Pam Tucker

Pam Tucker arrives at the Huxtable house as an outsider to that world of brownstone comfort — a teenager from a tougher part of town, related distantly to the family, sharper-edged and more guarded than Theo or Vanessa. She's streetwise, a little defensive, and not used to a household this soft.

Erika Alexander plays Pam without turning her into a lesson; she's funny and prickly rather than a walking cautionary tale, which lets the show's usual warmth rub against something rawer. The character works because she's allowed contradictions — tough and vulnerable, resentful and grateful — instead of one clean note.