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Main Characters
Jen
Jennifer "Jen" Harding
Played By: Christina Applegate
"When I'm talking to her, I'm imagining stabbing her in the fucking throat."
A real estate agent and mother whose husband recently died in an unsolved hit-and-run.
- AM/FM Characterization: Especially when she's feeling frustrated, angry, or particularly emotional, Jen listens to heavy metal as her self-described "meditation technique," which reflects her cantankerous and short-tempered nature.Jen: I meditate. In my own way.
(cut to Jen and Judy in Jen's car, with "Paralyzed" by Caliban playing from the car radio)
Jen: (singing along) You fucking prick, drop dead, you make me sick— - Anti-Hero: Jen is a disturbed woman, whose anger issues deeply affect everyone in her life in a negative way, and is the protagonist of the story as she deals with grief over her husband's death. She's most likely the Pragmatic Hero subtype, especially since she has resorted to murder in the end of season 1.
- Brooklyn Rage: Jen used to live in New York, and while she's since shed the accent, she still definitely has the attitude.Jen: I'm tough. I'm from Brooklyn.
- Cassandra Truth: Detective Perez doesn't believe her when she confesses to killing Steve.
- Consistent Clothing Style: She usually wears blazers or pantsuits, especially at work.
- Crusading Widow: In season 1, she's hellbent on finding out who killed her husband. This is deconstructed because a lot of the reason she's so fixated on finding her husband's killer is she heavily blames herself for her husband's death due to the fight she had with him driving him to go for a run on the road where he ultimately got fatally hit by a car, and she wants to be able to divert the self-blame onto someone else to relieve her own self-hatred.
- Deadpan Snarker: Jen is a very sarcastic person, and many of her humorous lines come from her snarking about or at someone.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": She dislikes being called by her full first name. The only person who regularly calls her "Jennifer" is Lorna, which only adds to why Jen can't stand her.
- Fatal Flaw: Jen's anger issues are what cause her the most grief in her personal and professional life. Even the people close to Jen, like her family and friends, are driven away by her rage, and it even causes Christopher to cut professional ties with her after one blow-up too many.
- Freudian Excuse: In the season 2 finale, Jen realizes that her rage is partly due to never wholly processing her mother's death and the multiple times she was mad during that sickness.
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Jen is short-tempered and cynical (Grumpy) and Judy is optimistic and sweet (Gleeful).
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Jen and Judy are an inversion of the trope's usual portrayal, with blonde Jen being the hot-tempered and cynical one and brunette Judy being the cheerful and sensitive one.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She gets riled-up easily. As Chris points out, this has been a trait of hers since even before her husband's death and puts a strain on her relationship with everyone, be it co-workers or family, and this only worsens with the stress of the grief. Chris eventually breaks their work relationship once she becomes too much for him to handle, and remembers times where this hampered their work.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Jen and Judy quickly develop into this. Jen lets Judy move in to her house even after knowing her for not a particularly long time (which Charlie calls her out on), and Judy ends up helping raise Jen's kids. Even learning that Judy is the one who killed Ted only temporarily dampens their friendship. Jen, who's generally incredibly emotionally closed off, tells Judy multiple times that she loves her. And by the end of season 2, she asks Judy to take care of her kids in a letter she leaves for her after leaving to turn herself in for killing Steve.Jen: (in a letter to Judy) I love you more than I love wine.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Her eyes have a slight greenish tint to its general blue color, but they still highlight her more aloof and generally unfriendly demeanor.
- The Insomniac: She's not been able to sleep ever since her husband died, and she admits that even before that, she was never able to sleep well anyway. One of the first ways she bonds with Judy is when Judy stays up to talk to her over the phone, and after their conversation, Jen sleeps better than she has in a long time.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's ill-tempered, sarcastic, crude... and not that bad, once you get to know her. She quickly grows to care deeply about Judy, and loves her children dearly.
- Jerkass Has a Point: At her most angered in season 2, she rudely calls Judy out on the fact that she gets unhealthy attached to anyone willing to give her the time of day, no matter how abusive or toxic they are to her, which explains why she dedicated so much time to her mother and Steve. Eventually, Judy herself has to agree with it.
- Lady Drunk: She's often seen drinking something alcoholic, usually wine.
- Missing Mom: Her mother got cancer and died when Jen was only nineteen. Jen mentions that her mom's death really screwed her up, which is the biggest reason why in season 2 she's absolutely terrified about possibly being imprisoned for the murder of Steve.Jen: I do know my kids are gonna lose their mom. And I know how it fucking destroyed me when I lost mine.
- Parents as People: She sincerely loves her kids and would do anything for them, but her extreme anger issues and the ongoing stress of Ted's death and later Steve's make her unstable and unreliable, and her children are both noticeably affected by this.
- Parting-Words Regret: Her last interaction with Ted was an awful, awful fight. Even after finding out that Ted was really kind of a slimebag, she still deeply regrets this.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Jen is the hot-headed Red Oni to Judy's optimistic and empathetic Blue Oni.
- Sexless Marriage: Hers and Ted's was this by the end. According to Jen, he hadn't touched her since she got double mastectomy, even though she only got it to prevent breast cancer, which killed her mother. She's understandably very hurt by this, and said he made her feel "disgusting."
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Jen is easily the most foul-mouthed person on the show, constantly swearing regardless if she's angry or not.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: In season 1, episode 9, after Judy confesses that she killed Ted, she immediately disowns her and throws Judy out of her house, not caring about knowing the whole story. She gets better by the end though, as killing Steve causes her to forgive Judy and come to terms with her own hypocrisy.
Judy
Judy Hale
Played By: Linda Cardellini
"You know I'm vehemently anti-conflict."
An artist with a dark secret that Jen meets at a grief support group.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Her relationship with Steve definitely has shades of this. Even after forming a relationship with Nick, she finds herself drawn back to her ex-fiancee. Subverted in Season 2 when she enters into a happy relationship with the sweet Michelle and is quite content until being forced to break up with her.
- All-Loving Hero: Judy easily loves people, no matter what they might have done. This is deconstructed though as her tendencies to see the good in everyone is also what leads her to give second chances to people she really shouldn't give second chances to.Jen: (about Judy) She sees the good in people. Even when it isn't there.
- Apologizes a Lot: Judy apologizes for everything, mostly due to her Extreme Doormat nature. Jen points this out in season 2:Judy: I'm sorry.
Jen: Can you please just stop saying sorry? You say sorry so much, it doesn't mean anything anymore. It's just like this fucking sound that comes out of your mouth.
Judy: Okay, sorry. - The Atoner: Deconstructed. Judy tries to sincerely make up for the fact that she accidentally killed Jen's husband by befriending her, but her naïve and frivolous nature ends up compounding the already tragic and complicated situation, causing even more grief and another death.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Judy can sometimes be this due to her penchant to be philosophical and her heavy belief in spiritual things.
- Consistent Clothing Style: She usually wears floral patterned dresses.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Her mother was a drug addict who was often absent from her childhood. It was eventually revealed that Judy testified against her mother, and this resulted in her initial incarceration.
- Judy, as a child, was also homeless for at most a year and a half. She had to live in her car with her mother.
- Between multiple miscarriages, her fiancee leaving her, and accidentally killing a man in a hit-and-run, Judy was this even before the events of the show. It only gets worse from there.
- Death by Irony: Purposely evoked when she tries to commit suicide by being hit by a car, wracked with guilt over accidentally killing Ted this way. Fortunately, she doesn't succeed.
- Didn't Think This Through: Judy means well, but she constantly makes impulsive decisions due to her general poor judgement that lead to serious ramifications for herself and everyone around her.
- Driven to Suicide: In the first season finale, she tries to kill herself by walking into traffic. She fails.
- Doom Magnet: Steve claims that wherever Judy goes, chaos follows. He's right.
- Easily Forgiven: Judy is very quick to forgive other people, even when she really shouldn't. It's brought to light as a major character flaw in Season 2.
- Extreme Doormat: Judy is very much a people-pleaser and often allows others to walk all over her.
- Fatal Flaw: Her extremely optimistic and accommodating nature, which leads her into a lot of bad situations when she allows herself to be taken advantage of by others.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: She calls her mom out on this when they talk in the season 2 finale. Her mom keeps trying to get Judy to do things for her, but Judy eventually realizes she's just being used, and when she calls her out, her mom's response is to say that Judy was a needy baby and she was a young mom, which is why she became an addict. Judy's response is just disbelief on her.Judy: A baby can't make you an addict.
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: Judy is optimistic and sweet (Gleeful) and Jen is short-tempered and cynical (Grumpy).
- Granola Girl: She believes in a lot of what Jen terms as "woo-woo" things, and surrounds herself with crystals. She's very spiritual and is also vegetarian.
- Hair-Contrast Duo: Jen and Judy are an inversion of the trope's usual portrayal, with blonde Jen being the hot-tempered and cynical one and brunette Judy being the cheerful and sensitive one.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Granted, Judy is bisexual, but this is still very much the dynamic she grows to have with Jen throughout the series. She moves in with Jen and helps to parent her sons, with Henry and Charlie both regarding her as a "bonus mom". Both Jen and Judy have compared their relationship with their relationships with Ted and Steve respectively, with Jen saying in "I Can Handle It" that she was terrified when she hadn't heard back from Judy because "the last time someone that I loved didn't call me back, he was dead," and in "Between You And Me," after Judy says that, although Steve wasn't perfect, he was still her person:Judy: Will you be my person?
Jen: Yes. I'll be your person. - Magnetic Hero: Despite the fact that, like Steve says, "wherever Judy goes, chaos follows," she's still very endearing and enamors many people to her. Detective Perez even lampshades this:Perez: God, what the hell is it about that woman?
Jen: What?
Perez: It's like she puts a spell on every goddamn person she meets. She told you she ran over your husband, and yet you somehow still seem to think that she's some goddamn peach. Please explain to me how that is possible, because from where I'm sitting, none of it makes sense.
Jen: Okay, I know how it sounds, all right? I wanted to hate Judy. I really did. But it's impossible. It's like hating a baby or something. You just can't. - Meaningful Name: Her last name, Hale — as in, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions", a phrase which sums up Judy's character quite well.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Ted's death really eats at her.
- New-Age Retro Hippie: She's a very spiritual All-Loving Hero who owns a lot of crystals and occasionally smokes pot.
- Nice Girl: Deconstructed. Judy is a friendly, well-meaning person who tries to look on the bright side of things and makes a genuine effort to get along with everyone. That said, poor judgement and a tendency to throw herself into self-destructive behavior often leads to negative consequences not just for herself but for everyone around her.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Judy is the optimistic and empathetic Blue Oni to Jen's hot-headed Red Oni.
- Self-Harm: She's sometimes prone to repeatedly hitting and punching herself as a means of "coping" with her intense self-hatred.
- Sensitive Artist: Judy is an artist who sells paintings in her ex-fiancee's art gallery. She's also very sensitive emotionally-driven, and emotionally volatile, especially in comparison to the ill-tempered, sarcastic, crude, but ultimately well-meaning Jen. Judy is sometimes too nice for her own good, doing things like constantly giving second chances to her aforementioned jerkish ex-fiancee, and she has a hard time establishing boundaries. She can also swing wildly in her moods, from ecstatic joy to deep depression.
- Tragic Dream: What she really wants, more than anything, is to be a mother... and, as she finds out late in Season 1, she can never bear children. Given her financial instability and questionable mental health, adoption likely isn't a viable option for her, either.
- Womanchild: Downplayed. Judy is gullible and naive, and is prone to impulsive and poorly thought-out decisions.
Jen's Family
Ted
Ted Harding
Jen's deceased husband.
- Age-Gap Romance: It's revealed in season 1 episode 3 that he had a year-long affair with 19-year-old Bambi.
- The Ghost: His appearance is never shown, even in flashbacks he is usually out of the scene, or impossible to be seen.
- Parents as People: He was far from a perfect husband and was in fact pretty terrible in a lot of ways, but he was apparently an affectionate father, and his sons really miss him.
- Plot-Triggering Death: The hit and run that killed him sets off the plot: both Jen's grief and Judy's guilt stem from it.
- Sexless Marriage: He and Jen stopped having sex after she got a preventative mastectomy.
Charlie
Charlie Harding
Played By: Sam Mc Carthy
Ted and Jen's oldest son, who starts acting out after his father dies.
- Character Development: Following getting lost in a joy ride with Steve's car, Charlie starts realizing there's something going on in his family and that his mom and Judy might be in danger, he also shows he can be a loving, trustworthy brother to his little sibling, and is more open to show affection and worry to his mother as he understands the big stress she's under.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he does have an incredibly aggressive attitude (frequently getting into arguments with his mother), he's completely capable of apologizing when he goes too far and is usually never outwardly mean to others.
Lorna
Lorna Harding
Played By: Valerie Mahaffey
Ted's mother.
- Drama Queen: Lorna is prone to dramatic declarations about family and her missing her son, and makes some particularly antagonistic ones towards Jen whenever she can.
- It's All About Me: In a different way than Steve. Lorna is the narcissistic mother-in-law straight from your nightmares. Belittling, condescending, self-superior, and self-centered to the point where she tries to make Ted's funeral and memorial all about her own grief.
- Jerkass: While Jen can be difficult, Lorna is just plain mean.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Jen doesn't like her at all, and it's hard to blame her. She looks down on Jen's career choices and her son's marriage to her.
Judy's Family
Steve
Steve Wood
Played By: James Marsden
Judy's ex-fiancee. Also, an egotistical and narcissistic douche.
- Big Bad: Judy wanted to stop and help Ted; Steve was the one to make her keep driving, therefore making him the central antagonist of Season 1.
- Domestic Abuser: Not physically, but he is implied to be emotionally abusive to Judy, to the point that she becomes extremely subservient around him.
- Evil All Along: After spending most of the first season being rather morally ambiguous, he shows his true colors in the last two episodes.
- Faux Affably Evil: Perfectly capable of being pleasant, if extremely yuppie and a bit douchey. Ultimately a total sociopath when push comes to shove.
- Hate Sink: Steve is a slimy, lying, emotionally abusive prick, so when Jen kills him, the audience doesn't feel too bad for him.
- It's All About Me: His primary character trait.
- Jerkass: Oh, yeah. There is really nothing nice to say about this guy.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Steve told Jen whenever Judy goes, chaos follows. Even though he turns out to be a total douche later in the series, early on, Jen will soon discover how right he is...... And even downright admit it in front of Judy during season 2 out of frustration.
- Lack of Empathy: He really doesn't seem to feel much remorse at all for his part in the accident. The fact that his first instinct is to tell Judy to keep driving speaks volumes. Subverted in Season 2 when Judy admits that he cried after the accident. Considering this is Judy, how true it can be considered is another matter entirely.
- Never My Fault: He takes absolutely zero responsibility for any of his amoral actions. When suspicion starts to fall on him, he insists on pinning the blame solely on Judy after previously assuring her they were in it together.
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Playing Against Type: Used against the audience. James Marsden has a reputation for always playing the romantic runner-up, the guy who gets dumped, so when Judy — having been established as a liar — claims that Steve dumped her in brutal circumstances, we're ready to assume that this is another lie. After all, he's such a nice guy...
Ben
Ben Wood
Played By: James Marsden
Steve's much nicer, semi-identical twin brother.
- Insistent Terminology: He looks just like Steve, but insists he's a "semi-identical twin".
- Last Guy Wins: He is the first man Jen begins to date after her husband Ted's death and the only one to stay as her boyfriend by the time the series ends.
- Off the Wagon: He drinks again during the vigil, and after he learns Steve's body was found, driving drunk and t-boning the car Jen bought for Charlie's birthday in another hit-and-run.
- Parting-Words Regret: He hadn't spoken to Steve in a year, after getting drunk and going off on him, which inspired Ben to quit drinking.
- The Teetotaler: He doesn't drink... most of the time.
- Polar Opposite Twins: He's everything Steve isn't: compassionate, friendly, caring.
Eleanor
Eleanor Hale
Played By: Katey Sagal
Judy's mother.
- Abusive Mom: In the present, she constantly manipulates and gaslights her daughter to help her get out of prison.
- Parental Neglect: She's Judy's mother and she was absent from most of her childhood because of drug addiction. During the times when she did come home, she was so out of it that Judy often had to take care of her, including making sure she eats.
Others
Nick
Nick Prager
Played By: Brandon Scott
A man that Judy met at a grief retreat and dated. As a cop, he helps Judy and Jen investigate Ted's death and undercovers a lot more.
- Fair Cop: Looks so good in his uniform that Judy asks him to wear it later on their date.
- Friend on the Force: In the second half of season one, he is this for Judy, and then he is both her and Jen in season 2.
- Satellite Love Interest: Seems to be this for Judy, but it's averted as he becomes integral to solving the mystery of season one and the money laundering of season two.
Detective Perez
Detective Ana Perez
Played By: Diana Maria Riva
The detective in charge of the case of Ted's death, and subsequently, Jen and Judy's connection to the police.
- Freudian Excuse: Having spent time in the system and having lost her mother in a tragic way, she has multiple issues with abandonment which leaves her very hung up on her ex-girlfriend Michelle. Her time as a cop worsened her issues as she now is lost on her job and can't seem to stop treating everyone as a possible criminal and acting as a cop towards everyone.
- Friend on the Force: In the final episode of Season 2, she becomes this for Jen.
Michelle
Michelle
Played By: Natalie Morales
The daughter of a nursing home patient who develops a friendship with Judy over the desire to escape through pot smoking sessions in the car. The friendship turns into a one-night stand and love that Judy has to end to keep her cover.
- Nice Girl: She's a very sweet and easy-going kind of person.
