Vladimir’s unnamed protagonist has ruled her small-town liberal arts college’s literature department with her husband for decades. But now, “she is losing her throne,” says Weisz. She’s been married to John for 30 years, and they share a 27-year-old daughter. “My character is passionate, a fantasist, and she would say a very good mother,” adds Weisz.

When we meet her, the protagonist feels like she’s receding further and further into the background of her own life without her consent. “As you’re going to grow into an older woman, you’re going to be asked to just want less, take up less space, be more of service ... she’s really just not ready to do that at all,” says Jonas. 

Throughout the series, Weisz threads the delicate needle as an unreliable narrator and someone whose desire to reinvigorate her life is understandable. Weisz is “someone who is incredibly intelligent, but also able to have this wicked humor and be lovable at the same time,” Jonas adds. Read our cover story about Weisz on Tudum.

The Favourite, Dead Ringers, The Constant Gardener, The Mummy

Vladimir joins the full-time staff of the protagonist’s college as a celebrated novelist hoping to write his next book. He’s in his early 30s and married to Cynthia (Jessica Henwick). They have a 3-year-old daughter named Phee (Brielle Anna Jurksztowicz). 

As the actor playing Vladimir, it was important to Woodall that his character be inscrutable. “Because the show and the story is told through the protagonist’s point of view, a lot of what you see of Vlad, by nature, is up to interpretation,” he says. “There are a lot of moments where you’re supposed to wonder what the intention was — a hand touch or a lingered look or a little bit of flirting. Was it flirting? Was it friendliness? That’s always going through her head and [she’s] wondering, ‘Am I making this up? Is it real? Am I crazy?’ ” 

Adds Jonas, ”He represents this idea of the young male genius, and that’s a great fascination for our protagonist.”

One Day, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, The White Lotus

John began teaching as an adjunct and rose to chair of the English department. Married for 30 years, the protagonist and John have embraced their agreement to have an open marriage in the hope that their relationship would feel antiestablishment. They’ve stood by each other for years — they’re best friends who finish each other’s sentences. “John and the protagonist love each other very much, and there’s a lot about the marriage that really works for them,” says Weisz.

But now that John’s affairs from more than 10 years ago have led to a Title IX hearing and his suspension from the college, “he’s pushed her right to the edge of what she can handle with his behavior,” says Weisz. The hearing puts a strain on their already undernourished marriage, as she bears the weight of his choices in his absence.

John is frustrated and worried about getting fired when we meet him, Slattery explains, He spends his time gardening in the backyard and clocks his wife’s “pumps” as she obsesses over the idea of a younger man. “His wife is sick of him,” says Slattery. “They both had relationships outside the marriage of different kinds. They love each other, but [an open marriage] wears on one another, I think, over time.”

Mad Men, Spotlight, Nuremberg

If the protagonist projects her desires onto Vlad, then she projects her insecurities onto Vlad’s wife, Cynthia. “From the protagonist’s point of view, Cynthia is taking her place,” says Weisz, who takes care to remind John and her colleagues that Cynthia is an adjunct professor.

Cynthia joins the college reluctant to enter the professorial social scene, but she finds verve in teaching her creative nonfiction students like Edwina. Before teaching at the school, Cynthia struggled with her mental health as a new wife and mother to 3-year-old Phee. “There’s tension in Vlad’s relationship with Cynthia, but there’s also a lot of love between them,” says Woodall. “Cynthia has gone through some stuff, and Vlad has taken care of her through a lot of that.”

Now sober, Cynthia is eager to write a new book, just like Vlad, and seeks advice from a surprising mentor…

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Silo

Sid, short for Sydney, is the protagonist and John’s only child and a successful lawyer working in New York City. Although she’s reluctant to share too many personal updates with her mother, Sid tells her that she and her partner, Alexis (Tattiawna Jones), are beginning to talk about the idea of having kids — which sets off the protagonist’s alarm bells.

Mickey 17, Black Mirror

Sid’s girlfriend, Alexis, clashes with the protagonist over how she parents her only daughter. 

Wayward, Murderbot

We first meet Lila, the protagonist’s former student, when she rings up the protagonist’s bûche de Noël at a local bakery. The protagonist later finds out that Lila joined the Title IX case against John. This is a change from Jonas’s book, in which “there are no women who are named as accusers of John,” says the author.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Mrs. America, Private Life

Edwina is one of the protagonist’s most promising students. She holds her mentor in such high esteem that she asks her for a letter of recommendation for a creative writing program at Brown University. But she turns to her creative nonfiction professor when it becomes clear the protagonist has other pressing matters on her mind.

Is God Is, Steal Away

David becomes the new head of the English department in John’s absence. He and the protagonist have known each other for many years, and they have a history together — which she uses to her advantage throughout Vladimir.

Veep, The Perfect Date