‘Tell Me Lies’ Star Cat Missal in Episode 7: Evan’s Lie, Bree’s Mother

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “As I Climb Onto Your Back, I Will Promise Not to Sting,” Episode 7 of Season 3 of “Tell Me Lies,” streaming now on Hulu.

If there’s one character in “Tell Me Lies” who could give Grace Van Patten’s Lucy a run for her money when it comes to getting herself into anxiety-inducing, nail-biting situations, it’s Cat Missal’s Bree.

In the first six episodes of Season 3 of “Tell Me Lies” — the Hulu drama created by Meaghan Oppenheimer — the Baird College sophomore has already found himself embroiled in a series of less-than-ideal situations. We saw her befriend 17-year-old college freshman Amanda (Iris Apatow), who Bree suspected was sleeping with Baird professor (and Bree’s season 2 love interest) Oliver (Tom Ellis), whose house she later showed up after a few hours of Valentine’s Day frat party drinking. But instead of finding Oliver there, Bree broke down sobbing on the shoulder of Oliver’s wife and fellow Baird professor, Marianne (Gabriella Pession), while still wearing her goth garb. (For the record: Missal is absolutely aware of how unprofessional all these student-teacher relationships are: “Marianne should be ashamed of the way she acts and interacts with the students,” they say. Variety. “It’s all so complicated.”)

In a rare but welcome reprieve from Bree’s more disturbing plot points this season, we’ve seen a romance blossom between her and Wrigley (Spencer House) — although that, too, becomes all the less sweet when you have to remember that Bree is dating Evan (Branden Cook), while Wrigley is still with her best friend and roommate Pippa (Sonia Mena).

Now, in the seventh episode of season 3, Bree finds herself at the center of the drama once again; Evan, desperate to hold her, sabotages the evening by getting her mother (who she never really knew) drunk before Bree’s photo exhibition, turning what should have been a festive evening into a chaotic one. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, the long-kept secret that it was Lucy who cheated on Evan during freshman year is finally revealed when Bree comes across some incriminating Facebook posts.

Below, Missal spoke with Variety about Bree and Evan’s relationship, that nerve-wracking photo exhibition and why their character is ‘some kind of bad guy’ in their eyes.

How did you and Spencer House feel when you heard your characters would be getting back together after two seasons of barely being friends?

That was definitely on our radar. We were like, “Did we ever even talk on the show?” Spencer is such a great actor, so I was really excited to play with him and create this love story between them. We had this knowing and this understanding, which I was very grateful for, that it had to be good. Because if it wasn’t good and it didn’t feel true, there would simply be no point. And people would say, “This is weird.”

People love Bree and Wrigley. Are you surprised by that?

I’m surprised. I haven’t seen much because I’m not really online. I hear things through my partner and my sisters tell me things. I’m really glad people are enjoying it as much as she is.

Most of this episode is Bree’s doomed night at the photo exhibit with her mother. It’s a tense evening, all thanks to Evan, who got her mother drunk in a strange power play. But Bree doesn’t know that. So how do you think she reads her mother’s behavior?

I think she knows she’s drunk. What I love about Bree is that she is so observant and so empathetic. And so even though her mother is there and she shows up drunk, she still tries to take care of her. She doesn’t just say, “Okay, you have to leave.” She’s grateful that she showed up at all, and she really wants the relationship to work, which makes it so sad.

Do you feel like Bree was ashamed?

I think she’s more injured. She’s not really ashamed, which is a really cool trait of hers. I wish I was like that. But often she just lets it roll off her back. I think it’s a testament to what she’s been through in her life.

Evan’s actions are all the more sinister given his earlier conversation with Oliver, who tells him that Bree must feel like she needs him. But in the end it works. Do you think there is truth in what Oliver says?

Oh god, there’s truth in that. But that’s a manipulative tactic. That’s textbook manipulation. [Evan] holds her captive. He only convinces her that he is the only safe place in her life and that’s why she chooses him again. Who knows if her mother showed up and wasn’t drunk and… [been] can support her. Let’s say that night went great and then the Wrigley situation happened. Maybe she would have gone to her mother. Who knows! He causes her to become isolated, and he is the only person she can turn to.

If she knew Evan had taken her mother out to dinner, would she have ended it?

I would really hope so – I don’t know. It’s hard to say because all these people make so many bad mistakes and seem to go back to each other. I think Bree has a bit of a moral compass, but she just doesn’t know it. She just doesn’t know what’s going on. She just doesn’t have people. She would obviously feel incredibly betrayed, angry at him and heartbroken. But I don’t know if it would change her thoughts about her mother. Maybe she still feels the same, like, “You were convinced so easily by my friend.”

After the exhibition, what can you tease about the future of her relationship with her mother? She’s clearly not at the wedding…

That’s the beginning of the end – or the beginning of the start of the end. From then on the relationship can only go downhill, which is so sad. I start to say something, and then I think, “God, this is so depressing.”

We also get a conversation between Marianne and Bree, in which she says that Oliver must be stopped. Do you think Bree really feels that way?

I actually think it’s a bit selfish of her. She apparently does it for Amanda and so he never does this to other girls. But I think it’s from a selfish point of view because she never dealt with it [her emotions around that]. It’s still just underneath the surface for her, and from my perspective, there are a lot of her own emotions tied to it.

At the end of the episode, Bree discovers that Lucy was the girl Evan slept with in freshman year, right after she learns that Wrigley slept with Pippa. Do you think she would have cared as much about Lucy and Evan if that second betrayal hadn’t happened?

I don’t think she would have gotten into as much of a spiral as she did. When we were trying on the costumes, Charlotte said [Svenson] said, “You’ll do 18 scenes with this.” And I thought, “What?” Bree just keeps going. She doesn’t slow down. She’s just in a really bad state of mind. So I think she could have handled it differently.

Some may think that what Bree does – cheating on Evan and lying to Pippa – is worse than the one-time drunken encounter between Lucy and Evan.

I agree. I think what Lucy did was for attention, and what Bree does is incredibly secretive and much deeper. It just feels worse. I think she just doesn’t know how to operate in what she does. She’s kind of a bad guy in my eyes. If you wanted to be at Wrigley, just leave Evan! The minute you say, “Oh, I have feelings for Wrigley,” you absolutely shouldn’t be with Evan. She’s just a lost puppy.

Do you think Evan has any idea about Bree and Wrigley?

I think Bree is convinced he has absolutely no idea. Even if he thought, “Oh, that’s a bit weird,” she could completely convince him that they’re just friends and that she’s in complete control of the situation.

Back to the wedding timeline. We know Lucy is a bridesmaid, so how did they mend their friendship?

That’s a great question. The only thought I had about it was that they hadn’t talked about it. That it’s something that Bree does, just buries. I think that’s the truth. I mean, I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to Meaghan about it. But apparently the way Bree works is compartmentalization, compartmentalization, compartmentalization. If they had had a conversation, it would have just been Lucy crawling and [Bree] saying, “Okay, I’ll forgive you.”

Bree’s friendships are also limited, what could play a role?

Complete. That’s actually one of those jokes from Season 1 where I was like, “Doesn’t she just have any other friends?” We’re at her wedding and she only has Pippa and Lucy here, who are good friends. It’s kind of a big joke. But I do think that for the sake of the show, it really drives them back together because they’re seemingly the only people in each other’s lives.

What was your reaction to the final script?

My jaw was just on the floor. I was gagged. I thought, “Oh my God, this is going crazy!” People will lose their minds.

This interview has been edited and condensed.