United States of Tara centers around the characters comprising the Gregson family. The series follows the family as it deals with Tara Gregson and her struggles with dissociative identity disorder. Her family, including husband Max, children Kate and Marshall and sister Charmaine, serve as her support system. Secondary characters include love interests, neighbors, friends and Tara's therapists. Tara's "alters", or alternate personalities, stand as characters in their own rights and continually interact with the other characters and sometimes with each other and Tara.
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Tara Gregson (Toni Collette), née Craine, the central character of the series, is an extremely talented woman who would like to nurture her growth as an artist, but can't for balancing everything else in her life, including her job as a mural painter, her marriage, and her two teenage children. The series begins shortly after she made the decision to stop taking her medication for dissociative identity disorder, which allows her condition to re-emerge. In the time leap of three months between seasons one and two, she picks up medication again, and it works for a while. In final episode of season three Tara takes drastic measures and throws herself off a bridge, but survives and manages to kill her last alter. Diablo Cody, one of the show's producers, has stated that Tara isn't being irresponsible by not taking the medication, but rather "wants a chance to try living with her condition, instead of smothering it with drugs" because it is "clear ... that she is not receiving proper treatment for her dissociative identity disorder".[1] Collette has said that she is "excited" and "absolutely in love" with the project.[2]
Max Gregson (John Corbett), Tara's Husband, tries to help out with Tara's problem as much as he can, but sometimes feels like he isn't benefiting from the marriage. The New Yorker called him "a member of that strange breed of TV husband that exhibits infinite patience".[3] He is very close to Marshall, while Tara is very close to Kate.[1] He ran a landscaping business for the first two seasons until selling it to a competitor, for which he goes to work, in season three. Max had a one night stand with Pammy in her bar.
Kate Gregson (Brie Larson) is Tara and Max's troubled teenage daughter. Kate works in a local outlet of a chain family restaurant in season 1. She briefly enters into a casual relationship with her manager, Gene, but grows uncomfortable with his advances and initiates a sexual harassment complaint against him. She received her high school diploma early and then worked at a collection agency. In her free time she smoked marijuana with Marshall and made super heroine videos with her friend Lynda. She briefly did internet peep shows as Princess Valhalla Hawkwind in exchange for gifts on her online gift registry. She soon stopped, when she met a man named Zac (over the internet in a webcam chat), and started dating him, but she broke things off near the end of season 2. She is eager to leave town and find a new, alters-free life elsewhere yet she is ultimately unable to abandon her mother in her unending personal crisis. In season 3, she plans to teach English in Japan but abruptly changes career goals, taking a job as an airline stewardess instead.
Marshall Gregson (Keir Gilchrist) is Tara and Max's son, and the "baby" of the family. He is old-fashioned, loves classic films and wants to be a director when he grows up. Creator Diablo Cody has addressed Marshall's being gay as "just matter-of-fact" and "definitely wasn't intended as any sort of plot point."[4] Though the family is supportive of Marshall, Buck is slightly homophobic and often makes disparaging remarks; Cody thought "it would be really fun" to have the dichotomy of Tara being "incredibly supportive" while Buck is "kind of a homophobe", though "he actually does love Marshall."[4] Tara's pet name for Marshall is "Marshmallow," while Kate endearingly calls him "Moosh." He crushes on Jason, an older boy at his school. The two kiss but after an incident with T, Jason ends things with Marshall. He then begins to date a girl, Courtney. However, after having sex with her, Marshall comes to realize he is gay. Marshall gets a boyfriend in season 2, Lionel, his openly gay best friend and first official boyfriend. In season 3 Marshall and Lionel break up and Marshall begins a relationship with Noah, a new classmate. Gilchrist has been praised for his portrayal,[5] and singled out as "the real breakout star ... [his] expressive, trusting face will definitely break your heart in some scenes".[6]
Charmaine Craine (Rosemarie DeWitt) is Tara's self-absorbed younger sister. She resents Tara for always being the center of attention and accuses her of faking her disorder. Cody wrote Charmaine as an antagonist because she wanted "a voice for the skeptics".[4] She worked for a mail-order vitamin company before an incident involving one of Tara's alters caused her to lose her job. Her first husband pressured her into getting breast augmentation surgery, which resulted in deformed, lopsided breasts. She undergoes corrective surgery, and starts to bond with Buck, who takes care of her while she recovers. In the season 2 premiere she gets engaged. She also finds out she's pregnant and discovers the baby is Neil's, a short chubby ex boyfriend and friend of Max's, and admits to Tara that she is still attracted to him, while also in love with her tall, fit, handsome fiancé, Nick, who leaves her at the altar. At the end of season 2, Tara and Charmaine begin to understand that Charmaine's ignorance of the abuses she and Tara suffered as children is a result of Tara's protection of her sister, which is likely the cause of the formation or her earliest alters. In the season 3 episode "Wheels" Charmaine gives birth to her daughter, whom Neil names Cassandra "Wheels" Kowalski.
Toni Collette plays all of Tara's alternate personalities, referred to as "alters". Whenever Tara is stressed or has strong emotions she cannot handle, she uncontrollably transitions. As the series began Tara generally had no memories of what her alters did but as it progressed Tara began becoming more aware of the alters and was able to feel them inside her and eventually communicate with them. On several occasions the alters were depicted talking to one another and in one instance all of the then-known alters attended a summit meeting of sorts, drawing up a "contract" for when each alter was allowed control of the body. As of the series premiere Tara was aware of three alters, Alice, Buck and T. By the end of the second season three additional personalities have been discovered, Gimme, Chicken, and Shoshana. By the middle of the third season a seventh, violent alter emerged, Bryce. Bryce subsequently "killed" all of the other alters, leaving just him and Tara. However, Alice, T and Buck appeared in the series finale, implying that they survived.
Alice is a "June Cleaver-esque"[1] housewife, who has been around for the longest time, dating back to Tara's childhood. She is extremely domineering, believing herself to be the 'true' personality rather than Tara and wanting permanent control of the body. Once she stated that she is the "keeper" for all of Tara's other alters. In episode 12 of season 1, when confronted by Dr. Holden, Alice says that Tara is weak, and that she needs her. She believes herself to be married to Max as well, and makes advances on him and wants to have a child. She likes Kate and Marshall but views them as Tara's children. She claims to have attended the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She abhors Gimme and seemed to be the only one who knew about his existence before everyone else did. Alice is a very devout Catholic, the only one of Tara's personalities, including Tara, who deals with religion. She prays every night for herself and all of the other alters, and (begrudgingly) Gimme. Both she and Tara cared a lot about the death of the Gregsons' neighbor. When Charmaine and Tara travel out of town to meet Mimi, it is instantaneously obvious that Alice was based on her. Alice appeared to Marshall, saying she is very proud of how he turned out to be before smacking him in the face, meaning Alice was killed during this conversation and converted straight to Bryce. In the final episode Alice is apparently seen alive in the back of Max's truck as he and Tara prepare to leave.
Buck is a loud and profane troublemaker, characterized by Collette as "the aggressive protector type, a man's man".[1] He explains his lack of a penis by claiming that it was blown off in the Vietnam War.[3] Buck has a gun named Persephone and sometimes goes to the shooting range with Max and Marshall. Collette said that Buck is her favorite of the original four personalities "just because he's most challenging", though she has to "always be careful not to make him a stereotype."[1] Unlike Tara and the other alters, Buck is left-handed. He is a heavy drinker and smoker. He wears large glasses and a trucker hat. Buck is loudly attracted to women, hitting on Kate's friends and claiming to have had sex with a waitress at the local bowling alley, who gave him crabs. In season two he embarks on a love affair with Pammy, the bartender at the pub Tara, Max, Charmaine and Neil sometimes attend. Buck was killed in the penultimate episode by Bryce. Buck while hiding behind a kitchen counter, sort of said goodbye to Max while wanting to drink one last beer before being killed by Bryce, failing to do the latter. In the final episode Buck is seen apparently alive in the back of Max's truck as he and Tara prepare to leave.
T is a sixteen-year-old girl. She smokes pot and is wild and flirty. She is provocative in her mannerisms and style of dress. She relates well with Kate, providing her with the morning-after pill and frequently attempting to take her on shopping sprees with Tara's credit cards. She is very good at playing Dance Dance Revolution and manages to dance in style. She often tries to seduce Max. He refuses her since he and Tara have an agreement that having sex with any of the alters would cause too many problems (although under their previous agreement, Max and T did have sex). Her unruly and selfish actions often disrupt Tara's life. After a major hiatus (Alice said she resorted to Seattle and became a gutterpunk), T makes a brief and wild return in the penultimate episode of season two in order to confront Duane, Mimi's partner. After a long while, T managed to get ahold of Tara's body. T tells Kate how she was always jealous of her and says goodbye to Kate before being killed by Bryce. In the final episode T is seen apparently alive in the back of Max's truck as he and Tara prepare to leave.
Gimme first appeared at the end of episode six of season one, but its existence was foreshadowed on multiple occasions before, mostly by Alice. It is first mentioned three episodes earlier, as Alice finds the word "Gimme" written on the bathroom wall. However, she instantly uses a hand towel to erase it thanks to her perfectionist behavior before transitioning back to Tara. Gimme is not so much of a human than an animalistic expression of pure id. It is very destructive, and makes awful screams. Max was the first to see it, urinating on Tara's father in the middle of the night. The first time Gimme appeared in public was four episodes later at a spa trip — Tara mentioned before that being touched (except by Max) makes her uncomfortable. The third and most recent time Gimme has been shown is after Marshall's monologue where he goes off on Courtney. According to interviews with the cast and crew, it was the one who broke into Tiffany's house and vandalized the mural Tara was doing for her, although this would mean it at least has limited literary skills. In the season three episode "Bryce Will Play" Gimme is killed by Bryce. Bryce pins up Gimme's poncho and viciously stabs it.
Ted Mayo lends Tara a book written by Shoshana Schoenbaum, his old therapist in New York. Tara develops a new alter of the author. Ted Mayo comments with shock that she perfectly resembles the real Shoshana Schoenbaum. She appears as a stereotypical 1970s feminist, and speaks with a New York accent. She is the most psychologically profound alter. After the incident in which her relapses came to light, Tara told others she had found a great shrink, but actually she was seeing herself and didn't even know it. In two scenes Tara and Shoshana converse with each other. When Max tentatively allows himself to be seen by Shoshana, Tara is portrayed as showing up to find her appointment stolen, and waits outside the closed door. In the season three episode "Bryce Will Play" Shoshana is killed by Bryce. The book that Ted gave to Tara was burned, making Tara unable to "feel" Shoshana.
Chicken first appears in the second-to-last episode of season two and is a mental presentation of Tara's 5 year old self. She wants to be a flower girl in Charmaine's wedding, but later, when the wedding is called off, annoys Charmaine by poking her and calling her 'Char-Char'. They get into a fight and Chicken accidentally pokes Charmaine in the eye. Charmaine says that Chicken hurt her, to which Chicken replies that she does everything she does so Charmaine does not get hurt. In the season three episode "Chicken 'n' Corn" Alice tells Dr. Hatterras that Chicken is missing. Tara and Dr. Hatterras go to a cornfield trying to look for Chicken. Tara hears Chicken screaming and runs to the screams. Tara later tells him that Chicken has been killed. Bryce kills Chicken by ripping up Chicken's stuffed animal.
Bryce Craine is Tara's half-brother (via Tara's father) who molested her as a child. Dr. Hattarras describes him as a 14 year-old psychopath. Bryce's unnamed presence is first manifested in the season three premiere, when he types "you will not win" over and over on Tara's computer when Tara tries to write a term paper. He next emerges during a therapy session with Dr. Hatterras, a recording of which the doctor is seen transcribing, saying "you will not win." Bryce emerges in the episode "The Electrifying & Magnanimous Return of Beaverlamp" when he smashes a beer bottle and gouges Tara's arm with it. He finally emerges and names himself in the episode "Chicken 'n' Corn", telling Dr. Hatterras that he has murdered Chicken, and that Tara is next. He later kills Shoshana and Gimme, and tries to kill Buck, T, and Alice, although they apparently survive. In the final episode Tara finally kills Bryce by drowning him.
The real Bryce Craine committed suicide, shooting himself on Christmas Day 2002 while committed in a mental hospital.
Neil Kowalski (Patton Oswalt) is Max's former co-worker at Four Winds Landscaping and friend who once had a fling with Charmaine. He becomes angry after finding out about Charmaine's engagement, since he still has feelings for her. When he finds out Charmaine's baby is his, he advises her to get an abortion but terminates his rights after Charmaine refuses. He planned on moving to Odessa, Texas saying since he can't have Charmaine there's no reason to stay. It is assumed he won't be leaving, however, after Max alerts him to the fact that Nick left Charmaine at the altar and the wedding did not happen. Charmaine, still in her wedding dress, agrees to go out for drinks with Neil after noting that she will not be consuming alcohol due to being pregnant with their daughter. In Season 3, Neil is left unemployed when Max sells his business and the new bosses make him cut Neil loose; Charmaine is angry at his lack of ambition and leaves him hurt when she says "This why we would never work." Charmaine gives birth to their daughter in the episode "Wheels" and Neil names her Cassandra "Wheels" Kowalski. Neil takes a job with his brother selling farm equipment.
Frank (Fred Ward) and Beverly Craine (Pamela Reed) are Tara and Charmaine's parents, who first visit in episode 6 and suggest that Marshall and Kate move in with them because of Tara's condition. Tara and Max reject their idea, subsequently asking them to leave. Beverly visited again in season 2 to console Charmaine about her situation and was rude to Tara but revealed Mimi's full name when Tara transitioned to Alice. In the second season finale, it's revealed that Frank has a son from a previous marriage. The son, named Bryce was mentally ill, and his mother forfeited custody of him to Frank. While living with the Craines, it is revealed that Bryce sexually abused Tara, and thus Bev pleaded with Frank to find a facility for Bryce or relinquish him to be adopted, however, Frank threatened to leave Bev if she cast Bryce out of the house. Until an acceptable solution could be found, Bev arranged for the girls to live in foster care temporarily. They were placed with Mimi Parmeter. Bryce's whereabouts were unknown at the time that Tara and Charmaine went to visit Mimi. Tara expressed anger at her parents for withholding the information for so long when these events could have helped Tara not develop DID in first place. Bev says how sorry she is, and they leave. Also in the season 2 finale it is revealed that Frank has Alzheimers disease, which explains what everyone previously considered as partial insanity. During a visit in season three Beverly tells Charmaine and Neil that Frank has been institutionalized because of his condition.
Jason (Andrew Lawrence) is Marshall's potential love interest and friend. Jason is the son of a local pastor. He is confused about his sexuality. In episode 9, when Marshall kisses him, Jason kisses him back. T lures Jason into the Gregson's backyard shed in episode 10, where she asks him if he likes boys or girls. Jason's response is the same to both: "maybe". Marshall discovers the pair kissing, prompting him to burn down the shed. In episode 11, Jason "breaks up" with Marshall because he thinks Marshall will never forgive him for making out with T. Kate later tries to make Marshall feel better by saying Jason is a "bi-curious church monkey" and claims that a relationship between Marshall and Jason will never work because Jason is only experimenting and will end up marrying a woman. Petula texts Marshall in episode 12 to say she saw Jason at Starbucks on a date with a female classmate.
Gene Stuart (Nathan Corddry) is Kate's boss at the restaurant who is in his early 20's, and with whom Kate has a quite meaningless one night stand. He becomes increasingly obsessed with her and wants more out of their relationship, despite her not feeling the same way. In episode 10, Kate files a sexual harassment claim against him, as he often makes inappropriate remarks and frequently finds excuses to touch the other teenage girls at the restaurant. In the Season 1 finale, he was fired, but continued his unwanted advances towards Kate, breaking into the Gregson home. He waits for Kate on the couch, and when she arrives he expresses his obsessive love for her. Fearing for her safety, Kate steals her mother's car, running into several small objects as she flees.
Petula (Hayley McFarland) is Marshall's best friend, who isn't afraid to speak her mind.
Tiffany (Jessica St. Clair) is a woman who worked with Charmaine and who hired Tara to paint a mural. The mural is later defaced by one of the alters (Gimme), possibly because it felt that she was being disrespectful toward Tara and her DID by asking Tara to "show" her one of the alters. In response to the vandalism, Tiffany takes out a restraining order against Tara and gets Charmaine fired.
Dr. Ocean (Valerie Mahaffey) is Tara's original therapist who ultimately directs Tara to a specialist.
Dr. Holden (Joel Gretsch) is Tara's therapist at a clinic specializing in DID.
Pammy (Joey Lauren Adams) is a barmaid with whom Buck has a sexual relationship. She is divorced and has two young daughters named Kammy and Kimmy. Tara (as Buck) is her first female-sexed partner. Pammy feels betrayed when Tara attempts to explain her multiple personalities to her, but later follows Tara to an ice rink where she professes her love for Buck over the public address system. In a later episode Max has a one-night stand with Pammy.
Courtney (Zosia Mamet) is Marshall's best friend. While Marshall is struggling with his sexual identity, the two date and have sex. Marshall feels very uncomfortable throughout the relationship, and feels burdened by her sexual desires, when in reality she is just as inexperienced as he. She also has plans for them as a couple and expects them to be married eventually. After seeing how controlling she is being, and with counsel from his friends, and accepting that he is gay in the first place, Marshall breaks up with Courtney, but he must say it multiple times before she finally gets it.
Ted Mayo (Michael Hitchcock) is one of Tara's gay neighbors, who befriends the family at the beginning of season 2. He gives Tara a book by his former therapist which later inspires her alter Shoshana Schoenbaum. He was Hany's partner until Hany binged on Adderall the night of Tara's art show. Hany left Ted the next day.
Hany (Sammy Sheik) is Ted Mayo's partner. He is a native of Egypt. After an Adderall binge, he leaves Ted.
Lionel Trane (Michael J. Willett) is an expressive and abrasive gay teen who starts the school's LGBT advocacy group. Marshall resents him at first because he is too over-the-top and seems to like drama and conflict, but over the course of season two, they become closer and closer friends, and eventually boyfriends. Marshall and Lionel break up but remain friends until Lionel is killed in an off-screen automobile accident.[7]
Lynda P. Frazier (Viola Davis) is an artist from whom Kate attempts to collect debts but instead befriends, having found particular fascination with Lynda's character "Princess Valhalla Hawkwind", which the pair make into an internet video series starring Kate. Tara also later befriends her, which inspires Tara to start devoting more personal time to art again. However, Lynda also encourages Tara's estrangement from her family, leading to an ugly argument between Tara and Max that causes Max to angrily cheat on her with Pammy. Kate ends up returning the PVH outfit to Lynda and makes it clear they will never see each other again.
Nick Hurley (Matthew Del Negro) is Charmaine's fiancé. He is initially upset when he finds out the baby isn't his but agrees to raise it as his own after Neil terminates his rights. Already having been offset at her infidelity, he leaves Charmaine at the altar after he decides she and her family are too abnormal.
Zach (Seth Gabel) is a rich 27 year old Kate meets on her website and ends up dating. He is constantly buying her expensive things, and has promised to buy her a condo. It was revealed that he is a Republican, which he "softens" by indicating that he voted for Ron Paul in the 2008 US Presidential Election. He further reveals that he does not believe in gay marriage. For this and speaking negatively about Tara, Kate ejected him from Charmaine's incomplete wedding to Nick.
Dr. Jack Hattarras[8] (Eddie Izzard) appears in season three as Tara's psychology professor. At first he is a DID skeptic, calling her a "delusional liar or an attention-seeking dramatist" in front of the class; however, after more observation he becomes fascinated with Tara as a subject, leading him to further explore the condition in hopes of writing a book.[9] In the episode "Bryce Will Play", Bryce tries to murder Jack by spiking his food with crab, to which Dr. Hattarras is deathly allergic. Jack's boss forces Dr. Hattarras to withdraw from Tara's life.
Noah Kane[10] (Aaron Christian Howles) is a classmate of Marshall and Lionel's. A third openly gay student,[11] he finds himself literally in the middle of their relationship when Lionel initiates a threesome with him and Marshall. When Lionel later finds the two of them alone together, he breaks up with Marshall and Marshall and Noah become boyfriends. The couple collaborate on a film together and win a place in a national film festival.
Evan (Keir O'Donnell) is Kate's love interest in season three. They meet on a commuter plane trip on which Kate is working as a flight attendant. He is hesitant about dating her because he recently ended a bad marriage. His eight year-old son from that marriage, Monty, takes an instant dislike to Kate.
Sandi Gregson (Frances Conroy), Max's mother, appears in season three. She is described as being a recluse with a compulsive hoarding problem.[9]
Don Hubbard, who was only seen once in the show when Buck had taken over, lived next door to the Gregsons before shooting himself at the start of season 2. After his death, Max bought the house and renovated it. Tara feels very weird about Hubbard's story. Most of her relapses or memories take place in his house. Once she wakes up on his grave. In an open house, Alice came out and treated the event as Hubbard's funeral. When Lynda visits the Gregsons' house, she discovers a portrait of Hubbard that Tara (or one of the alters) painted, of which she has no memory. Shoshana's office is located in Hubbard's house. Just before her apparent death, Alice confesses that she loved Don.
Mimi (Clarinda Ross) served as Tara and Charmaine's foster mother when they were temporarily removed from the Craine home following Bryce's abuse of Tara.