Everyone Is Watching

Fern Espa is one of the narrators of Everyone is Watching. She works as Cat’s assistant and serves as the host of One Lucky Winner. Though Fern’s full name, Fernanda, leads Camille to briefly believe Fern is the same as her previous client, Nan, this proves to be a red herring, a coincidence that Cat capitalizes upon to further the mind games of her revenge plot masquerading as a reality competition show. Fern struggles with her relationship with Cat; though she is filled with rage at Cat’s abuse, she also feels abiding loyalty to Cat, who rescued Fern when Ned assaulted Fern 10 years prior. 

Fern is ambitious. When she suddenly gets the chance to host One Lucky Winner, she feels that her hard work is finally paying off. This ambition leads her to imprison Cat in the wine cellar—an impulsive, anger-driven act that Fern justifies as a way of showing Cat her full abilities—and run the show on her own. Fern is also very protective of her reputation. As the reality show grows increasingly dangerous, Fern fears less for the competitors than for how the show will affect her image, particularly online. At the novel’s climax, Fern plans to flee the estate and leave the competitors to deal with the fallout of the show themselves. Only Ned’s unexpected attack prevents her from getting away.

When Fern learns that she has inherited Cat’s money (about $10 million), she immediately discards the moral turpitude she experienced while running the show; instead, Fern sees the money as fair and legitimate payment for her work over the years. She also dismisses Cat’s years of abuse in response to the mild praise her former employer wrote in a letter Fern discovers after Cat’s death. In the novel’s final chapters, Fern is revealed as remaining hungry for fame, wealth, and power, as she announces her intention to run a second season of One Lucky Winner. She sends Maire a million dollars for her daughter’s care, through Fern’s true motivations are unclear.

Camille Tamerlane is one of the narrators of Everyone is Watching. Camille is a psychiatrist who considers understanding others her special ability, though she is not always accurate in her assessment of others in the novel. Camille worries that the game will see her exposed either for her tax evasion or her contribution to the death of Travis Wingo, a former client who stalked her after she refused to see him due to nonpayment. When Wingo broke into her house, Camille falsely told police that he had a gun, which led to Wingo being killed. Whether Camille intended for Wingo to be killed to hide her financial crimes is left ambiguous. Camille also briefly considers Fern to be one of her former clients, “Nan,” though this proves to be a red herring. Camille’s wine bottle is labeled “home-wrecker,” due to her advice that Cat’s husband leave Cat, given Cat’s emotional abuse.

Camille undergoes little change in the text, though she is one of the first contestants to realize that the game is a setup. She proposes that the competitors work together against the game, rather than allow themselves to be pitted against one another with their secrets. Still, she does not leave the competition, even when pushed to fire a (supposedly unloaded) gun at herself. Camille can be ruthless, though this manifests more in manipulation than physical violence. For example, she steals Fern’s key and uses it to break into Cat’s office to find out the truth behind the show. 

At the end of the novel, Camille sees her career revived by her presence on the show, as her podcast becomes increasingly popular and profitable, and her psychiatry practice gains more clients, despite rumors about Wingo and her financial malfeasance.

Richard Crowley is one of the contestants on One Lucky Winner. He serves as a narrator only for vault sessions—reality TV show confessionals that appear in the novel as reported speech and do not reveal his internal monologue. Crowley is a former US Senator, implied to be a conservative. Crowley presents himself as a harmless, slightly hapless character who “[gives] off an ‘aw shucks ma’am’ vibe” (32). His wine bottle labels him a “cheat,” as he is revealed in the novel to have had a long affair with Shana, a sex worker, with whom he has an eight-year-old son. This affair is presented as particularly hypocritical as Crowley’s political platform depends highly on promoting family values, and because he embezzled campaign funds to support Shana and their son. 

Crowley is the only character to be voted off the show. When he is sent home, Cat orders Fern to release incriminating documents about his affair and financial self-dealing to various media outlets. In response, Crowley returns to the estate and attacks Fern, whom he blames for this release. Crowley’s political career does not recover from his report of his infidelity, and, at the end of the novel, he faces divorce from his wife of many years and estrangement from his family.

Ned Bennett is one of the contestants on One Lucky Winner; a TV show producer himself, he is Cat and Fern’s former boss. He serves as narrator only during the reality TV confessional the novel calls a vault session, so his inner monologue is not present in the text. Ned has a long history of committing sexual violence against employees, including against Cat and Fern. Cat invites him to the show to reveal his crimes, though she does not warn Fern about his presence ahead of time. Seeing Ned unexpectedly thus leaves Fern shaken, particularly when he does not even recognize her. Ned is shown to be a ruthless competitor; he never finds allies among the other contestants. In the obstacle course, for example, he cuts Maire’s rope, leaving her at risk of serious injury.

Ned’s sexual violence is revealed during the interrogation challenge, when Fern describes her assault in detail. Though Ned denies attacking her, Fern’s description of his method of assault matches what many other women have suffered; these women come forward in large numbers, which causes Ned’s crimes to be widely known. Ned never learns of the posthumous destruction of his reputation, however, as he dies in the novel’s climax, when Cat throws herself over the balcony and drags Ned with her, killing them both.