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Jeanette
Jeanette Turner
- Played by: Chiara AureliaJeanette: Oh, I make trouble. I just don’t usually get caught. It's kinda cool almost getting in trouble but then not.
- Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Not at first, but unlike Kate who manages to remain relatively kind and friendly despite a huge amount of trauma,
- Alpha Bitch: Once Jeanette gets her braces and glasses removed and straightens her hair, she becomes the most popular girl at school. She begins dating Jamie and her life can not be any better - until she gets accused of allowing the previous Queen Bee to be imprisoned by a kidnapping pedophile.
- Beautiful All Along: In 1994, after straightening her hair and removing her glasses and braces, she goes from nerd to popular queen bee.
- Beauty Is Bad: Jeanette's turn from a sweet, geeky outcast to a self-centred vapid mean girl and even worse is marked by her makeover.
- Betty and Veronica Switch: Initially she's set up to be the Betty to Kate's Veronica in their competing affections for Jamie - she's and awkward, unpopular girl with a huge crush on him, but he's bus dating the wealthy and beautiful Kate. Part way through things flip in Jeanette's favour when Kate stops loving Jamie due to his drunkenness at her birthday and he replaces her with Jeanette (who he seems to prefer anyway). But then Jeanette starts becoming much more of a Veronica archetype as she becomes pretty and popular, and reaches the trope's dark conclusion when it's discovered that she willingly left Kate in Martin's basement to receive a tragic fate, and she smiled at the thought.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She never saw Kate in the house. But she certainly heard her begging to be let out from the basement - and willingly left her there. Smiling..
- Boyish Short Hair: In 1995, her hair is messily cut short, signifying her status as a social outcast.
- Broken Bird: Between 1994 and 1995, after having most of the world turn against her.
- Consummate Liar: Jeanette can think really fast on her feet to come up with a lie, and over time she tells more and more.
- Curly Hair Is Ugly: Again, when Jeanette becomes cool, her wavy hair becomes dead straight.
- Endearingly Dorky: When Kate and Jeanette first meet in 1993, Kate finds Jeanette's dorky fashion sense and nervous mannerisms cute. Jamie would later feel the same way about Jeanette, in a more flirtatious light.
- The Fake Cutie: Jeanette has a very nerdy, sweet disposition and seems like the epitome of a lovable dork but it's regularly hinted that her persona hides a much darker side before the ending confirms it.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: In 1993, the geeky Jeanette wore glasses. Becoming cool in that summer has her swapping her glasses for contact lenses and she doesn't wear them again.
- Hated by All: Exaggerated. After Kate publicly blames her of failing to help her, Jeanette becomes the most hated person in the country. The only people who never hated her were her father, brother, and Vincent.
- I Just Want to Be You: Towards Kate, the popular girl. She wants Kate's life to the point of stealing Kate's friends and boyfriend after Kate's disappearance.
- Karma Houdini: In the finale, Kate publicly proclaims Jeanette's innocence, saving her reputation. However, Jeanette's true colors come into view only in the last flashback shown at the end: she actually heard Kate crying for help in Martin's basement in 1994 and left her there with no remorse. Nobody has ever found out what she actually did.
- Kubrick Stare: Dressed in almost the exact same clothes Kate wore in the pilot, Jeanette once again broke into Martin's house sometime in 1994 and heard pleas coming from the basement ... after hearing Kate reveal her identity, she gives an amazing one when she decides to leave Kate in the basement.
- Meaningful Name: Jeanette Turner is a manipulative liar.
- Missing Mom: Her mother Cindy walked out on the family in 1994 as she couldn't take the secrets Jeanette was keeping from her as well as having no one to confide in.
- Psychotic Smirk: The Slasher Smile that Jeanette wears when she leaves Kate in the basement is positively chilling.
- The Sociopath: After Kate’s accusation is spread around, several people accuse Jeanette of being a sociopath or "psycho." The ending reveals that this might be correct, since she heard Kate crying for help in Martin’s basement and, with an eerily calm smile, decided to leave her there. Coupled with this reveal, her behavior throughout the show has signs of this: her constant lying, manipulation, thrill-seeking, attention-craving, and at times stilted emotional reactions as well as having seemingly no remorse for anything she's done or empathy for Kate's suffering.
- Start of Darkness: The road to her becoming a person who is willing to abandon someone to be subject to sexual abuse in a basement so she can maintain high school popularity and manipulating everyone around her-including said victim-into believing she is innocent of doing so arguably begins with the rush she feels breaking into Martin Harris' house for the first time and lying her way out of it back in 1993.
- Stepford Smiler: Behind her cheerful personality, she's deeply unstable and possibly a sociopath, as seen in her final scene.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In 1993, she was an awkward, sweet teenage girl whose biggest aspiration was hanging out with Kate Wallis. By 1995, she's become jaded and bitter.
- Villain Protagonist: One of the two main characters, and a villain from Kate's point of view. The ending reveals Jeanette to be Evil All Along, so Kate was right.
- Villain with Good Publicity: As of the finale, Kate publicly declares Jeanette's innocence, and Jeanette is crowned "the most wronged woman in America" on the Marsha Bailey show. No one yet has found out that she did hear Kate cry for help in 1994, and left her there.
- What You Are in the Dark: The ending reveals that Jeanette did indeed know that Kate was being held hostage and intentionally left her in the basement so Jeanette could continue to steal Kate's life.
- Wild Card: Jeanette seems to be capable of anything. What she actually did and didn't do is the substance of the show. Until the ending reveals that she is bad.
Kate
Kate Wallis
- Played by: Olivia HoltKate: I feel like I just disappeared and she took my place— I feel replaceable and it’s not a good feeling.
- Ambiguously Bi: Kate's sexuality is not very clear. She dated Jamie and was madly in love with Martin, until she realized he was a pedophile. However, her friendship with Mallory later results in a passionate romantic relationship.
- Betty and Veronica: Initially she's set up to be the Veronica to Jeanette's Betty in their competing affections for Jamie - she's beautiful, popular, and already dating him while Jeanette's the awkward, unpopular girl with a huge crush. Partway through things flip in Jeanette's favour when Kate stops loving Jamie due to his drunkenness at her birthday and he replaces her with Jeanette (who he seems to prefer anyway).
- Bunker Woman: She was locked in a basement by Martin.
- Broken Bird: Her kidnapping and confinement at the hands of Martin Harris left her with a whole lot of psychological issues, which have been exacerbated by her mother pushing her into the spotlight as part of a feud with the Turners.
- Class Princess: Kate is the most popular girl in her school, comes from a wealthy and well-known family, and is a genuinely nice person. She's never shown to mock or look down on those with a lower social standing than her, and while she is understandably jaded and bitter after being groomed and kidnapped, she's still ultimately well-intended. The only person consistently subject to vitriol from Kate is Jeanette, whom Kate is convinced deliberately left her in captivity in order to steal her life. Even then, after she realizes that Jeanette never saw her and is, as far as Kate knows, innocent, she can't shrug off the very creepy way Jeanette imitates Kate’s outfit and demeanor on the Marsha Show.
- Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: She establishes one with Jeanette early on, being one of the only popular kids who seems to like her. Later she develops one with Mallory as well.
- Damsel in Distress: The main storyline is about her being locked in the basement by Martin Harris for months.
- Even the Girls Want Her: Jeanette's obsession with her in 1993, and her Pseudo-Romantic Friendship with Mallory in 1995 show this.
- Fallen Princess: In 1994, she has lost everything in her life, her popularity, her friends and even her boyfriend as well, and she was easily replaced by Jeanette.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Especially in 1993, where her hair is golden blonde and she's genuinely kindhearted and innocent, before her Trauma Conga Line.
- Morality Pet: Becomes this to Mallory. She's pretty much the only one of Mallory's friends she's nice to.
- Nice Girl: Even after suffering basically destroys the bubbly personality she shows at the start of the series, Kate is by far the purest, most decent person in an incredibly dysfunctional, troubled cast.
- Rape and Switch: A possible interpretation of Kate's sexuality. Kate dates Jamie and falls obsessively in love with Martin after being groomed by him. After being groomed and abused by Martin, she falls in love with Mallory.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: While she never learns this (that we know of), her original accusation that Jeanette knew she was in Martin's home, but left her there to steal her life was true-she just A) was wrong about when Jeanette found out and B} did not actually see Jeanette when Jeanette heard her, as by then she was trapped in the basement.
- Spoiled Sweet: Despite her upper-class background and popularity at school, she had a friendly, approachable demeanor before she was kidnapped.
- Token Good Teammate: Of the popular group. Unlike her shallow friends and her abusive boyfriend, she's a genuinely nice person.
- Took a Level in Cynic: Understandably, due to her Trauma Conga Line, she becomes more cynical and bitter than the perfect girl she was in the beginning.
- Trauma Conga Line: Throughout the course of the series, we see Kate's birth father die when she is a child, get raised by an emotionally manipulative mother (who's later discovered to be having an affair), gets groomed by her new neighbor and future assistant principal as he takes advantage of this turmoil, gets slapped by her mother after finally revealing the affair to her dad, gets kidnapped, held in a basement for six months, and only escapes after shooting her captor who'd groomed her to love him, thus only escalating her feelings of guilt. Not to mention being constantly gaslit and/or lied to by almost everyone in her life (her mother, her ex-boyfriend, her sister, Mallory, Jeanette, etc.)Kate: Why am I the only one?Joy: ...The only one of what, baby?Kate: The only one who suffers any consequences around this town.
- Unreliable Expositor: She is the only surviving witness to whatever happened between her and Martin in that basement, and has not been completely honest about everything that happened. For one thing, she went to Martin's house willingly - although very much as a result of grooming by the predator.
Jamie
Jamie Henson
- Played by: Froy GutierrezJamie: Don't you think it’s possible that you didn't see what you think you saw?
- The Alcoholic: He has a secret drinking problem. In 1994, he got in a drunk-driving accident that wrecked his buddy Ben's shoulder, ending his hopes of a football career.
- The Atoner: By 1995, he's started to realize how much his actions have hurt other people. While he doesn't seek forgiveness, he tries to make amends as well as he can: He confesses to Kate that he did, in fact, kiss Jeanette and gaslit Kate; and helps mend Vince and Ben's relationship, which was indirectly hurt by him drunkenly causing a car accident involving Ben.
- Big Man on Campus: The cool kid and Chick Magnet of the school, who is dating the most popular girl.
- Domestic Abuse: His method of breaking up with Jeanette is to punch her full in the face, and when questioned by Kate after she catches him kissing Jeanette, he tries to claim that she imagined the kiss because of her trauma. "Happy Birthday Kate Wallis" reveals that he was never a particularly good boyfriend to begin with; he was constantly pushing her for a commitment to him, and he got drunk at her birthday party and made an ass of himself.
- Gaslighting: When questioned by Kate after she catches him kissing Jeanette, he tries to claim that she imagined the kiss because of her trauma.
- Would Hit a Girl: Punches Jeanette in the face.
Mallory
Mallory Higgins
- Played by: Harley Quinn SmithMallory:Do you guys ever have the urge to do something illegal? I mean, it doesn't happen often, but sometimes I just wanna do something like... really bad, you know?
Jeanette Turner's former best friend, and now Kate Wallis' girlfriend.
- Ambiguously Bi: Mallory later becomes the girlfriend of Kate Wallis. However, in 1993 Mallory said that Jeanette's father was her "sexual awakening" and it's unclear whether she was joking, genuine, or just trying to obscure her true sexuality.
- Deadpan Snarker: She's easily the biggest source of snark in the series, especially around Kate.
- Expy: Mallory dresses alternatively, is part of a Two Girls and a Guy trio, holds a hatred for the Queen Bee of their school, and has a falling out with her female friend when the latter becomes an Alpha Bitch and replaces the Queen Bee. The similarities between her and Janis Ian are given a nod by the fact that Mallory's mother's name is Janis.
- Forbidden Friendship: Kate and Mallory's new friendship doesn't like the two hanging out which pushes them closer together.
- Irrational Hatred: Mallory absolutely despised Kate in 1993, who prior to her kidnapping was shown to be a genuinely nice person. After Jeanette becomes more like Kate, Mallory hates her too. After talking with Kate in 1994, Mallory seems to realize this herself — admitting that she was jealous of Kate’s seemingly perfect life as well as Jeanette's eagerness to abandon Mallory for Kate's social circle — and the two of them become best friends. And then girlfriends.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mallory is an overbearing, pushy troublemaker whose attitude and terrible habits end up pushing Vincent away and bringing out the absolute worst in the already unstable Jeanette. She also matures into a genuine, loyal person who ends up being the exact person Kate needs, and the realization of her own unknowing responsibility in Kate's continued captivity very obviously destroys her.
- Junkie Parent: Her mom Janis is a stoner who's apparently so zonked out all the time that she doesn't really bother to keep tabs on Mallory.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Immediately reacts with abject horror when she realizes she saw Kate in her captor's house and seems to make an extremely determined effort to make Kate's life better from that point on.
- Odd Friendship: She and Kate are as different as night and day at first but become extremely close after Kate's rescue.
- Only Friend: To Kate in 1995. She becomes the only person who understands her.
- Toxic Friend Influence: She keeps pushing her friends into risky and dangerous behavior. Ironically, those behaviors that were toxic with Jeanette and Vincent end up being good for Kate; her badgering helps motivate Kate out of her depression and into engaging in activities again, and the liberal amounts of pot she plies Kate with reduce her anxiety and restore her appetite.
Vincent
Vincent Fuller
- Played by: Allius Barnes
Jeanette's other best friend, and one of the few who's still helping her in 1995.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: He remains loyal to Jeanette because she kept his relationship with Ben a secret. For her part, she tried to keep him away from her in 1994 so that he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire after all the scrutiny she was under.
- Black and Nerdy: He's black, and is an intellectual, unpopular kid with glasses.
- Gay Best Friend: To Jeanette and Mallory. Though he's not stereotypical or Camp Gay, he adds diversity as a Twofer Token Minority who gives advice to the main character.
- Meet Cute: He met his boyfriend Ben while they were commiserating about the respective deaths of their mothers.
- Missing Mom: His mother died in a car accident in 1990, three years before the beginning of the series.
- Nice Guy: One of the few characters who has the fewest morally ambiguous moments and all of them have more sympathetic motivations than the rest of the cast.
- One of the Girls: Hangs out with Jeanette and Mallory, and has no male friends.
- Only Friend: Even when Jeanette is Hated by All, he remains friends with her.
- Only Sane Man: Out of the entire main cast, he's by far the most level-headed and rational person.
- Token Black Friend: Although the setting is rural Texas, Vincent is the only black character and Jeanette's Only Friend.
- Token Good Teammate: He's a good person while his two best friends are a bossy Jerkass who gets her friends in trouble, and a sociopathic Bitch in Sheep's Clothing. Out of all the main characters he has the most redeeming qualities.
- Twofer Token Minority: He is both gay and black in 1990's Texas.
Martin
Martin Harris
- Played by: Blake Lee
Skylin High's new Assistant Principal in 1993, and also a pedophile who groomed and kidnapped Kate Wallis. Though he was killed in 1994, the effects of his vile behavior are still affecting Kate.
- Bait-and-Switch: In 1994, what he says to Kate originally makes her think he's finally going to murder her when he actually intends to kill himself.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He seems to be a perfectly nice, normal guy when he's really a kidnapper and rapist.
- Bungled Suicide: Attempts to shoot himself with Annabelle, the same gun his father used to kill himself with, when he realizes eventually the police will find out what he did. However, he ends up not being able to bring himself to pull the trigger-which forces Kate to finish him off.
- Faux Affably Evil: Acts as though he is a charming and personable man, even to his victim at first. It's all done to cover for him being a child groomer and pedophile who is willing to lock his victims in his basement rather than let them leave his house.
- Hot Teacher: Attractive and charming enough to make Kate fall in love with him.
- Karmic Death: He gets shot to death by Kate in 1994.
- Manipulative Bastard: He takes advantage of Kate's issues with her mother to convince her that he is the only person she can trust. He also uses Joy valuing her reputation against her to keep her from contacting the police when Kate runs away from home.
- Teacher/Student Romance: He has a toxic relationship with Kate, which ends in tragedy.
- They Look Just Like Everyone Else!: Absolutely no one expects the meek, mild-mannered Assistant Principal to really be a depraved kidnapper and rapist.
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: On the outside, he seems like a charming, affable young man and Assistant Principal. In reality, he's a creepy, manipulative pedophile.
Joy
Joy Wallis
- Played by: Andrea Anders
Kate's pushy mom.
- Affectionate Nickname: She refers to her daughter as Kitty Kat
- Golddigger: She's married to an NFL star and often frames the potential dissolution of her marriage as a loss of income rather than a loss of love
- Hypocrite: Joy tears into Kate for accusing her husband of having an affair when it was actually a misunderstanding, calling adultery a massive sin. She herself is having an affair with the gardener at this time.
- Jerkass: This woman is about the furthest thing from her name as a person could ever be. She's snide, judgmental, unashamedly classist, and an Abusive Parent toward her daughter in just about every way she can muster, including one instance of physical violence.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: There are some moments where Joy might seem to develop sympathy or empathy for Kate, but it's revealed time and time again that she's only thinking about herself.
- Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up: She was best friends with Cindy as a kid because Cindy was the most popular girl in their school. She also resents that Cindy got the guy and can't let the grudge go.
- Socialite: Is more concerned with image than anything else.
Rod
Rod Wallis
Joy's husband, a former NFL player, stepfather to Kate and father of Ashley.—-- Big Man on Campus: Not on campus as he's not a high schooler, but a lot of elements of this trope-very popular, both athletic and intellectual, popular with women-are present with Rod.
- Good Stepparent: He struggles with knowing when to get involved between Joy and Kate at first, but then he tells Kate that he loves her and will stand up for and protect her after she comes back post-kidnapping.
- Grew a Spine: He gradually stands up to Joy when Kate's welfare is concerned throughout the 1990s.
- Henpecked Husband: Initially seems to be cowed by his wife. Later on, though, he grows more of a spine.
- Hidden Depths: Besides being a former pro football legend, Rod also is very interested in space exploration and spends the time Jamie is waiting for Kate to finish getting ready in 1993 excitedly explaining to him details of a recent NASA space launch.
- Mistaken for Cheating: By Kate back in 1993. He's actually planning a romantic excursion to surprise his wife, but due to Kate overhearing half a conversation she assumes the wrong thing.
- Parents as People: Stepparent variation. He is concerned about crossing boundaries with regards to Kate, who isn't his biological daughter and thus allows Joy to take the lead in parenting her-which he greatly regrets by the time Kate goes missing. Afterwards, he actively works to try to support his stepdaughter and generally does a better job of doing so than his wife.
Greg
Greg Turner
- Played by Michael Landers
Jeanette’s father.
- Affectionate Nickname: He sometimes calls Jeanette Doodlebug.
- Happily Married: With Cindy, until Kate accused Jeanette of seeing her while she was held captive and not doing anything about it. The stress and ensuing fallout caused Cindy and Greg to divorce. That being said, Greg seems to be on the path to this again with his girlfriend Angela in 1995.
- Papa Wolf: Deconstructed. He stands by Jeanette no matter what, but by 1995 it takes a serious and heavy toll on their relationship.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: By 1995, Greg has a drinking problem and a lot colder to his daughter. It's more understandable given the circumstances, but stands out compared to his 1993 portrayal as an endearingly outgoing parent.
- What Does She See in Him?: In-universe, it's implied that Greg is viewed to be punching out of his league with the very popular Cindy.
Cindy
Cindy Turner
- Played by Sarah Drew
Jeanette’s mother
- Chekhovs Mia: It's revealed that Cindy left Greg and Jeanette between 1994 and 1995, though why is not answered for a long time. It's ultimately revealed that Cindy lost faith in Jeanette's innocence and believed that Greg would cover up Jeanette's role in it.
- Commuting on a Bus: After 1994, Cindy leaves town but comes back occasionally.
- Mama Bear: Both Greg and Cindy are protective. When Jamie punches Jeanette, Greg and Derek deal with it, but choose not to tell Cindy because she would apparently be much more angry than them and would react worse than Derek did.
- Happily Married: With Greg, until Kate accused Jeanette of seeing her while she was held captive and not doing anything about it. The stress caused Cindy and Greg to divorce.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Cindy seemed preoccupied with pushing Jeanette to change her appearance to be more conventionally "attractive." When Jeanette finally changes all the things about her that Cindy wanted, Jeanette becomes a much colder and more unpleasant person, and left Kate in the basement rather than risk her newfound popularity.
- Pom-Pom Girl: Was apparently one in her youth. When Jeanette was having friendship troubles and lamenting about being unpopular, Cindy tells her that she was the captain of the cheerleading Squad in her High School years and had multiple boys requesting her parents to allow her to date them.
- What Does She See in Him?: In-universe, it's implied that Greg is viewed to be punching out of his league with the very popular Cindy.
Derek
Derek Turner
- Played by Barrett Carnahan
Jeanette’s brother
- Big Brother Instinct: He is very protective of his younger sister and would do anything to try and make her happy. He feels guilty when he misses her fifteenth birthday to go to a concert with friends and goes into a violent rage when he finds out Jamie punched Jeanette. Greg is calm about the situation and wishes to deal with it quietly, but Derek is the opposite. He also prints out copies of online messages between Kate and her older stepsister Ashley who is attempting to bond with Kate anonymously pretending to have lived through the same things as her, even though he and Ashley are in a serious and happy relationship, showing he definitely puts family over first.
- Lovable Jock: Was a Football player in High School and plays for his college team, and he’s quite a good guy as well. He's only ever really violent or bad when his sister is being targeted.
- Nice Guy: Generally a pleasant person, whose worst moments all stem from being protective of his family.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: His obtaining of Ashley and Kate's chatlogs for Jeanette helps undercut Kate's earlier testimony, which in turn ultimately paves the way for her to publicly forgive Jeanette, which allows Jeanette to avoid any consequences for hearing Kate in Martin's basement and leaving her there in 1994.
Ashley
Ashley Wallis
- Played by Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut
Kate's stepsister.
- All for Nothing: After initially brushing Kate off, Ashley uses online messaging to anonymously pretend to have been a victim of kidnapping and grooming, hoping to get closer to Kate and connect with her that way. Ultimately she never needed to because she's able to become proper friends with Kate and Mallory in 1995 - and then the chats are exposed in court and Ashley's lies are revealed, ruining any chance she had to bond with her step-sister in either fashion.
- Aloof Older Brother: Ashley was not close to Kate and tried to avoid her as much as possible. She later feels guilty about this and attempts to bond with Kate after she is found, to no avail.
- Catfishing: Ashley catfishes Kate in a chat for sexual abuse survivors, to find out the truth about what happened with her and Martin, though she is only doing this to help Kate and give her someone to talk to about her experiences.
- Cool Big Sis: She was definitely not one in 1993, because she resented Kate and her mother due to them not realizing the privileges they had as wealthy white women compared to Ashley and her father, who are both Black. After Kate is found after her kidnapping, Ashley feels bad for not being nice to Kate when she attempted to bond with her and she attempts to make amends. Unfortunately, when her initial plans fail she ends up hatching her anonymous messaging scheme detailed above.
- Expy: Ashley says to Derek that she feels like she is a bit like Berenice IV, who was Cleopatra VII’s older sister. Berenice is often forgotten about in history compared to Cleopatra due to Cleopatra having a longer reign as Pharaoh and that Berenice was overthrown by her father and beheaded for usurping his throne while he was in exile. The relationship between Berenice and Cleopatra symbolizes the relationship between Ashley and Kate a bit.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: She allows Jeanette to destroy Kate in court by Catfishing Kate, which she was only doing to help and get them closer. However, when Kate admits that she lied about Martin and Ashley unknowingly hooks up with Jeanette's brother, Ashley inadvertently destroys Kate's credibility and their relationship (allowing Jeanette to get off for what she actually did).
