Jessica Tate

Others:

The Tates

The Campbells

**Jessica Tate** (played by Katherine Helmond) is one of the two principal characters on the serialized ABC sitcom, *Soap,* and is the cousin of Gene Gatling on the ABC sitcom, *Benson*.

## About Jessica

Jessica Tate resided in Dunn's River Connecticut and is the cousin to Governor Gatling and former boss to Benson DuBois. When Gene was elected Governor in 1979, he requested Jessica the help of her perceptive butler, Benson, over to the Governor's Mansion to help him get settled in temporarily. Benson would later permanently accept the job.

### Visit to the Mansion

Shortly following his election, she visited her cousin and former butler, at the Governor's mansion to attend a banquet. While attending the banquet, Jessica accidentally caused a scandal when she was spotted having a possible romantic affair with the banquet's guest of honor, baron Jacque Darvino.

Later that night, the baron passed away at 86 years old.

### Second "Visit"

In 1983, two years following her being identified as a missing person, the Tates petitioned the court to declare Jessica legally dead. During the same day, Jessica allegedly visited Benson in his office as a ghost. According to her, she came back to Earth after making it to the waiting area outside of heaven. She filled out an application to be an angel, but had to do a good deed on Earth to qualify for earning her wings. She eventually rescued a cat out of a tree for her good deed and exited the mansion. Jessica also stated that she had not died, but was in a coma in South America.

## Relationships

### Gene Gatling

Jessica and Gene are cousins who, while similar in quirks, appear to carry a slight childish rivalry, nicknaming each other '*Mean Gene'* and '*Messy Jessy'.* Jessica states that Gene once broke her red tricycle, with Gene stating that Jessica once lost his catcher's mitt.

### Benson

As his longtime former boss, Jessica carried a lovingly platonic relationship with Benson. From visiting when he was new at the mansion, to visiting him as a ghost, the two always gave a heartfelt goodbye to each other.

## Trivia

* In the episode, "Jessica", it was implied that Jessica and Gene once went to school together.
	+ Jessica states that in Chemistry class, Gene was voted most likely to dissolve.
* Jessica Tate's last words were "I love you" to Benson.
* According to Governor Gatling, Jessica once lost his catcher's mitt.
* When she first visited the mansion and met the staff, she stated that Ms. Kraus was very nice. Ms. Kraus is played by Inga Swenson, who played Ingrid Svenson, whom Jessica despised, on *Soap.* Despite this however, Jessica doesn't seem to notice a similarity between the two, meaning that they don't look alike in the Benson/Soap universe.
	+ Additionally, Benson never noticed any similarity either.
* She once saw her pet hamster die on it's wheel.
* According to Jessica, heaven not only has an application, but also a credit check.
* She stated that Heaven resembled the MGM Grand.
* Jessica was a believer in reincarnation and spirituality.
* According to Jessica, Gene once broke her red tricycle.

## Appearances

* "*Soap*"
* "Jessica"
* "God, I Need this Job"

## Quotes

* "I've never been poor in my life."
* "87 years old and he's still a Baron? You'd think he'd be king by now."
* "Why can't you just accept the fact that there are certain things you don't understand?"
* "It's a small cosmos. We'll have lunch."
* "Wouldn't it be wonderful, you know, if we never had to part company? If we could be with our loved ones forever just the way they are?"
* "He thinks you're uts-nay"
* "I have seen Heaven, and it's stunning. It looks a lot like the MGM Grand."