History Characters / DeadToMe

[[folder:Eleanor Hale]]

!Main Characters

!! Jennifer "Jen" Harding
-> '''Played by:''' Creator/ChristinaApplegate

!! Judy Hale
-> '''Played by:''' Creator/LindaCardellini

!Secondary Characters
[[folder:Steve]]
!! Steve Wood
-> '''Played by:''' Creator/JamesMarsden

Judy's ex-fiancee. Also, an egotistical and narcissistic douche.

* BigBad: [[spoiler:Judy wanted to stop and help Ted; Steve was the one to make her keep driving, therefore making him the central antagonist of Season 1.]]
* DomesticAbuser: Not physically, but he is implied to be emotionally abusive to Judy, to the point that she becomes extremely subservient around him.
* EvilAllAlong: After spending most of the first season being rather morally ambiguous, he shows his true colors in the last two episodes.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Perfectly capable of being pleasant, if extremely yuppie and a bit douchey. [[spoiler:Ultimately a total sociopath when push comes to shove.]]
* HateSink: Steve is a slimy, lying, emotionally abusive prick, [[spoiler:so when Jen kills him, the audience doesn't feel too bad for him]].
* ItsAllAboutMe: His primary character trait.
* {{Jerkass}}: ''Oh'', yeah. There is really nothing nice to say about this guy.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Steve told Jen whenever Judy goes, chaos follows. Even though he turns out to be a total douche later in the series, early on, Jen will soon discover how right he is...... And even downright admit it in front of Judy during season 2 out of frustration.
* LackOfEmpathy: [[spoiler:He really doesn't seem to feel much remorse at all for his part in the accident. The fact that his first instinct is to tell Judy to keep driving speaks volumes.]] Subverted in Season 2 when Judy admits that [[spoiler:he cried after the accident. Considering this ''is'' [[UnreliableNarrator Judy]], how true it can be considered is another matter entirely]].
* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler:He takes absolutely zero responsibility for any of his amoral actions. When suspicion starts to fall on him, he insists on pinning the blame solely on Judy after previously assuring her they were in it together.]]
* PlayingAgainstType: Used against the audience. James Marsden has a reputation for always playing the romantic runner-up, the guy who gets dumped, so when Judy — having been established as a liar — claims that Steve dumped her in brutal circumstances, we're ready to assume that this is another lie. After all, he's such a nice guy...

[[folder:Ben]]
!! Ben Wood
-> '''Played by:''' Creator/JamesMarsden
Steve's much nicer semi-identical twin brother.

* InsistentTerminology: He looks just like Steve, but insists he's a "semi-identical twin".
* LastGuyWins: [[spoiler:He is the first man Jen begins to date after her husband Ted's death and the only one to stay as her boyfriend by the time the series ends.]]
* OffTheWagon: He drinks again during the vigil, [[spoiler:and after he learns Steve's body was found, driving drunk and t-boning the car Jen bought for Charlie's birthday in another hit-and-run]].
* PartingWordsRegret: He hadn't spoken to Steve in a year, after getting drunk and going off on him, which inspired Ben to quit drinking.
* TheTeetotaler: He doesn't drink… [[OffTheWagon most of the time]].
* PolarOppositeTwins: He's everything Steve isn't: compassionate, friendly, caring.

[[folder:Nick]]
!! Nick Prager
-> '''Played by:''' Creator/BrandonScott
A man that Judy met at a grief retreat and dated. As a cop, he helps Judy and Jen investigate Ted's death and undercovers a lot more.

* FairCop: Looks so good in his uniform that Judy asks him to wear it later on their date.
* FriendOnTheForce: [[spoiler:In the second half of season one, he is this for Judy, and then he is both her and Jen in season 2.]]
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Seems to be this for Judy, but it's averted as he becomes integral to solving the mystery of season one and the money laundering of season two.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ted]]
!!Ted Harding
Jen's deceased husband.

* AgeGapRomance: [[spoiler:It's revealed in season 1 episode 3 that he had a year-long affair with 19-year-old Bambi.]]
* TheGhost: His appearance is never shown, even in flashbacks he is usually out of the scene, or impossible to be seen.
* ParentsAsPeople: He was far from a perfect husband [[spoiler:and was in fact pretty terrible in a lot of ways]], but he was apparently an affectionate father, and his sons really miss him.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: The hit and run that killed him sets off the plot: both Jen's grief and [[spoiler:Judy's guilt]] stem from it.
* SexlessMarriage: [[spoiler:He and Jen stopped having sex after she got a preventative mastectomy.]]

[[folder:Lorna]]
!!Lorna Harding
->'''Played By:''' Creator/ValerieMahaffey

Ted's mother.

* DramaQueen: Lorna is prone to dramatic declarations about family and her missing her son, and makes some particularly antagonistic ones towards Jen whenever she can.
* ItsAllAboutMe: In a different way than Steve. Lorna is the narcissistic mother-in-law straight from your nightmares. Belittling, condescending, self-superior, and self-centered to the point where she tries to make Ted's funeral and memorial all about her own grief.
* {{Jerkass}}: While Jen can be difficult, Lorna is just plain ''mean''.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Jen doesn't like her at all, and it's hard to blame her. She looks down on Jen's career choices and her son's marriage to her.

[[folder:Charlie]]
!!Charlie Harding
->'''Played By:''' Creator/SamMcCarthy

Ted and Jen's oldest son, who starts acting out after his father dies.

* CharacterDevelopment: Following getting lost in a joy ride with Steve's car, Charlie starts realizing there's something going on in his family and that his mom and Judy might be in danger, he also shows he can be a loving, trustworthy brother to his little sibling, and is more open to show affection and worry to his mother as he understands the big stress she's under.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he does have an incredibly aggressive attitude (frequently getting into arguments with his mother), he's completely capable of apologizing when he goes too far and is usually never outwardly mean to others.

[[folder:Detective Perez]]
!!Detective Ana Perez
->'''Played by:''' Creator/DianaMariaRiva

The detective in charge of the case of Ted's death, and subsequently, Jen and Judy's connection to the police.

* FreudianExcuse: Having spent time in the system and having lost her mother in a tragic way, she has multiple issues with abandonment which leaves her very hung up on her ex-girlfriend Michelle. Her time as a cop worsened her issues as she now is lost on her job and can't seem to stop treating everyone as a possible criminal and acting as a cop towards everyone.
* FriendOnTheForce: [[spoiler:In the final episode of Season 2, she becomes this for Jen.]]

[[folder:Michelle]]
!!Michelle
->'''Played by:''' Creator/NatalieMorales

The daughter of a nursing home patient who develops a friendship with Judy over the desire to escape through pot smoking sessions in the car. The friendship turns into a one-night stand and love that [[spoiler:Judy has to end to keep her cover]].

* NiceGirl: She's a very sweet and easy-going kind of person.

[[folder:Eleanor Hale]]
!!Eleanor Hale
->'''Played by:''' Creator/KateySagal

* AbusiveMom: In the present, she constantly manipulates and gaslights her daughter [[spoiler:to help her get out of prison]].
* ParentalNeglect: She's Judy's mother and she was absent from most of her childhood because of drug addiction. During the times when she did come home, she was so out of it that Judy often had to take care of her, including making sure she eats.

* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: Detective Perez doesn't believe her when she confesses to killing Steve.]]

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Jen and Judy quickly develop into this. Jen lets Judy move in to her house even after knowing her for not a particularly long time (which Charlie calls her out on), and Judy ends up [[PlatonicCoParenting helping raise Jen's kids]]. Even learning that Judy is the one who killed Ted only temporarily dampens their friendship. Jen, who's generally incredibly emotionally closed off, tells Judy multiple times that she loves her. And by the end of season 2, she asks Judy to take care of her kids in a letter she leaves for her after [[spoiler:leaving to turn herself in for killing Steve.]]

* MissingMom: Her mother got cancer and died when Jen was only nineteen. Jen mentions that her mom's death really screwed her up, which is the biggest reason why in season 2 [[spoiler:she's absolutely terrified about possibly being imprisoned for the murder of Steve.]]

* TheAtoner: Deconstructed. Judy tries to sincerely make up for the fact that she accidentally killed Jen's husband by befriending her, but her naïve and frivolous nature ends up compounding the already tragic and complicated situation, causing even more grief and [[spoiler: another death.]]

** Her mother was a drug addict who was often absent from her childhood. [[spoiler: It was eventually revealed that Judy testified against her mother, and this resulted to her initial incarceration.]]

* DeathByIrony: Purposely evoked when [[spoiler:she tries to commit suicide by being hit by a car, wracked with guilt over accidentally killing Ted this way. Fortunately, she doesn't succeed.]]

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Granted, Judy is bisexual, but this is still very much the dynamic she grows to have with Jen throughout the series. She moves in with Jen and helps to parent her sons, with Henry and Charlie both regarding her as a "bonus mom." Both Jen and Judy have compared their relationship with their relationships with Ted and Steve respectively, with Jen saying in "I Can Handle It" that she was terrified when she hadn't heard back from Judy because "the last time someone that I loved didn't call me back, he was dead," and in "Between You And Me," after Judy says that, although Steve wasn't perfect, he was still her person:

* MeaningfulName: Her last name, Hale -- as in, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions", a phrase which sums up Judy's character quite well.

* HateSink: Steve is a slimy, lying, emotionally abusive prick, [[spoiler:so when Jen kills him the audience doesn't feel too bad for him.]]

* LackOfEmpathy: [[spoiler:He really doesn't seem to feel much remorse at all for his part in the accident. The fact that his first instinct is to tell Judy to keep driving speaks volumes.]] Subverted in Season 2 when Judy admits that [[spoiler:he cried after the accident. Considering this ''is'' [[UnreliableNarrator Judy]], how true it can be considered is another matter entirely.]]

* PlayingAgainstType: Used against the audience. James Marsden has a reputation for always playing the romantic runner-up, the guy who gets dumped, so when Judy -- having been established as a liar -- claims that Steve dumped her in brutal circumstances, we're ready to assume that this is another lie. After all, he's such a nice guy...

* InsistentTerminology: He looks just like Steve, but insists he's a "semi-identical twin."
* LastGuyWins: [[spoiler: He is the first man Jen begins to date after her husband Ted's death and the only one to stay as her boyfriend by the time the series ends.]]
* OffTheWagon: He drinks again during the vigil, [[spoiler: and after he learns Steve's body was found, driving drunk and t-boning the car Jen bought for Charlie's birthday in another hit-and-run.]]

* TheTeetotaler: He doesn't drink...[[OffTheWagon most of the time]].

* FriendOnTheForce: [[spoiler: In the second half of season one he is this for Judy 2, and then he is both her and Jen in season 2.]]
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Seems to be this for Judy but it's averted as becomes integral to solving the mystery of season one and the money laundering of season two.

The daughter of a nursing home patient who develops a friendship with Judy over the desire to escape through pot smoking sessions in the car. The friendship turns into a one-night stand and love that [[spoiler:Judy has to end to keep her cover.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Her extreme self-destructiveness, lack of self-esteem, bouts of extreme depression and (more rarely) extreme glee, and difficulty letting go of the people (and ideas) she's attached to give the impression that she might have some sort of mental illness, possibly manic depressive disorder.

* AntiHero: Jen is a disturbed woman, whose anger issues deeply affect everyone in her life in a negative way, and is the protagonist of the story as she deals with grief over her husband's death.