It’s not surprising that in a miniseries full of fraud and lies, some characters do awful things. Which are their worst actions in Inventing Anna?
Content Warning: The following article contains spoilers for the series Inventing Anna.
There are countless awful actions from the characters in the hit miniseries, Inventing Anna. Not all of the questionable deeds on the show come from Anna Delvey, as the individuals the protagonist meets in New York can sometimes make terrible mistakes.
From Alan’s blind faith in Anna to Rachel’s monetization of her experience, the worst things the characters do in the series often end up hurting them in the end. These actions almost always have something to do with Anna, as fans know that anyone who interacts with the fraudster long enough will get into some sort of trouble eventually.
Although Jack doesn’t have a lot of screen time on the show, he has become one of the most likable characters in Inventing Anna because of how patient, kind, and supportive he is. Unfortunately, these great traits can also sometimes lead to his worst mistakes.
Vivian is obviously experiencing a difficult time and, for the most part, Jack does the right thing by supporting her through it all. However, he does sometimes tend to be passive when he should be helping Vivian realize that her obsession with Anna isn’t healthy. He clearly sees this and even mentions it at one point, but doesn’t really do much beyond pointing it out.
Just when Anna thinks she’s finally getting on Nora’s good side, the wealthy socialite begins treating her like a personal assistant instead of a peer. She makes Anna pick up food, carry clothes, and run other errands every time they’re out with Nora’s friends.
Little does Nora know at that point that Anna is using her credit cards and name to purchase designer items for herself, all of which eventually amount to a whopping $400,000. While Anna likely would have still found a way to defraud Nora even if she wasn’t treated that way, the fact that she was undermined likely motivated her to betray Nora.
Fans can’t be blamed for expecting more from one of the most powerful characters in Inventing Anna, Alan. The finance lawyer is among the best in the industry, which is why it’s so surprising that he’s easily manipulated by the protagonist.
A moment that highlights the start of the downfall of Alan’s career is when he ticks a box on a form, which asks if the client has the means to pay back a major loan. He ignores all the red flags about the fake German heiress in that scene and doesn’t turn back until Anna gets “dangerously close” to securing the funds.
Chase and Anna have a low-key unhealthy relationship, as the self-proclaimed “futurist” often underestimates the con artist. He doesn’t see her as a potential risk, and Val even implies at one point that Chase is only with her for her trust fund.
This misjudgment by Chase eventually leads to him feeling comfortable (and somewhat pressured) enough to admit to Anna that he has lost all of the money for his startup. This doesn’t only mean that Wake is in danger, but that he can’t continue to pay for expensive trips and hotels around the world anymore. Anna unsurprisingly finds a cutthroat way to end the relationship and ruin Chase’s reputation in the process soon after that misstep.
Just like how Vivian obsesses over completing her story about Anna, Todd can’t seem to focus on anything else outside of the fraudster’s case. This leads to him neglecting his personal and family life, which leads to numerous conflicts in his marriage.
Margaret is understandably not happy that Todd seems to be equating his worth as an individual with Anna’s case. Because he feels insecure in their relationship, he diverts his attention towards Anna to gain some confidence about himself and his abilities. He makes the unbelievable decision to stay behind with her after the trial, risking not only his partnership with Margaret, but his relationship with his son.
Kacy may be smart about a lot of things that relate to mental health and wellness, but she can sometimes be too trusting when it comes to her friends. When Rachel recounts her experience in Morocco, Kacy immediately (and rightly) sides with her.
From the stressful intervention to the intense trial, Kacy is there for Rachel every single step of the way. This is why it’s so painful for her to learn that Rachel has omitted the fact that she not only got a refund from AmEx for everything Anna stole, but that she also made a huge amount of money from the whole ordeal. It’s an honest mistake no one can really blame Kacy for, but it’s her worst error nonetheless.
The main reason that Rachel has become such a polarizing character in the fandom is the way the series portrays the monetization of her experience in Morocco. It’s what Todd uses to demolish her case during a riveting cross-examination, which reveals that Rachel not only got the full refund from AmEx, but that she also sold her story to three different publications.
While what she does certainly doesn’t come close to Anna’s fraud, it still makes her less credible in the eyes of the jurors (not to mention viewers, as well). She likely would have won that case if she didn’t make that contentious mistake.
Despite all of the red flags Neff could certainly see about Anna, she chooses to stick by the protagonist’s side. In her conversations with Vivian, she admits that she doesn’t believe the news about Anna being a scammer and even tries (and fails) to explain the situation about her supposedly moody father.
It’s disappointing how, unlike Todd and Vivian who at least know that Anna is a fraud, Neff refuses to believe that her best friend is not the rich German heiress she claims to be. It’s an odd thing to continue to accept as true despite sitting through an entire trial that clearly proves it’s anything but.
While her persistence and heartbreaking backstory make Vivian one of the best characters in the series, she’s far from being perfect. The worst things she does in the show mostly revolve around her inability to face her problems – she even uses her story about Anna as a distraction sometimes.
When a controversial video comes out and digs up issues from her past for the world to see, Vivian runs away from it just like she chooses to ignore the fact that she’s about to have a baby. She does eventually confront these crises, but at that point, she has harmed not only herself, but her family as well.
There’s no shortage of appalling actions from the fake German heiress and the star of the show, Anna. If there’s one thing that her worst actions have in common, it’s that they all stem from her lies.
It’s almost as if it’s second nature for the protagonist to be untruthful to those around her, which does irreparable harm to characters like Chase and Alan. She believes that she has to cheat her way to success, even if it hurts everyone else along the way. It’s her closest pals like Kacy and Rachel that truly bear the brunt of her callous and damaging deeds, which is unfair considering how they really thought of her as a real friend.
