Running with Violet is a Canadian comedy-drama web series created by and starring Rebecca Davey and Marie-Claire Marcotte. The series premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on February 13, 2017. As of January 2020, Running with Violet had generated over 1.5 million views on YouTube.
In 2020, it was announced that the series will be broadcast on OutTV in the 2020-21 television season.
Plot
In fictional smalltown Pictonville, Ontario, housewife Miranda and single mother Jolene attempt a weekend holiday with Jolene's daughter, toddler Violet, in tow. After a series of unfortunate events, they find themselves on the run from a small-town meth gang and the law, and must navigate a web of dangerous crime to survive.
Season 2 finds the two friends getting caught up in a beauty and wellness pyramid scheme, only to discover it is a front for pushing drugs. With dreams of big money, the women try to make the most of their situation while dealing with the escalating stakes around them.
Cast and characters
Main characters
Jolene (played by Rebecca Davey) is fourth generation Pictonville resident. She was born in the small town and can't imagine any different. She started cutting hair right out of high school at her mother's salon. When her mother died she took over the salon and moved her and her daughter to the family farm to take care of her ailing father. Jolene is a single mother to her energetic toddler Violet and works like a dog to make ends meet. Miranda (played by Marie-Claire Marcotte) is a meek housewife trapped in an abusive marriage to Blair. She married Blair when she was nineteen to getaway from her controlling religious family, only to find herself shackled to a man even more domineering. Blair's manipulation has undermined her courage. Miranda is uptight about her appearance, having convinced herself that her value lies in her good looks. Her only ‘friend’ in town is Jolene and Miranda's weekly hair salon visits are the highlight of her week. Xorge (played by Amy Matysio) is Stella's ruthless younger sister who left Pictonville at a young age to establish her beauty and wellness company Bae Mine, now a major business empire which she remains the queen-pin of. She is currently looking to expand back into her hometown. Samantha (played by Andrea Bang) is Xorge's party-loving girlfriend who does most of the work involved in selling the Bae Mine beauty empire. Samantha has developed a bit of a pill-popping problem to mitigate the more stressful parts of her job. Violet (played by Violet Alfred) is a charming three-year-old. Her and her mom, Jolene, are inseparable and custody weekends with dad Nick are hard on them both. Jolene desperately wants a different life for her daughter where she will not be bound by the limits of a narrow town. Frankie (played by Jessii Vee) is a local teenager who babysits for Jolene. She's super attached to Violet, having been her baby-sitter since day one. Her relationship with her mom is currently fraught not because of the decision she made to put down the family cat (who was also her best friend) without telling her.