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Ruth's Alternative Caring
Ruth
Played by: Kathy Bates
An activist and owner of a marijuana shop.- December–December Romance: Has one with Walter, a retired accountant.
- Hippie Parents: To Travis.
- Informed Judaism: She's mentioned to be Jewish, but isn't seen practicing.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl
- Parents as People
- Shipper on Deck: Deconstructed - she's so pushy for Travis and Olivia to get together that the pressure eventually makes them break up.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: She's the wacky parent to Travis' serious child.
Travis
Played by: Aaron Moten
Ruth's son and accountant for his mother's dispensary.- Nice Guy: He's sweet and sensitive, though he can be a bit of a pushover at times.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: He's the serious child to Ruth's wacky parent.
Olivia
Played by: Elizabeth Alderfer
An employee at Ruth's Alternative.- Catchphrase: She's largely shed it, but she has a tendency to say "and whatnot" a lot.
- Nice Girl: Is kind and considerate to everyone.
- Official Couple: With Travis, briefly. They break up as Ruth's fussing over them to take things further and start having kids puts too much pressure on them.
Carter
Played by: Tone Bell
The security guard at Ruth's Alternative.- Character Development: Starts off being distant from the rest of the crew but eventually opens up more and becomes a genuine friend to the other employees of Ruth's dispensary.
- Official Couple: With Jenny after having some Ship Tease with her.
- Scary Black Man: Invokes this image as a security guard but it's ultimately subverted as he's really a nice guy.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: He was a veteran in the Iraq War, and occasionally has bad flashbacks. He begins using weed to deal with his anxiety.
Pete
Played by: Dougie Baldwin
The in-store grower for Ruth's Alternative.- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He's prone to seeing things others can't (such as Mary Jane, the spiritual embodiment of marijuana).
- Hippie Parents: He was raised by a pair of these on a Commune and is a little out of place among mainstream society as a result.
- Looks Like Jesus: With his long brown hair and beard, Dank describes him as looking like "white Jesus".
Jenny
Played by: Elizabeth Ho
A cashier at Ruth's Alternative.- Asian and Nerdy: Downplayed - she was a good student and even went to a nice college before dropping out.
- Education Mama: Not one herself, but her mother is one, and Jenny fears telling her the truth of her educational status as a college dropout who's now working at a marijuana dispensary.
- Official Couple: With Carter after having some Ship Tease with him.
Clients
Steve "Dank" Dankerson and Deborah "Dabby" Shapiro
Played by: Chris Redd (Dank) and Betsy Sodaro (Dabby)
- The Millstone: Them giving pot to minors on their web show is what costs the dispensary their money.
- Secretly Wealthy: They make a pretty penny off their YouTube channel. Up to $190,000 in fact.
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: For all their stupidity, they are the most stable couple on the whole show.
- A Threesome Is Hot: They seem to be very open to the idea of having a third person to have sex with. So far, they've been very open-minded, and have wondered about Travis' girlfriend, Travis himself, Carter, and so on. They actually do have sex with Travis' girlfriend Tina and loved it.
- The Stoner: In a show where everyone smokes pot, they take it up a notch.
Maria
Played by: Nicole Sullivan
A frequent customer of Ruth's Alternative.- Gaslighting: As Ruth puts it, "Grass"-lighting. When the other shoe drops and Maria finally realizes that her husband is cheating on her, Ruth points out that he's been making her think that she's just paranoid because of the weed she's been smoking.
Other
Tae Kwon Doug
Played by: Michael Trucco
The owner of the Tae-Kwon-Do Dojo next to Ruth's Alternative.- Foil: To Ruth, as she points out. The only thing they have in common is that they care about Pete.
- Parental Substitute: Invoked, but subverted. He wants a son to pass the dojo on to since he only has three daughters. When he sees the potential for it in Pete, he tries to force himself to occupy this role for him. However, Pete has no interest in it, already having multiple parental figures (thanks to being raised in a commune) and Ruth being closer to him than Doug, never mind the fact that Doug wants him to quit his passion as a botanist and for marijuana.
- Sitcom Archnemesis: He's initially at odds with Ruth and writes off her business as a catering service for lowlives and drug addicts, though he does gradually loosen up a bit over time and even finds some common ground with her.
- Smug Straight Edge: Initially disdains Ruth's trade, believing it to be a store for losers and druggies.
- You Need to Get Laid: Ruth certainly believes this for him.
