Thursday, June 19, 2025

UNITED STATES OF TARA (2009 - 2011)

 




















Created by: Diablo Cody
Starring: Toni ColletteJohn CorbettBrie LarsonKeir GilchristRosemarie DeWittPatton OswaltNate CorddryGuilford AdamsJoey Lauren AdamsAlexia AlemanDave Gruber AllenAmy ArgyleDan BakkedahlDiane BaldwinGrace BannonLance BarberJeffrey G. BarnettKennedy BarnettHilary BarrafordPatricia BelcherAshley BellYara BerightonJohn BishopJefferson BlackCorina BoettgerPotsch BoydMatt BraungerGeorge BrettKevin BriefPaige BrownSolomon Burke JrLucy ButlerJ. Marvin CampbellKen Hudson CampbellJessica ChaffinSusan ChuangEthan CohnPhillip CollinsSarah ColonnaDavid ConnellFrances ConroyDavid CostabileStephanie CourtneySheridan CristDoby DaengerTammy DahlstromViola DavisDana De La GarzaMichelle DeLynnElizabeth De RazzoRick L. DeanMatthew Del NegroBill DempseyJoe DietlElyse DinhPaul DistefanoSean DonnellanMim DrewJames DuMontRyan EggoldVan EppersonKevin P. FarleyLouis FasanaroShiloh FernandezChris FlandersCourtney FlemingRyan FlynnDean FrancoisSeth GabelMitch GavinJackie GearyCraig GellisMary Pat GleasonGriffin GluckKelli GossJadin GouldKevin GouldJoel GretschTony HaleMichael HitchcockDerek HouckPeter HowardAaron Christian HowlesMegan HubbellJeremiah HuTeresa HuangAlice HunterMelanie HutsellMiki IshikawaEddie IzzardBilly JayneIan JensenCJ JohnsonAnnamarie KenoyerCarissa KostaDaniel KountzAndrew LawrenceWaymond LeeTimothy LeonJoshua LeonardRachelle LimbackRiki LindhomeNick LorenzMallory LowScott MacDonaldAndy MackenzieRoss MackenzieValerie MahaffeyKarl MakinenZosia MametKevin ManwarrenKen MarinoLora Martinez-CunninghamBailey McAleveyRowan McAleveyJames McCauleyHayley McFarlandRachel McVayHeather MillerDaniella MonetHenry MonfriesRob MoranJane MorrisSeth MorrisAndrea MoyerCaitlin MulveyNino NavaCosta NicolasKathleen NooneJ.R. NuttAdam O'ByrneJeffrey O'ConnellKeir O'DonnellEd O'RossTye OlsonDougald ParkLony'e PerrineShawn Carter PetersonJade PettyjohnMarlowe PeytonRobert PicardoChris PisanoAlex PulidoJeremy RadinMike RandlemanJustin ReedPamela ReedAron RosenthalClarinda RossCynthia RubeFrank RuotoloDee RyanLeandra RyanBrian SaccaJessica St. ClairJason SaraybaSam SchuderGaleit SehayekCathy ShambleyTyler ShamyBeth SheaSammy SheikLise SimmsTava SmileyBrenna Gwyn SnoweMaura SodenErik SoderberghRachael SoglinJessica SonnebornLucille SoongAlex SpencerChuck SpitlerJessica D. StoneJoanna StrappKevin SymonsDesiree TaylorMichael A. TempletonEric TiedeShannon TweedYamil UrenaDenise VasquezGillian VigmanBrett WagnerFred WardLauren WeedmanRobin WeigertMichael J. WillettJared WinklerDevon WoodsLayla WyomingMichael YavnielliBellamy YoungMaria Zambrana

36 episodes
(TV-MA - strong language, adult themes, adult situations, depictions of abuse and trauma)

PLOT:
Tara Gregson is a seemingly perfect American suburban mother, married to a loyal and supportive husband, a landscape developer named Max, and two teenage children, the flamboyantly gay Marshall and the rebellious and headstrong Kate. The life-long, mentally unbalanced Tara suffers from Dissociative Personality Disorder.

season 1 - 
Tara begins to wonder if people really want her around when she's just herself. she tries to talk to her daughter Kate about sex but she clearly wants to avoid the subject. When son Marshall tells her that his English teacher may phone to talk about a disagreement they had at school, he decides that he would like his dad to take care of it. Tara returns after her recent bout of being Alice but as usual, remembers nothing of what happened. She has a session with her psychiatrist, Dr. Ocean, and expresses her fears that husband Max may be more interested in the "alters" than in her. Tara begins to feel stressed out as she starts work on her new mural project for Tiffany. Unfortunately, Tiffany learns about Tara's multi-personality disorder, and becomes a little too curious about "T", Buck and Alice, and it affects Tara in a bad way after an evening out with Tara, Charmaine and Tiffany. Depressed and unhappy then ever over losing her job and being ostracized by the neighborhood, things turn from bad to worse when Tara suddenly turns into her teenage personality "T" and steals her own car to go on a joyride. Kate blows off her ex-boyfriend, Benjamin, when he shows up at a party with his latest girlfriend. Tara's parents, Frank and Beverly, come for a visit ostensibly to celebrate Charmaine's 34th birthday. What they really want is for Max and Tara to let the kids live with them so they can have a "normal" life. Max is doing his best to help Tara get through the next couple of days without one of her alters emerging. Charmaine finally decides to get corrective surgery on her breasts and asks Tara to be her "boob buddy" and take care of her at home while she's recovering. Unfortunately for her, it's not Tara who shows up at the clinic to collect her but Buck. Convinced that he's seen a new alter personality after the visit from Tara's parents and who may have destroyed Tiffany's mural, Max spends an anxious weekend trying to contact Tara's therapist. Tara confronts Max and he has no choice but to tell her what he thinks he saw. Tara becomes upset when she learns that Max spoke to her therapist behind her back about her shadowy new alter, named Gimmie. Kate becomes upset with her boss, Gene, at work which leads to both Tara and Kate deciding to go on a road trip together to try to make up for lost time. Tara is shocked when her therapist, Dr. Ocean, suddenly terminates her treatment after telling Tara that she can do better with the next stages of her treatment. Charmaine decides to cheer Tara up by taking her out on a day to a health spa. Tara, sensing that she's losing control of her other personalities, checks herself into a mental hospital for treatment where her new in-clinic doctor, Dr. Holden, a charismatic expert, pushes her to look into her repressed memories to get at the root of her mental state. Tara and Max are both frustrated by the treatment by Dr. Holden has Tara undergoing and the inability to access her repressed memories. Max is ready to call it quits and Tara decides the time has come to ask her one-time boyfriend, Trip Johanssen, for a face-to-face meeting. 

season 2 - 
Having been well and dissociation-free for the last several months, Tara sets out to rebuild her life with Max's help by making new friends. But things take a turn when a neighbor of the Gregson's suddenly commits suicide and the family unexpectedly is given responsibility of the house and estate. Tara soon comes to the realization that one of the alters, Buck, emerged and that she spent the night with an attractive waitress from the local pub. She desperately wants to keep that information a secret from everyone and panics that her three months respite is coming to a close. Tara hasn't told anyone about her alter, Buck, having emerged again. She decides to try and do something about it and visits Pammy, the woman who is now madly in love with Buck, to break it off. She can't quite go through with it leading Pammy to make her affections known in a very public way. Max is not happy with the revelation that she didn't tell him about Buck re-emerging. She agrees to find a new analyst but the person she settles on lives in New York and their sessions will be by telephone. Marshall and Courtney meanwhile continue their sexual experimentation but with interesting results for both of them. Tara's latest alter is Shoshana who describes herself as Tara's therapist. Tara concludes that her new alter is actually helping her remember things from her past but Max has a hard time with that. Charmaine goes for her first ultrasound and gets some surprising news. Shoshana has a "session" with Max. Max expresses his frustrations over Tara keeping Buck's affair a secret, and lying about finding a real therapist. Marshall tries to break up with Courtney, but she is perfectly comfortable with his homosexuality and wants them to remain an asexual power couple. An imminent visit from a social worker sends Max intro a tailspin. Tara horns in on Kate's friendship with Lynda. Courtney pushes Marshall to the brink. Neil discovers Charmaine's big secret. Kate is less than thrilled with her mother's new friendship with Lynda. Kate accuses her mother of taking away all that's important to her. Kate is also starting to connect on the internet in her "Valhalla Hawkwind" persona. She's not quite ready for what transpires. Charmaine is still trying to figure out a way to have Neil's baby but stick with Nick. Tara and Max's relationship is at a low ebb. After their fight at the art show, Max spent the night with waitress Pammy. It was supposed to be a one night stand with no strings attached but the next day she has a change of heart. Kate is growing a little weary of the kooks she's met on her website but is intrigued by one client who asks her out on a date. Tara recalls another childhood memory of "Mimi" at a bicentennial parade, a young Tara tells Charmaine that they can't go home. Tara confides to Charmaine about Max's infidelity, as well as her new memories of Mimi, realizing that she only experiences the memories while in the house next door. Tara and Charmaine go visit the woman from Tara's memories. Kate attempts to change herself for Zach. Marshall begins to fall for Lionel. Neil leaves town. A new personality arrives. It's Charmaine and Nick's wedding day. Tara confronts her parents about her childhood and long-held secrets are revealed. Kate and Marshall accidentally find a piece of the puzzle that could derail everything.

season 3 - 
Tara's personalities have returned after several months of quietude. She has no memory of what they're doing but Buck is definitely looking for her brother Bryce. Tara decides to go back to college and earn the few missing credits to earn her degree which worries Max a little. Tara starts her psychology classes in fine form as one of her alters, Shoshana the "psychologist" emerges. She's thoroughly embarrassed but her teacher, Dr. Harris, seems quite relaxed about it all. Until his next class. Meanwhile, Max continues losing customers to a competitor who has a solution for him. Max gets his mother to sign off on selling the lawn care business. He hasn't seen her two years and is shocked by what he finds. Kate leaves on her trip to Japan, but does so without saying goodbye to anyone, much to Tara's annoyance. Events in Japan conspire against her even getting out of the airport however. Charmaine goes into labor but is angry at Tara who, under stress from an excess of school work and the pressure of upcoming exams, has various alters emerge. After the baby is born, Charmaine makes it clear she can't trust Tara and doesn't want her around the baby. Fascinated by Tara's alters, Dr. Hattaras proposes they work together on an academic paper. Tara just wants to drop his course but he won't let her. Max is finding that his new job at Orgaworld isn't quite what he had expected. Marshall doesn't think their film is good enough to submit to the film festival leading to a major disagreement with Noah. Tara and her alters seem to have found a way to co-exist and life is good. They are respecting each other's space, only coming out when it's agreeable to all. Kate is working as a flight attendant and has been flirting with one of their regular customers on his frequent flights to Tulsa. Tara is shocked when Dr. Hattaras, going through a personal crisis of his own, tells her that he's ending their collaboration. Once again, Tara is trying to arrange Charmaine's baby shower despite the disastrous first attempt. She's also encouraged Max to get his college era rock band band together for a reunion on the same night so everyone seems ready to party. Max visits Dr. Hattaras, as does Alice without Tara knowing, telling him he has an obligation to continue his work with Tara. He agrees, but Alice tells him that one of the alters has disappeared. Needing a break, Charmaine asks Tara to take care of the baby for the day. Tara is trying to come to grips with the emergence of her new alter, Bryce. She's upset over the disappearance of Chicken but two other alters will soon follow suit. Dr. Hattaras is fascinated by Bryce's emergence but the chairman of the college psychology department, Dr. Smolow, thinks he is in way over his head. Max and Marshall return home from New York to bad news on all sides. Max learns of the new alter, Bryce, but a highly medicated Tara assures him all is under control. Marshall learns that a close friend has been killed in an accident. Tara offers support, but on the day of the funeral, Bryce emerges and apparently will not go away. Life at the Gregson house is fast deteriorating with Tara's alter Bryce in clear control, eliminating two of her other alters. Max is desperate to speak to Tara but Bryce will not let her emerge. Charmaine thinks the time has come to have Tara committed but Max is adamantly opposed. Tara reemerges but the task now is to repair broken family relationships, particularly with Marshall who is fed up with it all. Rather than go into a local mental hospital facility, she decides to follow Dr. Hattaras' advice and see a specialist in Boston.

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UNITED STATES OF TARA (2009 - 2011)

  Created by:  Diablo Cody Starring:  Toni Collette ,  John Corbett ,  Brie Larson ,  Keir Gilchrist ,  Rosemarie DeWitt ,  Patton Oswalt , ...