The 2018 horror television show The Haunting of Hill House explored the lives of the Crain family both before and after their supernatural experiences while living at Hill House. Of the five siblings, fans of the series are sure to remember the highly intelligent middle child Theodora, who struggled with her inherited power of heightened sensitivity throughout the season.
As an adult, Theo was extremely guarded and often pushed away from those who made an effort to get close to her. However, as her experiences with her siblings, professional, and personal life evolved throughout the show, this character undoubtedly became a fan favorite.
Accepted Her Brother's Offer
Despite her older sister Shirley saying that no one should accept any of the money offered by Steven from his book about their lives at Hill House, Theo decides to take the money anyway and not tell her sister.
It is for a good cause though, as Theo declares that she will use the $15,000 to get her Ph.D., though not before berating her brother's book by stating that even though he had some interesting points, he was asleep for almost the entire ordeal that happened when they were children. Of course, after Shirley learns the truth about the royalties she initially feels betrayed by her sister, but she eventually reconciled with Theo in the end.
Her Powers Alienated Her From Her Siblings
Theodora Crain, daughter of Hugh and Olivia, is the middle child of the five Crain children, with Steven and Shirley being the older siblings and Luke and Eleanor being younger.
As an adult struggling with her inherited powers of empathy, Theo is extremely reserved and closed off towards even her siblings, and it's even revealed in the first episode that Theo isn't currently on speaking terms with her younger sister Nell. Instead, Theo is closest to her older sister Shirley, which is likely due to the fact that they live on the same property.
Used Her Gift To Stop Child Abuse
Though Theo puts walls up around herself to prevent others from getting too close, when it comes to her work as a child psychologist, she uses her abilities to better the lives of her patients as seen when she helps out the young child in episode three.
When she suspects that something disturbing is happening to her patient, Theo goes to the girl's foster home, uses her empathic gift, and finds out that her foster father is abusing her. Theo reports the father, who caves and admits to abusing the child, who is then removed from the home.
Disguarded Her Gloves
In the season's final episode it's shown the remaining Crains are managing to move past the dark circumstances of Hill House. While Luke has managed to stay sober, Steven's wife has a baby, and Theo has finally managed to let some of her walls down.
As she's seen packing up and moving out of her sister's guest house, she removes her gloves and throws them into the trash. This marks a big turning point for Theo as her gloves had always been a symbol of the wall that she's put up to block others' emotions from reaching her.
Casually Came Out At Her Sister's Wedding
During Nell's wedding, the Crain siblings are forced to search for the Maid of Honor after she disappears from the celebration. After hearing her friend clearly engaging in sexual acts in one of the rooms, Nell interrupts Stacy and reminds her to come down for the toasts.
However, Steven and Nell become curious as to who Stacy was fooling around with, and are surprised to see Theo leave the room. While the two siblings don't seem to know how to react, Theo makes a causal remark to break the ice.
Lived In Her Sister's Guest House
Though she didn't need to live on her sister's property for financial reasons, Theo still stayed in Shirley's guest house, likely to keep herself as closed off as possible from the outside world. It is also implied that Shirley believed she was helping Theo out, as Shirley wasn't aware that Theo had taken money from Steven's book.
After finding out the truth, Shirley questions how long Theo planned to live off her and states that she should have been charging her sister rent. So why exactly did Theo want to stay with Shirley? Fans can only speculate her reasoning based on the facts.
She Is Intelligent/Observant
Even without her special empathic powers, Theo Crain was always highly observant and intelligent, even as a child. At Hill House, she was very protective of her siblings and firmly told Mrs. Dudley to stop when she put her hands on her younger brother.
Theo was also very good at putting aside her emotions in order to react to situations logically. When she finally admits to Shirley that she took Steven's money for the Hill House book, she rationalizes her decision by stating that the money helped her get her degree and start her career.
The Red Room Was A Dance Studio
During Theo's childhood at Hill House, she's often seen practicing her dance moves in a studio which viewers later learn is actually the Red Room that appeared differently to each of the Crain children. For Nell it was a playroom, for Luke it was a treehouse and it was even a family room for Shirley.
Until the finale, it isn't revealed that the Red Room was a morphing space that took on various appearances while feeding off the Crain children by becoming the thing that they needed at the moment. For Theo, this was a space where she was free to express herself creatively, and for someone that struggled with emotions, Theo certainly needed that escape.
Ended Up In A Committed Relationship
The end of the season of Hill House marked a big turning point for the Crain siblings especially Theo. In her final scene, she is happily sitting around a table with her siblings and celebrating.
Her love interest Trish is also there, and the two can clearly be seen wearing matching gold bands, implying that they are either married or at least engaged. It's a surprising and deserved happy ending for a character that clearly struggled with personal intimacy throughout the season.
Was First Gifted Gloves By Her Mother
When Theo first learns that she picks up on emotions and feelings differently than other people, her mother realizes that she's inherited her family's special abilities and explains to her that she's "a little sensitive." Olivia tells her that both she and her grandmother had the gift and that sometimes sensitive people need protection.
Olivia gifts her daughter her first pair of gloves and promises to explain more to her as she gets older. Of course, as viewers know, her mother was never able to explain Theo's powers to her, and as a result of the horrors experienced at Hill House, Theo ended up building walls around herself to protect her from feeling other's emotions.