The Act: Season 1

2019 · 8 episodes · ★ 8.4

Miniseries

What Season 1 of The Act

The first season unfolds across two timelines, past and present, and centers on Gypsy Blanchard, a young woman who relies on a wheelchair due to an illness. Joey King plays Gypsy and Patricia Arquette plays Dee Dee, the mother who has spent years caring for her. When Gypsy begins to demand independence, their living arrangement sours: Dee Dee becomes more overprotective, controlling and abusive. The conflict escalates when Gypsy wants to explore her sexuality, and every attempt to escape this toxic relationship tests them both.

8episodes

Mar 20, 2019released

May 1, 2019latest episode

6.7 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 La Maison du Bon Rêve
Mar 20, 2019 · 50 min · ★ 8.2
Doting mother Dee Dee Blanchard and her sweet daughter Gypsy arrive in a new neighborhood, where Gypsy feels lonely due to a barrage of medical issues and eager to make friends. But their new neighbors can be nosy, and Dee Dee and Gypsy have secrets to hide.
Directing: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre · Writing: Nick Antosca, Michelle Dean · Starring: Nicholas Cirillo, Roy Williams Jr., Colby Boothman-Shepard, Sawyer Schultz
1x02 Teeth
Mar 20, 2019 · 52 min · ★ 8.4
Dee Dee is on a high since Gypsy will be given the “Child of the Year Award,” which makes Dee Dee feel like Mother of the Year. But before the big event, Gypsy has a dental emergency that gets the attention of a skeptical doctor who could expose Dee Dee’s secrets.
Directing: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre · Writing: Dan Dietz · Starring: Mary Hollis Inboden, Poorna Jagannathan, Alexandria DeBerry, Sawyer Schultz
1x03 Two Wolverines
Mar 27, 2019 · 50 min · ★ 8.4
Dee Dee makes Gypsy play dress up for a costume convention, where they each attract charming men who could dangerously complicate their insular relationship. And Gypsy is starting to question the lies her mother tells her — especially about how old she really is.
Directing: Adam Arkin · Writing: Robin Veith · Starring: Dean Norris, Joe Tippett, Alicia Kelley, Elizabeth Bond
1x04 Stay Inside
Apr 3, 2019 · 47 min · ★ 8.2
Gypsy’s getting older and Dee Dee is forced to new legal maneuvers to keep control of her “little girl.” But Dee Dee’s limited by her own health problems, and Gypsy goes to greater lengths than ever to connect with men and experience a sexual awakening.
Directing: Christina Choe · Writing: Michelle Dean · Starring: Brooke Smith, Valyn Hall, Melissa Tang, Karson Kern
1x05 Plan B
Apr 10, 2019 · 55 min · ★ 8.4
Gypsy and Nick scheme to meet in person and hope to win Dee Dee's approval, but when their plan goes disastrously wrong they'll be pushed to make an extreme choice in order to be together.
Directing: Steven Piet · Writing: Nick Antosca, Lisa Long · Starring: Steve Coulter, Joshua Mikel, Dave Hager, Dawson Shea
1x06 A Whole New World
Apr 17, 2019 · 45 min · ★ 8.2
While Gypsy and Nick are on the run, flashbacks to a much younger Dee Dee reveal how trauma with her own mother set her up for conflict with Gypsy.
Directing: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre · Writing: Marion Dayre · Starring: Margo Martindale, Rhea Seehorn, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Lana Young
1x07 Bonnie & Clyde
Apr 24, 2019 · 45 min · ★ 8.7
Gypsy is excited to start over with Nick in Wisconsin, but their new life doesn't match the happily-ever-after she imagined, and her anxiety worsens as past transgressions begin to catch up with them.
Directing: Hannah Fidell · Writing: Dan Dietz, Robin Veith · Starring: Juliette Lewis, Adam Arkin, Rachel Ticotin, John Ales
1x08 Free Season Finale
May 1, 2019 · 56 min · ★ 9.0
Gypsy fights for her life by defending her actions, while Mel and Lacey realize that behind closed doors things were not always as they seemed.
Directing: Steven Piet · Writing: Nick Antosca, Michelle Dean, Lisa Long · Starring: Molly Ephraim, Cliff Chamberlain, Wilbur Fitzgerald, Joe Knezevich