"I see ghosts, I hear them. Sometimes they send messages, sometimes they just show up. I saw some stuff last night and I think it might be related to your case"
-Cassie Bedford
The InBetween is an American television series that premiered May 29th, 2019 on NBC.
Since she was a child, Cassie Bedford has been able to speak with the dead who were trapped within the InBetween: a Purgatory-like realm between life and death. Luckily Cassie had Tom Hackett, a Seattle police detective, and his husband Brian, who helped to raise her as a foster child. Now an adult, Cassie works as a bartender while doing her best to keep a lid on her abilities, occasionally helping her foster father with her visions.
The series begins when Cassie gets a vision involving a missing persons case that Hackett is working.
This series contains examples of:
- Action Girl: When Cassie is in physical danger, she's shown she's entirely capable of taking care of herself.
- And I Must Scream: Some spirits can possibly be caught in what Cassie calls a ‘death echo’: The spirit is stuck re-experiencing their deaths over and over again unable to move on.
- Blessed with Suck: Cassie has the power to talk with spirits, which can allow her to help them move. Unfortunately it comes with horrifying and traumatic visions, and some of the spirits aren’t easy to look at.
- Creepy Child: Abigail
- Dark and Troubled Past: Cassie has not had an easy life despite Hackett and his husband's best efforts. Her mother died of an overdose and her biological father doesn't seem to be in the picture at all. When she was a teen, she became so overwhelmed by visions that she was unable to go to school for a time.
- Deadpan Snarker: Cassie
- Dead Person Conversation: Some spirits are able to talk with Cassie directly thought it's not shown what it looks like from an outside observer.
- Dumb Blonde: Averted entirely with Cassie
- Friends with Benefits: Cassie and Will, her co-worker
- Good-Guy Bar: Tom and Damian often stop by the bar where Cassie works at the end of their shift.
- Happily Adopted: While Cassie mourns the untimely death of her mother, she has a deep love and loyalty for Tom and Brian, as they both clearly do for her.
- In the Blood: Cassie’s mother had the same ability as her, though it's not made clear how far it goes.
- Invisible to Normals: Ghosts can’t be seen by the living, with Cassie and her mother being the only known exceptions so far. This appears to extend to her visions where less than a second will pass between the beginning and end of them.
- I See Dead People: Cassie’s ability, which she’s had since she was a child.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Ghosts are shown to look the same as in the moment of their death.
- Magnetic Medium: Spirits continually come to Cassie.
- Missing Mom: Cassie was raised as a foster child by Hackett and his husband. No mention is made of her biological father while her mother tried to escape her abilities via increasing amounts of alcohol until she OD’d.
- Police Psychic: Protagonist Cassie can commune with the dead, who are in the titular "InBetween". Her foster father is an FBI agent, and so Cassie starts aiding law enforcement with her visions.
- Quintessential British Gentleman: Tom is rarely seen without a suit and fedora. He's also known to lecture Americans on their lack of appreciation for a good cup of tea.
- Real Men Cook: Brian enjoys cooking and baking, regularly doing both for his family and Tom's colleagues.
- Retired Monster: Ed Roven was an unrepentant murderer before and after his death and doesn’t even bother with pretending his intentions are altruistic.
- Rule of Symbolism: Cassie’s visions aren’t always direct and can lean more towards this trope. The second episode, which involved a missing person’s case, had Cassie hearing the sound of hooves like a horse galloping. The culprit wanted revenge for the husband/father killing his family in a hit-and-run with a Mustang.
- Serial Killer: The first episode deals with a kidnapper and killer emulating a deceased serial killer named Ed Roven who was executed in the '90s. Then, at the end of the episode, his ghost shows up…
- "The Length of the River" concerns a serial killer who targets newlyweds annually right before their 1-year anniversary.
- The Shrink: Brian, who not only helps Abigail's mother Hannah in a professional capacity, but regularly listens to Cassie work out her problems at home.
- Spirit Advisor: Ed Roven tries to be this to Cassie, offering to give her help and advice solving cases.
- Tropaholics Anonymous: One case led to the team to a “Newlyweds Support Group” where women could seek emotional support for all the stresses that come from a new marriage.
- Vengeful Ghost: Abigail has shades of a typical poltergeist, more so than other spirits.
- You Can See Me??: Ghosts are used to be being ignored by the living, so they are naturally surprised when they meet someone like Cassie who can see and hear them.
