Redeemed villainess Fiona Berlin
Fiona Berlin (Tracie Thoms) is a recurring character from the Third and Fourth seasons of UnREAL. She was introduced as the high-end executive of a VR company and an old friend of Everlasting owner Quinn King, having known Quinn since the beginning of their respective careers.
Introduction & Events[]
Season 3 has Fiona and Quinn reuniting and picking up on their old friendship, though the women are shown to be in conflict over Quinn's complex romantic relationship with Everlasting co-owner Chet Wilton, as Fiona disliked Chet and believed he was bad for Quinn. The season's penultimate episode, "Codependence", has Fiona and Quinn sharing drinks in her office, with Fiona revealing that she was in need of a favor from Quinn. As she revealed, the person who planned to buy her VR company abruptly pulled out of the deal and she was now in need of a new job.
After first chiding Fiona on how she'd previously refused a job with her, Quinn stated that things were too volatile for her to hire Fiona at the moment, apologizing to her friend and stating that it was just business. Fiona later attended a fundraiser being held as part of the current Everlasting season with journalist Robin Carr as her date, with Gary Taylor (president of the company that produced Everlasting) revealing to Quinn that he brought Robin there to cover her "retirement speech" during the festivities, as the season had had Gary plotting to oust Quinn from Everlasting by exposing the show's dark secrets. Quinn in turn revealed that she still had emails proving that Gary embezzled from his company to use as leverage, only for Gary to hint that she no longer had that leverage before Quinn went and found them erased from her computer.
Reveal & Redemption[]
While Quinn initially believed production assistant Madison (who had also been Gary's lover) was responsible for the emails being erased, it was later revealed that the true culprit was none other than Fiona, as she was shown meeting with Gary, who congratulated her on erasing the evidence against him with Quinn not suspecting her of being responsible. It was revealed Fiona went through with Gary's proposal to secure a job with Gary, and in response to Gary expressing surprise at Fiona for betraying Quinn, Fiona stated that it wasn't personal, just business; mirroring Quinn's words to her when she refused her a job. The season finale, "Commitment", had Quinn discovering Fiona's treachery after Chet showed her an article detailing Fiona's promotion to second in command at Gary's company; her reward for helping him cover up his embezzlement crimes. Quinn went to Fiona at her new office to confront her, chiding Fiona for selling her soul to Gary and giving her a folder filled with evidence of Gary's illegal tactics, telling Fiona that Gary would not empower her and that she wasn't built to be second place to Gary.
With Quinn offering to let Fiona join her in taking Gary down and becoming president of his company, Fiona redeemed herself to her friend by joining her in orchestrating a class action sexual harassment lawsuit against Gary, resulting in him being fired from his position. Fiona met with Quinn later, revealing that she had killed the article that Gary was planning to have posted against her in exchange for an exclusive on the scandal involving Gary. Fiona's final scene of the season had her allowing Madison to pitch her TV pilot, #Adulting, to her, while also allowing for Madison to begin undoing her shirt as part of her "pitch". The show's fourth and final season has Fiona taking over as president of Gary's company, remaining redeemed for the remainder of the series.
Trivia[]
- Tracie Thoms also appeared as an unnamed villainess in 2014's Annie.
Quotes[]
- "Quinn's a big girl. It's not personal, it's business." (Fiona's justification for betraying Quinn)
Gallery[]
