Spoiler Alert: This story contains spoilers for Tell Me Rise Season 3, Episode 7, “As I Climb On to Your Back, I Will Promise Not to Sting,” now available on Hulu.
If there’s one character in Tell Me Rise who can beat Grace Van Patten’s Lucy when it comes to anxiety-inducing, heartbreaking situations, it’s Cat Missal’s Bree.
In the first six episodes of Season 3 of Meghan Oppenheimer’s Hulu drama Tell Me Rise, the Baird College sophomore has already found herself embroiled in a number of less-than-ideal situations. We’ve seen Bree befriend Amanda (Iris Apatow), a 17-year-old freshman who she suspects of sleeping with Oliver (Tom Ellis), Professor Baird (Bree’s lover in Season 2), and then quickly blow up, only for her to later show up at his house after a few hours of drinking at a Valentine’s Day frat party. However, instead of finding Oliver there, Bree breaks down crying on the shoulder of Oliver’s wife, Professor Baird Marianne (Gabriella Pession), still in her goth costume. (Just to be clear, Missal is certainly aware of how unprofessional these student-teacher relationships are.) “Marianne should be ashamed of the way she behaves and interacts with her students. It’s all very complicated,” they told Variety.
In a rare but welcome reprieve from Bree’s more dire plot points this season, we got to see a romance blossom between her and Wrigley (Spencer House). But it also becomes even sweeter when Bree has to remember that she’s dating Evan (Branden Cook), while Wrigley is still with her best friend and roommate Pippa (Sonia Mena).
Now, in the seventh episode of season three, Bree finds herself at the center of drama once again. Desperate to keep Bree, Evan disrupts the evening by getting Bree’s mother (whom he doesn’t actually know) drunk before Bree’s photo exhibition, and what should have been a night of celebration turns into chaos. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, the long-held secret that Lucy was the one who cheated on Evan when he was a freshman is finally revealed when Bree stumbles upon some incriminating posts on Facebook.
Below, Missal talks to Variety about Bree and Evan’s relationship, that nerve-wracking photo exhibit, and why their characters are “kind of like villains” in their eyes.
How did you and Spencer House feel when you found out the characters were going to get together after two seasons of not really being friends?
It was definitely on our radar. We were like, “Have we ever talked about it on the show?” Spencer is such a great actor, so I was really excited to play him and create this love story between them. We had the awareness and understanding that it must be good, which we really appreciated. Because if it doesn’t feel good and true, it doesn’t make sense. And people will think, “This is weird.”
People love Bree and Wrigley. Were you surprised by that?
I was surprised. I don’t have much internet so I don’t watch much. I hear things through my partner and my sisters tell me things. I’m really happy that people are enjoying it as much as I am.
The best part of this episode for Bree is that fateful night at the photo exhibit with her mother. A tense night ends with Evan getting his mother drunk in a bizarre power play. But Bree doesn’t know that. So how do you think she reads her mother’s actions?
I think she knows she’s drunk. What I love about Bree is that she is very observant and very empathetic. So even though her mother is there and shows up drunk, she still tries to take care of her mother. She’s not just like, “Okay, you have to leave.” She’s grateful that he showed up at all and really wants the relationship to work out, which makes me so sad.
Do you think Bree was embarrassed?
I think she’s more hurt. She’s not very shy, which is a really great trait about her. I want to be like that too. But she often just lets it roll off her back. I think that’s a testament to what she’s been through in her life.
Evan’s actions are even more sinister considering his previous interaction with Oliver, where Bree said he needed to feel needed. But it works out in the end. Do you think what Oliver says is true?
Oh, that’s true. But it’s a manipulative tactic. That’s textbook manipulation. (Evan) is trapping her. He’s just convincing her that he’s the only safe place in her life, and that’s why she chooses him again. Who knows if her mother could have shown up and supported her without it being wasted. That night was great, but then the Wrigley situation happened. Maybe she had gone to her mother. who knows! He’s trying to isolate her, but he’s the only one she can rely on.
If she had known that Evan had taken her mother out for drinks, would she have stopped it?
I really hope so, but I don’t know. I can’t say anything. Because all these people seem to have made terrible mistakes and are getting back at each other. I think Bree has some moral compass, but, well, she just doesn’t know. She has no idea what’s going on. She just doesn’t have anyone. She will obviously be incredibly betrayed, angry at him, and heartbroken. But I don’t know if that will change her mind about her mother. She may still feel the same way. Something like, “You easily convinced my boyfriend.”
What can we tease about the future of her relationship with her mother after the exhibition? She is clearly not attending the wedding…
It’s the beginning of the end, or the beginning of the end. The relationship only goes downhill from there, which is very sad. I started saying something and I thought, “God, this is so depressing.”
There is also another conversation between Marianne and Bree, where she says that Oliver needs to be stopped. Do you think Bree really thinks that?
I think it’s actually selfish of her. She apparently does it for Amanda’s sake and to keep him from doing the same thing to other girls. But I think it comes from a place of selfishness, considering she didn’t do anything about it (her feelings about it). It’s still okay for her underneath the surface, and from my perspective, there’s a lot of her own emotions tied into it.
At the end of the episode, shortly after finding out that Wrigley slept with Pippa, Bree learns that the girl Evan slept with the new student was Lucy. Do you think she would have cared so much about Lucy and Evan if the second betrayal hadn’t happened?
I don’t think she would have gone into such a huge spiral. When we were fitting the costumes, Charlotte[Svensson]said, “You’re going to be in 18 scenes in this.” And I thought, “What?” Bree just keeps going. She doesn’t slow down. She is in a really bad mental state. So I think she could have handled it differently.
Some may feel that what Bree did – cheating on Evan and lying to Pippa – was worse than Lucy and Evan’s one-time drunken affair.
I agree. I think what Lucy did was for attention, but what Bree does is incredibly secretive and much deeper. It just makes you feel worse. I think she just doesn’t know how to navigate what she’s doing. She’s kind of a villain in my eyes. If you want to be with Wrigley, stay away from Evan! The moment you think, “Oh, I have feelings for Wrigley,” you definitely shouldn’t be with Evan. She’s just a lost puppy.
Do you think Evan knows anything about Bree and Wrigley?
I think Bree is convinced that she has no clue. Even if he thought, “Oh, that’s a little weird,” she was able to completely convince him that they were just friends and that she was in full control of the situation.
Return to the wedding timeline. We know Lucy is a bridesmaid, but how did they mend their friendship?
That’s a great question. All I thought about it was that they weren’t talking about it. That’s what Brie is doing, just filling it in. I think that’s the truth. I mean, I don’t really understand. I didn’t talk to Meghan about it. But at first glance, Bree’s method seems to be compartmentalizing, compartmentalizing, compartmentalizing. If they had had a conversation, Lucy would have just crouched down and (Brie) said, “Okay, I forgive you.”
Bree also has limited friendships, could that be a factor?
Completely. This was a joke in season 1 and I was like, “Doesn’t she have any other friends?” We’re at her wedding and she’s just Pippa and Lucy here, they’re fucking friends. That’s a bit of a joke. But because of the show, they seem to be the only people in each other’s lives, so I think that’s really what brings them back to each other.
What was your reaction to the script for the final episode?
My jaw just hit the floor. I was gagged. I thought, “Oh my god, this is going to be crazy!” People will lose their minds.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
