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General
- But Not Too Black: Both Emma and Lyn have lighter skin tones, something that is occasionally brought up by other characters. Marcos insinuates that, unlike him, they were never subjected to colorism by referring to them as "blanquitas". Marisol calls them "White-ina bitches" as an insult to their "whitewashed" lifestyle, though she likely also had their skin tone in mind.
- But Not Too White: Even with their light skin tones, the sisters get their fair share of bigotry from the few white minor characters. Lyn is the visibly darkest one from the two, which (paired with her promiscuity) contributes to her being sexualized by white and other Latino men. Emma is her white boss's personal sex toy, all while he avoids promoting her at work because she's Latina.
Emma Hernández
Emma Hernández
Played By: Mishel Prada, Gianna Torres (as a child)
Vidalia's daughter and Lyn's older sister.
- Adopted to the House: After Marisol gets kicked out of the house, Emma offers her home to Marisol.
- But Not Too Black: Her fairer skin tone gets pointed out on occasion. When Marcos refers to the sisters as blanquitas, Lyn reminds him that Emma is the lighter skinned one. Later when Baco scathingly tells Emma that he knows how "you people do things here"—assuming she's a stuck-up white woman—she lashes out that she is Mexicannote .
- Calling the Old Man Out: Emma calls out Victor for trying to take the bar from her and Lyn. She also tells him she is queer. In response, he and his congregation loudly pray, and she leaves in disgust.
- Category Traitor: Emma is accused of not being a "real" Latina frequently, using such slurs as "coconut" or "White-ina", because she left the neighborhood, then came back to do some stuff differently with her mom's bar.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Emma is the responsible sibling. She is hard-nosed and prudent to a fault, driving everyone nuts with her high expectations.
- Forgotten Birthday: Emma works through her birthday and does not want to celebrate it. At the end of the episode, Lyn remembers her birthday, and Emma and Lyn do a small celebration in the bar.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Averted. Emma gets abortion pills immediately after discovering she's pregnant, which is treated matter of factly by her and Lyn (the only other person who knows). Lyn mentions she'd once used the same means to have an abortion herself before.
- Groin Attack: Emma throws hot coffee onto Nelson's groin.
- Homosexual Reproduction: Discussed. When an intoxicated Emma tells Lyn she might be pregnant, Lyn is confused because she doesn’t think Nico can get her pregnant. Lyn forgot about Baco.
- Ice Queen: Emma, who is generally cold to nearly everyone she comes across. She frequently refers to Eddy as simply "the wife" and always refers to her mother by her first name.
- Insistent Terminology: Defied by Emma, who refuses to let other queer folks put what she considers to be outdated, archaic labels on her sexuality.
- Internal Reveal: Emma discovers Lyn’s credit card fraud of over $10,000 from Vida's credit cards. Emma is understandably upset with Lyn’s selfishness.
- It Doesn't Mean Anything: This is how Emma sees most of her relationships. Unfortunately, Cruz wants more from Emma.
- It's All My Fault: She blames herself for Eddie's beating at another bar after the former drive her out. She's had this mindset since childhood, blaming herself for Vida's irresponsibility such as forgetting to pick her and Lyn up from school, or forgetting to pay a bill.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Emma's more of an ice queen than a true jerkass, but she does have a legitimate (and pretty heartbreaking) reason to speak ill of her deceased mother. After being kicked out—twice—by Vidalia as she's queer (especially while Vidalia was working out her own "gay shame"), can you really blame her for being angry?
- Lipstick Lesbian: Emma (or rather lipstick pansexual, from what's later revealed). She likes to wear dresses, with an elegant style. Emma sees multiple women, one man, and one non-binary person. She seems mostly attracted to women (or AFAB people) from what's seen.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Emma and Nico have sex in the bar's bathroom (they lock it at least).
- Mean Boss:
- Emma’s bosses in Chicago do not care that she just lost her mother and get annoyed when she tells them she cannot return to work as quickly as she thought because she still has family affairs in Los Angeles. Also, her boss uses Emma for sex.
- When Emma inquires to her boss as to why she hasn't been assigned her own work team, he (falsely) assures her it's not because of the "Latina thing".
- Emma isn’t the kindest to Baco and uses him for sex. Baco is angry at her and calls her out; she explains to Baco that she is used to having her boss use her for sex.
- Emma’s bosses in Chicago do not care that she just lost her mother and get annoyed when she tells them she cannot return to work as quickly as she thought because she still has family affairs in Los Angeles. Also, her boss uses Emma for sex.
- Ms. Fanservice: Emma is shown having sex with people on multiple occasions.
- Mushroom Samba: At Marcos’s birthday party, Emma takes shrooms and breaks Rudy’s mother’s glass punch bowl. Emma also hooks up with Nico.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Emma blames herself for her fight with Eddie that caused the latter to go to another bar where she is brutally beaten by a homophobic patron.
- No Bisexuals: The second season has Emma revealed to be bisexual, and she faces lesbians who are skeptical about it. These comments are said to her face, which upsets Emma.
- Nom de Mom: She and Lyn go by their mother's last name, Hernandez, instead of their father's (Villanueva).
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Emma prefers to have one-night stands and does not want relationships. This changes when she starts a relationship with Nico.
- One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: After hooking up with Baco a few times, she gets pregnant. She quickly gets an abortion.
- Outside/Inside Slur: Emma is frequently referred to as a "coconut" or "White-ina" because she previously left their neighbourhood, and later returns to make major changes to her late mother's bar.
- Parental Abandonment: Emma and Lyn’s mother's death is the Inciting Incident for the plot, while their father is absent in the beginning. It turns out he was deported to Mexico, but there's no indication of them being in contact with him at first. They thought he died, but he's still alive and is back in the US. Lyn reconnects to him, but Emma doesn't want to. It doesn't last long, since he expresses homophobia toward them hosting LGBT events in their bar, and about Emma being queer, so Lyn declares him no longer her father.
- Popcultural Osmosis Failure: Unlike Nico and Lyn, Emma has not seen The Princess Bride and does not understand the references. She was sent away to Texas and lost some of her childhood.
- Shaming the Mob: Emma, who is not feeling well from the side effects from her abortion, angrily confronts Los Vigilantes, who are protesting outside the bar. She asks them why they are not protesting the building behind them, a building from real estate developers who pose a threat to Boyle Heights. Los Vigilantes are speechless.
- Shoo the Dog: Emma’s mother sent her away to live with family in Texas after she catches her with another girl. For Emma’s entire life, she believed her mother was homophobic, but it turns out her mother was not homophobic; she was protecting her from her abusive, homophobic father.
- Sleeping with the Boss:
- Emma slept with her boss from Chicago, and it's implied that it was reoccurring.
- She also sleeps with Baco resulting in her getting pregnant. Baco calls her out that she uses people, making Emma feel guilty.
- What the Hell, Hero?: As soon as Emma returns to her neighborhood, she's determined to sell off her mother's building at all costs, even though most of its tenants are undocumented immigrants. Even Lyn calls her out on this.
Lyn Hernández
Lynda "Lyn" Hernández
Played By: Melissa Barrera, Ellie Paris Legaspi (as a child)
Vidalia's daughter and Emma's younger sister.
- Attention Whore: Lyn is the kind of girl who actively goes looking for drama yet complains that drama always finds her no matter where she goes. Case in point, Lyn was delighted when Johnny's fiancée finds out she was sleeping with him and goes to confront her.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Her thick, bushy eyebrows are one of her defining traits. A guest at one of Lyn's boyfriends' hypnotically white house parties comments on her eyebrows, wishing to get a "Frida Kahlo"-inspired brow for herself.
- Brainless Beauty: Lyn is both an aversion and a deconstruction. She proves to be just as clever as some of the other characters when she wants to be. She's only perceived to be air-headed by some people due to her flighty personality and her promiscuity. Others actually prefer that she keeps her mouth shut and look pretty.
- Category Traitor: Lyn is accused of not being a "real" Latina frequently, using such slurs as "coconut" or "White-ina", because she left the neighborhood, then came back to do some stuff differently with her mom's bar.
- Catfishing: Marcos and Lyn catfish Nelson and pretend they are a white woman after Marcos tells Lyn how Nelson dismissed Marcos’s cousin because she has a darker skin tone and how Nelson prefers white women over Latina women. Later, Nelson sends them a picture of his penis. Lyn sends this picture along with the racist messages about how he doesn’t date Latina women to Los Vigilantes. As revenge, Los Vigilantes post copies of the picture and the racist messages on Nelson’s building.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Emma confronts Lyn over her affair with Johnny, Lyn willfully ignores the fact that Johnny is both engaged and a father-to-be, choosing to justify her actions on the grounds that she wants to free herself from society's idea of monogamy. Understandably, Emma is pissed at this.
- Commitment Issues: Lyn is uncomfortable when Rudy calls her “my girl" since he wants to be serious, and she wants to be casual. They eventually become a couple.
- Damsel out of Distress: After Lyn gets kicked out of the music event high on ecstasy, she sends an intoxicated video to Johnny. Two guys photobomb her video and threaten to attack her. She scares them off before Johnny comes to save her. Lyn tells Johnny she didn’t need him to come, and could have handled them herself.
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite Lyn's own selfish nature, even she is appalled by Emma's lack of empathy towards the undocumented tenants who will be left on the streets and vulnerable to being caught by immigration if she sells their mother's building.
- Fake Boobs: Lyn had her boobs done since the last time she saw Johnny. Johnny comments that he likes the new ones, but he also liked the old ones, offending Lyn. Lyn tells him that she was pressured to get her boobs done by a guy she was seeing.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Lyn is the foolish sibling. She causes trouble wherever she goes, such as starting an affair with Johnny and going on a thousand dollar shopping spree just to cheer herself up.
- Gold Digger: She sponges off of her white boyfriends' credit cards.
- Granola Girl: Lyn, to the point that Eddy tries to accommodate her diet with vegan options. Even so, she breaks down by eating flan in Episode Two.
- Heroic Seductress: Lyn uses Rudy to expedite the new inspection from the fire department so the bar can reopen.
- I Have Boobs, You Must Obey!: Lyn flirts with the teenage worker at the bakery to fix Karla's cake. Johnny calls her out on this and tells her to leave him alone.
- It's All About Me: Not to the point of being malicious—maybe—but Lyn's seducing of an old flame of hers, knowing he had a fiancée who was pregnant with his kid, as well as going on shopping sprees using her dead mother's credit cards don't point towards good character on her part. A saint she is not.
- Language Barrier: Unlike Emma, Lyn did not learn Spanish. She has awkward encounters, including with Rudy’s mother. She later embraces it, realizing it is a part of her.
- Luke, You Are My Father: At the end of Victor’s church service, Lyn introduces herself to Victor as his daughter.
- Meaningful Name: Her full first name, Linda, means "pretty" in Spanish, which is what most people—particularly white men—consider to be her only trait.
- Ms. Fanservice: Lyn has a nude or sex scene in most episodes and wears a lot of revealing outfits that show off her body.
- Mushroom Samba: She takes ecstasy at a music event with Marcos. She gets intoxicated and kicked out of the event for peeing on an art installation that resembles a toilet.
- Nom de Mom: She and Emma go by their mother's last name, Hernandez, instead of their father's (Villanueva).
- Outside/Inside Slur: Lyn is frequently referred to as a "coconut" or "White-ina" because she previously left her neighborhood and later returns to make major changes to her late mother's bar. It gets worse when Los Vigilantes refer to her as "Coconut Becky" for having casual sex with white men.
- Parental Abandonment: Emma and Lyn’s mother's death is the Inciting Incident for the plot, while their father is absent in the beginning. It turns out he was deported to Mexico, but there's no indication of them being in contact with him at first. It turns out they thought he died, but he's still alive and is back in the US. Lyn reconnects to him, but Emma doesn't want to. It doesn't last long, since he expresses homophobia toward them hosting LGBT events in their bar, and about Emma being queer, so Lyn declares him no longer her father.
- Race Fetish: She's frequently sexualized by white men for her stereotypical "spicy Latina" looks, but they dump her anyway.
- Really Gets Around: Lyn has casual sex pretty frequently. The second season premiere reveals she even regularly attends orgies (though this stops in that episode, as she's grown tired of it).
- Selfie Fiend: After she and Johnny have sex, Lyn takes a pic of Johnny sleeping naked on top of her and posts it. This is how Karla finds out about their affair.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: After using her dead mother’s credit cards to go on a shopping spree, she racks up a bill of over $10,000. Emma is upset with Lyn that she committed fraud and her selfishness.
- Spicy Latina: Lyn is perceived this way by a lot of white guys due to her gorgeous looks and her promiscuity. However, she's more of an aversion, being mild-mannered, very far from an action girl and laidback generally (though with some exceptions).
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Invoked. Lyn misinterprets Doña Lupe's reading to believe she and Johnny belong together. She purposely disrupts Johnny and Karla’s engagement to achieve her goal. She and Johnny stop seeing each other, but at the end of the series, Johnny and Lyn try to make it work.
- Symbolic Baptism: Lyn gets baptized in her father’s church to get closer to him.
- Tarot Troubles: Lyn misinterprets Doña Lupe’s reading to believe she and Johnny are meant for each other when in reality, Doña Lupe meant Lyn is meant to be at the bar with her sister.
- Tough Room: Lyn tries Lotería Night for the bar, but it does not go well because Lyn's Lotería is marketed towards Millennials, and the bar patrons are much older.
- Trophy Wife: Karla accuses Lyn of being one when she sees Lyn and Rudy together at the community fair. But Lyn is bothered that Rudy does not introduce her as a bar/business owner and doesn't care about her accomplishments. She breaks up with him soon after.
- Underdressed for the Occasion: Lyn wore a casual dress to Rudy’s mother’s birthday party that required a cocktail dress code. Rudy’s mother was not impressed.
- Vapor Wear: Lyn has the habit of going braless. This bites back on her when she goes to a community event with Rudy, and his mother sees Lyn's nipples through her top, thinking Lyn is obscene. Rudy's mother offers her sweater to Lyn to cover herself.
- Vow of Celibacy: After her breakup with Johnny, Lyn decides to become celibate. Her celibacy is tested when she meets Rudy, and she ultimately breaks the vow when they become intimate.
Secondary Characters
Vidalia "Vida"
Vidalia "Vida"
Played By: Rose Portillo, Rocio López (young Vida)
Emma and Lyn's mother. She dies of illness shortly before the series' events, prompting her daughters to return to their old neighborhood to sell off her assets.
- Abusive Mom:
- While Vida clearly favored Lyn, she wasn't always nice with her. Long before her death, she convinced Lyn that her good looks were all she had going for her. This became the catalyst for Lyn's highly active sex life, and her deeply-ingrained belief that her ability to attract men was her currency.
- Vida also never explained to Emma the reason why she sent her to Texas, allowing Emma to resent her mother for many years.
- Blood from the Mouth: When she drops dead on the bathroom floor, blood is seen pouring from her mouth onto the floor tiles.
- Cute Ghost Girl: Vidalia appears as a child ghost to Emma.
- Deadly Nosebleed: A very ill Vidalia gets a nosebleed and quickly falls and succumbs to her death.
- Domestic Abuse: Emma and Lyn's father, Victor, used to beat up their mother, Vidalia. Victor had beaten Vida within an inch of her life when she tried to defend teenage Emma after he had found Emma with another girl.
- Hypocrite: Emma believes her mother is a hypocrite for marrying a woman after Vidalia sent Emma away after discovering Emma is queer.
- Internalized Categorism: She kicked out Emma when she was younger for liking girls, despite the fact that she herself eventually married a woman. It turns out Vidalia sent Emma away to protect her from her abusive homophobic father.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Vidalia was feminine, while her wife Eddy is butch.
- "Not Really Married" Plot: Vidalia and Eddy were never legally married because she and Victor were still legally married.
- Outside/Inside Slur: Emma refers to Vida as a pocha for her excessive use of Spanglish.
- Plot-Triggering Death: In the first minute of the pilot episode, she's seen dropping dead in her bathroom as she's reaching for her pills. Her death is what prompts her two daughters to return to Boyle Heights.
- Where There's a Will, There's a Sticky Note: Vidalia’s online will, stating Eddy gets a third of the bar and building, becomes invalid when Emma discovers Vidalia was still married to Victor and he is still alive.
Eddy Martinez
Eddy Martinez
Played By: Ser Anzoategui
Vida's wife who is a bartender at the bar.
- The Bartender: She was the bartender of the bar when Vida was alive and continues to work at the bar with Emma and Lyn.
- Bearer of Bad News: Eddy finds out Victor is still alive and does not know how to tell Emma and Lyn. She decides to write a letter and send it to the sisters.
- Bungled Suicide: She tries cutting herself with a smashed liquor bottle during Vida's wake. She is stopped by Johnny, who asks her if she wants to put the other attendees through another funeral.
- Butch Lesbian: Eddy is quite butch in her appearance, having short hair and very masculine clothing. It's also revealed she binds her breasts.
- The Generation Gap: Eddy is confused by younger LGBT people, as they embrace "queer" as a self-descriptor (it was a dire insult to her generation) while not understanding the idea of non-binary, which has become a common identity in theirs. They view her as an out of touch "elder".
- Homophobic Hate Crime: Eddy was beaten up in a bar by a homophobic man who was sexually harassing Eddy's friend. Eddy ended up in the hospital, and he got away with it.
- "Not Really Married" Plot: Nelson reveals that Eddy and Vida were never legally married because Vida was still legally married to Victor.
- Ship Tease: With Monica. But nothing happens because Eddy tells her she is still in love with Vidalia.
- Tomboyish Name: Her first name is Edwina, but she goes by the more gender ambiguous "Eddy".
- Trauma Button: Eddy is traumatized after seeing her abuser at the corner store. She is so scared that she runs to Vida's to find solace.
- Where There's a Will, There's a Sticky Note: Vidalia’s online will, stating Eddy gets a third of the bar and building, becomes invalid when Emma discovers Vidalia was still married to Victor and he is still alive.
Johnny Sanchez
Johnny Sanchez
Played By: Carlos Miranda
Marisol's older brother and an old flame of Lyn. He works at a garage, and is currently engaged to Karla, who has a baby on the way. However, trouble ensues when he finds himself unable to get over Lyn.
- Amicable Exes: Averted. Due to Johnny’s infidelity, he and Karla broke up and do not get along. He tries to make things work with her for the sake of their daughter.
- Big Brother Instinct: Johnny beats Tlaloc after viewing the video of Marisol giving oral sex to Tlaloc. Later, Johnny tells Marisol that he watches her activism videos to look out for her online.
- Damned If You Do Damned If You Dont: Johnny unwillingly shows his father the video of Marisol and Tlaloc, resulting in Marisol getting kicked out of the house. Their father tells Johnny that if he does not show him the video, he will find it himself, making Johnny feel like he does not have a choice.
- Double Standard: Johnny and Marisol's father isn't concerned that Johnny is cheating on his pregnant fiancée with his ex-girlfriend. But when he finds out that Marisol had sex with Tlaloc, he kicks her out of the house.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Johnny is the foolish sibling to Marisol. He starts an affair with Lyn, even though he is engaged to Karla and she is pregnant with his child. He is also in the habit of forgetting to take his father to his dialysis and doctor appointments. His father died because he missed another doctor’s appointment.
- High-School Sweethearts: He was this with Lyn.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Johnny and Lyn have sex in many nontraditional places, including the stairs behind the bar, Johnny’s garage, and the back of his truck.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Johnny feels guilty for showing the video of Marisol to their father, which got her kicked out of the house. He tells Marisol he will try to fix it.
- Not So Above It All: Repeatedly brushes off Lyn when she tries to seduce him, but he falls into temptation each time.
- Parental Abandonment: He and Marisol’s mother died before the series starts, leaving them without parents when their father dies in Season 3.
- Sex with the Ex: Johnny sleeps with Lyn multiple times before Karla finds out.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After Marisol confronts Johnny about his affair with Lyn, Johnny tells Marisol he doesn't need to be a good husband to be a good father. Marisol calls Johnny out for saying that.
Marisol Sanchez
Marisol Sanchez
Played By: Chelsea Rendon
Johnny's little sister. She's a militant activist who dedicates the majority of her time protesting the gentrification of her neighborhood.
- Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: Marisol is a member of Los Vigilantes, an activist organization protesting against gentrification in Boyle Heights. While her tactics are harsh, she believes her culture is under threat of erasure. Marisol also protests against ICE and posts videos about gentrification and ICE deportations on her social media.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: She gradually warms up to Emma, starting when the two get into a hearty conversation while spending the night in the same jail cell. She eventually begins to view Emma as the older sister she never had.
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Marisol dropped out of college and, throughout the series, contemplates what she wants to do with her life. At the end of the series, she is offered a position as a freelancer at a digital marketing company where she can post her activism.
- Disinherited Child: After her father passes away, Marisol discovers the house is only in Johnny’s name. Marisol is distraught, especially after she was her father’s nurse for many years. At the end of the series, Marisol asks Johnny to add her to the deed, and he agrees.
- Double Standard: Johnny and Marisol's father isn't concerned that Johnny is cheating on his pregnant fiancée with his ex-girlfriend. But when he finds out that Marisol had sex with Tlaloc, he kicks her out of the house.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the pilot episode, she's seen angrily vlogging to her followers from her bedroom about taking down gentrifiers, presenting herself early on as a fierce activist. However, when she encounters Emma and Lyn and goes on to accuse them of being category traitors, this serves to show how faulty her activism is.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Marisol is the responsible sibling to Johnny. She works three jobs to help her and her father. She also takes her father to his doctor appointments and acts as his nurse at home. When she is working, she reminds Johnny to take him to the doctor to no avail.
- Forced from Their Home: After Marisol’s father kicks her out, Emma invites her to stay at her apartment.
- I Have No Daughter!: After Marisol's father watches the video, her father shames her and kicks her out of his house.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Tlaloc records Marisol giving him oral sex and uploads the video online to everyone, humiliating her.
- Interclass Friendship: Whenever Marisol's not acting antagonistic, she's seen as having this kind of relationship with Emma, who's middle class.
- It's Personal: She starts out hating Lyn. This could be partially chalked up to her hating Lyn's "coconut" lifestyle, but it's made obvious later on that it's because she doesn't appreciate Lyn seducing Johnny, enabling him to cheat on Karla (who's pregnant with his child).
- The Medic: One of Marisol’s jobs is as a nurse in a nursing home. She uses her skills to care for her father and nurse Eddy after her attack at a bar.
- Misplaced Retribution: Marisol’s father blames her for the video and kicks her out of the house. While the act of oral sex had consent, the video recording and release did not. Marisol's father is more concerned with his daughter having sex than blaming Tlaloc for disregarding Marisol's consent.
- Mistaken for Betrayal: Emma believes Marisol betrayed Emma and Lyn after Lyn gets doused with laundry detergent, especially after Emma opened her doors to Marisol. Marisol tried to explain that she did not participate and tried to warn them, but Emma would not listen.
- Parental Abandonment: She and Johnny's mother died before the series starts, leaving them without parents when their father dies in Season 3.
- Parting-Words Regret: Marisol and her father were on bad terms after he kicked her out of the house. They never make up before he dies.
- Slut-Shaming: Marisol gets this after Tlaloc records her giving him oral sex and shares it without her knowing. She is the one blamed by her dad, who kicks her out of the house, though he was indifferent to her brother Johnny cheating on his (pregnant) fiancée.
- Straw Character: Her activism is considered just a little too over-the-top, even by the show's progressive standards. When we first meet her, she goes into an angry rant against Emma and Lyn, referring to them as "White-ina bitches" for leaving their neighborhood.
- Workaholic: At the beginning of the series, Marisol works three jobs to support her and her ill father.
Cruz
Cruz
Played By: Maria Elena Laas
Emma's friend who she had a thing for.
- It Meant Something to Me: Cruz wants a relationship with Emma, but since Emma is trying to figure out what she wants, she does not want to commit to a relationship. Cruz ends things with Emma soon after.
- Old Flame: Cruz and Emma previously had a relationship before Emma moved to Chicago.
- Shower of Love: Cruz and Emma hook up in the shower. It becomes Deconstructed when it gets awkward, and they almost slip on each other.
- Temporary Love Interest: Cruz and Emma break up the same night Emma meets Nico.
Nico
Nico
Played By: Roberta Colindrez
A bartender who works at Vida's who becomes Emma's love interest.
- The Bartender: After meeting Nico at the wedding, Emma hires her to work as a bartender at Vida's.
- Butch Lesbian: She's a mild example, with short hair, masculine clothing and a slightly tomboyish manner.
- Domestic Abuse: Zoe attacks Nico after the two break up.
- Marriage of Convenience: She married Zoe only for insurance purposes. Nico does not think she needs to inform Emma because she is not romantically involved with Zoe. But Emma is upset because Nico hid this information and believes Nico is unfaithful to her.
- Mistaken for Servant: Emma asks for a drink at the wedding and leaves money for Nico. Even though Nico helped create the cocktail menu, Nico was not working the wedding; she was the best man.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She's referred to as Nicole only once by her wife Zoe.
- Questionable Consent: At Marcos's party, an inebriated Emma gives Nico oral sex. Nico later feels guilty about this, saying it was "rapey" to let it happen. Emma dismisses this, saying she wanted it and would have done the same even if unimpaired, but Nico points out that she was sober. Emma could not consent if she was high.
- The Stool Pigeon: Lisa accuses Nico of being a snitch after Nico tells Emma she caught Lisa stealing money from the register. Emma promptly fires Lisa.
- Token Minority: While still Latina, she's the only Honduran/Argentine-American living in a Mexican-American neighborhood.
- Two-Person Pool Party: Nico and Emma hook up in the bathtub before Lyn interrupts them.
Others
Doña Lupe
Doña Lupe
Played By: Elena Campbell-Martinez
A woman who lives in the Hernandez sister's building who practices Santeria.
- Fortune Teller: Doña Lupe practices Santeria and reads the future through tarot cards, a makeshift Crystal Ball, and tea leaves. Lyn frequently visits her to receive advice on her life.
- Gossipy Hens: She lived in the building for a long time and knows everything, including that Victor is alive and Emma was sent away not because of her mom’s alleged homophobia, but because her father found her with another girl, beat her mom, and her mom sent Emma away to protect her.
- Psychic Powers: She claims she can connect to the dead, including Vidalia. Lyn does not want to participate.
- Talking to Themself: Doña Lupe talks to herself. Lyn even asks her who she was speaking to at a point. She may be communicating with the deceased, but it is not confirmed.
Tlaloc Medina
Tlaloc Medina
Played By: Ramses Jimenez
One of the activists in Los Vigilantes.
- Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: As a member of Los Vigilantes, he protests gentrification in Boyle Heights. Like the other members, he uses harsh means to convey his message.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: After Marisol confronts him about the video, he tells her he respects consent, despite not getting her consent to record and upload the video in the first place.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: He took advantage of Marisol. Even though he claims he didn’t upload the video, he still recorded it without Marisol’s consent, and it was uploaded and sent to everyone.
- Manipulative Bastard: Even after he recorded the video and allegedly uploaded it to the internet, he still tells Marisol he likes her and would never try to hurt her. Marisol believes him, and the two hook up again. It is not until Johnny beats him up that Tlaloc decides to end things with Marisol.
- Messy Hair: Tlaloc has curly hair that is usually put up. Later, Johnny compares him to Sideshow Bob.
- Never My Fault: Tlaloc blames his iCloud getting hacked for why the video was leaked, instead of admitting he took advantage of Marisol by disrespecting Marisol's privacy and disregarding her consent.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Tlaloc gets beaten up by Johnny after Johnny sees the video of Marisol giving him oral sex.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Tlaloc does not appear in Season 3.
Nelson Herrera
Nelson Herrera
Played By: Luis Bordonada
A real estate developer who wants to buy the bar from Emma, Lyn, and Eddy.
- All Men Are Perverts: He tries to butter up Emma to get her to sell the apartment and bar to him.
- Boomerang Bigot: He sells predatory mortgages to the predominate Latino property owners in Boyle Heights (Vidalia being one of them), knowing they won't be able to pay them back. This practice results in their properties being taken away and razed to make space for more expensive properties that only wealthier (and implicitly whiter) residents can afford.
- Catfishing: Lyn and Marcos catfish Nelson and pretend they are a white woman after Marcos tells Lyn how Nelson dismissed Marcos’s cousin because she has a darker skin tone and how Nelson prefers white women over Latina women.
- Colorism: His preference for non-Hispanic white women aside, Nelson makes him and Emma to be superior over the neighbourhood residents because they "took the nopal (cactus) off their narizes (noses)". This phrase is commonly used against darker-skinned Indigenous Latinos. Considering how white-passing he and Emma are, the racist connotation is there.
- Establishing Character Moment: The first thing Nelson does when he comes to Vida's funeral is give the dead woman's daughter his business card. This alone sets him up as a problematic character.
- Foil: Nelson is this to Emma in that they're both Mexican-American business people from Boyle Heights who plan to sell off a staple neighborhood location with little regard to how it'll affect the residents. Over time, Emma starts to embrace her roots, and creates a safe space for the more marginalized members of her community. Nelson continues to be a greedy, self-hating Latino who sees his neighbourhood solely as a money ground and its Latino residents as people to be exploited.
- Groin Attack: He touches Emma's leg while trying to convince her to sell Vida's building to him, earning him a well-deserved splash of hot coffee on his groin.
- Internalized Categorism: He repeatedly looks down on his own community, believes upper-class Latinos like himself and Emma are superior to the poorer (and darker) Latinos residing in the neighbourhood, and shows contempt for Latinas.
- Intimate Telecommunications: Nelson sends Lyn and Marcos (who are Catfishing him) a picture of his penis. Lyn sends this picture along with the racist messages about how he doesn’t date Latina women to Los Vigilantes. As revenge, Los Vigilantes post copies of the picture and the racist messages on Nelson’s building.
- Race Fetish: He has a preference for white women. This is, of course, the result of his Internalized Categorism.
- Smug Snake: He wants to take Vida's bar no matter what, so much so that he's more than happy to let Emma in on the fact that Vida and Eddy were never actually married, just so she can legally remove the latter from the bar business.
- We Used to Be Friends: Nelson and Emma met each other briefly in childhood when their mothers worked together in a laundromat. Nelson brings this up to Emma during his introduction to gain her trust. Thankfully, Eddy warns her about his true character.
Yoli
Yoli
Played By: Elizabeth De Razzo
A member of Los Vigilantes and Marisol's best friend.
- Activist-Fundamentalist Antics: As a member of Los Vigilantes, she is militant about her beliefs. She even throws laundry detergent at Lyn and gets in a fight with Emma, resulting in her arrest.
- Best Friend: Yoli is Marisol's best friend.
- Category Traitor: She accuses Lyn of this during the protest outside of Vida's bar, to the point that she douses the latter in laundry detergent to highlight her being whitewashed.
- Multigenerational Household: Yoli and her family move in with their extended family after getting evicted from their home.
- Tricked into Signing: Due to fears about her immigration status, Yoli’s mother signed an ambiguous contract. Unfortunately, the contract evicted Yoli and her family to make space for new housing.
- The Undocumented: She's a DACA recipient.
- We Used to Be Friends: Yoli pressured Marisol to bring the laundry detergent to attack the bar. Unbeknownst to Yoli and the other members of Los Vigilantes, Emma opened her home to Marisol after her father kicked her out of the house. After more disagreements, Marisol decides to quit Los Vigilantes to focus on other ways to show her activism, bothering Yoli.
Karla
Karla
Played By: Erika Soto
Johnny's pregnant fiancée.
- Amicable Exes: Averted. Due to Johnny’s infidelity, she and Johnny broke up and do not get along. They try to make things work for the sake of their daughter.
- Blame the Paramour: Karla confronts Lyn for ruining her relationship with Johnny. She blames Johnny, as well.
- The Bully: She hated Lyn as far back as their high school years, and referred to her as "Abercrombie and Bitch".
- Disposable Fiancée: Karla and Johnny start the series happily engaged with a baby on the way. Once Lyn returns, Johnny starts an affair with her, breaking off his engagement to Karla.
- Internet Stalking: Karla discovers that Johnny slept with Lyn after she finds Lyn’s Instagram and recognizes Johnny’s tattoos in one of her pictures.
- Jerkass Has a Point: She has an insufferable attitude, but she's justified in that and for calling out Lyn for having an affair with her fiancé. Even Emma and Eddy (who are both mad at Karla for making a scene at the bar) admit that she has every right to be angry at Lyn.
- Spell My Name With An S: Before her baby shower, Karla notices the cake has her name misspelled as "Carla" instead of "Karla". She asks Johnny to take it to the bakery to get it fixed. The baker refused because of Johnny's infidelity. It takes Lyn flirting with the teenage worker to have him change the spelling.
Marcos
Marcos
Played By: Tonatiuh
Cruz's friend who moves into Lyn and Emma's building.
- Book Smart: He has his Ph.D. and is looking for teaching positions at UCLA.
- Camp Gay: Marcos is very flamboyant in his dress and mannerisms.
- Catfishing: Marcos and Lyn catfish Nelson and pretend they are a white woman after Marcos tells Lyn how Nelson dismissed Marcos’s cousin because she has a darker skin tone and how Nelson prefers white women over Latina women. Later, Nelson sends them a picture of his penis. Lyn sends this picture along with the racist messages about how he doesn’t date Latina women to Los Vigilantes. As revenge, Los Vigilantes post copies of the picture and the racist messages on Nelson’s building.
- Colorism: Discussed. Marcos tells Lyn how his aunt dislikes him because of his darker skin tone and how the same aunt discriminates against his cousin who is a darker shade. That same aunt later gave birth to a child with dark skin. Additionally, Marcos's cousin went on a date with Nelson who told her he wasn’t interested in her because she has a darker skin tone.
- Furniture Assembly Gag: Lyn and Marcos bond putting together his IKEA furniture.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Someone gives him oral sex at his birthday party inside the bar. Lyn walks away in shock.
- Meaningful Rename: On his 30th birthday, he drunkenly declares he is decolonizing his name and gender and changing his name to Xochipilli.
- Milestone Birthday Angst: Marcos is worried about turning 30, so Lyn decides to throw him a double quinceañera since he did not get to have a quinceañera at 15.
- Mushroom Samba: He takes ecstasy at a musical event with Lyn. On his birthday, he takes shrooms and gets intoxicated.
Baco
Baco
Played By: Raul Castillo
A handyman hired to fix the apartment's pipes and renovate the bar.
- Handy Man: Baco is the handyman Emma hires to fix the building's plumbing and fix up the bar. Later, Baco’s mother tells Emma that Baco always wanted to be a carpenter and built many things around the house.
- Just Got Out of Jail: Baco and his workers have all served time in prison.
- My Beloved Smother: Baco's mother pressures Emma to stay for the party and embarrasses Baco when she tells her about his childhood.
- One-Night-Stand Pregnancy: Baco and Emma hook up a few times, and Emma becomes pregnant. She gets an abortion as soon as she finds out.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His first name's Francisco, but with the exception of his mother, everyone else calls him Baco.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He calls out Emma for her coldness toward other people, particularly for only using him to fulfill her sexual needs, and advises her to treat people the way she would like to be treated.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Emma uses Baco for sex. She ends up getting pregnant from their trysts.
- Think Nothing of It: Baco pays his fees to Emma so he can finish with her. Emma doesn’t want him to, but Baco insists.
Rudy
Rudy
Played By: Adrian Gonzalez
Boyle Heights city councilman and Lyn's boyfriend.
- Casual Kink: Rudy likes to be pegged. He even asked Lyn to pee on him, to Lyn’s disgust.
- I'll Be in My Bunk: In the second season, the councilman implies he'll be doing this after Lyn backs off from sex with him.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Subverted. Lyn and Rudy almost hook up in an alley until Lyn tells him she is trying to be celibate.
- Meet Cute: He and Lyn meet at their local gym, trying to one-up each other.
- Momma's Boy: Rudy’s mother is overbearing and a constant fixture in his life. Rudy even has a photo of her on his nightstand. Lyn comments that she is with them when they are having sex, making it awkward.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Rudy is a councilman in the Boyle Heights district. He tries to listen to his constituents by having community events. But the activists from Los Vigilantes disagree and believe he isn’t doing much to help.
- Trophy Wife: Even though they are not married, Rudy appreciates Lyn’s good looks and prefers when she looks pretty and doesn't speak. Lyn is bothered that Rudy does not introduce her as a bar/business owner and doesn't care about her accomplishments. She breaks up with him soon after.
Victor Villanueva
Victor Villanueva
Played By: Jesse Borrego
The father of Emma and Lyn.
- Disappeared Dad: Victor is absent from Emma and Lyn’s lives. He was deported to Mexico, but they thought he died. It turns out Victor is still alive and is back in the US.
- Domestic Abuse: Victor used to beat up their mother, Vidalia. Lyn insists he's changed, while Emma is reluctant to accept this. He had beaten Vida within an inch of her life when she tried to defend teenage Emma after he had found her exploring her sexuality.
- Heel–Faith Turn: Victor says he was once bad but changed his ways after becoming religious.
- Heteronormative Crusader: Victor is a conservative Christian minister who strongly opposes homosexuality. He's unsurprisingly displeased to learn that Emma and Lyn's bar hosts LGBT events and tries to take it from them legally so they'll stop. When Emma tells him she's queer, his congregation prays for her loudly, and she leaves in disgust. Because of this, Lyn, who'd wanted to forge a relationship with him, turns her back on Victor.
- Loophole Abuse: Since he is still alive and never divorced Vida, he technically has a right to the bar and building over Lyn and Emma. He claims he wants the bar because he does not like the LGBT patrons, but Lyn realizes he always had the intention to take the bar from them. Emma believes if he takes them to court, he might not win the case because of his past of domestic abuse.
- The Undocumented: Victor was deported to Mexico when the sisters were young. They thought he died but he was alive and returned to the United States.
