The 1963 cast of Season One of Why Women Kill. Beware of spoilers.
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Beth Ann Stanton
Played By: Ginnifer Goodwin
"You're unhappy. I see it. Everyday. You get up, you go to work, you come home, you eat dinner, you put on a smile for my benefit, and then you go to sleep. That's what your life is. And it's empty. Because of what we've suffered."
A meek and dutiful suburban housewife whose cheery demeanor hides a lot of pain. She then is shocked to discover her husband is cheating on her with a diner waitress and decides to befriend the waitress under a different name.
- '50s Hair: Beth Ann starts out with a curly bob in the style of the decade while Rob wears his hair slicked. This is to showcase the beginning of Beth Ann's transformation from a mousy woman to someone in charge of her destiny.
- Becoming the Mask: Beth Ann initially befriends April, so that she can get closer to her and drive her away from Rob. But she soon starts to genuinely enjoy spending time with her and soon becomes invested in helping her.
- Beware the Nice Ones: There's hints early on that cheerful, prudish Beth Ann has more going on beneath the surface, but as the series goes on it becomes clear how close she is to snapping and becoming violent. Namely, she's the only one of the three who actually commits murder: Simone performs a Mercy Kill at her husband's request and Taylor kills Jade in self-defense, but Beth Ann actually sets Rob up to die and smiles as he does.
- Chekhov's Gun: She buys a gun and shows it to Rob, claiming it's for self-defense after an alleged robbery that occurred to one of their neighbors. She then shows him that she will keep it in the kitchen drawer for emergencies. During his scuffle with Ralph, Beth Ann rushes over to get the gun and tosses it over to Rob. But when he tries to shoot the gun, it's revealed that Beth Ann didn't even load it. Which leads to Ralph firing off his own gun and killing Rob.
- Consistent Clothing Style: Beth Ann is always shown wearing fit-and-flare dresses in bright matching patterns, or matching sweaters and flared skirts. It fits the fashion of the time but also showing that Beth Ann is far more traditional than April or Sheila, who wear a variety of styles (and patterns).
- Dissonant Serenity: How Beth Ann responds to problems. A noticeable example is when she finds out the truth about Emily's death, and leaves the office sunnily with a smile on her face.
- Establishing Character Moment: The pilot episode opens with each husband talking about their wives, and each recalls how they met their then-future spouses. Each story tells a lot about each of the main women; Rob dated Beth Ann in high school, in a time when it was typical to marry your high school sweetheart. Even back then, she had the makings of an ideal mid-twentieth century Housewife, making him sandwiches and sewing his shirts.
- Eyelash Fluttering: In "I'd Like to Kill Ya But I Just Washed My Hair," she tries a more outwardly flirty approach to spruce up her relationship with Rob after hearing he was bored with her. She wears brighter clothes, says everything in a more flirty tone, and flutters her lashes more.
- False Friend: She initially plays this role as "Sheila", trying to get close to April in order to dissuade her from continuing to date Rob. However, she comes to genuinely enjoy being with April and actually become steadfast friends. Even after April finds out that Beth Ann is actually Rob's wife, the two still seem to remain friends. Beth Ann even looks after April's daughter and is getting ready to move to New York where April's singing career has taken off.
- Heroic BSoD: Beth Ann has a blank look of shock on her face when Rob's secretary, Claire, tells her that she left the gate unlatched, and, even worse, Rob knew about it all along and still blamed Beth Ann, and allowed her to blame herself for Emily's death.
- Hidden Depths: Beth Ann seems to be an exceptional piano player as she plays a tango-esque number in episode 3.
- Karma Houdini: She plans her husband's murder along with getting rid of Mary's abusive husband for committing said murder. Not only does the plan go off without a hitch, Ralph gets executed a year afterwards for shooting Rob, Beth Ann gets to raise April's child as her own and the two end up moving to New York to support April's careers as a singer.
- Lethal Diagnosis: Averted. She actually goes to Sheila's nephew to get a fake diagnosis of her having a terminal cancer in hopes that Rob would choose to stay with her. He doesn't, and instead promises April that once Beth Ann dies in a few months, he'll be with her.
- Romantic Fake–Real Turn: A platonic version. She genuinely grows to love and care for April, despite pretending otherwise.
- Stepford Smiler: Beth Ann's perpetually happy and content facade is to hide her pain from losing her daughter. Then she finds out her husband is having an affair and it gets much worse.
- Tranquil Fury: Once Beth Ann finds out the truth behind her daughter's death, she exudes a cold calm as she then decides to plan the murder of her husband.
- Woman Scorned: Beth Ann slowly becomes this after finding out her husband is cheating on her. Despite all of her efforts to try and stay together, she soon comes around to realizing that she's miserable with her husband and then starts on planning his murder.
Rob Stanton
Played By: Sam Jaeger
"I'm only 42, and I feel great. Can we just eat dinner?"
Beth Ann's husband, an aerospace engineer at Cyther-Tech who enjoys the fruits of his wife's catering to him, and those given by the young blonde waitress in a diner.
- Asshole Victim: No one will be sorry for his death, especially after it's revealed he's been gaslighting Beth Ann to believe the death of their daughter was her fault and not a consequence to his cheating.
- Consummate Liar: Rob is this as later episodes reveal, with Beth Ann giving him one last chance to confess to his adultery being the reason that their daughter died. He still maintains his lies, to which Beth Ann responds that "he's just made it easier." Had he owned up to his actions, Beth Ann would have presumably given him a loaded gun to use against Ralph.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Rob is every bit as sexist as a typical straight, white cisgender man from the sixties, and Beth Ann doesn't think it unusual or have a problem with it (or at least, she claims she doesn't have a problem with it). Sheila recognizes and calls out how chauvinist his behavior is, but her own husband deems it "militant" and reacts in amusement.
- Girls Like Musicians: At first, he appears to be a standard Rare Male Example, as both his wife Beth-Ann and his mistress April are musical (Beth Ann is a pianist; April is a singer).
- It's All About Me: Rob first states that his attraction to Beth Ann about how subservient she was to him and how she made his life easier. He never thinks when his behavior might embarrass or hurt her, and when she brings up that she might need to get a job or a hobby to prepare her for when he inevitably dies one day, all he cares about is if this might keep him from getting more delicious dinners from her and can't think beyond more about her being his widow.
- Never My Fault: He blames Beth Ann for the death of their daughter. It's later revealed he was mainly the reason the gate was left unopened, leaving their daughter to run into the street and get hit by a car.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: After their housewarming party, Beth Ann calls him out on doing nothing when it was obvious Ralph was physically abusing Mary. He asks "What was I supposed to do, hit him?" He's right that getting violent with Ralph wouldn't solve anything, but his reason for not doing it was that it would have ruined the party.
April Warner
Played By: Sadie Calvano
"I hate people that look the other way."
Rob's mistress, a waitress at Jansen's Diner in Glendale who aspires to become a singer, she befriends "Sheila" (Beth Ann).
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: April decides to have an abortion when she's gotten pregnant by Rob, who's married, saying she can't care for a baby alone. Beth Ann isn't happy with this, but is mostly worried by her going to a back alley abortionist who might injure or kill her accidentally due to ignorance or the unsanitary conditions. She talks April out of it due to the danger.
- Pursue the Dream Job: She dreams of becoming a singer, and she's shown to be actually pretty good at it. By the end of the season, she's apparently achieved her dream as she has become a singer in New York, with Beth Ann and her daughter preparing to move there to support her.
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Jerkass Woobie: April teeters as she is willfully in a relationship with a married man, but she has her own aspirations outside of her affair, Hidden Depths and is ignorant of how awful Rob actually is.
Sheila Mosconi
Played By: Alicia Coppola
"This is how the movie ends: the man slinks back to his wife and the whore ends up drunk and alone...actually now that I got four kids it doesn't sound half bad."
Beth Ann's mouthy, but loyal, neighbor who assists her in her schemes.
- Affectionate Nickname: Refers to Beth Ann as "honey".
- Brief Accent Imitation: She puts on a strained American accent as she pretends to be Beth Ann when April stops by the house claiming Rob left his jacket at the diner. However, she almost slips up a couple of times before catching herself.
- The Confidant: She serves as one for Beth Ann when the other vents about her unhappy marriage to Rob. Sheila is even the one to suggest Beth Ann confronts April about the affair.
- Deadpan Snarker: She and Leo are a mouthy Italian-American couple who have the gift of the gab and sharp wit to match. Sheila particularly has her own compilation
of her lines. - Establishing Character Moment: Beth Ann apologizes for her husband's foul language to her new neighbors. Said neighbor, Sheila, assures her, "We're from Brooklyn, we don't give a fuck." Sheila later also snaps at Rob for treating Beth Ann like his maid.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: While she usually comes over with alcohol to drink for her and Beth Ann, she soon starts bringing it just to take the edge off of Beth Ann's "stressful" life.Beth Ann: I don't want to drink right now.
Sheila: Oh, honey, this is all for me. I find your life very stressful. - Lady Swears-a-Lot: She's the one out of most of the other characters who swears regularly, with her Establishing Character Moment even being her and her husband saying they don't mind the cursing, since they're from Brooklyn.
- Nouveau Riche: Sheila and her husband Leo are hinted as this: coming from Brooklyn and setting up a successful line of laundromats in Pasadena. Played straight with the loud and rather tacky behavior but subverted as they are often the most loyal and honest characters in the story.
- Sarcastic Devotee: While she will assist Beth Ann with her schemes, albeit not happily.Sheila: It's your mother's fault. Clearly she didn't teach you the basics, like when you grow up, don't lie to your husband about cancer.
- Straw Feminist: Sheila is considered one after the events detailed in You, Get Me Coffee but she is really an average housewife and is rather reacting to unfair treatment from a husband to his wife.
- We Used to Be Friends: After being strung along Beth Ann's plans for too long, finally fed up with all the lying and scheming especially after Beth Ann convinces April to not have the abortion Sheila refuses to speak with Beth Ann anymore. The last time the two even "speak", her husband has to call Beth Ann over to their home, with Sheila holding her arm out the door with the phone, since April was calling for "Sheila". By the end of the season, it's implied the two were never back on friendly terms.
Leo Mosconi
Played By: Adam Ferrara
"Come on honey. And after we're done dancing, Daddy's going to tell you about all the nice women he should've married."
Sheila's calmer husband, an owner of laundromats, who is very aware of Rob cheating on Beth Ann.
- Awful Wedded Life: Played for laughs. When at Beth Ann's housewarming party, Leo tries to get Sheila to dance with him, who turns him down for some pie and hands her daughter over to him. He then tells his daughter they'll discuss all of the other nice women "daddy should have married" as they both give each other sour side-eyes. However, out of some of the other characters, they do seem to be happy together.
- Deadpan Snarker: He and his wife a mouthy Italian-American couple who have the gift of the gab and sharp wit to match.
- Nouveau Riche: Sheila and her husband Leo are hinted as this: coming from Brooklyn and setting up a successful line of laundromats in Pasadena. Played straight with the loud and rather tacky behavior but subverted as they are often the most loyal and honest characters in the story.
Mosconi Children
Sheila: I can never enter that store again after what you little freaks did to that poor mannequin!
Kids: *giggling*
Sheila and Leo's' badly behaved children.
Emily Stanton
Played By: Ava and Grace Scarola
Beth Ann and Rob's late daughter, who died in 1961 at age six.
- Posthumous Character: At the beginning of "I Was Just Wondering What Makes Dames Like You So Deadly", for each era we hear from a dead relative close to the protagonists; Beth Ann and Rob's daughter Emily talks about how she knows her mother is unhappy but Rob doesn't know because she smiles all the time, and she fears her mother will do something terrible.
Mary Vlasin
Played By: Lio Tiptonnote
"It must be a wonderful thing, to be strong like you."Beth Ann's neighbor, who is being abused by her husband.
- Domestic Abuse: Suffered this at the hands of Ralph. It's to the point when Beth Ann tries to help Mary during their housewarming party and suggests she stay the night, Mary sadly shakes her head and tells her, "it'll only make it worse". When Beth Ann goes to visit Mary at her home, Mary doesn't even try to hide her bruises, and claims her casted arm was due to falling on her own.
- Grass is Greener: Despite Beth Ann trying to rationalize and indirectly end Rob's affair, Mary benevolently envies how strong she is as she is too scared of her physically abusive husband.
- "Not So Different" Remark: She observes how miserable Beth Ann is with her husband, but chooses to still stay with him. Mary calls both of their situations similar, and how the two of them aren't as different as Beth Ann seems to claim.Mary: We should be friends.
- Spiteful Spit: During the funerals montage, Mary can be seen standing over the grave of her husband, lean over, and spit on it before calmly walking away.Mary: She ended up killing him... and I'm so glad she did.
Ralph Vlasin
Played By: Scott Porter
Mary's abusive and controlling husband.
- Asshole Victim: No one will miss Mary's horrifically abusive husband Ralph.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Played terrifyingly straight. He gets angry at seeing Mary happily dance with Rob during Beth Ann's party, and violently drags her into another room to admonish her, claiming she was cheating on him. It's shown later with Mary's bruises and arm in a cast that he regularly abuses her. This is eventually weaponized, as Beth Ann baits him into murdering Rob by having Mary leave a false confession letter for him claiming that she's leaving him for Rob.
- Domestic Abuse: He regularly abuses Mary and gets violent at seeing her being happy.
- Killed Offscreen: Beth Ann informs Simone as she's selling the house that Ralph was executed a year after murdering her husband.
Claire
Played By: Lindsey Kraft
Rob's secretary and his former mistress.
- Foil: To Rob. Both were having sex the day Emily died, but while Rob kept on hiding the truth from Beth Ann and gaslit her into believing the death was her own fault, Claire eventually came to confess to Beth Ann about how she was the one who left the gate open.
- It's All My Fault: When Beth Ann and Emily came home early, Rob was having an afternoon tryst with Claire. In her haste to make a discreet escape through the backyard, she forgot to close the gate behind her, and Emily subsequently chased her new ball out into the street and got hit by a car.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Claire was the one who left the gate open, leading to Emily running out into the street and being hit. When she got the news an hour later at work, she immediately knew it was all because of her.
- Sexy Secretary: A pretty and fashionable secretary who used to sleep with her boss.
- Sleeping with the Boss: Rob used to have an affair with her until the day Emily died. The whole reason Emily died is because Claire forgot to lock the side gate as she hastily left the house through the backyard.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Her leaving the gate open, to escape the old house when Beth Ann and Emily arrived home early, led to Emily's death. Her revelation of this information to Beth Ann, plus the revelation that Rob was willing to forgive her while gaslighting his wife into thinking she was at fault, leads to Beth Ann's resolve to kill Rob after years of his selfishness and gaslighting.
