NAME: Marin Manrayar
GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cis Woman / She/Her
AGE & DATE OF BIRTH: 27Â years old / September 1st
HOMETOWN: Seattle, WA
TIME IN GREAT FALLS: 4 years
RESIDENCE: Downtown
OCCUPATION: Owner and baker at The Sweet Spot
From a distance, the Manrayar family seemed to have figured it out â Devin and Arun dedicated their lives to providing the best for their three daughters, were involved in their community, and generally managed to put up a good front at the very least. Their youngest, Hadley, was a soccer star from the moment she learned how to walk. Trophy after trophy lined the walls of her childhood bedroom, setting the foundation for what turned out to be a tremendously successful career in the sport â One that led her to a position on the US Womenâs National Soccer Team. Naya, their middle child, sought a different career path but still earned the same pride from her parents. From childhood it was clear that Naya would end up in a white coat â Her recent graduation from medical school has made that a reality, now that sheâs begun her medical residency. Unfortunately, the oldest of the Manrayar children is a far different story, despite her parentâs chagrin. As the oldest of the three, the pressure to set a proper example and âlead the wayâ for her younger sisters has always sat firmly on Marinâs shoulders. Where her sisterâs found their way early on in life, Marin wandered aimlessly without a place to land. Each attempt at finding a direction was met with failure and disappointment, and a reminder from her parents that she wasnât living up to the unreachable expectations they created for her.Â
A label of being a failure was given swiftly, straining Marinâs relationship with her parents â as well as her sisters â quickly. While she never excelled at the cello or ballet, it came as a surprise to no one that teenage rebellion suited her well. The way Marin saw it â If her parents decided she was a bad kid, why not lean into it? What started as a way to piss them off became an unexpected solace for her, finding comfort in making her own choices rather than choosing from the selection she was given. A certain freedom came from doing whatever the hell she wanted and damning the consequences â Even if the latter ended in a black eye, arrest, or suspension. This became the norm for Marin as she grew up: Sheâd come home in the back of a cop car or get called into the principal's office, her parents would reprimand her actions and attempt to clean up her mess â Wash, rinse, repeat.Â
Being uprooted and sent to Montana was something Marin hadnât seen coming, but should have expected. Part of her knew her luck would eventually run out, though she imagined it would be in a much less âcliche Hallmark Movieâ kind of way. Her grandparentâs home in Great Falls was where her parents shipped Marin and her sisters off to each summer, and by their logic, it would hopefully bring the âreformâ they desperately sought for their daughter. All it did was give the same behavior a new setting, along with a new sort of resentment for the family that put her there. Great Falls wasnât exactly the first place Marin would have picked â She didnât really like Montana, and missed the city. (Though, the lack of rain did wonders for her hair.) Eventually, she settled in, with a strange sense of belonging washing over her. She found new friends with the same penchant for trouble, though now it included rodeo grounds and riding trails rather than taking a ferry or going downtown.Â
 Her Nani had no interest in whatever bullshit Marin had up her sleeve, so she put her to work at the Sweet Spot in an attempt to keep her granddaughter in line without constantly scolding her. She hoped that doing more than just reminding Marin of her shortcomings would have a better outcome than the methods her son used to parent â That her granddaughter would find pride in working hard and having something to call her own. While a job at the bakery didnât keep Marin on the straight and narrow, it certainly brought her and her grandmother closer â Creating an unexpected bond between the two women. Saira Manrayar put her blood, sweat and tears into The Sweet Spot, and she was more than happy to pass those skills onto her granddaughter. She taught Marin everything she knew, the two finding a close bond through their mutual love of baking. While Great Falls wasnât somewhere Marin wanted to be, her time with her Nani was certainly the best part of it.Â
A year and a half after the initial move, Marin is eighteen and has a high school diploma in her hands â She ultimately decides to return to Seattle rather than remain in Montana, despite her grandmotherâs requests. Once in Washington, she doesnât bother seeking out her family. Sheâs barely spoken to anyone in her family in the last year and a half, and has no interest in trying to mend fences â Her parents gave up on her years ago, and her sisters seem happy to follow suit. Instead, she reconnects with old friends and finds a place to crash until she can save up enough to get her own apartment. College isnât something she had any interest in, so she settles for picking up any job that can pay the bills. That lands her in the kitchen of a struggling restaurant in downtown Seattle, hoping all that Nani taught her will be enough to keep her afloat. (She learns very quickly that baking and cooking are two very different things.) The return home makes for a return to her old haunts, settling back into her old ways with far too much ease. Thereâs no long term plan, nor any idea what her future will look like â Just what comes day to day, and the feeling that sheâll never really settle somewhere.Â
This goes on for years â Dead end jobs, dead end relationships, an arrest record that would have her motherâs hair graying prematurely. The only consistency in her life seems to be the inconsistency of it all â Marin had hoped her life would look much different, rather than being a string of bad habits she canât seem to shake. Itâs almost like an autopilot to her, like sheâs stuck in a lamer version of Groundhogâs Day.Â
What breaks her of the cycle is nothing short of a tragedy: The death of her grandma. Marin had known the woman was sick, but didnât realize the severity of the situation until it was too late. Guilt found her easily, seeping into her bones as she wished sheâd been there and done more â That she had a chance to tell Nani just how much sheâd meant to her. Instead, Marinâs left with her grandmotherâs will, one that leaves just about everything the woman owned â Including The Sweet Spot â to her. Nothing to her father, nothing to her sisters â Just to Marin, and Marin alone. Itâs a shock, to say the least, one thatâs met with the question: What the fuck, Nani? Sure, she knows the basics when it comes to baking, but she has no idea how to run a business â Nor has she ever had a desire to.Â
Yet, Marin finds herself returning to Great Falls. She doesnât want to leave Seattle, but feels an obligation to her late grandmother â The woman always believed there was more to Marin than even she herself ever saw, the least she can do is honor Naniâs memory by trying. Though she had no clue what she was doing, Marin took this chance for what it was: A reason to drop everything, leave her old life, and start over entirely. Maybe Nani had the right idea.Â
The first year is nothing short of a shit show, leaving Marin wishing she had just sold everything, taken the money and left. Itâs abundantly clear from day one that she, the twenty-three year old with no experience, was so out of her depths it was comical. She had no idea where to even begin, let alone how to move forward. The Sweet Spot had been her grandmaâs pride and joy, something she built from the ground up â While part of Marin wanted to quit, something in her wouldnât let her give up on Naniâs legacy. The woman had spent her entire life building that bakery into what it was, Marin couldnât be the one to rip apart the decades of work that went into it. It took years, and plenty of help, but she manages to gather her bearings. Within the four years sheâs been in Great Falls â And after plenty of struggles to keep the business afloat â Marin manages to find a rhythm. The Sweet Spot is flourishing, and sheâs found a place to call home. Who she was and who she is feel like two entirely separate people, her life in Seattle feeling almost like a distant dream rather than her history. While sheâs found a place to belong and something to take pride in, Marin canât shake the nagging feeling that it all still comes with an expiration date â That if she gets too comfortable, the carpet will be pulled from underneath her and sheâll be back to square one.
Portrayed by SIMONE ASHLEY, written by MAK.