Complete Monster: Vikram Desai, Danny's father, is revealed to be the perpetrator of the murders and the one responsible for ruining his son's and family's lives and reputations. Vikram had numerous affairs, and as part of a coverup, murders his own sister—Danny's aunt—by strangulation, emotionally manipulating a young Danny into taking the blame. Years after Danny is released from juvie, Vikram has since faked his death and been having a secret affair with Gloria Crane, blackmailing the latter's teenage daughter Regina into silence and implicitly having an affair with her too. When Regina says that she will reveal the truth to Danny, Vikram has her beaten to death, and comes up with a plan to have Danny framed with the help of both Gloria and a corrupt investigator. When Danny finally confronts him, Vikram insists he did was for the good of his family and loved ones, while Danny shoots down his claims and says Vikram is only out for himself. Vikram then attempts to kill Danny's friend Jo, and attacks Danny telling him that it's all his fault.
Creator's Pet: Jo is seemingly emerging as this, to the point that Danny and Lacey are more worried about her than themselves because of the diffusion through the whole school of a private tape in which they (Danny and Lacey) are shown making out.
This vibe totally drips off the screen every time Tess and Karen are in the same room together. And in "Danny Indemnity" the way they act toward each other is like a bad break-up, complete with the casserole-tossing.
A bit of this vibe between Lacey and Whitney. As it turns out, Whitney and Lacey both are bisexual, and this turns out to cause problems later.
Nightmare Fuel: Those creepy people with Danny Desai masks.
Seasonal Rot: Within the show's first season no less! Many fans have said the show declined in the second half of the first season, largely contributing to Jo becoming the Creator's Pet, an overemphasize on her relationship with Danny and Charlie, in a long drawn out storyline. Another complaint is the handling of Danny's character within the second half of the season. Others found the subplot involving Charlie and his adoption to be considerably dull, and less engaging than that of the mystery of Tara and Regina's murders in the first half; not helping is that Charlie's storyline continues to put Danny and Jo's relationship drama front and center. You'd be forgiven if you find yourself thinking the second half of the season never happened, and the series ended after Danny is exonerated for Regina's murder, Vikram's crimes are exposed.
Karen. She has to deal with the entire town hating her and her son, and everything she does to try to help Danny ends up backfiring or getting Danny angry at her.
Jo can be this quite frequently too, especially in episode 3 when Sarita humiliates her in front of the whole school.
