"Toxic relationships, college and a lot of bad, bad behavior." That's how Sonia Mena ("Artist Unknown," "The Deuce") describes "Tell Me Lies," which just wrapped its second season on Hulu. The first season introduces college freshman Lucy (Grace Van Patten) and junior Stephen (Jackson White) as their relationship quickly turns toxic and affects everyone around them. Mena plays Pippa, who becomes best friends with Lucy at college. "Pippa has a gnarly storyline. She has a pretty intense thing happen to her very early on in the storyline, and we see her navigating that," Mena said. "She's just trying to survive as best as she can. She finds surprising alliances. We see her let her guard down less so because she wants to do more, but she doesn't have the energy to be around all of that." And although "Tell Me Lies" is incredibly captivating, it brings to light major issues on college campuses, such as rape, power struggles among young couples and the dangers of drinking alcohol and the decisions that follow. "It's a very heavy subject matter," Mena said. "To be honest, I meditate before set, which is the most actory thing I've ever said in my whole life, but it's true." Fans of the first season will certainly notice the change in Pippa's physical appearance in the second season: blonde hair. "(Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer) came to me pretty early on while they were still writing and said, 'We want Pippa to come back different. We're thinking short hair.' I was like, 'That to me signals, very like queer, especially in that time period.' I didn't feel like she was in that place. And I was thinking, it was really not cool to have short hair for a lot of people, and she's chasing acceptance and male validation so much," Mena said. "I have been blonde many times in my life, and I was like, 'What if we go blonde?' And then it was Meaghan who – because she wanted differentiation between me and Lucy – was like, 'Yes, but we're gonna go platinum blonde.'" Both season of "Tell Me Lies" are available to stream on Hulu. MORE: https://www.wthr.com/article/entertainment/television/sonia-mena-interview-tell-me-lies-grace-van-patten-jackson-white-hulu-drama-jackson-white-spencer-house-alicia-crowder/531-a4aa03d9-6fea-4e48-a293-ac9518fd081e