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Sarah Bennett
- And This Is for...: Once she and Dylan have the Executioner at their mercy, she stabs him repeatedly to make sure he feels the pain he's inflicted on others. She mentions her own grandmother, June, Justin, and even Verna.
- Brainy Brunette: An art expert who gathers useful information about the Executioner and their targets.
- Final Girl: She's the only one in the series so far to be established as the one from the very start. A darker example than usual, as not only does she survive the spree and kill the Executioner, but she also takes her time to torture him in retaliation for all the suffering he's caused.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Katie McGrath's natural Irish accent slips out fairly regularly.
- Spotting the Thread: She very quickly notices that June says to Heather "If I could go back, if I could take [Ariel's] place, I would". Go back. Those are the words that cause her to correctly realize that June was with Trent the night of Ariel's disappearance despite her originally claiming that it was just him alone.
- Trauma Conga Line: Her return to Waterbury marks the beginning of a very disturbing one. She's stalked by the Executioner, witnesses firsthand the bloody deaths of Justin and Tom, the latter of which is her biological father, finds the dead bodies of Verna and her own grandmother), is kidnapped and almost murdered by Vaughn, all while learning horrible secrets about her family. Can this girl ever get a break?
Dylan Bennett
- Antagonist in Mourning: Despite his strained relationship with Brenda, he knows how much she means to Sarah and is clearly saddened by her death.
- Red Herring: Throughout the season, several factors point to Dylan as the most likely to be the Executioner, such as how it is frequently mentioned he wasn't present for any of the times the Executioner appeared, and how he eavesdropped on Alison as she revealed her Dark Secret, which she later ended up getting killed for and most notably, how he is the only one profiting from the Executioner's actions, as his articles about the murders cause him to gain fame. This comes to a head when it's revealed he had been following the story of the original Executioner's murders long before he and Sarah ever met. However, it turns out he's innocent
Cam Henry
- Friend on the Force: Cam is this and Sarah's childhood friend compared to Iain.
Alan Henry
- Everyone Has Standards: Despite his status as The Fundamentalist making him disapprove of the victims and his own hypocritical Dark Secret, in the finale, when he learns that his son is the killer, he sadly tells him that "[Y]ou broke man's law, Cam. More importantly, you broke God's law." He is prepared to turn his son in but asks him to pray for forgiveness with him first.
- Not So Above It All: The town priest talks a big game about punishing sinners, while in the finale, Cam asks him if he is as righteous when he is being whipped by a dominatrix.
- Scars Are Forever: His left cheek is deeply scarred by a machete, courtesy of Tom Winston.
Robin Turner
- Plucky Comic Relief: Robin, despite his husband's death.
Heather Peterson
- Insane Equals Violent: Averted. Despite suspicion that this trope is in play, Heather has nothing to do with the Executioner's actions and is cleared of suspicion in Justin's death specifically.
- "Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives one to the whole town in the middle of the town's main street, and also individually calls out the characters who have already died so far in her own way. It ends with her pleading to know why Trent McBride left her daughter behind and didn't just take a few minutes to just bring her home.
- Sanity Slippage: Following Ariel's disappearance five years prior to the events, her mental health has greatly deteriorated.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: She finally gets some semblance of peace when she reunites with her daughter years after she disappeared, even meeting her grandson.
Lisa-Ann Follows
The Seven Sinners note
Iain Vaughn
- Detective Mole: The reason Ariel's disappearance was never solved was that Iain Vaughn, the chief of police who was running the investigation, was the one who abducted her and kept her as a sex slave.
- Ephebophile: He is definitely one. Just ask Ariel.
- Hate Sink: Aside from being unhelpful bordering on downright ignorant, he is a kidnapper and rapist who kept Ariel in his basement for 5 years and even fathered her child due to a sick obsession for another girl. When Ariel manages to run, he threatens to kill their child. He refuses to repent for his sin and tries to sacrifice Sarah to the Executioner to save his own skin. It's easy to think his punishment of being burned alive was him getting off easy.
- Murder by Cremation: The Executioner places him in a crematorium where he's incinerated despite his pleas for help.
- The Sociopath: He really couldn't care less about bringing justice to Waterbury, is superficially charming, and rapes/kidnaps Ariel for his own pleasure.
- Would Hurt a Child: He's willing to kill his and Ariel's own toddler son Jake if Ariel ever tries to escape.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once the prostitute that gave him an alibi for the night Ariel was kidnapped becomes a liability, he poisons her with spiked heroin.
Justin Faysal
- Blood from Every Orifice: After snorting cocaine laced with rodenticide (which works by causing hemorrhages in rats) he spends his last moments with blood pouring out of his eyes, nose, and mouth.
June Henry
- Redemption Equals Death: She prays to God that Ariel be returned to her mother before the Executioner comes in to collect her, which she calmly accepts without resistance.
Tom Winston
- Deathly Unmasking: An inverted example; here, the original Executioner AKA Tom takes off his own mask after the mortally wounded Rachel reveals to him that she's pregnant with his child - just so he can cut his own daughter out of her.
- Redemption Equals Death: With the guilt of murdering Sarah's parents to protect his job as a priest, he escapes prison to save her from the Executioner and offers his life when they were about to wheel her for her sin of pride.
- Take Me Instead: In the penultimate episode, the Executioner is about to make Sarah herself their last victim for the sin of pride, but he offers himself in her place. He's really her father, after all.
Brenda Merritt
- Alas, Poor Villain: Her death is one of the less violent in the series (as she drowns) but is also one of the saddest.
- Death by Pragmatism: After the Executioner stalked Sarah inside her own house, she wisely insists they leave the house and town as soon as possible and is later revealed to have brought a gun in case the killer would follow. She is, of course, dead by the end of the third episode.
- Foil: To Tom Winston. Brenda has never stopped hating Tom for killing her daughter, while Tom wishes that she could find redemption by confessing her crime. Both their sins are related to an unexpected pregnancy and, subsequently, their familiar bond with Sarah, and they both die to protect her.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Sarah describes her grandmother as "the most jealous and envious person she's ever known" and has several reasons to say so. Brenda despises both Dylan and Sarah's father (as she tries to pin off the porn and extortion ring uniquely on him) for taking her only family away from her. And envy was what pushed her to attempted murder.
- Redemption Equals Death: She confesses the truth about her crime to Sarah and tries to protect her shortly before being killed. Tom offers this view to comfort Sarah during one of her visits.Tom: Confession frees us, Sarah. Once we let go of our secrets, their power over us disappears. Your grandmother held onto that secret for years. So, take comfort knowing that she died, if not with a clear, then, at least a clearer conscience.
- See You in Hell: These are her final words to the Executioner, calling them out on their hypocrisy before being killed by them.
- Silver Vixen: She's in her sixties and has some grey hair, but she still catches the attention of her old flame.
- Sour Outside, Sad Inside: While she can be very unpleasant, she's still grieving for her daughter's death and worries that Sarah could suffer a similar fate.
Verna McBride
- Bait the Dog: Downplayed, as she's neither doing it for harmful reasons nor is too kind about it. However, she lets Dylan know about Sarah leaving in distress, but she clearly was using it as a chance to get into their house. She does some exploration until she finds the tape confirming her husband's infidelity to her.
- Fiery Redhead: She's extremely hostile and volatile towards most other people, fitting with her bright red hair.
- Woman Scorned: Her husband would cheat on her with Sarah's mother. Verna's response? Shoot him and hide the body.
Trent McBride
- Facial Horror: He looks horribly disfigured after being bitten by several poisonous snakes.
- Taxidermy Is Creepy: He likes to sew together the pelts of different animals he's hunted. This does a lot to unnerve Robin.
Allison Sutherland
- Dirty Coward: She barely kept herself together throughout her interview with the Executioner and when it's time for her to be their next target, she frantically begs for her life by promising to repent, but they would not have it, since it's too late for Ariel's father.
Waterbury Residents
Rachel and Bryan Ingram
- Gutted Like a Fish: Sarah's father was murdered by Tom Winston, the original Executioner, by stabbing him in the chest from behind with a machete and then carving down to his groin.
- Really Got Around: Sarah's mother Rachel was part of a secret pornography and prostitution operation in the town, which her husband was also in on.
- Traumatic C-Section: Sarah's mother was murdered by the original Executioner when she was highly pregnant with her daughter. In something of a subversion, while he did violently cut her baby out of her womb and stabbed her throat immediately after, instantly killing her, he intentionally kept the infant Sarah alive until the cops arrived on the scene.
Nancy Vaughn
- Accomplice by Inaction: Vaughn's wife was well aware that Ariel was kept in the basement of her house and decided to never do anything, even when Ariel begged for her help as she was being dragged there. She eventually relented to allow her husband to be arrested after Sarah convinces her to, allowing her to avoid being targeted by the Executioner and the same fate as Trent and June.
Ariel Peterson
Suzanne Henry
- Abusive Mom: She was verbally abusive of her son, Cam, berating him for sleepwalking and bedwetting. This resulted in Cam's Start of Darkness, pushing her down the stairs to her death, making her his first victim.
The Killer
The Executioner (spoilers)
- Accomplice by Inaction: Seeing from the list we find in the killer's burn book in episode 7, they would count as one. Vaughn's name was on the list under 'lust' implying that the killer knew he kidnapped and raped Ariel.
- Big Bad Friend: The new Executioner turns out to be Sarah's childhood friend, Cam, who's also the deputy sheriff in the town.
- Enfant Terrible: Turns out Cam was one of these. He killed his mother at a young age by pushing her down the stairs. Though given that she was abusive to him, that at least explains it.
- Hypocrite: The Executioner is guilty of almost every sin they kill other people for.
- Pride and wrath are the most evident. The Executioner's motive seems to be implicitly driven by anger, hence the need to "punish" others. And Tom Winston outright says that the Executioner's pride in his/her own conquest is their greatest sin of all, because of how much they're blinded by the idea that they're playing God.
- The Executioner's sin of sloth is magnitudes worse than the designated sloth victim, especially when you stop and think, and realize that the Executioner knew about Ariel's kidnapping and did nothing until it fits into their plan. Compare that to Trent and June, who had the decency to stop and check on her and made sure that she was able to walk home safely, and their reason for not bringing her to the ER was understandable, though just driving her home would have been better.
- Add in that Cam frames Dylan to have Sarah for himself and you have envy and lust as well.
- He also murders Allison despite her pleas for mercy, but when Sarah has him at her mercy, he does the same thing.
- Poetic Serial Killer: The Executioner bases their victims and their killing of them on past sins in an ironic fashion.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Cam, the current Executioner shows he has childish perceptions of things, and even starts crying like a baby in the end when his plans go awry, begging Sarah to spare him.
- The Scourge of God: The Executioner targets people who are guilty of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Most of their victims turn out to be rather despicable people guilty of crimes such as rape, Murder by Inaction, and extortion. When The Reveal comes around, it is somewhat hinted that his father, a priest obsessed with punishing the sinful, was a source of inspiration in all this.
- Suddenly Speaking: For most of the series, the Executioner is completely silent while conducting their kills. When interviewed by Allison, however, they do speak while masked, albeit through a voice synthesizer.
- Villainous Breakdown: When the Executioner's plan finally goes awry in the season finale because Sarah discovered their true identity, they start sobbing like a little kid after stabbing her.
- Villains Want Mercy: When Sarah overpowers the Executioner in the final confrontation, he begs her not to kill him. She has none of it and does so anyway.
