Lyssa is a 30-year-old Black woman working in a museum gift shop who is chosen to dress as a sea monster for a pop star's music video shoot. She deals with the recent loss of her mother to ovarian cancer and a medical recommendation to undergo preventative surgery. She often attempts to project a highly professional demeanor to secure better treatment in medical settings.

Rena is a traveling photographer who frequently visits dangerous global locations for her work. She struggles with intense grief surrounding a family tragedy involving her sister and seeks out reckless sexual encounters to cope with her feelings. She attends a wedding for a friend she met during a quarantine in Ghana, though she senses the bride heavily distrusts her.

Dori is a bride-to-be planning a specific rainbow-themed wedding in Indiana. She acts coldly toward Rena during the bachelorette party and assigns a bridesmaid to monitor Rena's interactions with her fiancé. She is highly invested in her wedding plans but must adapt when things go wrong.

Claire is a 19-year-old college student at Dennis College dealing with the loss of her mother. She becomes the center of a campus controversy after a photo of her wearing a Confederate flag bikini circulates online. Rather than apologizing, she doubles down on her actions, associates with conservative campus groups, and stubbornly refuses to back down during administrative meetings.

Cecilia is a 24-year-old woman who recently relocated from the Bronx to the West Coast. She works at an experimental afterschool program using art and theater to help abused children recover. She organizes a family trip to a famous former prison to help her mother find closure regarding their family history.

Anne is Cecilia's mother. Raised by her grandparents, she faced severe social exclusion due to being the only Black child in a white household. She has spent her adult life obsessively petitioning the court system to overturn her grandfather's dishonorable discharge, calculating exactly how much money the family is owed.

The Artist is an arrogant creator who attempts to publicly apologize to the many people he has wronged. He funds elaborate public announcements and sets up an interactive art gallery called Forgiveness to stage his apologies and await reactions.

Vera is a young woman seeking a fresh start in New York City. She works to erase traces of her past life in poverty by deleting her social media accounts and changing her phone number. Her life changes unexpectedly when a fellow bus passenger abandons a toddler in the seat next to her while she is transporting illegal goods.

William is a two-year-old boy who is abandoned on a bus. He ends up living with Vera, who uses her delivery money to provide him with a furnished apartment, a babysitter, and a stable routine.

Cassie is a former professor working as a field agent for the Institute for Public History in Washington, DC. She travels the city correcting historical inaccuracies on plaques and monuments. She often prefers to stick to strict rules, making her cautious about aggressive approaches to public history. She frequently questions her own professional boundaries and personal life choices.

Genevieve is Cassie's former coworker at the Institute for Public History and a childhood acquaintance. She aggressively corrects historical records to ensure victims are acknowledged, a practice that eventually leads to her dismissal from the agency. She pursues a freelance career to expose hidden truths.

Mackenzie is a white employee at the Titanic museum gift shop. She typically gets chosen to dress up as a princess for parties and events due to her boss's discriminatory practices. She expresses visible jealousy when a music video director bypasses her to select Lyssa for a shoot.

Travis is Lyssa's former boyfriend. He provided critical support and assistance while Lyssa's mother was ill, often attempting to run errands and manage medication pickups. Their relationship ended due to differing views regarding Lyssa's health management and family planning.

The Director oversees a revenge-themed music video shoot at the museum. He notices Lyssa working in the gift shop and intentionally recruits her to participate in the background of the video as a sea monster.

Lyssa's mother passed away from ovarian cancer after an eleven-month illness. Her medical journey deeply impacts Lyssa's perspective on healthcare and family.

JT is Dori's fiancé. He bonded with Rena five years earlier when they were quarantined together on a trip to Ghana. He experiences severe doubts about his upcoming marriage and makes erratic decisions as the ceremony approaches.

Michael is a groomsman at Dori and JT's wedding. He leaves the pre-wedding festivities early and crosses paths with Rena at the hotel, leading to a brief connection.

Elizabeth is Rena's sister. She sustained a traumatic brain injury after a violent incident involving her husband, a tragedy that severely fractured her family and left her requiring intensive long-term care.

Connor is Elizabeth's husband and a childhood friend of the sisters. His violent assumptions about his wife caused a permanent tragedy in the family.

Carmen is a Black student and Claire's hallmate at Dennis College. She brings attention to Claire's controversial photo by sharing it on social media, drawing widespread reactions from the student body and forcing a confrontation.

Jackson is an 18-year-old high school student who spends time with Claire in Florida. He purchases a controversial bikini for Claire and posts a picture of her wearing it online, triggering the events at her college.

Puppy is Claire's "almost stepmother" who lives in Florida with Claire's father. Claire frequently seeks out ways to mildly annoy her.

Claire's father originally lived in Virginia before relocating to Florida. He provides Claire with a place to stay during her college breaks following her mother's passing.

Claire's mother was originally from Connecticut. Her sickness and subsequent death occurred around the same time as the illness of their neighbor, fundamentally altering Claire's life trajectory.

Aaron is a Black youth who grew up next door to Claire in Virginia. As children, Claire and his sister frequently teased him. Years later, he attempted to safely drive an intoxicated Claire home from a high school party, an act that led to a severe confrontation on the road.

Angela is Aaron's sister and Claire's former best friend. The two girls grew up together and frequently allied to torment Aaron, but they drifted apart when their respective mothers fell ill.

Robert is the president of the campus libertarians at Dennis College. He eagerly defends Claire's right to freedom of expression and organizes a town hall to discuss the controversy surrounding her.

Papa is Anne's grandfather and Cecilia's great-grandfather. He falsified his birth certificate to enlist in World War I at age 15. After an accidental shooting at the Mexican border, he was incarcerated at Alcatraz prison and stripped of his veteran's benefits, setting off a lifelong battle for reinstatement.

Nancy is Anne's cousin. She travels with her husband and daughters to meet Cecilia and Anne for a prison tour. During childhood, her mother violently prevented her from playing with Anne due to racial prejudice, a fracture that Nancy attempts to mend years later.

Ken is Nancy's husband. He brings his daughters along on the uncomfortable family outing arranged by Cecilia.

The Model/Actress is a woman who previously dated the Artist before they were famous. She publicly jokes about his disappearance and moves forward with planning a themed makeup line inspired by her own joke.

Derek runs a courier service in New York City that handles both legal and illegal deliveries. He hires Vera to work as a receptionist, allowing her to bring a child to the office, and eventually invites her to stay in his loft.

Jacob is a 19-year-old delivery boy working for Derek's courier service. His employment conditions involve demanding delivery times, which eventually leads to a severe accident.

Vera's mother remains in Vera's hometown. Vera periodically calls her from payphones to provide minimal updates, actively trying to distance herself from her past.

Daniel is a man Cassie dates in Washington, DC. He expresses concern over her travel plans to Wisconsin and feels neglected when she prioritizes her demanding field assignments over their relationship.

Nick is Cassie's college ex-boyfriend who lives in Wisconsin. He meets her at the airport when she travels for a work assignment and serves as a local guide to help ease her interactions in unfamiliar towns.

Chase is a local resident of Cherry Mill, Wisconsin. He is an active participant in protests against historical corrections, defacing public plaques and aligning himself with aggressive political organizations that oppose the Institute for Public History.

Josiah is a historical figure who opened a tannery in Wisconsin during the 1930s. His alleged death in a fire becomes the subject of an intense historical investigation, prompting Cassie to travel to the Midwest to determine the facts.

Andy Detry is a local bar owner in Wisconsin and the descendant of a man involved in historical violence. He actively tries to send apologies for his family's past and provides Cassie with crucial leads for her investigation.