There were many moments in Season 1 where I wondered why someone as ambitious and level-headed as Diana would be with a guy like Stephen…

MO: That's the question of the entire show. Why do people who know better, who are smart, stay with people who are incredibly harmful to them? For some of the smartest and most successful women I know, the weak point is a man or a romantic relationship.

And I don't think anyone has ever treated Diana the way Stephen treated her. She is beautiful, rich, talented – everyone is nice to her. And when everyone is nice to you, it gets a little boring. Diana can have the most people, so why not choose the one who is the hardest to get?

There were a lot of these moments in season two, too, like when she realized that Stephen was probably behind on the night of Macy's death. Looking back now, I can imagine Diana planning her escape from Stephen, but when did she actually decide to put this plan into action?

AC: I think Diana chose that two- to three-week time jump between episodes four and five – from the day they take the LSAT to the time they get the results. When she sees the pictures of Macy, she knows she has to get away from him. He is dangerous. Does she know at this moment that she's going to lie about her LSATs? No, I think this time jump is when she finds out.

MC: He says to Diana at the end of the fourth episode after she finds the pictures, “You're the most important thing in my life.” And Diana says, “I know.” At that moment she realizes Oh God. I won't be able to just leave him.

She also deletes the photos of Macy on Stephen's computer, even though they could have linked Stephen to her death and exposed him. What was Diana's calculation there?

MC: Diana will always survive. She will leave Stephen when she is no longer in danger. Diana has a ruthlessness about her that she inherited from her father. She will protect herself at all costs, so she deletes the photos – because she doesn't want to be associated with them.

AC: She didn't delete those pictures to protect them him. She did it for protection itself.

At the beginning of Episode 5, we see Diana crying after receiving her LSAT scores, which we now know were very good. What did she feel at that moment?

AC: That means she let go of this man who she thought she was going to be with for the rest of her life and who she really loved. She thinks This is overand she is really sad. She's processing the breakup that he isn't even aware of yet.

MO: She's also very stressed and overwhelmed and knows what she has to do and she's scared. She is very, very afraid.

Let's talk about the breakup scene. There's a moment in the scene where Diana confronts Stephen and challenges his acting emotions, and he kind of drops the act and becomes a complete emotionless psychopath. What was the origin of that moment in the writers' room?

MO: At first he was very cold and emotionally detached because he already had Lucy. And then I thought, What if the opposite is true? What if he pretends to be completely apologetic and remorseful and all those things? And then he turns it off when she forces him to.

I found it more interesting to see him trying to let her down, and that Diana knew him well enough to see through it and be the one person who finally told him to cut the nonsense. It's almost a consolation prize that he gives her and that lets her see behind the mask. And it also shows that it really is over for good because he wouldn't show this to anyone unless he had no interest in the person wanting him.

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Alicia, what was it like playing that scene?

AC: This was probably the most difficult scene for me in the entire show, but I had great direction from Dan Atlas. One instruction given to me that was really poignant was that Diana feels a fascination – a morbid curiosity – about seeing this inhumanity.

MO: I remember when we came to you and talked to you about Diana being fascinated by this revelation, and the scene completely changing after you started it. I loved how you made this moment.

Stephen doesn't let go easily. Should the series get a third season, can we expect him to seek revenge on Diana for her manipulation? Or is she safe?

MO: I don't think anyone on the show is ever safe.

AC: I was thinking about that because the season ends with Christmas break and we have a completely different semester. I feel like he would have to figure it out at some point…

MO: He'll definitely figure it out eventually. If we were to get a third season starting with the second semester, I think the person he's really after is Lucy. If he found out what Diana did, maybe he would respect her more. But there are so many ways we could experiment with Season 3.

Like the characters, I was in college in the late 2010s/early 2010s and I remember how much meaner young women were when they talked about themselves, each other, and their relationships. Lucy and Diana's relationship is so strained this season. Is there any hope that they could ever see eye to eye with two women played by the same man?

AC: There's a little bit of that in the 2015 version of these characters. Diana and Lucy get to see each other at the wedding and it's strange, especially given the dynamic with Pippa, but it's not antagonistic.

MO: I was also in college at the time and I still remember that we were a lot harder on each other. Especially when it comes to men being in the thick of things, but I think there is a chance for them to socialize in the future. There was already a slowdown in 2015. And there are a few moments in the 2008 timeline where they recognize each other's humanity, particularly when caring for Pippa. There's a look between Lucy and Diana that just broke my heart.

But there is a certain amount of shame and embarrassment that they must overcome before they meet again. They were so horrible to each other, but in hindsight they know it was for someone who was completely unworthy, so I think they need to get over the mutual embarrassment.

We also didn't know that men like Stephen should be described as problematic or toxic. In the absence of this language, how does Diana feel about her relationship with Stephen?

AC: I think Diana saw Stephen's manipulation, but she still chooses him. She's really bad for this guy. Before she discovers the images, there is nothing that cannot be undone or unlearned, nothing about him that cannot be repaired. Once she discovers these images and realizes he was involved in a girl's death, there is no turning back.

And in Season 1, you see that the toxicity of their relationship is something that Diana really enjoys. The cat and mouse game, the power dynamic, the constant attempt to outdo each other. She enjoys it and, to be honest, she enjoys it too.

When we last see Diana, she is getting into the car with her father, who we know is poisonous himself. Does Diana see her father differently after everything she has learned about Stephen's manipulations?

MO: I love the dichotomy there. She didn't break down because of Stephen and actually has everything under control, but at the same time she still hasn't taken her mother's side and cut off her incredibly toxic father. Although she has grown and developed, she is still a child. She still has a lot of room to grow.

And she knows that she needs her father. She is a survivor. She's a good person, but she's not the kind of person who always does the right thing. She will still put herself first.

AC: I think Diana sees him a little differently, but she's still becoming a lawyer and following in her father's footsteps. And the idea of ​​self-sacrifice is very alien to her.

If there is a third season, what do you hope to see for Diana?

AC: It would be fun to follow the evolution of her relationship with Pippa and see how they became a couple in 2015.

MO: There are several people who owe revenge at the end of season two, and I think Diana is one of those people. If anyone is going to take Stephen down in the future, I can't imagine it happening without Diana's help.

I feel like I'm giving too much away by answering these questions about season three, so I have to stop talking… It can all evolve and change. We won't know for sure until we get into the writers' room.

You can stream all episodes of Tell me lies now on Hulu.