Fans of You're The Worst will tell you that what makes the show so watchable isn't just the relationship between the couple at the center of the show. but rather it's Gretchen and Jimmy's wider circle of friends and acquaintances.
This is a series full of three-dimensional characters with their own lives and problems. Sometimes those are gravely important problems, other times they're really just about the neverending desire for more bin juice*.
(*Bin juice is a thing - watch the show already, will ya!)
We've put together these bios to help you ease your toes into the character-filled waters of You're The Worst.
Lindsay Jillian (Kether Donohue)
Occupation: Housewife
Relationship status: Married to Paul Jillian
Family: Becca Barbara (sister)
Likes: Fashion, singing, hanging out with Gretchen, sex
Dislikes: Her husband, her perfectly healthy weight
Favourite place: Wherever the fun is
Lindsay is Gretchen’s best friend. When Jimmy starts seeing Gretchen, Lindsay worries for her friend because she saw how Jimmy treated his ex-girlfriend Becca - Lindsay's own sister. Meanwhile Lindsay is coming to terms with the reality that she is in an unhappy marriage, while also dealing with low self-esteem regarding her weight.
Edgar Quintero (Desmin Borges)
Occupation: Military veteran
Relationship status: Single
Likes: Cooking, Rachael Ray, Heroin, Jimmy, Gretchen, Jimmy and Gretchen together
Dislikes: The military industrial complex, loud noises
Favourite place: The petting zoo
Edgar is Jimmy’s roommate and best friend. Jimmy lets Edgar live at his house rent-free, in exchange for cooking. A military veteran suffering from PTSD, Edgar is also battling a heroin addiction, and likes to distract himself by watching cooking shows and involving himself in Jimmy’s love life. Edgar is the biggest proponent of Jimmy and Gretchen’s relationship and does whatever he can to move it forward.
Becca Barbara (Janet Varney)
Occupation: Housewife
Relationship status: Married to Vernon Barbara
Family: Lindsay Jillian (sister)
Past relationships: Jimmy
Likes: Pretending that her life is better than everyone else’s
Dislikes: Jimmy, Jimmy and Gretchen dating, sometimes her husband
Favourite place: In front of a crowd, bragging about how great her life is
Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend, Becca invited Jimmy to her own wedding in order to lord her perfect life over him. Becca loves to host parties, so she can tell everyone how wonderful her life is. She hates that her younger sister Lindsay got married before she did.
It’s never clear how Becca feels about her husband, but he does have a lot of money.
Vernon (Todd Robert Anderson)
Occupation: Orthopaedic Surgeon
Relationship status: Married to Becca Barbara
Likes: Photos of medical procedures, shortening words unnecessarily, Jimmy, podcasting, Bin Juice
Dislikes: Becca when she won’t let him do something, how scary The Babadook was
Favourite place: His man cave/podcasting studio in the basement
Vernon is Becca’s husband, with whom he appears to have nothing in common. Vernon is an orthopaedic surgeon, who mostly performs hip replacement surgeries. Despite his wife’s feelings towards him (and having thrown him out of their wedding), Vernon desperately wants to be friends with Jimmy. Since marrying Becca, there are some things he’s no longer allowed to do, so he converts his basement into a ‘man cave’.
He desperately wants Jimmy to be a guest on his podcast.
Killian (Shane Francis Smith)
Occupation: Student, maybe. He never seems to be at school.
Relationship status: He could have multiple girlfriends. Killian is a mystery.
Likes: Hanging out with Gretchen, Jimmy, Edgar and Lindsay, videogames
Dislikes: Gluten (it’s an intolerance), possibly his parents (we’ve never seen them)
Favourite place: Jimmy and Edgar’s house, playing videogames
Killian is Jimmy and Edgar’s adolescent neighbour who moves next door in the first episode. Completely unfazed by Jimmy’s hatred for everything, Killian asks if he can hang out with Jimmy. He quickly befriends Gretchen and Edgar, but Jimmy keeps forgetting who he is. Killian is gluten intolerant and sees a nutritionist. We’ve never seen his parents, but it’s possible his father is a member of the Irish mob in addition to designing videogames.
Sam Dresden (Brandon Mychal Smyth)
Occupation: Rapper
Age: 19
Relationship status: Inviting women over to his house
Likes: Music, the Craft Movement style of furniture and architecture, Gretchen, writing diss tracks
Dislikes: Photographers, when Gretchen doesn’t show up to work
Favourite place: His Craftsman house, which he hopes to get featured in magazines
Sam is Gretchen’s main client, and the breakout character of You’re the Worst’s first season. Despite his prominence as a hip-hop artist, he’s also passionate about the piano and the Craftsmen movement of architecture - he explains its importance to Gretchen in detail.
Paul Jillian (Allan McLeod)
Occupation: Investment Banker
Relationship status: Married to Lindsay Jillian
Likes: Craft brewing, recumbent cycling, stargazing
Dislikes: Being ignored (but he’s too scared to speak up)
Favourite place: Anywhere he can ride his recumbent bike
Paul is Lindsay’s banker husband, who she hates simply because they aren’t compatible as a couple. Despite Lindsay’s treatment of him, Paul is an affable man. While Lindsay spends her time hanging out with Gretchen, Paul has his own interests which never intersect with hers. A devoted husband, Paul will do anything for Lindsay.
Paul is an avid recumbent cyclist.
Ty Wyland (Stephen Schneider)
Occupation: Film Director
Relationship status: Dating models with ridiculous names
Previous relationships: Gretchen Cutler
Likes: Gretchen, mindfulness, being famous, having a private plane
Dislikes: Negativity
Favourite place: India
If Gretchen’s ex-lover Ty looks familiar to you, it may be because you’ve seen actor Stephen Schneider as Abby’s love interest Jeremy in Broad City. Ty is a famous Hollywood director who owns a private plane and gets invited to the Tribeca Film Festival. He practices in positive affirmation and doesn’t believe in negativity since his trip to India.
You're The Worst airs every Monday night at 9:55pm on SBS VICELAND, with the first four seasons also streaming anytime at SBS On Demand.
