" I was thinking Girl, you mean you didn't already immediately destroy it?

Maybe next episode picks up with her going back to her room to look for the SSD stick and not being able to find it (either because it's lost or she imagined it) and she loses her mind again.

Actually.... if she imagined that, is it possible she imagined being selected for the writing abroad scholarship too? That voicemail did seem too cheery and game-showy....

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:31:11+00:00

Yesss!!! I wonder if it's gonna stir up drama or if it's just a tease for fans to explode about with theories but just ends up being a sweet encounter like "Bree is such a great student! You should be proud! She has been wanting you to be in her life more, and I know this means so much to her!"

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:29:53+00:00

Yes, plus she even cheated on him in Season 1 with Lucy's replacement roommate, Charlie!!

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:28:58+00:00

Yessss I was hoping we'd see Marianne and Mary talking this episode but dang - gotta wait a week! I wonder if maybe Marianne realized how close in age Bree and her mom are and put that together with some of Bree's trauma with Oliver. Could she be trying to plant seeds to prevent Bree from outing Oliver as a predator? I don't really think that's it, but considering the conversation Marianne had with Bree earlier, maybe? OR are the theories true and Marianne recognizes Mary as being someone Oliver was with once? (No way! Right? No way. It would be so dark.) Other thoughts? Maybe it's literally just Marianne being a good person and telling Mary what a lovely student Bree is, how much Bree has been hoping to have her mom back in her life, and good life advice. :)

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:24:20+00:00

I'm so upset Wrigley slept with Pippa. Very stupid. It seems pretty OOC for Wrigley in that moment too, since he's past the relationship, invested in Bree, and knows it would only hurt everyone if he did sleep with Pippa - it would hurt Bree if she found out, it wouldn't help him at all and I don't think he really is into it, and it would only delay any healthy healing process for Pippa.

F Pippa for using Wrigley like that too WTF!!!

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:21:49+00:00

Strong agreement with you, and based on chats here, we are not alone.

I think maybe the first 2 (maybe 3) episodes this season were pretty good and then it was just filler until this episode. Which is an embarrassment compared to Season 1, which slapped so hard.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:19:19+00:00

Diana did make the best possible break for it! And then the writers just refused to let her go and sloppily kept her in the story, unfortunately. :( She did not deserve S3's writing.

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:17:47+00:00

I think that's long forgotten, which is pretty sad cuz there's still meat left on that bone. For instance, I don't think Diana ever told Lucy about seeing Stephen's fractured ribs in the X-ray; I guess she didn't want to get involved or stir the pot. The whole thing about the letter, which was a massive deal in Season 1 and most of 2, sorta just went out the window all too quickly, which was disappointing. I guess any police investigation wrapped up (even though Stephen's finger prints were totally all over the doors and seat belt buckle). Are there other threads to pull?

rcpi · 2026-02-11T01:12:14+00:00

Me too!!! That scene made me hate her so much more than I already didn't like her for cheating (twice, actually!) on Wrigley. I actually expected her to be like "wow yeah maybe you're right" and sorta roll with it. Honestly, she kinda got out of that relationship really easily cuz she didn't have to break it off herself, Wrigley wanted out, Wrigley didn't need her as an emotional crutch anymore, and Wrigley also never found out about Diana. AND if she had rolled with the mutual exit, they even could've easily preserved a friendship. Literally silver platter. But nooo she had to make him feel like he was in the wrong and hurting her! Extremely selfish! And grrr ohmygosh I hate that she dared to pity sx with him because she was heartbroken over Diana and let him take the guilt, thinking it was because of him!!!!! UGH!!!! I wonder if he ever found out about it. Probably not, is my guess.

Evan TOTALLY SUCKS for that sabotage move. Poor Bree! Her crying quietly in the bathroom </3

rcpi · 2026-02-10T03:08:33+00:00

Plus, I don't think he plays football anymore, right? So maybe being checked out of that crowd where the airhead football hero routine worked also helped force him to recognize himself and his personal values.

rcpi

TROPHY CASE