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The Casino

Charlie Cale

Played by: Natasha Lyonne

A woman blessed and cursed with the power to tell whenever someone is lying.

All-Loving Hero: A more low-key example, but wherever Charlie goes, she has a natural ability to connect and become friends with people.
Alliterative Name: Downplayed. Her name is Charlie Cale.
Amateur Sleuth: Charlie runs into a lot of murders that she's compelled to solve, despite not being a cop.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Charlie was this before the first episode, having previously been a card shark mostly on a lark, and afterwards satisfied with the menial labor in the job Sterling Sr. forced her into, and seems just as satisfied with the odd jobs she picks up elsewhere. Sharp eyed viewers will even see that her phone and banking PIN are both 1-2-3-4. But she's still extremely sharp and cunning when applying herself.
Buffy Speak: Struggles to recall technical terms like "locker" and "trapdoor", calling the latter a "flappy door".
Character Catchphrase: "Bullshit" when someone lies. Sometimes, she says it involuntarily, which gets her in trouble in at least one occasion.
Cloudcuckoolander: Charlie is a quirky amiable drifter who solves crimes with her power to sense all lies.
Dark and Troubled Past: Charlie was nearly killed because she used her special ability to win at poker games, only to be spared when she proved to be an asset to the Frost family casino.
Deadpan Snarker: As fits given who plays her, Charlie has a very snarky, barbed sense of humor.
Deconstructed Character Archetype: Charlie is a deconstruction of the Defective Detective. While it's true that she's a very smart and competent investigator who has a talent for sniffing out murderers and liars, most of the cases she solves are the result of her own involvement in what's going on, due to her on-the-run lifestyle. Furthermore, while Charlie is great at solving mysteries, she isn't capable of directly bringing people to justice because she's not affiliated with the authorities in any way, which results in people getting annoyed with her odd, questioning behavior and outright trying to kill her once they realize she knows too much.
Doom Magnet: Somehow, the people she ends up getting close to either end up dead (Natalie, George, Gavin, Arthur, "Morty", Sterling Sr.), accused/implicated of crime/death (Marge, Phil), commit a crime (Joyce, Irene, and Davis), or be related to/be a friend of someone who committed a crime (Jean and Randy). Lampshaded on "Escape from Shit Mountain" where she states she's been a 'death magnet' for the past year.
Exact Words: Charlie's ability to tell when someone's lying is apparently not based on signs of nervousness or other tells, as people can evade her detection simply by not lying directly (even if they're being deliberately deceptive). Certain character who are aware of her ability exploit this (though Charlie is also aware of this and tries to pin her suspects down to making a direct statement).
Expy: Of Columbo - a shabby looking investigator who withers down suspects through Obfuscating Stupidity and annoying persistence, although Charlie tends to be a little more brash than the always affable Lieutenant.
Guile Hero: Charlie can spot the lies people tell her, but to unravel their entire plot and bring them to justice, she has to count on her wits alone.
Horrible Judge of Character: It's practically a Running Gag that when Charlie finds a clue, the first person she confides in is the actual killer. She almost never distrusts the villains unless they openly lie to her, and sometimes not even then.
Jaded Washout: Her uncanny ability to tell lies made her an unstoppable poker player - until the casino heads caught wind of her and blackballed her, leaving her to eek out a meager living as a waitress.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's snarky and rough around the edges but Charlie has a good heart, is capable of immense kindness especially to friends and will go out of her way to help anyone she can.
Living Lie Detector: Charlie has a knack of being able to tell when anyone is lying.
Logical Weakness:
- While Charlie can instantly tell if someone's lying, she can't tell what the truth is, just that what they've said is "bullshit."
- "Time of the Monkey" also exposes a second weakness in Charlie's ability; if the other person truly believes in what they're saying, it's going to register as truth regardless of what the truth behind what they said actually is. Charlie's ability is to spot lies, not to know when something is incorrect.
- A third weakness is exposed in "The Future of the Sport". Charlie is prone to falling for Exact Words from the culprit. So long as they don't technically lie, the culprit can get away with hiding crucial details about what happened from her.
Made of Iron: Over the course of the first season, Charlie is shot in the hip, gets an infection from the injury, struck by a car, has her leg broken, beaten multiple times, tased (although she did that to herself to alert authorities), and stabbed in the chest. Nevertheless, Charlie proves herself to be a fighter and survives.
Motor Mouth: The first episode establishes that she uses this to wither down people's defenses; it's her own version of Columbo's And Another Thing....
The Movie Buff: Charlie carries a trunkful of DVDs with her everywhere she goes, including Okja.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Much of Charlie's situation is due to her refusing to leave well enough alone. It gets her chased by Sterling Senior and Cliff picks up on her trail because she stays to help. Every time she solves a case, she has to leave town before the publicity brings Cliff back on her trail.
Obfuscating Stupidity: Much like Columbo before her, part of her method is pretending to be more clueless than she actually is to lure people into a false sense of security. Unlike Columbo before her, however, she's not a trained detective and oftentimes really is just winging it.
Properly Paranoid: Charlie quickly realizes that Sterling Jr is just as shady as his father and records their conversation as insurance. This comes in handy when she realizes that he is a murderer and might try to kill her to silence her.
Sherlock Scan: Like many fictional detectives, Charlie is very good at picking up important, contradictory details at a glance.
Spanner in the Works: It's likely every one of these murders would have worked perfectly had Charlie just not been on the scene and using her skills to figure out what really happened.
Tomboyish Name: Charlie.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As a flip-side to being the Spanner in the Works, Charlie inadvertently sets off a chain of events that leads to the murders of George and Arthur, and arguably also Gavin and Ava.
Working-Class Hero: Charlie is a former cocktail waitress and low-grade card shark.

Cliff LeGrand

Played by: Benjamin Bratt

The Head of Security of the Frost Casino and chief henchman of Sterling Senior.

Actually Pretty Funny: Is pretty amused at Charlie's way of destroying Sterling Junior's reputation at the casino, until Junior's reaction ruins the joke.
Affably Evil: He's a frank but polite enforcer who's honestly impressed and even delighted by Charlie outfoxing Jr., and who repeatedly offers Charlie a chance to cooperate and avoid excessive pain… from him at least; what Sr. will do if Cliff delivers her to him is his own business.
Beard of Evil: He's a cold-hearted hitman with a neatly trimmed goatee.
Bodyguard Betrayal: It turns out he hates Sterling Sr., and after a year of being forced to chase Charlie around he's happy to sell out to a rival criminal organization and kill him.
The Dragon: Cliff's job is to be a professional killer and wetworks man for Sterling Sr.
Dragon-in-Chief: Though he works for Sterling Sr, Cliff is the main overarching threat Charlie has to deal with throughout Season 1, being determined to find and apprehend her at any costs. When he learns that Sterling doesn't even plan to kill Charlie after all, he kills his boss and frames his death on Charlie, so that he will finally get the chance to off her himself.
Eye Scream: Charlie stabs him in the eye with her bachelorette party penis ring, bloodying it.
The Heavy: Cliff is the one personally tracking down Charlie to kidnap her, torture her, and kill her.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: To Sterling Jr., though Sr. is competent enough to make it clear that trope doesn't apply to their relationship.
Karma Houdini Warranty: He was the murderer of the first episode, and unlike Sterling Jr., who ordered the assassination (and offed himself upon hearing the repercussions of Charlie's vengeance), he didn't really face any repercussions. Come the season finale, and the police is able to find evidence linking him to that first murder, while investigating a different murder he was also guilty of.
Knight of Cerebus: All humor and fun goes out of the series when he's present as he's a No Nonsense Villain.
Make It Look Like A Suicide: His specialty, as he does one to a couple and then plans to do the same to Charlie.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Years of working for Sterling Sr., especially the year he spent on the goose chase for Charlie in which Sterling constantly berates him and ultimately makes All for Nothing by wanting to spare Charlie drives him to assassinate him on Beatrix Hasp's behalf.
Pop-Cultured Badass: His preferred frame of reference for how dangerous Charlie is when trying to convince Jr. to stop his plan? Michael Westen from Burn Notice. In the season finale he references the Blues Traveler song "Hook", reciting the rapid-fire Motor Mouth section of the song as a spoken-word poem.
Pragmatic Villainy: In comparison to Jr. and most of the other murderers, Cliff is considerably more pragmatic and sharp, and cautiously advises Jr. to seek Sr.'s advice, while also proving capable of extricating himself from Charlie's interrogation by sticking to blunt and unrevealing truth rather than lying to her.
Scarily Competent Tracker: The modern, digital age equivalent of this; the second Charlie makes any kind of digital footprint, he homes in on her location, usually at almost exactly 4 hours from the digital footprint being made.
Stealth Hi/Bye: Pulls this off on Charlie multiple times, though he refrains form ambushing her, preferring to just make an intimidating entrance.

Sterling Sr.

Sterling Frost, Sr.

Killed by: Shot twice in the chest

The mob boss in charge of the Frost Casino and many other locations.

Abusive Parents: By his own admission, Sterling Sr was a pretty terrible father to Sterling Jr, berating him for his business failures and overall lack of competence. After having time to think it over, he doesn't even blame Charlie for his son's death, realizing that the unusual circumstances and his poor parenting played a hand in what happened.
Affably Evil: He speaks fondly of Charlie and even as he tells her his plans to kill her painfully seems to regret that it's come to this. When he finally gets her in front of him it turns out he's since reviewed the events more fully and no longer blames her for Jr's death, meaning her no harm.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: The series seems to be leading to him being the final enemy Charlie has to face, but by the time Charlie's in his hands, he's dropped all of his enmity for her and is even looking to give her her life back in exchange for one last job on his behalf. Then he's shot by Cliff, who becomes the final culprit of the first season.
Big Bad: The main antagonist of the series that Charlie is running from. Until the season finale, where he's dropped all animosity with her.
The Don: Sterling Sr. is heavily implied to be involved in organized crime as well as corporate corruption. At the very least, he's a high-enough ranking member of the Southwest Syndicate that Beatrix Hasp being implicated for his assassination sparks a war between them and the Five Families.
The Dreaded: Charlie and Jr. both conclude that Sr. took a shine to Charlie, but Charlie still expresses a healthy fear of him before Jr. just seeing "Dad" on his cellphone after Charlie ruined him made Jr. jump off a balcony.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He may be emotionally abusive to him, but he does love his son, and is trying to catch Charlie in order to make her pay for driving him to suicide. He also does seem to be fond of Charlie, perhaps even moreso than his actual son (at least before things go south).
Even Evil Has Standards: Apparently, he was unaware of whatever Kazimir Caine was running on his laptop, and says he would have done the same thing in Charlie's shoes.
Evil Old Folks: The man's in his 70s and trying to hunt Charlie down to do God knows what to her. That turns out to be recruiting her to work her lie-detecting magic on mobsters he's negotiating with and apparently either let her go or bring her back on the Frost Casino staff.
Evil Sounds Deep: Has a menacing bass voice, courtesy of Ron Perlman.
Heel Realization: In the intervening year between the pilot episode and the season finale, he apparently has come to the realization that Sterling Jr.'s death was more his fault than it was Charlie's, confessing he's been a 'lousy father' when he meets with Charlie.
It's Personal: He decided to spare Charlie long ago when she was a professional irritant to his business, but when his son commits suicide due to her actions, he sics Cliff on her trail explicitly to bring her back so he can kill her painfully. At first...
Lesser of Two Evils: He's a master of looking better entirely by comparison. Despite being a ruthless mobster by all accounts, his affability and standards paint him as a much preferable figure compared to his son and rival mobster Beatrix Hasp, who lack both of those qualities. Same when it goes to Cliff, his eventual murderer.
We Used to Be Friends: He originally encountered Charlie back when she was a ringer at small-time poker games, figured out her Living Lie Detector nature, and wound up giving her a job at his casino as a sort of compensation for ruining her reputation among gamblers, and was affectionate enough to call her "kid." It adds a certain bitterness on both their parts when Jr. dies and Sr. becomes determined to exact bloody vengeance. Or at least, he starts out seeking bloody vengeance...

Sterling Jr.

Sterling Frost, Jr.

Killed by: Fall from self-inflicted jump off of a balcony

The boss in charge of the Frost Casino who starts off the problems.

Authority in Name Only: He's in charge of the Frost Casino but micromanaged by his dad.
Berserk Button: While mostly Tranquil Fury, he does not like it that whenever he plans something his subordinates are more concerned with what his father would want or would do. He ends up ignoring sensible advice from Cliff because the latter makes the mistake of bringing up his father.
Big Bad Wannabe: He has ambition and authority granted from his father, but clearly doesn't stack-up compared to his old man, and doesn't make it past the first episode.
Driven to Suicide: When Charlie reveals to the gambling world how dirty the Frost Casino is willing to play with their high-rollers, he jumps off a balcony.
Smug Snake: Unlike most of the other antagonists in the series, Jr. was not only informed about Charlie's Living Lie Detector, he proved it to himself and attempted to recruit her to scam the casino's "whale." He then proceeds to still need her help to plot their scam, and still tries to lie to her face about what happened to her friend and sets up his own doom doing so.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: His desire to prove he can handle the situation without his father's help after a series of previous screw-ups shapes the first episode, and when he fails receiving a call from his father prompts his suicide.

Culprits

Jed

Played by: Colton Ryan

A insecure young man living at a truck stop.

Abhorrent Admirer: Jed is unkempt, socially awkward and laser focused on winning Sara over. He spies on Sara from the garage's roof, kills Damien so he can use his lottery winnings to woo her and unsubtly tries to use Sara's wish to go to Hawaii to get her to go out with him. Most of his encounters with Sara show her being scared or creeped out by him, with Damien confronting Jed about his treatment of her before he's killed.
Crowbar Combatant: He ultimately uses a crowbar to bash in Damian's head.
Dogged Nice Guy: The bad version of the trope, annoyed that the local Goth Girl won't pay attention to him.
A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: Even before Charlie exposes him, he seems well on his way to letting the stolen ticket ruin his life by not working, planning expensive travel, and generally acting like he won millions rather than thousands.
Greed: It's the chance to steal Damien's $25,000 lottery ticket that motivates his murder.
Ironic Echo: The first to throw Charlie's "bullshit" back at her, calling her bluff and catching her in a lie.
No MacGuffin, No Winner: Burns the lottery ticket as the police close in, either so no one else can claim it or that it wouldn't be used as evidence (not that it matters).
No Social Skills: Shy and withdrawn, he attempts to hit on his crush the day after her boyfriend was murdered.
Small Name, Big Ego: He looks down on the rest of the people living at the truck stop despite having done nothing in his life either.
The Resenter: His frustration with his life has made him immensely bitter towards anyone he perceives as having greater fortune than him.
Small Town Boredom: He hates his small town existence but can't bring himself to leave either.
Vehicular Sabotage: After Charlie confronts him over having murdered Damian, he cuts into her brake lines. Luckily for her, Abe notices this and fixes them for free.

Taffy and Mandy

Taffy Boyle

Played by: Lil Rel Howery

The owner of a local barbecue that killed his own brother.

Bad People Abuse Animals: When the dog Charlie finds starts yapping at him during the murder, he clubs it on the head with one of the wood chunks George used in his smoking.
Cain and Abel: Is the Cain in that he murdered his brother.
Greed: It's implied that the reason Taffy kills his brother is the latter selling his half of the business would expose his financial irregularities.
Faux Affably Evil: Taffy is a sharp-dressed, charismatic businessman who hosts his own radio show and is beloved by his customers. However, he gets testy when Charlie starts pressing him before finally blowing up at her.
Make It Look Like A Suicide: He kills his brother and attempts to pass it off as a suicide.
Stealing from the Till: He has a unique method of accounting he's eager no one else get a look at.

Mandy Boyle

Played by: Danielle Macdonald

The wife of the barbecue's pitmaster.

Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Mandy seems to be a loving and supporting wife to George at first. However, not only is she aware that Taffy killed her husband, but it was her idea.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrays her husband, and is clearly treacherous enough to Charlie that Charlie manipulated her into betraying Taffy.
Engineered Public Confession: Austin and Charlie fool her into confessing down the phone about planning George's murder with Taffy, getting her arrested when Austin plays it on one of his radio shows.
Exact Words: Once Mandy finds out about Charlie's ability, she chooses her words very carefully to avoid lying. Too bad her earlier lie has already raised Charlie's suspicion.
Lady Macbeth: As stated everywhere else in her profile, she encouraged, plotted, and worked with Taffy to kill her husband, and is revealed to be in a relationship with Taffy.
The Man Behind the Man: George's murder was her plan.
You Have Failed Me: Invoked by Charlie. When Taffy calls her in panic telling her that Charlie has found evidence of their scheme, Mandy sells him out to the cops. Except that the 'Taffy' that called her was actually one of Austin's pitch-perfect impressions, and the whole thing was a trap to catch both of them.

Doxxxology

Ruby Ruin, Al, Eskie

Played by: Chloë Sevigny (Ruby), John Darnielle (Al), G.K. Umeh (Eskie)

A heavy metal band that kills their drummer in order to steal his hit song for their own.

Accidental Public Confession: Al starts writing a song about how you "can't un-murder someone" but Ruby stops him before it can become this.
Alliterative Name: The head of the band, Ruby Ruin.
Amoral Attorney: Well, "Amoral guy taking an MSL course online" (in his words, "[He] can't afford to sell out"), but Eskie is in on the murder plot and taking a study in law.
Berserk Button: Ruby may have grown to hate "Staplehead", but when performing it, do NOT steal her scream note. Gavin took a punch to the face for that one.
Creative Sterility: The motive behind the murder. They are just plain bad at writing songs - their one hit was written by a former drummer who then left with all the song's royalties. When Gavin showed them a potential hit, they killed him to steal his idea.
Ironic Name: A doxology is "an expression of praise to God". Some Christians aren't horribly fond of heavy metal.
One-Hit Wonder: An In-Universe example. Their song "Staplehead" is all they're known for, much to their chagrin.
Stolen Credit Backfire: Doxxxology murdered Gavin to steal credit for his song "Sucker Punch". They realize too late that Gavin actually copied the theme song of Benson for "Sucker Punch's" instrumental.
Stupid Crooks: Al is probably the weakest link in the band. If not for trying to sell Gavin's actual amp online, then he definitely applies when he tries to write a song called "You Can't Un-Murder Someone".
Uncertain Doom: It's not shown if there was any police investigation after the podcast of their crime was released, but it's safe to say that with that and their "hit" being a rock version of the Benson theme, whatever's left of their music career is gone for good.

Irene and Joyce

Irene Smothers and Joyce Carter

Played by: Judith Light (Irene), S. Epatha Merkerson (Joyce)

A pair of residents at Mossy Oaks Retirement home. Formerly hippies in the 70s, the two were thick as thieves and in with a group of protestors until a police raid left them imprisoned and Irene paraplegic. When they discover their old group leader Gabriel has moved in (and sold them out), they decide on murder.

Cool Old Lady: Charlie thinks they are pretty damn badass when they tell her their life stories. When she finds out who they really were and what they're capable of now, that image flies right out the window.
Charlie: I really thought you two guys were these super cool old women, standing up for what you believe in and holding the assholes accountable... Oh, wow... You're the assholes. Yikes.
Evil Cripple: Irene took a gunshot to the back, rendering her legs paralyzed. She was willing to bomb several kids at an elite prep school as a protest, and was willing to murder Betty when she revealed she was going to talk to the feds (albeit more about their "sexual play", not realizing it was them setting up an alibi for their murder).
Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Despite their awful nature, the two truly care for each other, Joyce running up to comfort Irene shortly after she got shot by the police.
- The two genuinely loved Gabriel before he revealed that he sold them out.
Evil Old Folks: Two elderly women who used to be domestic terrorists and are now murderers in their senior years.
External Combustion: The two rig a golf cart to blow this way as a way of bumping off Charlie.
Horror Hippies: The duo were in a hippie sort of cult willing to bomb wealthy teens, and in their winter years are willing to commit murder and have the capacity to do so.
Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: They seem to be snarky but overall well-meaning hippie old ladies, having fought in their youth for peace and equality. Then it's revealed that "fight" was much uglier than they mentioned, and they show their true colors as the most petty, vengeful and unstable of the killers Charlie encountered so far.
Revenge: Uniquely among the killers shown so far, their primary motivation is to get revenge on the mole that led to their imprisonment and Irene's crippling.
Stronger Than They Look: Irene may be in a wheelchair, but has the upper body strength to climb up a flower trellis two stories.
Underestimating Badassery: Charlie tells the pair point blank how they did it and ready to tell the FBI. After a Have You Told Anyone Else? moment, the pair attack Charie who realizes too late she's dealing with two women who spent decades in prison and, despite their age, are more than ready to kill her to protect themselves.
Unreliable Narrator: The way they told Charlie their story, the two were a pair of hippies planning a peaceful protest when the cops cruelly gunned them down unarmed. While they really didn't have guns on them during the raid, they were actually planning to blow up a Model UN.
Vitriolic Best Buds: They argue with each other constantly, but they always have each other's backs.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: How they defend their plans to bomb a bunch of teenagers, to "send a message to the next generation," and still refuse to accept how bad they were.
Would Hurt a Child: The plan that they were going to execute in the 70s before their arrest was not a protest as Charlie was led to believe, but rather an attempted bombing of the Model UN, an educational simulation in which teenage students perform as ambassadors. Irene and Joyce self-justified this horrific act as "sending a message to the future war criminals" by killing the children of the elite.

Kathleen and Michael

Kathleen Townsend and Michael Graves

Played by: Ellen Barkin (Kathleen), Tim Meadows (Michael)

Two washed-up former television actors once known for police procedural "Spooky and the Cop", the two have since become bitter arch-nemeses and have fallen to obscurity. Kathleen comes up to Michael, now married to wealthy online entrepreneur Ava, desperately begging him to join her stage production of "The Ghosts of Pensacola", inevitably leading to their feud reigniting on the backstage. However, there's more to the two than meets the eye, and the play leads to deadly consequences...

Attention Whore: Kathleen loves being the focus of attention and is positively gleeful when the news around Ava's death gets their play attention, caring even more about that than the money.
Buddy Cop Show: The duo are most well-known for performing in one called "Spooky and the Cop", centering around a police detective teaming up with what looks like a fortune teller to solve crimes.
Engineered Public Confession: Charlie leaves a microphone in the dressing room so that the Sheriff in the audience will hear them discussing Ava's murder and their attempted murder of Rebecca.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: They're murderers but genuinely care a lot for one another.
Even Evil Has Standards: Michael schemed to murder his wife for her money but is furious at Kathleen trying to kill Rebecca to get out of paying her the blackmail money.
Graceful Loser: After their schemes are exposed to the police, Kathleen decides to instead channel the experience into delivering a performance of a lifetime, and convinces Michael to go along. The resulting performance brought even Charlie, who has spent most of the episode mocking the play, to tears.
Henpecked Husband: Michael lives mostly off of Ava's money, a fact Kathleen is quick to mock him about, and she wants him to give up acting entirely, albeit more because she sees how miserable he is doing it.
Large Ham: Kathleen is always full on and does everything dramatically, even when not acting. Ellen Barkin was clearly enjoying herself a lot in the role.
Long Game: The pair spent a year setting up this plot of Michael wooing Ava, marrying her and acting like they were hated enemies to bump Ava off for the money.
Master Actor: Only when properly motivated. They managed to convince everyone that they were still enemies and Michael seduced Ava even though they are in love with each other. When their murder was exposed, they gave their all into their final performance dramatically improving the quality compared to their first performance.
Small Name, Big Ego: Both may qualify as their only fame was a goofy "psychic cop" TV show from thirty years ago. But Kathleen takes it to a new level as she acts like she's a world-famous, award-winning actress railing on anyone who dares not take "the craft" seriously and treats the play like it's on Broadway or London's West End rather than a small theatre in Connecticut.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Michael isn't exactly ugly but he's older and has a somewhat slovenly appearance. Ava however is much younger and far more beautiful. He's also this to Kathleen who has aged far more gracefully.
White-Dwarf Starlet: They were decently big TV stars at one time but are now doing whatever cheap work they can find and Kathleen in particular mentions the demoralizing state of her career as an older actress, bouncing around from "mom to Senator to Dementia patient".

Keith

Keith Owens

Played by: Tim Blake Nelson

A veteran racer in Tennessee.

A Lighter Shade of Black: He may be willing to sabotage his young rival, but he's at least willing to publicly confess to what he had done, something Davis has no intention of doing.
Bait-and-Switch Boss: He's presented as the episode's culprit in the first act of the episode, showing us the process of him sabotaging Davis' car. The second act shows us a second act of sabotage by Davis, Keith's role in the crime is figured out by Charlie relatively quickly, and he confesses to the public shortly afterward, removing the need to search for evidence for his part and leaving Davis as the true antagonist.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's genuinely devastated when his daughter ends up in the car he sabotaged, and the resulting guilt makes him publicly confess.
In the Blood: His father and grandfather were both champion racers, and his daughter Katy is eager to follow in his footsteps.
Vehicular Sabotage: He tampers with Davis' engine in order to get him to crash, with disastrous consequences.

Davis

Davis McDowell

Played by: Charles Melton

An up-and-coming racer in Tennessee.

Affably Evil: Davis deeply cares for his mother and is nice to little children. He also put his main rival's daughter in a coma in his attempt to kill her and have said rival blamed for it.
All for Nothing: He ends up falling into the same nerves that screwed up Keith's career, meaning while he may not be outright busted for trying to kill Katy, once she actually does start racing him, he's going to be left eating her dust.
Alliterative Name: Davis McDowell.
Bait-and-Switch: At first the audience is led to believe that Davis is the victim and Keith is the killer. Then it gets flipped when we see that Katy was the one driving Davis's car. Worse, Davis had discovered Keith's sabotage and implemented a sabotage of his own to make the car crash potentially fatal.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He remains quite close to his mother, Jean.
Friend to All Children: As much of an asshole as he is, he's excellent with his younger fans, palling around with them and giving them honest advice.
Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Charlie is unable to get any evidence of his crimes, leaving everybody else unaware of his sabotage. However, due to Katy recovering, and him beginning to develop the same nerves that threw Keith off his game, it's implied it won't be long until his career comes to an end.
Pyrrhic Victory: His sabotage gets him the championship, but as Charlie tells him, his nerves (and Katy's impending debut on the track) means he won't have it for very long.
Vehicular Sabotage: He was on the receiving end of it by Keith, and compounded it by tampering with his car's seatbelt. Not that he intended to drive it, of course.

Laura

Played by: Cherry Jones

Killed by: Suicide by jumping off a ledge

One of the three founders of Lights and Motion, a pioneering visual effects company.

Evil Is Petty: Back in 1989, she disabled the red light a young actress named Lily was using to signify that she needed air while shooting an underwater scene, simply out of frustration that they were doing too many takes.
Fun with Acronyms: LAM, the company she founded with Arthur and Max, stands for Lights and Motion, but it also stands for Laura, Arthur, and Max.
Murder Is the Best Solution: She impulsively causes the death of Lily, a young actress, in 1989, and murders Max and Arthur in the present day when they find out the truth while reviewing old footage.
My God, What Have I Done?: Laura has this expression written all over her face when she sees Arthur throw the reel containing the footage of her crime into a fire, knowing that she already poisoned him. (He spliced out the footage containing the crime itself and hid it in one of his creations, but she didn't know that.)
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: She insists that every crime she committed was for the sake of the company and its workers. However, while she and Max live in incredible wealth, actors like Lily get killed under lax safety conditions and long-time employees like Raoul are virtually abandoned or fired at Laura's whim. By all accounts, the success of Laura is the only consistent factor among all her behavior.
Sanity Slippage: While she does her best to keep her wits about her, it's clear that murdering Max, and later Arthur, has taken a major toll on her. She grows increasingly tense and snappish as she tries to clean up her mess, eventually leading to a Villainous Breakdown.
Villainous Breakdown: She can barely stumble through the speech she gives at the gala hosted in Arthur's honor, clumsily justifying her actions and hallucinating Arthur in the audience. By the time Charlie and Raoul project the footage of Lily's murder for the audience to see, she's lost it completely, stumbling through the displays from The Orpheus Syndrome and imagining them coming to life before leaping to her death.

Trey

Trey Nelson

Played by: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

A finance bro under house arrest with a dark secret.

Chaotic Stupid: Trey is maybe the single least clever, most impulsive, most idiotic murderer in the show… but it arguably makes him among the most dangerous because of how quickly he resorts to murder.
Faux Affably Evil: He has Joseph Gordon Levitt's natural charm but beneath it, he's an unpleasant jerk and beneath that, he's a sociopathic killer who cares for no one but himself.
Hate Sink: In a show that's never been particularly interested in making its villains sympathetic, Trey stands out as one with absolutely zero redeeming qualities.
Saying Too Much: He repeatedly says that he "can't have another chick going crazy on him again," arousing the suspicions of Jimmy, who had previously believed that Chloe's death was an accident.
The Sociopath: He's a very accurate portrayal of a low-functioning one: He's manipulative and superficially charming, has very poor impulse control, is callous and insensitive to others, has little to no empathy and can lie, betray and even commit murder without any hint of remorse.
Stupid Evil: He's possibly both the most reprehensible killer in the series thus far and the dumbest as well.
Trademark Favorite Food: He absolutely loves coconut rum.
What You Are in the Dark: The fact that he refuses to tip his deliveryman, despite clearly being wealthy and living well out of the way in the mountains, shows what kind of guy he is.

Victims

Natalie and Jerry

Natalie and Jerry Hill

Played by: Dascha Polanco (Natalie), Michael Reagan (Jerry)

Killed by: Gunshot to the chest (Natalie) and head (Jerry)

A dysfunctional couple murdered by Cliff after Natalie tries to expose a terrible secret.

Asshole Victim: Jerry was a drunk and an abuser. He only died to be the fall guy for Natalie's murder to keep her quiet, but there's a reason why Charlie focuses more on Natalie's murder than his.
Boom, Headshot!: Jerry gets it via a bullet to the head. It helps to sell the suicide angle.
Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Jerry is murdered and the gun put in his hand to sell the idea that he murdered Natalie and then killed himself.
Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Throughout season 1, Charlie consistently refers to Natalie's death and its impact on her life.
Make It Look Like A Suicide: A murder-suicide, to be exact.
She Knows Too Much: When Natalie takes the photo of what she saw on Caine's laptop and showed it to Cliff and Sterling, she unknowingly signed her death warrant.

Damian

Played by: Brandon Micheal Hall

Killed by: Blow to the head with a crowbar

A sandwich maker on TikTok that is also a former Marine.

Bludgeoned to Death: He takes a fall from the mechanic's roof, but manages to survive until Jed bashes him in the head with a crowbar.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: While not happy about him following Sara, Damien is actually trying to give good advice to Jed.
Not Quite Dead: Jed pushes Damien off the roof of the gas station, but when he goes down to retrieve his winning lottery ticket, it turns out the fall didn't completely kill him. Jed has to finish him off with a crowbar.
Semper Fi: Served time in the Marine Corps before coming to work at the Subway. He hated his time there and spent most of it doing paperwork that then someone else threw out the same day.

George

George Boyle

Played by: Larry Brown

Killed by: Asphyxiation with smoke in his trailer

A Master BBQ maker who turns vegan after watching Okja.

Cain and Abel: Is the Abel due to his brother deciding to kill him.
Gentle Giant: A muscular but soft-spoken and empathetic man, in contrast to his more personable but villainous brother.
My God, What Have I Done?: He shows immense regret for all the meat cooking he has done and all the animals he has killed when he turns to veganism.
Sinister Suffocation: Taffy murders him by pumping the smoke from his smoker into his trailer.
Skilled, but Naive: Extremely knowledgeable in the area of meat preparation, but he's oblivious to his wife's affair, his brother's embezzlement, and is convinced to uproot his whole life overnight by a movie.
Supreme Chef: A highly regarded pitmaster known throughout Texas and beyond.

Gavin

Played by: Nicholas Cirillo

Killed by: Electrocuted with a booby-trapped amp

The new drummer for Doxxxology, a has been heavy metal band.

Animal Motifs: Gavin is compared by several characters (and himself) to a magpie: a loud enthusiastic bird that isn't very bright and grabs random shiny things to feather its nest. The song he writes is little more than Word Salad Lyrics assembled from random product slogans and interesting phrases he picked up on the road, set to the theme music to Benson.
Cloudcuckoolander: Gavin seems to work on a frequency of his own, watching Benson religiously and making an accidental hit out of its theme tune with lyrics taken from the slogans of random objects he had on hand.
Creative Sterility: While he's certainly more talented than the entirety of Doxxxology combined, his songwriting ability is about as sterile - his surefire hit song turns out to be a metal rendition of the Benson theme, with lyrics taken from various brochure and product taglines he's seen on the tour.
Dumb and Drummer: Gavin is a drummer, and not the brightest crayon in the box, lacking both in common sense and understanding of social cues. However, subverted as he is revealed to be a Genius Ditz by composing the kind of hit song his band have been trying to make since "Staplehead", and Double Subverted when said hit was a mashup of Ice-Cream Koan lyrics based on the snacks he ate on the road and an obvious plagiarism of the opening theme for Benson.
High-Voltage Death: Gavin hits his swan song when the amp used on stage fries him.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He gets on the band's nerves early on, overstepping his bounds by playing "Staplehead" against their wishes, stealing Ruby's scream, and generally being way too overbearing. But it all comes from his enthusiasm to be part of a group he worships, and he certainly doesn't deserve his fate.
No Full Name Given: We don't learn his last name, which Charlie mentions.
Prefers Going Barefoot: Goes barefoot as much as possible, even when it's clearly annoying people.

Gabriel and Betty

Gabriel/"Ben Holmes"

Played by: Reed Birney

Killed by: Poisoned with sodium nitrate injection

The former leader of a hippie group and newest resident of Mossy Oaks. The home, incidentally, is where former members Irene and Joyce now live.

The Atoner: Gabriel specifically chose the same retirement home that his former conspirators stay at to apologize for leading police to their hideout. Things don't end well for him.
Bigger Is Better in Bed: Both Irene and Joyce agree that he had "a dick like a fire hydrant".
The Mole: Gabriel introduced Irene and Joyce to a counter-cultural movement in the 70s, then ratted the group out to the cops when they plotted to blow up a high school. Irene and Joyce aren't too happy to see him again.

Betty McKee

Played by: K Callan

Killed by: Blown up with a pressure cooker bomb

A stern in-home care resident of the Mossy Oaks retirement home.

Booby Trap: She gets killed when the duo plant a bomb in her pressure cooker, telling her it's a recipe.
Bloodless Carnage: As she's being loaded into her body bag, her face is shown to be covered in ash after getting it close to the pressure cooker bomb when her head really should have been blown off her shoulders.
The Cassandra: She repeatedly tries to warn everyone (especially Charlie) that Irene and Joyce are convicted felons, and up to no good. She herself didn't know how right she was.
Casting Gag: She previously played Wanetta "Great Nana" Thrombey in that one mystery project Rian Johnson did.
She Knows Too Much: Irene and Joyce bump her off when she tells them she plans to reveal their "sexual zapping" to the FBI. She doesn't know the zapping was actually part of their plot to murder Gabriel, but nevertheless...
Tuckerization: Gets her surname from the episode's director, Lucky McKee.

Ava

Ava Graves

Played by: Jameela Jamil

Killed by: Head trauma from falling down a trapdoor

Michael's wealthy British wife who founded 'SheTrade', an online brokerage for women.

Batman Gambit: Her friendly urging for Michael to take the role in Kathleen's play was an act, she assumed that it would turn out so awful that Michael would be turned off of acting forever. She got Out-Gambitted though.
Death by Falling Over/Disney Villain Death: Her end comes in when after running onstage to Michael for his heart pills, she falls down the trapdoor. She strikes her head on the edge of it, then falls the remaining 15 feet down to her death.
I Need a Freaking Drink: She asks Charlie to help her get "absolutely shitfaced" in order to endure Kathleen's acting.
May–December Romance: She's noticeably a lot younger than Michael, their actors being twenty-four years apart.
Self-Made Woman: According to Michael, she created her wealth entirely on her own from her website.
Statuesque Stunner: She's a beautiful woman and very tall, towering over both Kathleen and Michael.
Sugary Malice: She's sweet natured and charming but is open about her disdain for Kathleen, even to her face.
Trophy Wife: She's one for Michael, though in a twist, she's the one with the money.

Katy

Katy Owens

Played by: Jasmine Aiyana Garvin

Killed by: N/A (Injured via car crash)

The daughter of racing legend Keith Owens, and next to be in line to race.

Always Murder: She is the first attempted murder on the show, but manages to make a full recovery.
Heroic Lineage: She is a fourth generation auto racer, and, by Charlie's estimate, she's the best one yet.

Arthur and Max

Arthur Liptin

Played by: Nick Nolte

Killed by: Poison administered through a cup of coffee

A legendary visual effects artist who specializes in stop motion.

Cool Old Guy: A friendly man passionate about his work and understanding towards strangers like Charlie.
Fun with Acronyms: LAM, the company he founded with Laura and Max, stands for Lights and Motion, but it also stands for Laura, Arthur, and Max.
He Knows Too Much: He's killed by Laura after he confronts her about the footage he discovered of her murdering Lily.
It's All My Fault: Arthur blamed himself for Lily's death for decades, believing that she was trying to please him after he berated her for hitting the panic button too often. The Orpheus Syndrome is his seemingly inadvertent attempt to work through that guilt, and it isn't until reviewing footage that he learns the truth.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: As a legendary visual effects artist working on a "non-narrative" feature as a labor of love, he's quite reminiscent of Phil Tippett, whose Mad God had just been released the previous year. Rian Johnson confirmed the comparison on Twitter.

Max

Played by: Tim Russ

Killed by: Suicide by leaping off a balcony after being poisoned

One of the three founders of Lights and Motion.

Better to Die than Be Killed: When Laura poisons him, he leaps off her balcony in order to destroy his face so that she can't use it for two-factor authorization to delete the incriminating file. Unfortunately, Laura finds a work-around.
Fun with Acronyms: LAM, the company he founded with Laura and Arthur, stands for Lights and Motion, but it also stands for Laura, Arthur, and Max.
He Knows Too Much: He's killed by Laura after he confronts her about the footage he discovered of her murdering Lily while digitizing the company archives.
Thanatos Gambit: Upon discovering he was poisoned by Laura and that she'd use his face to unlock his computer to delete the file containing Lily's murder: He quickly decides to jump off her balcony face first to demolish it and keep her from doing so. It doesn't work for long, but you gotta give the guy points for trying.

Lily

Lily Albern

Played by: Rowan Blanchard

Killed by: Drowned in a water tank during a movie scene

An up-and-coming actress who died during the filming of the Lights and Motion production Dragonfish.

Accidental Murder: For all intents and purposes, Laura really didn't mean to kill her. She was just so desperate for a good take that she sabotaged the safety mechanism.

Chloe

Chloe Jones

Played by: N/A

Killed by: Method unknown (Presumably head trauma from a fall or bludgeoning)

A promising young snowboarder whose disappearance remains unsolved.

Noodle Incident: The exact circumstances that led Trey to kill her are never revealed. All we gets is Trey hinting that she "went crazy on him", and given the kind of person Trey is, even that's dubious.
Posthumous Character: Years after her disappearance, her absence still lingers in her mountain town - and in the heart of Jimmy.

Jimmy

James "Jimmy" Silva

Played by: David Castaneda

Killed by: Shot through the forehead

Trey's childhood friend who helped him bury a body years ago.

Boom, Headshot!: How he's ultimately dispatched, courtesy of Trey.
Guilt-Ridden Accomplice: He feels very guilty that he helped Trey hide the body of his ex-girlfriend, Chloe Jones, and is not at all thrilled by the prospect of hiding even more.
Heel–Face Door-Slam: After spending most of the episode subservient to Trey's whims, he comes to the conclusion that Trey murdered Chloe all those years ago, and finally stands up to him declaring he's "done being [Trey's] bitch". Trey promptly shoots him in the head after.
Hyper-Competent Sidekick: It becomes extremely clear in the episode that Trey is so impulsive and stupid that he would have been caught long ago if not for Jimmy being better at covering up his crimes than Trey could ever be.

Morty

"Mortimer Bernstein"

Played by: Stephanie Hsu

Killed by: Head smashed against car steering wheel, car pushed off of cliff

A drifter, thief, and general ne'er-do-well who gets herself (and Charlie) into a whole lot of trouble.

Asshole Victim: She valued a very expensive car over justice for a murdered woman and another who would likely be dispatched by the guy she was blackmailing. Add that to the identity/credit card theft, and it's hard to be sad at her passing.
Blackmail Backfire: Poor Morty makes the mistake of thinking blackmailing a suspected killer for his fancy car is going to work out in her favor.
Give Me Back My Wallet: This happens in more or less every scene between Morty and Charlie.
Only Known by Their Nickname: "Mortimer Bernstein" is the name on one of her stolen credit cards - we never learn her real name.
Opportunistic Bitch: It's clear Morty only really cares about herself, as her concern over Chloe's body was getting the $75K reward for information, and she then chose to blackmail Chloe's killer instead of turn his sorry ass in.
Sticky Fingers: Morty is a compulsive thief, picking pockets almost as a reflex. Sometimes this serves her well, as when she takes Trey's gun from his back pocket. Other times, it just gets her into more trouble.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If she hadn't abandoned Charlie in her car by the side of the road, Charlie wouldn't have been in the position to get hit by Trey's car, and the events of the entire episode (including Morty's own death) wouldn't have happened.

Other Characters

Dead Man's Hand

Kazimir Caine

An oil tycoon and one of the Frost Casino's regular whales.

Greater-Scope Villain: Whatever was on his computer was so terrible it kicked off the series and led Jr. to have Cliff kill two people rather than let it be revealed.
Karma Houdini Warranty: "The Hook" reveals that Special Agent Clark was able to track down Charlie's original email containing the photo from Caine's laptop and were able to capture him.
Nothing Is Scarier: Whatever was on his computer^note, which is apparently worth multiple murders by his hosts at the Sterlings' casino.

John-O

Played by: Jeremy Lawrence

An old man who lives in the same trailer park as Charlie who often tries to sell her stuff.

Disco Dan: Dresses and speaks like a greaser.
Reformed Criminal: Played with. He knows how to pick a lock and uses it to help Charlie search a crime scene. While he protests that he's left a life of crime behind him, Charlie still seems pretty certain he's stolen most of the stuff he's tried to sell her in the past.
Third-Person Person: Frequently refers to himself in the third person.

Matthew Parker

Played by: Noah Segan

The local sheriff of Frost County.

Casting Gag: Not the first time Noah Segan's played a cop in a Rian Johnson production.
Dirty Cop: While the pilot has Sterling Jr. state in no uncertain terms that the police in Frost County are under Sterling Sr.'s payroll, the final episode shows Parker as a direct underling for Sr., providing intel to Cliff as he chases Charlie across the country.
Pet the Dog: While clearly expressing dislike for Charlie's general presence, he sincerely insists that Natalie's death isn't her fault when he assumes her motivation is guilt.

The Night Shift

Sara

Played by: Megan Suri

A mini-mart clerk who works the night shift.

Excellent Judge of Character: Sara generally is a pretty smart kid. She likes Damian and keeps Jed at arm's length, and trusts Charlie enough to help her catch Jed in his lie. Debatably her crowning moment comes when Cliff arrives, and she quickly throws him off Charlie's scent after sensing that he's bad news.
Goth: Her whole aesthetic.
Small Town Boredom: Usually bored out of her mind while at work. It’s probably why she indulges Charlie’s antics in her store.

Marge

Played by: Hong Chau

A runaway trucker who's been staying off-the-grid.

Butch Lesbian: She's a cowboy-hat-wearing, somewhat slovenly trucker who makes a pass at Charlie after stitching her up.
I Call It "Vera": She owns a small pistol she calls "Baby Roscoe". It's the first part of how Charlie figures she didn't kill Damian, because it doesn't make sense for her to have beaten him to death when she had a gun.
Sensei for Scoundrels: Marge's experience with living off the grid is passed on to Charlie, helping her keep ahead of the surprisingly tech-savvy Cliff.

Abe

Played by: John Ratzenberger

A repairman running the auto-shop, and Jed's uncle.

Obfuscating Stupidity: Jed doesn't take his uncle seriously, and treats him like an absent-minded guardian he could easily get up to mischief around… until Abe quietly reveals he knows Jed cut Charlie's brake-lines, which he repaired, and then just as quietly points out how it makes Jed look guilty of something worse, before taking out his hearing-aids to muffle Jed's protestations.

The Stall

Fascist Dog

A dog that followed Charlie up to Boyle's Barbecue.

Asshole Victim: It barges into people's cars, steals food from the barbecue, bites anyone who touches it and the only thing that makes it stop barking is right-wing conspiracy radio. Since the story is told non-linearly we don't know any of that when Taffy bludgeons him to death. But when we see the story back over from Charlie's perspective we see that it was a thoroughly unpleasant animal. And then it averts the trope anyway by having the dog recover at a vet.
Improbable Infant Survival: Taffy batters him with a piece of wood to silence his barking. He survives.
Timmy in a Well: A series of yelps convinces Charlie to see through her investigation.
Charlie: Avenge you? I don't even like you.

Austin

Played by: Shane Paul McGhie

One of Taffy's co-workers at the radio station, running his own show.

Large Ham Radio: It turns out he's every "radio personality" for the station from the morning DJ to midnight jazz host to right-wing conspiracy nut.
Man of a Thousand Voices: In-universe; he's a prodigious voice impressionist. Which aids in him helping out Charlie in capturing the killers.

Sheriff Macdonald

The local sheriff and a regular at Boyle's Barbecue.

Friend on the Force: A regular at the barbecue and a friend of Mandy's. Doesn't stop him arresting her after Austin broadcasts her Engineered Public Confession.

Beto

A line cook at the barbecue.

Brutal Honesty: Tells Charlie when she's leaving that it'll be easier in the barbecue kitchen without her.

Rest in Metal

Deuteronomy

Doxxxology's roadie, who gets fired by Ruby Ruin midway into their tour.

Cool Old Guy: An older metalhead who knows his way around an amp and is helpful to Charlie. He even stalls Cliff long enough for her to get away in the crowd.
The Roadie: Drives the band's van and helps with the equipment. He's fired by Ruby the day before Gavin's murder so he won't check the tampered amp.

Elsie

A woman running 'Murder Girl', a true crime podcast.

Amateur Sleuth: Runs a podcast where she tries to solve murders and has been successful enough to rent a professional recording booth and reach Season 7 of her show.
Chekhov's Gunman: Charlie feeds her the scoop on Doxxxology’s murder to ensure they don't escape scrutiny.

'Krampus'

The mascot of the band of the same name, who pranks showgoers in TikTok videos.

A Taste of Their Own Medicine: An attempt to prank Charlie ends with her punching him in the face.
The Prankster: Films his practical jokes on unsuspecting festival goers.

Scott

A man awkwardly searching for drug dealers at the Krampus show.

Bait-and-Switch: His incredibly blunt and cliché drug references make everyone around him think he's a cop. He's not. In reality, he's an actuary with Nationwide who just really sucks at buying drugs.

Time of the Monkey

Special Agent Luca Clark

Played by: Simon Helberg

An FBI agent supervising Ben Holmes' witness protection.

Back for the Finale: In "The Hook", he's in charge of investigating Charlie's alleged murder of Sterling Sr., and tries to help her prove her innocence.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He's a terrible liar and very squirrely but he takes Charlie's deductions seriously and proves to be pretty competent.
Chekhov's Gunman: Clark initially only shows up to help Charlie bring two elderly terrorists to justice, who only posed a threat for one episode. He ends up making a surprise return in the Season 1 finale to help clear Charlie's name for killing Sterling Sr.
Friend on the Force: He's Charlie's, willing to listen to her theories and providing help where he can and advice where he can't.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Used Charlie's email from "Dead Man's Hand" to take down Kazimir Caine sometime between his appearances in "Time of the Monkey" and "The Hook".
Recruiters Always Lie: Joined the FBI because he loves his country and wants to protect it from terrorist threats. Winds up babysitting forgotten old mobsters and radicals, and resents it greatly.

Billy

An orderly at Mossy Oaks Retirement Home.

Nice Guy: Just tries to do his job caring for the elderly and tries to do it well. He barely complains even when they don't make it easy for him.

Toto

A gardener at Mossy Oaks.

The Stoner: Trades sodium nitrate from his gardening chemicals for the "medicinal plants" Joyce grows.

The Fletchers

A group of crime enthusiasts at the retirement home.

Shout-Out: Older women with a knack for solving murder. Need more be said?

Pervy Pete

A perverted resident of Mossy Oaks.

Dirty Old Man: Well, how else do you get the nickname "Pervy Pete"?

Exit Stage Death

Rebecca

An actress on the production of "The Ghosts of Pensacola"

Blackmail Backfire: Barely averted as her reaction to figuring out Michael and Kathleen killed Ava is to blackmail them for $5 million. It never occurs to her Kathleen will figure killing her is easier and she barely escapes death thanks to Charlie.
Karma Houdini: A downplayed example. True, we never see her get arrested or see any consequences for trying to blackmail Kathleen and Michael over the murder, but it's safe to say that since the duo are going to prison, she's not going to see a single red dime of her demands.
Mirror Character: She is introduced as an (overly) sensitive Granola Girl who is on the receiving end of Kathleen's unreasonable rants. But when she realizes that Michael and Kathleen killed Ava, she proves to be equally greedy (immediately trying to get rich off the event instead of reporting it) and narcissistic (expressing more anger at the two's plot distracting the audience from her acting than the murder). She even mirror's Kathleen's earlier "fucking millennials" insult by calling the two boomers.
Plot Allergy: Kathleen almost tricks Rebecca into eating peanuts, which she's deadly allergic to but luckily, Charlie stops her.
Skewed Priorities: Is more angry that Kathleen and Michael's staged argument upstaged her big monologue than she is that it was used to give them an alibi in murdering Ava.
Too Dumb to Live: She thought it was a good idea to confront two murderers in their private dressing room, before having to share a stage with them when she flat-out told Kathleen earlier that her dog's treats could lethally trigger her Plot Allergy. Morality aside, that blackmail request could have been delivered after the show. And even after her murder is foiled by Charlie, she only responds by doubling her blackmail demand.

Phil

The stage manager at Seneca Lake Dinner Theater.

Slipping a Mickey: Kathleen and Michael drug him so he'll be out cold during the night of Ava's murder, allowing Michael to tamper with the stage trap door.
The Scapegoat: Kathleen and Michael are willing to end his career as a stage manager and let him think his negligence led to a woman's death.

Jeremy

A waiter at the dinner theater.

Professional Butt-Kisser: His attempts to praise Kathleen's acting go ignored, while Charlie's criticism is acknowledged.

Harry

The replacement stage manager.

You Are in Command Now: After Ava's death, he goes from errand boy to stage manager and is woefully unprepared for the amount of stress that comes with it.

Sheriff Ed

The local sheriff at Seneca Lake, and a "Spooky and the Cop" fan.

The Future of the Sport

Jean McDowell

A worker at Kamelot Karts Fun Center, current owner of McDowell and Sons towing, and Davis' mom.

Struggling Single Mother: Runs a small business and supports Davis as he's trying to start his racing career.

Randy

A worker at Kamelot Karts Fun Center and a stock car racing enthusiast.

Bumbling Sidekick: Is Davis' right-hand man and a source of comic relief.

Donna Owens

Played by: Leslie Silva

Keith's wife and Katy's mom.

Ironic Echo: Uses Charlie's catchphrase to call "bullshit" on Keith's lie and convinces him to publicly confess.

The Orpheus Syndrome

Raoul

Played by: Luis Guzman

The head archivist of Lights and Motion and a friend to its three founders.

Unwitting Instigator of Doom: If he'd never given Arthur the reels of Lily's death then his murder at Laura's hands never would've happened. But, she would've also probably gotten away with it.

Escape from Shit Mountain

Officer Buckley

The probation officer in charge of Trey's house arrest.

Luke

A man whom Charlie has a fling with on Magic Mountain.

Mr. Fanservice: We don't learn all that much about him, but damn if he isn't easy on the eyes. One look at him with his shirt off is enough to send Charlie into a summer fling with him, vowing to never leave until the onset of winter changes her mind.
What Happened to the Mouse?: We never find out what happened to him between summer and the main events of the episode.

Stan

A gas station receptionist.

The Hook

Emily Cale

Played by: Clea Duvall

Charlie's estranged sister.

Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The responsible sibling who settled down, put down roots, and has a daughter. While Charlie is the foolish sibling who always breezes on down the road.

Shasta Cale

Emily's daughter and Charlie's niece.

Beatrix Hasp

Played by: Rhea Perlman

A rival mob boss that Sterling Sr. wants out of the way.

The Don: She's the head of the Hasp Family and the Five Families criminal syndicate.
Greater-Scope Villain: She's the one who has a hit placed on Sterling Sr., though outside of hiring Cliff for the job she doesn't take an active role in the final episode until the end.

Characters / Poker Face

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