| Dr. Amy Masterson | |
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| Portrayed By | Kate Walsh |
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| Gender | Female |
| Date of Birth | April 23, 1967 |
| Age | 43 |
| Zodiac Sign | Taurus |
| Place of Birth | New York City, NY, USA |
| Current Location | New York City, NY, USA |
| Occupation | Psychiatrist, Executive Director of Hope Hearth |
| Known Relatives | Jane Masterson (mother), Joseph Masterson (father), Cory Tyler ("Ty") Masterson (brother) |
| Significant Other | Fail |
| Known Abilities | ??? |
| First Appearance | Super Party Awesome |
Amy is a therapist and the Executive Director of Hope Hearth Distress Centre in Greenwich Village, NYC. Also, she's awesome.
History
Dr. Amy Masterson was, of course, born Amy Elizabeta Masterson, without the credentials to her name, but into a household that expected no less. There were no humble beginnings. The Mastersons weren't humble people.
Amy's mother and father were the perfect parents — or rather, they were the perfect image of perfect parents. Beyond the veneer of idealism, decorum, and doting was something less idyllic and more cold and phoney. Amy and her younger brother would grow to resent the two-facedness of their parents — really, of most of their family — but for all their complaining about such a formal childhood filled with debutante balls, private schooling, uncomfortable trips to the comfortable Hamptons, and strictly scheduled sports and leisure, their lives, growing up in New York City a Masterson, certainly could have been a lot worse.
Amy was always a smart child. She grew out of her quietness as a teenager and grew wilful, a trait her brother had from a much younger age. She was close with her brother — her confidante and partner in crime. Unlike him, she, at least, showed an interest in the heavy studies that were pushed her way, even though she was unsure about the direction her parents, especially her particularly overbearing mother, wanted her to take: law, medicine… the expected paths. Though she enjoyed learning in high school, she often acted as if she didn't care, just to annoy her mother.
It was during a rebellious streak during her sophomore year of high school that she met Cole, a college boy who epitomized all the clichs that were attractive to a high school girl who wanted to make her parents mad: he was older, in a band, he was a "bad influence". He was also a nice guy underneath all of that, if irresponsible, but his better qualities would go unseen by Amy's parents, since he would forever be known as the boy who got their daughter pregnant at 16.
She went through the whole ordeal. She had full plans to keep the baby and drop out of high school — which she did, for awhile — and run away with Cole once the baby was born. That didn't happen in many regards. She was exiled from her family, irreparably the black sheep, and lived in a friend's guest house. In the last few months of her pregnancy, though, Cole was the one who ran away — without her — and, a scared teenager, she put the baby up for adoption. Even that didn't work out, though, when she lost it due to a complication during childbirth.
It took her some time to recover, emotionally, but eventually the young Amy was determined to put the past behind her — which she very much did, as she'd go on to not talk much to anyone about that time of her life, though it would certainly shape her. Her relationship with her mother was forever marred even more, which she pretended to not care about. It was her brother who helped her through those tougher times.
Her rebellion did simmer in some ways, however, family aside. Despite her temporary absence, she finished high school and did well; she went on to attend UCLA for their top psychiatry program (and to go far away from the influence of the Mastersons).
Amy was a good psychiatrist, as it turned out. A good therapist. She understood people, no matter their walk of life, and with extensive training behind her she quickly gained accolades in her field. After graduation with her PhD, she practiced in L.A. for a short time before a job prospect brought her back to New York. It fell through, but it felt like kismet — she took a position at Hope Hearth Distress Center instead, counselling anyone in need who would step through their doors; often the people who needed help the most would find their way there, since it was a non-profit organization — like Sydney, the girl who came in battered and bruised who later come back to work there as a therapist and become a friend of Amy's.
Hope Hearth seemed like home, and when the Executive Director took ill and had to step down, Amy couldn't bear to see the center close and managed to take on the position herself.
Though her contact with the rest of her family is minimal, even on holidays, throughout all her trials and tribulations, Amy's brother had always been around — close, he was always someone to talk to. A few years ago when she couldn't get hold of him, she went to his apartment to find him packing up his life, uncharacteristically distraught. Expecting him to lean on her as always (even though it was usually the other way around), she was surprised when he said he was going away. Amy never saw him again.
She has worked at Hope Hearth for almost seven years now and she's tried to improve it constantly to the best of her ability to make it a welcoming place. Life has very much been about work for Amy — in her forties (gasp) and unmarried (she's not so good with hanging onto lasting relationships and still unsure about how she feels about children), she often has to be reminded to take time to focus on herself.
Personality
SUPER PARTY AWESOME
By all outward appearances, Amy is successful, keen-witted, well put-together, and on top of her world… professionally, anyway. At first glance, she can sometimes seem like the person her family wanted her to be: precocious, pretentious and successful. Only some of those are true.
Amy can be a little hot and cold: she can be the consummate boss when she needs to be, decision-making and razor sharp, but the more earnest Amy is a good deal more hospitable and often downright funny. She's good at what she does, analyzing and helping other people as well as wielding her business savvy, functioning as the Executive Director of Hope Hearth.
It doesn't take a super genius to see that she has a kooky side. It takes more of a personal eye or to see her outside of her work zone to see that she's not quite as together as she'd like her patients to believe.
They say psychiatrists need psychiatrists themselves, and Amy is no exception — she's not crazy by any means, but she often makes rash decisions, worries, and generally make a train wreck out of things (especially relationships, which she has a knack for accidentally sabotaging). She can be a little eccentric, especially when she's stressed out, having bouts of OCD-like behaviour — mostly harmless.
When she wants something, she REALLY wants it, and when she doesn't, she REALLY doesn't — making it hard for her to change her mind on topics or situations she's passionate about in either direction. In other words, she's stubborn. She's patient with her patients, and friends in need, but often impatient about her own life; sometimes, her professional world couldn't be more opposite than her personal life.
Timeline
May 4th
- All Is Right In The World —> Amy flies in from a conference in St. Lucia. With everyone back at work at Hope Hearth, and with Sydney "back to normal", everything all seems to be right in the world.
May 11th
- Crazy-Crazy —> Everything is … not so right in the world. Sydney and Amy take a small break from work at a coffee shop when breaking news breaks everything. Both therapists are kidnapped. Freakin' kidnapped.
- Great Minds —> Amy and Sydney find themselves in the custody of Roberto, a gang leader and escaped mental patient Sydney met in sessions at an institution. Locking the therapists up, he's convinced they'll fix his brain — which he uses to control a man into slicing himself. Amy is naturally horrified at everything.
May 14th
- Boyscout Gone Wild —> After Sydney is borrowed by a thug named Roscoe, she uses her empathy on Amy, who is forced to deal with the reality of extraordinary abilities, like hers and Roberto's.
June 29th
- New-Fangled Therapy —> Holy jumpins, they've been kidnapped this long! Rooming with Sydney and now Fred, Sydney's (former?) friend — another therapist recruited by Roberto — Amy tries to console Sydney when she finds her freaky emotion-y ability is missing, and they try to figure out what to do about their crazy captor.
July 5th
- Fairytale Stories —> Sydney has been missing from their cell for far too long; Amy and Fred worry. After so long in captivity, everyone is worse for the wear.
July 6th
- Psychoanalyze This —> A broken and bruised Sydney has returned, and when she wakes up, bearing the news of what happened to her and a possible way out through Laurence Miles, Amy and Fred react quite differently.
- Psychoanalyze That —> Escape.
July 21st
- The Fearsome Truth —> The three freed therapists are not so free, trapped in the safehouse and by the terror of Sydney's nightmares. Everyone has a sudden moment of honesty.
Relationships
Quotes
- "You better be sorry, I had to pay the sous chef to let you sneak in through the kitchen, and trust me, that's not what he wanted when I asked for a favour." — What Just Happened Here?
- "GOD, what I wouldn't maim for an iced mocha." — New-Fangled Therapy
- "We were just heading to the kitchen for a late night… distraction." (pause) "Only … not nearly as sexy as that sounds." — The Fearsome Truth
Trivia
- Amy was an NPC until Valentine's Day, 2010!
- Amy is a little OCD, especially when she's stressed out, like when she's been kidnapped by a psycopath for weeks and weeks.
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