'United States of Tara': Being apart is not an option

Everyone had a part to play in the jam-packed season finale of "Tara."  Everyone, that is, except Gimme.  I expected to see all the alters come out for the finale.  I expected to see it happen when Tara faced Trip, the man everyone thinks responsible for the dissociation of Tara.  Though I wasn't sure how they'd come out, I wasn't too surprised to learn that Tara's alters had been around long before Trip "took advantage" of her, as he so lightly described the trauma.  Granted, he was sitting in front of his wife, Judy, who came prepared for the face-off with a picnic of Sunny D and chocolate-chippers. 

When Trip so casually says "See ya, T," it all comes together and all falls apart.  The easy answer Tara had hoped for was not to be found in that particular hospital rec room.  And necessarily so for a second (and third and fourth?) season of the show. Soon the room was filled with all her alters, T claiming responsibility for the drunken night, Buck saying he wasn't allowed out to deal with the situation, and Alice coming out once safely back in Dr. Holden's office. 

'United States of Tara': Alter-free?

This episode was one for my friend Jonathan and all you "Tara" fans who love the show when it focuses on the family and lose interest with the dramatic transitions to Tara's over-the-top alters. With Tara taking a couple weeks away and Charmaine moving into the house to play "fake mom" and bring home her new boyfriend, "fake dad" Nick, this one was especially chock-full of family. 

It's our second-to-last peek into Tara's psyche before next week's season finale, and the alters were almost nowhere to be seen. After last week when Mom as T hit on Jason, Marshall's first love, and Marshall subsequently torched T's shack, it was apparent that no one was enjoying the ride anymore. "She should be put away," Marshall tells Max.  "In the words of police chief Martin Brody, 'We need a bigger boat.' " 

Tara overheard her son's final dismissal of her, which must be one of the hardest things for a mother to hear. The next we see her, her bags are packed and she confesses to her testimonial tape, "Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is ask for help.... We need a bigger [expletive] boat."

'United States of Tara': 'Gimme' a 'T'

You've never had mother issues like these.  Marshall may wish he could take back his earlier acceptance of Tara and her alters when he said, "We're lucky mom.  Because of you, we get to be interesting."

Things may have become a little too interesting in the "Betrayal" episode.  We were fooled into thinking the title referred simply to Dr. Ocean ending her therapy with Tara.  This act of betrayal, for those of you with a strong connection to your therapist, seemed bad enough for an entire episode.  I visited the set for this episode and watched as Toni Collette delivered her disbelieving, "You're breaking up with me?" time and again.  I wondered why the publicist was so insistent that I only see that one scene, and that we couldn't photograph the other costume changes, assured they might "confuse" the reader prior to seeing the show. 

Having watched the episode, I had my "aha!" moment. At the slightest touch of a massage therapist, all-id, prone-to-peeing-on-people Gimme came out at the spa, trounced the tranquility and was quickly replaced by T.  T, in all her glory, saw Marshall awkwardly asking Jason up to his room, and took the opportunity to capitalize on Jason's sexual confusion. Kate caught sight of the photograph her manager Gene stole from her fridge and finally saw the creep in him and the opportunity to deal with the bureaucracy of corporate HR by filing a "my manager is a freak-show" sexual harassment claim.

And if the family drama wasn't enough?  Tara admits that while she wasn't present, she was able to hear what went down at the tattoo parlor with T, and that she recently interacted with Alice while making dinner.  While this may seem terrifying to some, it's a breakthrough of co-consciousness, says her soon to be ex-Dr. Ocean.  Marshall, seemingly low-key and able to go with the flow, reaches his own boiling point when he catches T, in his mother's body, making out with his first love, Jason, and sets fire to T's lair, the freak-out shed where she's so often sent.

How did Charmaine end up the cool and collected one in the family?  After meeting Gimme at the spa ("that was really scary back there") Charmaine gives Tara a kiss on the cheek, tosses the robe T stole over her shoulder and asks Max to drive her home in time to "get her glow on" for her second date with the lawyer. 

I feel a little exhausted after this episode.  Was there ever a downbeat?  Things are definitely coming to a climax as the Showtime tease for the next episode involves a little more "commitment" on Tara's behalf.

As Billie Holiday crooned, "Good morning, heartache.  Sit down."

--Rebecca Snavely

(Photo courtesy of Showtime)

'United States of Tara': Nothing like love

What does love look like? 

With only 30 minutes to explore the character and story arcs of not only Tara and her daily dose of alter personality, "Tara" also delves into a sensitive yet bold gay teenage son, a seemingly insensitive rebel daughter and a white knight of a husband.  The episode didn't pull any punches, starting off right away in the therapy session where Tara finds out that Max has discovered the name of the man (Tripp) he thinks is responsible for Tara's trauma in boarding school. 

Tara cuts short the session, storming outside to accuse Max of being a cowboy, always wanting to "ride into town and clean everything up.  I'm not your town."

And with that, Tara and Kate leave town on a road trip.

For a family whose goal is to face whatever surfaces sans meds, they certainly seem to run away a lot.  Tara and Kate end up at a random motel hosting a pharmaceutical convention across the street from a tattoo parlor.  Max tells Marshall, who is performing perhaps his first set of push-ups to get in shape for jock Jason, that he's gotta go do some "stuff."  "That's rather vague," says Marshall.  "Yup," and Max is off to deal with his problems at a bar with Neil, drinking and complaining about Tara calling him a "cowboy."  Neil convinces him that Tara was right, Max is a cowboy.  "Get out of here, and go (expletive) wrangle!"  And Max is off on his white horse again, trying to track down Tripp, despite what Tara has told Max about his need to fix her. 

Marshall is the first of the family to show some guts.  He does what any guy does and gets his date drunk.  Marshall and Jason have a drink while they watch a film for class, and then end up lying back on Marsh's bed, commiserating about and toasting "to mother issues."  Never one to miss such an obvious clue or an opportunity, Marshall makes his move after Jason falls asleep on his bed, leaning down to kiss him.  And as we hold our breath in one "eeks ... no!" moment, thankfully for Marshall's future confidence, Jason kisses him back. 

Meanwhile, having run away from her husband, Tara can't escape her alters.  T comes out to play after Kate tells off Tara, making it clear that their relationship is never going to be written about in a Hallmark card.  At home, Max is back, unsuccessful from his Tripp-finding mission, to realize that Marshall has it bad for Jason.  Max looks exhausted as he lays his head on the counter, gazing at his son.  "Nothing like love."

So what does love look like?  Like your daughter talking you out of an alter-moment and a "slut" tattoo.  Like a brave kid making a  move toward love.  And like a husband finally hearing his wife, as Max leaves Tara the message, "If you want me to stop digging, I'm done." 

I wish I could believe Max.  Do you?  Can he stop digging, fixing, wait for the truth to surface and learn to enjoy the ride?

-- Rebecca Snavely

Photo: John Corbett. Credit: Showtime

'United States of Tara': Five creepiest moments

The Hell House episode hath arrived. Who is a better alter to witness the circles of hell but Alice?

After stalking Dr. Ocean to get an appointment while Tara is still herself, Max caves and confides in his wife that another alter may have appeared, and, perhaps more disturbing in a marriage, that he's been talking to Tara's doctor behind her back.  "It's animalistic, pure id, I guess," Max tells Tara.  "You're making me sound like an evil, rabid squirrel or something," she replies.  Time to transition into Alice, who likes to come out when damage control and modulated tones are required. 

While Hell House was definitely creeptastic in its over-the-top portrayal of the church's scare tactics for teens (did we really need to see the abortion table?), there were other, more subtle creepy moments to this episode.  Here's a top five list of the best:

5. Watching Alice try to pee on command to take a pregnancy test to prove that, despite Tara's IUD, she is "with child." 

4. Kate canned for her "general lack of glee" after she dumped her manager, Gene. 

3. "The Others" no longer referring to Richard Alpert's indigenous people on "Lost," but to Alice's "charges" inside Tara.

2. Gene's DVD knock-and-drop delivery of a creepy poem telling Kate she has her job back with the next after-school shift. I was sure we'd see him in the window, watching Kate watch the DVD.

1. "Please excuse us, Jesus." Alice raising her voice to Max, in church! after asking Jesus (played by Paulie) to bless her faux-baby.  "You've gone and brought Gimmie out.  You have no idea, no idea, what you're dealing with."

Shiver.  Can Gimmie really be bad enough to upset Alice to raise her dulcet tones to a threat?

What was your creepiest moment of the show?

-- Rebecca Snavely

Photo: Showtime

'United States of Tara': Not a bad booby-buddy

Buck came back.  It seemed terrible timing, triggered by Max quizzing Tara about her childhood memories.  Buck came out to play just as Max left to take sister Charmaine to see Dr. Pete for her elective, reconstructive breast enhancement. 

When Buck arrives post-op as Charmaine's stand-in "booby-buddy," Charmaine keeps up her insistence that Tara is just playing the part.  Referring to Buck as Tara, Charmaine asks her to "just stop."  As Charmaine's drugs kick in (Diablo Cody notes on her Twitter commentary that she knows "OxyCONTIN is 'hillbilly heroin,' not oxycodone. But y'know ... creative license") she begins to relax a little, and starts to see Buck, not Tara.  To talk to Buck.  To bond with Buck?  As Buck performs the post-op booby-buddy job of washing Charmaine's hair, she reminisces about when Tara would wash her hair when they were little girls.  And just as Buck emerged with questioning about her childhood, Tara returns with a real memory. 

I wish Cody had twittered more about the theme of "being yourself," but it seems the live commentary is more about behind the scenes/insider info, e.g.: "FYI, Tricia Brock directed this ep. She was our one and only female director last season, and she did a fabulous job."  Kate gives Marshall relationship advice, seemingly garnered from reading "The Rules" in Charmaine's bathroom.  "Don't ever be yourself," she warns.  "It's the kiss of death." 

And while Charmaine seems to be coming around to accepting the reality of Dissociate Identity Disorder, and accepting Tara for who she really is, alters and all, we get a glimpse that more drama may be about to unfold.  As Max, freaked out by the poncho goblin who pisses on people, begins to explore Tara's past without her knowledge, I wonder if things, and the new alter, might take a darker turn. I, for one, get very nervous hearing a therapist state, "I think having a professional and a loved one working in tandem can be very productive."

-- Rebecca Snavely

(Photo courtesy Showtime)

'United States of Tara': Let your freak flag fly

It's parents' weekend at Tara's house, and there's nothing like a critical, slightly crazy family to bring out another alter. 

Tara and Charmaine's folks pull up in their RV to celebrate Charmaine's birthday and spend the weekend trying to convince Max that kids Kate and Marshall would be better off living with their grandparents.  Dad looks lovingly at his daughter Charmaine and declares, "She looks thin."  Mom chimes in, "Well, she barely eats, and when she does, she eats alone." 

That's enough to drive anyone to drink, and sure enough, Tara and Charmaine's first move is to the kitchen for the vino. Though Max has already popped a pill to deal with the in-laws, Tara declined, even though she is worried that Buck might make an appearance. "Let your freak flag fly," Max encourages his wife. He later runs her in circles around the yard to try anything to keep her from transitioning and leaving him alone with "these people."

Though there are fights and freak shows (who can erase the image of Charmaine flashing the family with her botched boob job?), the visit seems to go off without a hitch or an alter's appearance. That is till the last night, when Max wakes up to an empty bed. Searching the house, he sees a figure in a red rain poncho crouching above Grandpa, urinating on the bed. When Max whisper-shouts at her(?), the poncho-person takes off, outside into the night.

Is this a new alter?  Stay tuned.

-- Rebecca Snavely

Photo: Showtime

'United States of Tara': An alter pattern emerging?

Whodunnit?  The family begins an investigation into which alter earned Tara her first restraining order by defacing the mural on ex-best friend Tiffany's wall.  Marshall and Kate watch the home videos Tara and her alters make while Tara and Max listen to Dr. Ocean diagnose the latest altercation.  Not only is a real friend a threat to the alters, it appears one of them wanted to be out in the world.  "Now my alters have alters," Tara says sarcastically. 

"Most women don't have a clue to how much (aggression) they're carrying," Dr. Ocean explains.  Minutes later, as Tara and Max discuss the graffiti, Max appears to disregard Tara's belief that someone else did the crime.  And just like that, it appears Tara stuffs her frustrating and aggression and T comes out to deal.  Can we start to detect a pattern in what triggers different alters? 

Charmaine and Max head out on a road trip to track down T, and Max keeps working on the clues.  When he asks Charmaine about Tara's roommate at boarding school, in the hope that someone might have been around "whenever whatever happened, happened," Charmaine can't quite recall the unusually tall roommate's name.  She does recall, however, that though Tara went to prep school, Charmaine went the public route.  "Don't know what I did wrong," she says with jealousy?  Anger?  Aggression?  "You didn't do anything wrong," Max tells her.  "Maybe."  Is Charmaine dropping a clue?  Was she involved in Tara's trauma?  Or is she, too, blocking something?  Or am I just trying too hard, hoping to see signs? 

What do you think?  What triggers the different alters to emerge? 

-- Rebecca Snavely

Photo: Showtime

'United States of Tara' renewed for second season

Showtime has renewed "United States of Tara" for a second season, an announcement that comes after just four episodes have aired.

"Tara" stars Toni Collette as a wife and mother with multiple personalities, including a frisky teenage girl, a gruff middle-aged man and a perky, perfect housewife. Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody devloped the series and executive produces alongside Steven Speilberg.

Production on the second season's 12 episodes will begin this summer for air in early 2010.

Network programming president Robert Greenblatt said the show is "a perfect fit for our premium brand, and we're thrilled that critics and audiences have responded to this groundbreaking show so well."

To date, "Tara" has drawn big ratings for the cable network, premiering well above the network's average (though just how well was up for some debate).

John Corbett and Rosemarie DeWitt also star in the series produced by Showtime Networks and Dreamworks Television. Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Alexa Junge also executive produce.

-- Denise Martin

Photo credit: Jordin Althaus / Showtime

'United States of Tara': Come out, come out wherever you are

Was Tara's friendship with vivacious Vita-seller Tiffany ever believable?  Maybe Tara is hiding more from herself than what her alters are trying to protect, because she certainly seemed excited to have a shiny new girlfriend.  As she tells her therapist, she never had a friend like this, and she's nervous. 

It seems she has reason to be. Though the mural Tiffany commissioned is allowing Tara to explore her artistic side, the woman has a bowl full of inspirational rocks; Tara takes home "believe" when Tiffany tells her people always pick the rocks they need. 

Their girl talk moves from Tara and Max, sex and the alters to drinks with Tara's sister, Charmaine.  Charmaine tosses back a few drinks and watches her friend and Vita-sell mentor, Tiffany, give all her attention to Tara.  Tiffany is dying to meet one of the alters.  Drunk on cocktails and a lifetime of jealousy, Charmaine admits that she doesn't believe the reality of DID.  Tara looks caught in the cross-fire as Tiffany teases her alters, "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

And apparently one of the alters is listening.