Caitie Parker returns in Tell Me Lies Season 3 Episode 4, ‘Fix Me Up, Girl’, reigniting the sexual assault case involving Chris. Given the timing and how it ties to Lucy, a theory has emerged that is hard to ignore, and it has everything to do with Stephen.
We always knew Stephen (Jackson White) was twisted, but he’s really ramped up the manipulation tactics in Season 3 of the Hulu series. Although he went into the latest chapter in a relationship with Lucy (Grace Van Patten), it didn’t take long for things to fall apart.
Stephen delivered an ultimatum to Lucy: tell Bree (Catherine Missal) that she slept with Evan (Branden Cook) or break up. Lucy chose Bree, but Stephen refused to let it go, forcing her to film a video in which she admitted to lying that Chris (Jacob Rodriguez) sexually assaulted her – or else he’ll tell Bree.
We know Lucy lied because she knows the truth about Chris, but to Stephen, the truth has never mattered. What matters is leverage – and Caitie Parker’s (Taia Sophia) sudden reappearance suggests he’s willing to use anyone to destroy Lucy. Warning: some may find this content distressing.
Who is Caitie Parker?
Caitie Parker is a student at Baird College who was sexually assaulted by Chris, the brother of Lucy’s best friend Lydia (Natalee Linez). In Tell Me Lies Season 3 Episode 4, she decides she wants to reopen the case after hearing about Lucy.
In Season 2 of the hit show, Pippa (Sonia Mena) is the one who’s drugged and assaulted by Chris. Diana (Alicia Crowder) finds Pippa at a party barely conscious and partially undressed. Chris walks out of the bathroom and is shocked to see Diana there.
Diana rescues Pippa with the help of Lucy, but in the morning Pippa doesn’t want to talk about what happened, nor does she want to report it. Although they support her decision, another student – Caitie Parker – accuses Chris of sexually assaulting her too.
Lydia and more or less everyone on campus assumes Caitie is lying and the case is dropped, but even so, Pippa still isn’t ready to talk about it. Since Lucy knows the truth, this creates friction between her and Lydia.
Things reach boiling point at a bar one night when they talk about Caitie, suggesting she had too much to drink and regretted it. Lucy, no longer able to stay silent, steps in and says she knows Chris is guilty.
To prove it, she tells Pippa’s story, but claims it happened to her instead. Admittedly, this was a huge mistake and wrong for many reasons, but her intentions were to help.
In Tell Me Lies Season 3, Lucy tells Stephen as a way to give him leverage over her and stop him telling Bree about Evan. Even though he’s keeping the video to himself (for now), Caitie has caught wind of what Lucy said, believing she is another victim.
Episode 4 shows Lucy being called into the Dean’s office, where Caitie, the Dean, and Marianne (Gabriella Pession) are sat. Caitie explains that hearing about what happened to Lucy has given her the courage to reopen the case against Chris.
Lucy says she doesn’t want to get involved and leaves, and though it’s understandable, you’ve got to feel for Caitie. She’s a representation of how so many of these cases go unpunished, and the blame gets turned around to the victim.
For months, she’s been called a liar by her peers, and even now she’s choosing to move forward with the case if it protects others from Chris. To make matters worse, it seems Stephen may have instigated the situation.
Tell Me Lies Season 3 Episode 4 sparks Stephen theory
The theory – which we can more or less take as fact at this point – is that Stephen told Caitie about Lucy’s lie as a way to mess with his ex, as earlier on in Tell Me Lies Season 3 Episode 4, he’s seen searching Caitie Parker on Facebook.
He does this after his argument with Diana about her pregnancy, where she shut him down and told him he no longer has any power over her. We all know how Stephen hates not being in control – it’s very much in character for him to find another way to feed his ego.
What’s more, even after leaving the Dean’s office, Lucy discovers that a Facebook page has been set up titled ‘Chris Montgomery is a Rapist,’ and it states that he “sexually assaulted Caitie Parker and Lucy Albright.”
If this is all part of Stephen’s master plan to destroy Lucy, we can bet he set up this Facebook group to ensure there’s no way for her to escape the lie.
Over on Reddit, one fan asked who Stephen was looking up, to which another replied, “Catie, the girl who accused Lydia’s brother of r*pe thus why she and Lucy were brought into the Dean’s Office. Stephen was meddling again. Definitely setting Lucy up for a downfall.”
Another posted a theory on TikTok that takes it one step further, suggesting Stephen told Caitie to mess with Diana after she said she’s aborting their child.
“Under the crushing pressure, Lucy had no choice but to call Diana for help, claiming she’d only done it to help Pippa” they said. “Diana cares deeply about Pippa and she couldn’t let Lucy drag Pippa into this mess. That was Stephen’s true goal all along.”
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