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Main Characters
Alma Winograd-Diaz
Played By: Rosa Salazar
The protagonist of the series, a cynical 28-year-old woman who starts to develop the ability to manipulate time and space to discover what really happened to her late father.- Ambiguous Disorder: In addition to a suicide attempt in the past, her mother and boyfriend believe Alma probably has schizophrenia because of her odd behavior after the accident. Of course, this isn't an unjustified belief since she did tell Sam that her father was communicating with her from beyond the grave (and she was the only one who could see or communicate with him). Plus her paternal grandmother had schizophrenia, which can sometimes surface in people as the result of genetic factors. The finale leaves it open whether the events of the entire first season after her car accident had actually happened or were the result of a gradual mental breakdown.
- Backhanded Apology: Alma is a master in sarcastic apologizing.
- At the hospital her mother is scolding her for not wearing a seatbelt and ending up in hospital so shortly before the sister's wedding.Alma: I am sorry I almost die at a bad time.
- Again when her mother scolds her for taking the documents from the attic without asking.Alma: I am really sorry that I took stuff you weren't using, that you had no plans for.The mother: That was a terrible apology. I do not accept.
- At the hospital her mother is scolding her for not wearing a seatbelt and ending up in hospital so shortly before the sister's wedding.
- Badass Teacher: A daycare teacher, she also has the ability to alter time.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Like her father, Alma is clearly very bright and curious about the world, but while her father worked as an academic researcher, Alma works as a daycare assistant. This is lampshaded as Alma admits to not being content with her lot and wonders if there isn't more to life.
- Daddy's Girl: Alma seems much more affected by her father's death than her sister and flashbacks reveal he favored her - though his interest in her seems to be at least partly motivated by the fact that she has large ventricles, indicating her time travel abilities.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Hinted. In addition to her father dying when she was around 11, there's a mention that she had cut her wrist on the same day as her sister's swim meet.
- Deadpan Snarker: Alma has a dry sense of humor.
- Disabled Snarker: She wears a hearing aid, and has a snarky sense of humor.
- Disappeared Dad: Yes and no. While her father Jacob died when she was young, he arrives back into her life after a car accident at the start of the series or does he?
- Friend to All Children: Her job as a daycare teacher pretty much requires this. While Cassie might irritate her at times, she still is friendly towards her and desperately tells Oliver's mother to get him swimming lessons when she has a premonition about his drowning.
- The Gadfly: How else to explain drawing a mustache on your face for your sister's engagement party? For that matter, any time a certain amount of decorum is required, count on Alma to be at her most abrasive just to avoid being seen as "normal".
- It's All About Me: Becca and Camila accuse her of being this. Becca cites the fact that many of Alma's problems (such as an arrest, a suicide attempt, and the car accident) overshadowed Becca's achievements, while Camila tells Alma that everyone is always focused on her because of her personal issues.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's intentionally left ambiguous whether or not Alma's abilities are a supernatural phenomenon or a schizophrenia-induced hallucination.
- My Beloved Smother: Her mother Camila.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: She dislikes her sister's fiancé Reed and his parents.
- Reset Button: Gains this ability later in the first season. She uses it to erase the time she accidentally revealed that Becca had cheated on Reed with a bartender... at the wedding party.
- Secret-Keeper: Alma hides the fact that Becca slept with a bartender during her engagement. Until episode 7, when she accidentally blurts this out shortly before Becca's wedding. Alma then erases this event, thus undoing it.
- Self-Harm: Alma has been a troubled girl ever since her father died. One flashback shows her collapsed on the bathroom floor having cut her wrists. Her mother finds her in time.
- Womanchild: Alma is 28 years old, and while she does have a steady job and boyfriend she really has no plans or ambitions, preferring to drink and live unpredictably for the rest of her life. Her friends and family confronting Alma about her immaturity is what leads to the car accident that kicks off the plot.
Jacob Winograd
Played By: Bob Odenkirk
Alma's late father, who appears as a ghostly advisor to her after a car accident in order to have her solve the mystery of his death.- Ambiguous Situation:
- It is not clear if he actually suffered from schizophrenia as Camilla thought, or if his symptoms were effects of his time travelling abilities, as in the case of his mother.
- It is not clear if Alma managed to bring him Back from the Dead.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Jacob's ideas about time travel and schizophrenia make him fall into this category at times. Otherwise, he is generally level-headed.
- Did Not Die That Way: Alma believed that Jacob had died in a car accident until her own car accident, when Jacob suddenly appears in her life as she starts to develop time manipulation powers and convinces her he was murdered because of his research into time travel. However, in the season one finale, it is revealed that Jacob had in fact killed himself and his student Farnaz by driving into the ravine after learning that Camila was going to leave him.
- Disappeared Dad: He died in a car accident on Halloween night 2002. Except that it wasn't an accident.
- Driven to Suicide: After learning that his wife was leaving him because of his constant absenteeism and unsanctioned experiments on Alma, and realizing that his student Farnaz was losing faith in him, he committed a murder-suicide by driving off the road and into a ravine.
- Freud Was Right: Became obsessed with research into time travel via neurodivergent brains after his mother was institutionalized for schizophrenia. His favoring of Alma was highly implied to be because she reminded him of his mother and He performed unethical experiments in an effort to save her.
- Heel Realization: He has one in "The Halloween Night" once he realizes what he has done.
- I Just Want to Be Special: He lambasts Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz for wanting to return home when she could have stayed in the more fantastical Oz, hinting at his own issues with the mundane.
- Missing Mom: His mother Gertrude was schizophrenic and was eventually institutionalized for it (though she apparently met Alma as an infant) - though he claims her state is simply a result of her time travelling abilities, having lost herself in time. His mother's condition drove him to do research on both schizophrenia and time travel.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Alma and Camila both thought he was cheating with Farnaz, but he actually wasn't.
- Parental Neglect: Did this to Alma and Becca when they were kids. It's part of the reason why Camila wanted to leave him.
- Posthumous Character: He's been dead for around 17 years by the time the series begins.
- The Professor: Was one in life, one dedicated to trying to crack the secret to time travel.
- Spirit Advisor: He serves this purpose to Alma, especially after she gains time-altering powers. Being able to see and speak with him is either a side effect of her near-death experience coupled with her burgeoning shaman powers or a sign that her schizophrenia is out of control.
- White Man's Burden: He shows deep admiration for Nahuatl culture But stole artifacts from them because he believed "they didn't understand their power."
Becca Winograd-Diaz
Played By: Angelique Cabral
Alma's sister, who is engaged to be married.- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Becca is preoccupied with her upcoming wedding, leading her to prioritize her feelings over Alma's and make insensitive remarks from time to time. As we come to know Becca, however, we learn that she's been overshadowed by Alma and her issues all her life and getting married is finally giving her the opportunity for some external validation.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: To Alma, though not so much as an adult.
- Control Freak: Alma views her as such.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Subverted. She is initially presented as the responsible sibling to Alma's foolish, as she has a clear life direction, while Alma is a cynical Womanchild with no ambitions, preferring to spend her days hanging around and drinking. However, her cheating reveals she's just as troubled as Alma.
- Intoxication Ensues: She ends up cheating on Reed with Tomas the bartender while drunk.
- Little Sister Instinct: Sure, they butt heads at times, but Becca is close to her sister and goes to Mexico to find her when their mother and Sam won't believe Alma.
Camila Diaz
Played By: Constance Marie
Alma and Becca's mother, Jacob's wife.- Bilingual Bonus: She's a Spanish speaker, alongside English.
- Disappointed in You: Camila is disappointed in the way Alma turned out to be. Though she still loves her, regardless.
- Happily Married: Played With. At some point she and Jacob used to be this, but the year before his death their relationship grew increasingly troubled, due to his dismissal of his schizophrenia diagnosis and his absence from the family. After finding out he experimented on Alma without her consent, Camila decided to leave him.
- Immigrant Parents: Camila is originally from Mexico.
- My Beloved Smother: She can be quite overbearing, especially when it concerns her elder daughter Alma's life and the details of her younger daughter Becca's wedding.
- Overprotective Mom: To a degree, Camila is this towards Alma.
- Secret-Keeper: She hid the fact that her husband Jacob had schizophrenia, how he really died, and the fact that Jacob was a smoker from her daughters for nearly 20 years.
Sam
Played By: Siddharth Dhananjay
Alma's boyfriend.- Gaslighting: He doesn’t quite get the placement of some of his stuff right upon moving back in with Alma, forcing him to deny her accusations that things have moved around to keep up the ruse that they never broke up. She’s naturally quite upset about it when she does remember.
- Mistaken Nationality: Offhandedly mentions that he is sometimes mistaken for Mexican. In reality, he's Indian American.
- Nice Guy: Generally, Sam is a pretty nice dude. Barring the lying about still being in a relationship with Alma after she survived the accident that gave her memory loss, of course.
- Odd Friendship: With Becca's fiancé Reed.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Sanjeev, though this is only revealed in a flashback.
- Secret-Keeper: After accidentally (and correctly) guessing that Becca cheated on her fiancé, Sam hides this secret in exchange for Becca to hide the fact that Alma had broken up with him prior to the accident (which she doesn't remember). But the secrets don't last for long.
Tunde
Played By: Daveed Diggs
Alma's boss at the daycare center where she works.- Benevolent Boss: Though he's Alma's superior, they have a friendly relationship. He cares about her and shows understanding for her situation. When he thinks she's no longer an appropriate caretaker and sends her home, he's nice about it and genuinely worried about her.
- Nice Guy: He is nice and understanding.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He understands Alma's situation and can deal with much of her problems.
Recurring Characters
Reed Hollingsworth
Played By: Kevin Bigley
Becca's fiancé.- Crushing Handshake: This is what Alma remembers most about him.
- Deep South: Has a clear-cut Texan accent.
- Generic Guy: Aside from being Becca's fiancé, he shows very little in terms of personality.
- Satellite Love Interest: Has no function outside of his relationship with Becca.
- Upper-Class Twit: Alma views Reed and his family as such.
Farnaz Lakhani
Played By: Sheila Vand
Jacob's student and research assistant who worked with him; she died in the same accident that killed him.- Murder-Suicide: When Jacob realized that Farnaz was losing faith in him on the time travel project (in addition to his wife revealing that she was going to leave him only shortly before), he drove into a ravine with Farnaz in the car, as Alma finds out.
- Posthumous Character: She died in the same accident as Jacob.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She gives Jacob one after she finds out that he experimented on Alma without Camila's consent.
