Character Relationship Map: Dead & Buried

Characters

• Sheriff Dan Gillis (played by James Farentino) — protagonist

  Sheriff Dan Gillis investigates a series of daily murders in Potters Bluff, including an attack that leaves a severed arm on his squad car. His search leads him to William G. Dobbs and the truth about...

• William G. Dobbs (played by Jack Albertson) — supporting

  William G. Dobbs is the eccentric local coroner-mortician who assists Dan Gillis's investigation while secretly controlling the killings. Formerly dismissed as a pathologist for unauthorized experimen...

• Doctor (played by Joseph G. Medalis) — supporting

  Doctor examines tissue that Dan Gillis scrapes from his squad car after an attack involving a severed arm. He tells Dan that the sample has been dead for approximately four months, providing crucial e...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sheriff Dan Gillis → Doctor (Professional Investigative Consultant)

  Gillis takes flesh scraped from his squad car to the local doctor, who determines that the tissue has been dead for approximately four months.

• Sheriff Dan Gillis → William G. Dobbs (Professional Investigative Associate)

  The sheriff works with Dobbs, the local coroner-mortician, while investigating the repeated murders.

Story Analysis

A sheriff investigating ritual murders discovers that an entire coastal town is controlled by a coroner who reanimates the dead as living art.

Plot Progression

1. A Town Welcomes Death
2. Evidence Beneath the Skin
3. Dobbs's Hidden History
4. The Reanimated Town
5. A Grave Without Rest
6. The Final Moving Image