Helen and Derick are a military couple. They’re disciplined and see things in a very black + white way. They didn’t handle their son coming out very well – they told him he was going to burn in hell. But as the years passed, and with Cordelia's birth, they wanted to see their grandchild. Derick is now completely on board with Melvin’s sexuality, but Helen still is coming to terms with it and drops passive-aggressive comments constantly - she has no time or compassion for highly emotional people like her son and son-in-law. 

However, when Helen sees her son and his family's lives threatened, she will be the one to shake him into realising he needs to fight to save his family from Jane, and as a fierce former advocate, she will lead the legal fight back.