Character Analysis
Marcus's mom Lillian is a British ex-pat. And that's important in ways other than the fact that her nationality has saddled her with a ferocious black tea addiction.
Her job is helping other Brits settling in the USA to integrate culturally, and she's super anti-police and against unnecessary invasions of privacy. We think her standoff with the cops Booger and Zit (not their real names) perfectly illustrates this part of her character:
It was bad enough she hadn't offered them a cup of tea—in Mom-land, that was practically like making them shout through the mail-slot—but once she folded her arms, it was not going to end well for them. (7.46).
No tea? Ooh, burn.
She sides with Marcus a lot in the household debates about DHS methods. Lillian's also the first adult he tells the truth about his time in the secret prison. She fights for him, and she's fierce. This is a woman who takes no guff. She's like a mama bear: mess with her cubs and beware.
Oh, and she and Drew almost got divorced years ago. But they mended their fences for Marcus's sake. Aww, that's sweet.