Being Erica

Premise

Erica Strange is a young woman, smart and well-educated, but an underachiever who has been perennially unlucky in her career and her love life. After accidentally consuming a drink with hazelnut flavouring, to which she is allergic, she wakes up in the hospital and meets Dr. Tom, who claims that he can help her fix everything that is not going well in her life. Although initially reluctant, she soon learns that what he is offering is the ability to go back in time to relive and even change her deepest regrets.

Each time she faces a problem in the present, Dr. Tom sends her back to revisit a related regret. The situation is rarely as simple as it first appears: in nearly every case, the event she was seeking to avoid by acting differently still occurs, and she must instead seek out new information to uncover the event's real meaning, which gives her new insight into how to handle her problem in the present. It quickly becomes apparent the therapy's true purpose is not to let Erica erase her regrets, but to help her improve her future by learning from past mistakes and making different decisions in the present.

Over the course of the series, the sessions also serve to reveal some of the limitations and complications, as well as the metaphysical implications, of the therapy process — such as whether a patient can intervene to change somebody else's destiny besides their own, whether the therapist can intervene on the patient's behalf to change their past without the patient's knowledge, whether a patient is allowed to reveal the future to another person during a session, and whether the therapy was ever really happening or was merely a dream all along. Later seasons introduce a group therapy session, where several patients gather to discuss and share ideas about one patient's time travel sessions.

Characters

Because the show involves time travel, very young versions of the characters are played at times by different actors.

Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) – the protagonist in the series. At the beginning of the series, she is 32, single, Jewish, and well-educated. However, she is an underachiever who has recently been fired from a mindless customer service job because she is overqualified. She has a nut allergy and after accidentally drinking coffee with nut syrup in it, she ends up in hospital where she is approached by someone she initially believes to be connected with the hospital. He introduces himself as "Dr Tom" and says he is a therapist who can help her. Once home again, she is convinced poor choices made in her past have made her life a failure and seeks Dr. Tom's help to undo many of her mistakes. As the series progresses, she gains confidence in herself and her choices, dates and finds love, and gets promoted to junior editor at a publishing house, from which she eventually gets fired in the penultimate episode of the second season. She has a master's degree in English literature. During the third season she and Julianne start their own publishing company 50/50 Press and become good friends in the process. Having written short stories throughout her life, Erica aspires to write fiction as an author. In the season 3 finale, Erica passes Dr. Tom's test at the end of group therapy and becomes a trainee doctor. The penultimate episode of season 3 ends with Erica walking down a street in Toronto looking for somebody to give her business card to so they can become her first patient. In the series finale of season 4, Erica successfully completes her doctor training and becomes an official doctor. Her office is a quote-plastered artist's studio loft with a honeycomb-style bookcase and a tan leather chair behind a large, red desk. Even though she has to bid farewell to Dr. Tom, the now Dr. Erica remains connected to him through his daughter Sarah who becomes her first official patient. In the episode "Adultescence", a 12-year-old Erica Strange is played by teen actor Samantha Weinstein; Rachel Marcus plays a young Erica in the episode "Fa La Erica"; Grace Arianna Kirby plays a childhood Erica in the series finale "Dr. Erica".

Dr. Tom Wexlar (Michael Riley) – Erica's therapist. He has a habit of citing quotations, often to Erica's annoyance. Instead of helping Erica directly with her problems when they meet in the past, he is often vague and inscrutable, giving clues that relate to her present-day life. In his more mundane life before his own therapy and ultimately becoming a therapist, he was married to Marjorie (Shauna MacDonald) and had a daughter named Sarah (Tatiana Maslany). Sarah ran away from home in 1996, resulting in Tom's downward spiral of alcoholism and violence, culminating in a suicide attempt; it is sometimes implied that Dr. Tom may partly be using Erica as a substitute for Sarah. It is also revealed in "Sins of the Father" that he was engaged once before to Amanda Mathieson (Suzy Joachim) until he pushed her away; they meet once more in the present and rekindle their relationship. In "Physician, Heal Thyself", Sarah returns after a long absence, seeking her parents' help to kick her heroin addiction. She then burglarizes their home and ends up in prison. Dr. Tom comes to visit her and instructs her to take more responsibility for her own life instead of relying on him to bail her out. His office is very regal, and looks very much like a study or a library. After careful consideration and with his life flourishing after reuniting with Amanda, Dr. Tom decides to resign as a therapist on the condition that he is to sever all ties with his patients, including Erica. At first, he struggles with his decision upon seeing the heartbroken Erica, but ultimately bids farewell to his favorite patient. With Erica as witness to his departure, his office disappears into a vast, white space.

Erica's friends

Julianne Giacomelli (Reagan Pasternak) – Head editor at River Rock Publishing's non-fiction department and Erica's boss and eventual business partner at 50/50 Press, and Brent's current girlfriend. Although her perky demeanor often leads people to underestimate or belittle her intelligence, she is a savvy businesswoman who especially excels at the marketing and networking aspects of her job; she is, for example, the only editor who has ever figured out how to keep star River Rock author Thomas Friedken's rampant ego under control. However, she also has a habit of being particularly cruel to employees, including Erica, who trigger her insecurities. During the first season, Julianne warms up to Erica, mostly because the quality of her work makes Julianne look better to her superiors. Julianne is involved in an affair with Friedken, until Erica catches him cheating on her in the second season. Julianne then publicly humiliates Friedken and he turns the tables on her by giving his book to Brent to edit. Along with Erica, Julianne gets fired from her job after insulting her superior. The two then start their own publishing company, 50/50 Press. Julianne often misuses airquotes, much to the aggravation of Erica. Her pet name for Erica is "Chicken"; the season 3 Christmas special reveals that this was her father's pet name for her. In season 4, Julianne becomes Erica's second training patient due to her insecurity. She and Brent become closer, which leads to a one-night stand in their office. After Brent expresses his love for her, she realizes that she loves him too and they officially begin dating.

Ethan Wakefield (Tyron Leitso) – Ethan is a fourth grade teacher and has been Erica's best friend since their university days. He is introverted and prefers stability and predictability, in contrast to his ex-wife Claire's and Erica's extroverted personalities. In the second episode, he moves next door to Erica after separating from Claire in Montreal after finding out she had an affair. Erica's growing love for him after fifteen years of "just friends" was a major theme in the first season. Ethan divorces Claire and begins dating Erica; however, in the second season finale, Erica breaks up with him because she felt he was constraining her. While she still loved him, she recognized that they were not compatible enough to stay together. Ethan returns in season four as he bumps into Erica on her lunch break. He reveals that he had just gotten out of a serious relationship until Erica pushes him to confront his real reason for the breakup. He realizes that he wants his girlfriend back and reunites with her, along with Erica's help. Erica and Ethan become friends again to this day.

Judith Winters (Vinessa Antoine) – Erica's best friend. Erica and Judith are introduced to one another by Katie when Judith joins them in working together at Casa Loma. Judith is married and gives birth to a son during the first season. Her new duties of motherhood temporarily estrange her and Erica's relationship, but after Erica speaks her mind about how Judith's attitude has changed, they make amends. In the third season, Judith and her husband Anthony undergo marriage counseling when she encounters her high school sweetheart and literary agent, Will Appleyard (Shaun Benson). Their old feelings rekindle to the point of culminating into a near-affair. Judith then decides to cut off contact with Will to save her marriage.

Erica's family

Gary Strange (John Boylan) – Erica's father. Once a hippie and marijuana enthusiast, he is now a rabbi. He is seen occasionally wearing T-shirts with Jewish-themed phrases such as "I'm With Moses" and "I'm on Shabbat-ical" or Star Trek phrases like "Live Long and Prosper". In Erica's flashbacks, Gary and Barbara were shown to be fighting frequently and barely speaking to one another afterwards. He was married to Barbara Strange, but they divorced a year after Leo's death, partly because he had an affair. With Barbara he had three children: Leo, Erica and Samantha. During season 3 he and Barbara start seeing each other again, as he has always loved her even after their divorce. In the episode "This Be the Verse", a younger Gary is played by Brett Ryan.

Barbara Strange (Kathleen Laskey) – Erica's mother. Her relationship with Erica had been tenuous prior to the series but has improved over the years. Erica believed her mother was the reason for her parents' divorce, when in reality, it was her father's infidelity – a fact which was kept secret from Erica. In order for her to fully understand who Barbara Strange really is, Dr. Tom sends Erica further back to a hippie commune in 1974 where her parents went before they married. Disguised as a hippie, Erica realizes the magnitude of her mother's sacrifice for her father's happiness. She then makes amends with Barbara, who explains that she tried to make her marriage work for her children's sake. Barbara is seen with her new boyfriend, Norm, in "The Unkindest Cut" until he breaks up with her in season three. Barbara reveals she has breast cancer but has since gotten a clean bill of health and celebrates with a new perspective on life. She has a one-night stand with Gary in "Bear Breasts", but has reservations about reconciliation. They are then seen to have reunited once more in "Erica Interrupted". In "Baby Mama" it's revealed that she had a baby when she was seventeen and gave him up for adoption, which she always felt guilty about, but after finally meeting him as an adult named Daniel, he tells her it was the right thing to do and that he had an amazing childhood. In the episodes "This Be the Verse" and "Baby Mama", a younger Barbara is played by Lauren Collins.

Dr. Samantha Rachel "Sam" Strange (formerly McIntosh) (Joanna Douglas) – Erica's younger sister and a surgeon, Josh's longtime girlfriend and ex-wife albeit briefly, and Lenin's current domestic partner. At the start of the series, Sam appears in conservative, drab clothing whenever she is with Josh. However, as the series progressed, she begins to dress more casually after divorcing him. In Season 1, Sam and Erica are close until Erica attempts to dissuade Sam from marrying Josh five minutes before the wedding. In response, Sam refuses to forgive or talk to Erica for several episodes until she returns to Erica for comfort after separating from Josh. In Season 2, Sam leaves Josh and he eventually files for divorce with her counter-filing in response. She enters into a short-lived affair with Kai Booker but finds new love during the third season with janitor Lenin Crosby at her new hospital. In Season 4, Sam appears unexpectedly at Erica's doorstep, announcing that she is pregnant. She later gives birth to a baby boy she names Leo Crosby in honor of her late brother.

Other therapists

The therapists help their patients using an unusual therapy program which involves sending them back in time to events they regret to learn life lessons from their efforts to fix them. Therapists' offices do not have a physical location; when a "session" is about to begin, the patient will usually open a door and unexpectedly enter the office. They also walk in and out of their patients' lives, in various disguises, both in the present and the past, to offer occasional helpful insight.

Dr. Naadiah (Joanne Vannicola) – Dr. Tom's therapist, and for a brief time replaces him as Erica's. In "Being Dr. Tom", Dr. Naadiah sends Erica to 1998 in order to give Erica a glimpse of Dr. Tom's pre-therapy life. In "Physician, Heal Thyself" before he became a therapist, Dr. Tom tries to commit suicide only to land in Dr. Naadiah's office for the first time. It is she that helped him become the person that Erica knows to this day. In the season 3 episode "Gettin' Wiggy Wit' It" we briefly see one of her other patients. She is direct, yet calm in her demeanour, although she becomes noticeably more agitated when expressing her concerns about Dr. Tom's behaviour to their supervisor, Dr. Arthur. Her office is large, white, with a simple and very modern decor that Erica describes as "cold". In "Sins of the Father" we see that, unlike Tom, Naadiah puts her personal life before her work as a therapist, with another job, parties, a wife and a daughter.

Dr. Fred (Dewshane Williams) – Kai's therapist, prominently featured only in the second season. He brought Kai and Erica together, by one day "accidentally" spilling her coffee, and recommending Goblins to her. Frustrated by Kai's unwillingness to complete his therapy session, he recruits Erica for help, at the initial annoyance of Dr. Tom. His office is a lush green field surrounded by forest with glass furniture. He reappears in the fourth season and reveals Erica's possible fate in 2019 – she would die in a bombing attack that destroys Union Station, which she later learns that with that knowledge she is able to avoid the attack and survive after being visited and receiving guidance from her future 43-year-old self who is alive and a doctor. He transports Kai back to the future after the latter bids farewell to his one true love.

Dr. Arthur (Graham Greene) – A character who appears to be the supervisor of the other therapists. He is seen interacting with Dr. Naadiah in a couple of episodes, voicing concern on Dr. Tom's unethical behavior such as traveling to the future for information on Erica's fate. He then intervenes in "Physician, Heal Thyself" as Dr. Tom hides behind his work upon seeing his long-absent daughter for the first time. After Dr. Tom lashes out on Erica in particular, Dr. Arthur shows him that history repeats itself because people "fail to learn from [mistakes]". His office is a large, open, brick-style machine shop where he works on a car.

Group therapy patients

The second stage of Erica's therapy with Dr Tom involves sessions in the style of group therapy with four of Dr Tom's other patients. In group therapy, the patient undergoing a session may select one of their groupmates to accompany them into the past for support and guidance. While group therapy meetings are regularly depicted on the show during this phase of the therapy, actual time travel sessions are depicted only when Erica or Adam (or both) are involved either as the patient or the guest.

Adam Fitzpatrick (Adam Fergus) – Irish-Canadian Adam Fitzpatrick is introduced in Season Three as another time-travel therapy patient. He and Erica quickly develop strong chemistry, sometimes antagonistic. He had an unhappy childhood, where he and his brother John experienced physical abuse from their father and emotional withdrawals from their mother. He spent several years working in organized crime as an enforcer for a loan shark, but left that job and is now working as a labourer with a landscaping company, with new aspirations of studying to become a landscape architect. His traumatic family upbringing has fueled Adam's fear of commitment and penchant for one night stands. In the episode called "The Tribe Has Spoken", Adam meets Beatrice (who was his wife and the mother of his child in an alternate timeline) and asks her out on a date, under the impression of fulfilling his destiny to make a commitment. But by the end of the following episode, Adam breaks up with Beatrice and goes to Erica's apartment to profess his feelings for her. In the episode called "Erica, Interrupted", Adam and Erica finally begin a committed relationship together. During the fourth season, they begin fighting constantly and ultimately break up in "If I Could Turn Back Time". Erica uses her 24-hour time-travel pass to alter her day with Adam without his consent. Tired of her expectations, Adam walks out of her apartment and leaves her in tears. Adam reappears at Dave and Ivan's wedding with a date and awkwardly bumps into Erica. Nevertheless, he reunites with her after she asks for another chance at their relationship. With Jenny's help, Adam and Erica buy a condo and thus begin their new life together as of the series finale.

Rebecca (Melanie Scrofano) – She was an actress who did not make it and now she owns a clothing store in Kensington Market.

Darryl (Jeff Geddis) – Darryl is a quiet man who regrets not standing up to people and taking chances. He is shown to be something of a science nerd. Only one of his regrets is shown over the course of the season; he goes back with Adam and stands up to a group of bullies who stole his Walkman.

Other notable characters

Brent Kennedy (Morgan Kelly) – Julianne's former assistant and current boyfriend, former editor at River Rock Publishing and current editor at 50/50 Press. He is always well-dressed and well-kept and worked as an underwear model before joining River Rock, leading many people to initially assume (wrongly) that he is gay. He is friendly to Erica, having been in her shoes before. While he sides with Julianne when there is conflict with her and Erica, he helps Erica impress her boss. In Season 2, he becomes antagonistic towards Julianne after she gives the most promising book to Erica to edit instead of him. He then goes behind her back to get her fired by revealing her secret affair with renowned author Thomas Friedken and taking his book away from Julianne. When Erica shows loyalty towards Julianne, Brent decides to take them both down, trying to outshine their performance and get a promotion. By the end of Season Two, Brent Kennedy showed his true colours when he brought down Julianne Giacomelli's reign at River Rock Publishing – and got both her and Erica fired in the process. Season Three explores this darker, more severe side of Brent. As the new editorial director of non-fiction at River Rock Publishing, and fresh off his betrayal of Erica and Julianne – Brent prepares to do everything he can to make 50/50 Press a non-starter, and ensure his steady climb through the publishing world. Throughout the third season, however, he begins to crumble under Friedken's strong-arm tactics and refusal to collaborate with Brent's editing on his new self-help book. Brent then desperately seeks Julianne and Erica's help—allowing them to edit a tell-all memoir, under the condition that they ghost-edit Friedken's book. As shown towards the end of the season, Brent tries to conceal his real reason for ruining Julianne's career, implying that he has been in love with her from the beginning and was jealous of her personal involvement with Friedken. After his employer Frank Galvin dies of a heart attack, Galvin's son Scott takes over and revamps the company, leaving Brent as the odd man out. After much consideration, Brent quits River Rock and joins Julianne and Erica as their editor. He finally professes his love to Julianne, of which she reciprocates, and they begin an official relationship.

Claire LeDuc (Laurence Leboeuf) – Ethan and Erica's college friend, then Ethan's ex-wife. Claire is the daughter of a wealthy francophone industrialist from Montreal, but during her university days she hid her identity, until Erica disclosed it during a time travel, in order to appear more believable in her left-wing activism. In a third season episode, "Movin' On Up", after Erica struggles to move forward without Ethan, members from her group therapy send her back in time to hours before Ethan and Claire's wedding. Claire then reveals to Erica that she is marrying Ethan out of fear of being alone – a moment of truth that later verifies that Erica has made the right choice to break up with him.

Production and background

Temple Street Productions filmed the series in Toronto. The pilot episode was shot in November 2007, while the rest of Season One was shot from July through December 2008.

In the show's final season, Being Erica faced some criticism for several examples of product placement which appeared awkward or poorly executed. In one episode, Julianne decided (seemingly arbitrarily) to quit drinking her trademark lattés, and Rachel repeatedly offered her Tetley Infusions iced tea as a substitute; during the summer hiatus before the fourth season aired, Tetley Infusions sponsored a contest whose prize was a trip to Toronto to visit the set of Being Erica.

In another episode, the cold open essentially situated Erica and Julianne in an extended commercial for the 2012 Ford Focus, with Erica and Julianne test driving the car while a salesman in the back seat explained its features and selling points; the scene's only narrative connection to the rest of the episode came in the form of Erica occasionally weighing whether or not to buy it (which she ultimately did.) National Post arts journalist Jessica Leigh Johnston wrote that this episode was effectively the end of the show for her, writing that "I didn't actually make it to the finale. I broke up with Erica, my TV BFF, because she tried way too hard to sell me a car." In the weekly episode recap on its entertainment blog "The Hype", Toronto Life called it "the most blatant example of in-show advertising we've ever witnessed (even more than Julianne's legendary love of Tetley Infusions)", and opined that the scene went on for so long that it almost seemed as though the car was going to be Erica's patient for the week.

In addition, McCain Foods sponsored a viewer contest whose winner would appear as a non-speaking extra eating a slice of McCain's pizza in a Season 5 episode of Being Erica, several months after the fact that the show was concluding production at the end of Season 4 had already been announced. The contest was subsequently revised to offer an alternate prize "in the event that Being Erica is not renewed for the fall 2012 season".

Adaptations

Television producers in both the United States and the United Kingdom announced plans in 2010 to produce new adaptations of Being Erica in their respective countries.

The British version, to be produced by Big Talk Productions and titled You Again, was to be set in Glasgow and would focus on an NHS worker named Zoe. The lead writer was announced as Nicole Taylor (Ashes to Ashes and Secret Diary of a Call Girl), while Being Erica creator Jana Sinyor and producer Aaron Martin would serve as consultants.

On December 16, 2010, ABC announced plans to produce an American remake of Being Erica. Maggie Friedman was to be the writer for the show's pilot.

On December 10, 2020, it was announced that Allison Williams would star in and serve as an executive producer for an American remake being produced by Boat Rocker Studios. No network was then attached to the project.

Reception

The pilot episode had an estimated overnight audience of nearly 600,000 viewers, later confirmed by BBM Nielsen Media Research to be 615,000 viewers.

In the Netherlands, Being Erica premiered with 398,000 viewers with a market share of 5.9%. The rest of the season had a market share of 5.5% according to Stichting KijkOnderzoek. Being Erica was pulled off the schedule on Net 5 after the 10th episode to make room for 90210 and Gossip Girl. The remaining episodes began airing October 10. The series hit an all-time low when it returned on Net 5 but became stable after the second episode. Since January 2010 there has not been a new episode in the Netherlands because the ratings dropped dramatically in the second half of the second season. The DVD of season 2 was distributed by the BBC instead of Net 5, who released the first season on DVD. The sales did well so the BBC decided to release the third season as well in the Netherlands, even though the third season did not air.

In the UK, Being Erica was broadcast on E4. The first season premiered on September 28, 2009, and ended on December 14, 2009. The second season began airing on Monday, June 21, 2010, at 10 pm but was suddenly shifted to a 12:10 am graveyard slot after only four weeks. Seasons 3 and 4 were broadcast similarly, with season 4 episodes shown only once, in pairs after midnight.

Setting

The show is primarily set in Toronto. As such it features many landmarks and themes related to the city. Some roads are assigned different names from those that they have in reality.

Toronto appears frequently in American productions disguised as various US cities. For Being Erica, the producers wanted Toronto to appear as itself, and to showcase the highlights of the city in a way that had not been seen before.

Soundtrack

EMI Canada released Being Erica (Music from the Original Series) on September 22, 2009, in Canada.

Lily Frost – "All I Ever Wanted (Theme)"

Melanie Doane – "Every Little Thing"

The Cast of Being Erica – "Single and Unemployed"

Blind Melon – "No Rain"

The Northern Pikes – "Girl with a Problem"

The Cast of Being Erica – "The Answer Is"

Jesus Jones – "Right Here, Right Now"

The Cast of Being Erica – "Collective Disapproval"

Images in Vogue – "Lust for Love"

The Cast of Being Erica – "Yes or No"

Roz Bell – "Yesterday Man (I'm So Lonely)"

Norah Jones – "Don't Know Why"

Marc Jordan – "Rhythm of My Heart"

The Cast of Being Erica – "You Just Have To Decide"

Stars – "Reunion"

Right Said Fred – "I'm Too Sexy"

Fatboy Slim – "Praise You"

The Cast of Being Erica – "Hot Dog Vendor"

MC Hammer – "U Can't Touch This"

DVD releases

Entertainment One has released the first three seasons of Being Erica on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only). The fourth and final season was released on June 19, 2012.

In Region 2, Season 1 was released on DVD in the Netherlands on June 26, 2009. In the UK, the DVD was released on June 28, 2010.

In Region 4, ABC DVD/Roadshow Entertainment has released the first 3 seasons on DVD in Australia. Season 4 was released on April 5, 2012.