Being Erica is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that aired on CBC from January 5, 2009, to December 12, 2011. Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as The Session, but was later retitled Being Erica before debuting in 2009."Erin Karpluk plucked out of obscurity by CBC" CanWest News Service, April 22, 2008. It is produced by Temple Street Productions and distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide. The show stars Erin Karpluk as Erica Strange, a woman who begins seeing a therapist to deal with regrets in her life, only to discover a therapist (Michael Riley) who has the ability to send her back in time to actually relive these events and even change them.
In Canada, the second season premiered on September 22, 2009. Only 12 episodes were produced for the second season due to budget cuts at the CBC. On May 11, 2010, the CBC announced that Being Erica was renewed for a third season of 13 episodes. Soapnet announced that it was picking up the full third season as well. Season 3 debuted on September 21, 2010, at 9 pm ET, on CBC Television. In the United States, Season 3 began airing on Soapnet starting January 26, 2011.
The show's fourth and final season aired from September to December 2011. Although the show was never officially cancelled by the CBC, Sinyor told TV Guide during the fourth season run that the series had reached a natural conclusion and she had "no plans" to write or produce a fifth season."Is there still life left in ‘Being Erica?’" . TV Guide, October 24, 2011.
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.