The Harmon family moves from Boston to Los Angeles to recover from mother Vivien's miscarriage and father Ben's infidelity with one of his students. Their daughter Violet starts at a new school, only to be terrorized by a group of girls. The family deals with intrusive neighbors Constance and her daughter, Addie, who has Down syndrome , along with Larry, a previous homeowner who set fire to his entire family. Larry's face is severely scarred. Ben, a psychiatrist, sees patients out of his home; one of them, a possibly psychotic boy named Tate, who becomes friends with Violet. Vivien rehires the house's former housekeeper, an elderly Moira, who appears to Ben as a young, seductive maid. Ben and Vivien eventually have sex, once after a fight, and later while she thinks he has dressed up in a bondage suit. She later tells Ben she's pregnant.