Tara Gregson is a wife and mother with dissociative identity disorder (DID). After deciding to take a break from her medication to discover the real cause of her disorder, her alternate personalties re-emerge: wild and flirty teenager T; old-fashioned housewife Alice; and male, loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet Buck. Tara is supported by her calm and level-headed husband Max, her somewhat troubled teenage daughter Kate and quirky, good-hearted gay son Marshall. Her sister, Charmaine, is not so supportive, often expressing her doubt about the validity of Tara’s disorder. The show is set in Overland Park, Kansas.The USA cable network’s marketing slogan “Characters Welcome” would be a good fit for The United States of Tara. This off-center Showtime series has a slew of them–prim and proper suburban housewife Alice, beer-swilling hell-raiser Buck (a male), and hard-partying teen T. All of them are portrayed by Toni Collette, who deservedly won an Emmy for her astonishing performance(s) as Tara, a wife and mother struggling with dissociative identity disorder. The first episode establishes the series’ high concept, but the show quickly finds its groove as it explores the turmoil of Tara’s life and the effect DID has on her marriage and family: her exceedingly patient and supportive husband Max (John Corbett), who has to fight off Tara’s more sexually aggressive “alters”; her sensitive son Marshall (Keir Gilchrist); rebellious teenage daughter Kate (Brie Larson); and resentful sister Charmaine (Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel’s Getting Married). As the series begins, Tara has stopped taking her meds, which opens the doors for her other personalities to reveal themselves, usually at stressful or inappropriate times. In the first episode, Tara/Buck beats up Kate’s physically abusive boyfriend. In another, she appears at a parent-teacher conference as Alice. This first season establishes Tara’s uniquely dysfunctional family dynamic (“It doesn’t have to be weird,” Tara offers at one point as she is debriefed about one of her alter’s latest shenanigans) and is propelled by the mystery of what traumatic incident caused Tara to crack. Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno, created and cowrote the series, and for the most part she cools it with the distracting Cody-speak (at one point there is a gratuitous reference to the obscure syndicated series Small World). This series power-jams it with a superb ensemble cast, including Valerie Mahaffrey (Eve on Northern Exposure) as Tara’s overwhelmed therapist, Patton Oswalt as Charmain’s sometime lover, Nathan Corddry as Kate’s too-attentive boss, and Pamela Reed and Fred Ward as Tara’s parents. The United States of Tara is an unconventional family dramedy and a sly look at gender roles (“Over the course of a day, how many different women do we have to be?,” a well-meaning new friend asks Tara at one point). And Collette is a marvel to watch. We pledge our allegiance. –Donald Liebenson
Stills from United States of Tara: Season One (Click for larger image)
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Buy “United States of Tara: Season One” For Only $19.99
March 8, 2008
#1
The morons who wrote this tripe know nothing at all about Multiple Personality Disorder. I, myself, with a dear friend who is a multiple, know very little of this tragic disorder, but I’m very sure one small thing the writers/researchers/producers/director NEVER researched. To my knowledge, multiples CANNOT TRANSITION AT WILL without something triggering such a change. I’ve experienced a few of my friends alters, as “they”, and my friend refer to them, and each transition was prefaced with some form of emotional event, which, inevitably, brings my friend to tears, and, within a few minutes, an alter surfaces.
In Tara, the lead character, changes personalities seemingly at will, with nothing triggering such change. Her alters differ like night and day. At one point, she’s a married mother of two (a son and a daughter), conversing with her family. Another scene has her going thru her daughter’s closet, dressed and acting like a teenager herself. Still another, as a horny trollop, and ending this torturous half hour garbage as a dyke, who, oddly enough, gets into a fist fight with her daughter’s freaked out, Boy George look alike, wacked out, and pierced boyfriend, aided by none other than her geeky looking son. Too weird for me. I’m quite sure my friend will be as offended as I was.
March 8, 2008
#2
I just saw the preview video on Showtime and found it enjoyable and entertaining. Showtime is known for its controversial and over the top shows with twists. Such as Dexter, Weeds, The L word etc……It’s what keeps the audience coming back for more. I don’t think that any disrespect was ment torward’s the patients and family and friends of the people that suffer with multiple personality disorders. As medical profesional I’ve seen what the disorder has done to families( it’s very sad ) and also have seen some stability when patients stay with their medication.
I took the show for what it was….entertaining, a wonderful cast of actors/ characters and I would like to see where they take us down the road and how they handle this as a family. Showtime has a habit of mixing intense situations with humor…so we will see. I think as an audience we should give it a chance.
March 8, 2008
#3
What a crazy, fun, nutty storyline. I found this storyline to be spellbinding. I couldn’t stop watching episode after episode. It was like NOT being able to put down a good book. Tony C. is perfect for this role. I found the entire cast to be perfectly cast…love the hubby. I watched the whole season in 1 night. My only complaint, which isn’t really a complaint, is that each episode was too short. When I purchased the set, I thought it would be like catching up on a show like “Desperate Housewives.” Each one of those is about 45 minutes without commercials. Each one of these episode is on 25 minutes. I don’t have cable, so I suppose each of the regular episode on Showtime is about a 30 min. show. It’s too bad that Showtime doesn’t make this a 1-hour long show—it would definitely hold the viewers attention for that length of time. Of course the storyline would progress more rapidly–and I thought the progression of the storyline in season one was just perfect…DEFINITELY left me waiting with anticipation for Season two. I find watching an entire season at once MUCH easier on the schedule without having to plan around a tv show. I may just stop watching my favorite shows and wait for all of them to come out on DVD and buy them from Amazon. thanks.
March 8, 2008
#4
I think this is a marvelous show and applaud the producers for their courage in airing it. The cast is perfectly matched to their characters, the story line isn’t predictable, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that finally, a series doesn’t insult my intelligence. However, since it is so good in every way, I’m afraid that it will be snatched from the air and replaced with some game show. One can only hope this is not the case, but more often than not, it is.
March 8, 2008
#5
I really enjoyed the 1 episode I saw. Don’t get Showtime so I didn’t even know about this show. I was impressed, enjoyed it and will probably buy the season. Would recommend any series watcher at least check it out. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more publicity but may have too much sex and adult language for some. Definitely a show for adults!