Tara Gregson

CHARACTER
Tara Gregson
Gender	Female
Date of Birth	-
First Appearance	Pilot
Last Appearance	The Good Parts
Occupation	Painter
Number of episodes	36
Relatives	Max Gregson(Husband) Kate Gregson(Daughter) Marshall Gregson(Son) Charmaine Craine(Sister) Bryce Craine(Half- brother) Beverly Craine (Mother) Frank Craine (Father)
Portrayed by	Toni Collette

Tara Gregson (née Craine) is a wife and mother who works as a mural painter. She loves her family and often feels guilty for the unconventional life they lead due to her DID. Tara is only somewhat co-conscious with the alter-egos in her system: she has no recollection of anything they do when they are out, but they know all about what she does. Though Tara's personalities re-emerge when she chooses to go off her medication, Diablo Cody, one of the show's producers, has stated that Tara isn't being irresponsible by not taking the medication, but rather "wants a chance to try living with her condition, instead of smothering it with drugs" because it is "clear ... that she is not receiving proper treatment for her dissociative identity disorder". Collette has said that she is "excited" and "absolutely in love" with the project.

Family

Max: Max and Tara have a healthy marriage, and have been married for 17 years. Max is the level headed one, and keeps everything from falling apart. Max and Tara still have a healthy sex life. Alice and T both want to have sex with Max, but he agreed to not sleep with them. Tara seems to worry about their sex life in "Work", when Max doesn't get hard for her.

Kate: In Seasons 1 and 2, Kate is the one Tara is the most worried about. In Pilot she discovers her Morning after pills, which cause T to emerge. Tara wants the family to be able to talk about everything, which Kate opposes. In Season 3, it appears that Kate and Tara's relationship vastly improves, with Kate attempting to figure out her life and plan what she actually wants. This allows them to have a more healthy mother-daughter dynamic, and talk more openly and express emotions in a more healthy manner.

Marshall: Marshall and Tara seem to have a good relationship. Marshall's rarely in trouble, so Tara doesn't worry as much. Tara is supported of Marshall, in school and him being gay. In Season 1, when Tara, as T, ends up attempting to initiate sexual relations with Marshall's crush Jason Maurio, Marshall is infuriated and in a haze of anger burns down T's shed. Later, they reconcile when Tara attempts to get more help. In Seasons 2 and 3, Marshall and Tara have a relatively healthy relationship, although in Season 3 as Bryce Craine, Tara punches Marshall after Alice is killed which strains their relationship, as this was on top of Marshall's ex-boyfriend Lionel Crane recently dying. By the end of the season finale, after accepting Lionel's death, Marshall and Tara reconcile and are on better terms.

Charmaine: Charmaine and Tara for the first 2 seasons had an on and off relationship. At first, Charmaine is doubtful of Tara's DID, and thinks it's made up. However, after spending more time with the alters, and especially after Chicken came out during Charmaine's wedding, Charmaine comes to believe that Tara truly does have a disorder. Charmaine is more selfish, and thinks of Tara as her "biggest struggle", but later in the show with the realization that Tara never actually wanted to hurt Charmaine, Charmaine came to become less narcissistic and understand that Tara is honestly going through real problems. When Charmaine's first husband makes her have the boob job, Tara stays with her in the hospital (though it's Buck the whole time), and although it's strained and awkward to an extent, Charmaine appreciated it and helped her to understand the nature of Tara's DID. Tara, as Chicken, interrupts Charmaine's marriage with Nick, and Tara later as T ends up forcing Charmaine into labor by hitting her lightly with her car. Additionally, Tara, as Gimme, ends up intterupting Charmaine's massage at a spa. These incidents have caused stress, but also later led to a deeper relation with the two sisters, as reconciling and working their way through these events allowed them to understand each other better, and by the finale it's clear they love and care for each other quite a bit.

Alters: Tara has several personalities that emerge when the situation sees fit. Her "alters" known as T, Buck, Alice, Shoshana Schoenbaum, Gimme, Chicken, and Bryce Craine. T is a flirty 16 year old, as well as a general degenerate, Alice is a housewife stuck in the 1950s, wearing frilly dresses and baking often, as well as believing she is the original personality, Buck is a Vietnam veteran who's loud and loves his guns and porn, but is protective of Tara and her family, Shosana is Tara's therapist and is based off the stereotypical New York feminist in the 1970s and 1980s, Gimme is the id of Tara, completely and utterly, Chicken is based off Tara when she was 5 years old, and only came to exist after Tara met with Mimi, her foster mother, and Bryce Craine is Tara's abuser alter, based off her stepbrother who molested her as a child, and killed off Shoshana, Chicken, and Gimme, and attempted to kill Alice, T, and Buck.