Dana de Souza

Dana de Souza
Portrayed by: Mackenzie Mauzy
Birth Name	Dana Harper
Age	23
Relatives	Brian Harper (Father, Deceased) Lydia Harper (Mother, Deceased) Anthony Harper (Brother) Lorraine (Aunt)
Significant Others	Zach Meyer (Boyfriend, Deceased) Max De Souza (Husband)
First Appearance	Pilot
Appearances	S1 * S2 * S3 * S4 * CH:GM

Dana de Souza (nee Harper) is the daughter of Brian and Lydia Harper, sister of Anthony. She is best friends with Miranda King, Naomi Jones and until her death, Claire Meyer.

History

Season 1

Dana is the common gossip queen and the cheerleader. Dana tries her best to cheer Miranda up after the devastating accident that killed Miranda's boyfriend Greg. Dana has a problem with keeping her mouth shut, opening it and saying things she may regret and almost always the wrong time. Dana begins dating Zach Meyer, and the two start a solid relationship. Dana's brother Anthony is injured and paralyzed early in the season. When Claire revealed her secret of precognitive dreaming and tells her that she saw Anthony get paralyzed before it actually happened, Dana asks her if she is drunk and says that she's not funny. That was the last time Dana saw Claire before her disappearance. Sorry, Dana begins to blame herself for Claire's disappearance. In Freefall, Dana is held hostage by Zach when he breaks into her house whilst on the run, Dana is forced to lie to the officer outside when he checks on her, the two talk about why he kidnapped Claire, Zach tries to apologise but Dana doesn't want him anymore, just as things spark off Flight 316 crashes right on top of the house.

Season 2

Season 2 reveales Zach died in the crash, whilst Dana is left in a coma. Dana's mother Lydia contemplates letting Dana go following the fact that she cannot pay for her bills any longer but Anthony gives her hope that Dana will eventually recover in time. Dana's mind is read by Claire, and it is revealed that all she can think about is Zach. Dana remains in a comatose state for the rest of the season, but appears in a dream to Peter Meyer alongside her deceased boyfriend Zach. Zach warns Peter that Lauren will die, and that he must save her, while Dana's apparition begs him not to. Ironically enough, when Peter does save Lauren from her death, it is Dana's mother Lydia that is killed in a hit & run accident. At the same time as Lydia's death, Dana awakens from her coma.

Season 3

Dana has recovered nicely four months following her comatose state, though was held back a year in school due to the studies she missed during her comatose state. Dana attends a welcome home party for Naomi, who has just returned home from college. Dana is alongside the other girls when they go to find Miranda, who strangely disappeared. They discover the body of farmer Leon McGreggor in a field and make a pact not to tell anyone due to the fact that Miranda may be implicated for the crime. Dana and Anthony are kicked out of their apartment due to the inability to pay bills and camp up in their old house - which they lost due to money problems following their mother's death - for the night. Elena Santos is jogging that morning to find them outside. She offers them a place to stay, at first they are reluctant, but Dana talks Anthony into living with her. Miranda freaks out because of this, causing strains in their friendship. Claire and Naomi attempt to get them to rekindle their friendship, and eventually it works. Dana and Anthony eventually start to bond with Elena, and Elena begins to consider them family. Dana feels justice is served when Nicholas Elyis turns himself in as the man responsible for Lydia's death.

Dana is berated for her lacking talents by current cheer captain Nazarene Darcie and Dana quits the team. In her locker where she packs up her things, a picture of her mother Lydia is spotted and Dana bursts into tears. After gaining her composure, Dana is suspicious over Claire's odd behavior and plays "detective" to figure things out. She follows her around town to see that Claire is meeting with Quin Dunlap, a geneticist. Dana approaches Claire and questions why she's seeing a doctor. Claire is a bit upset that Dana followed her, but Dana admits that she's worried about her. Claire admits she has a brain tumor and that she's known for a while now, and that she's just afraid to tell everyone and that Dunlap was helping her verify the tumor and its connection to her mysterious powers. �Dana encourages Claire to tell everyone else about her tumor, and Claire does so. The girls are unite together to help Claire.

At the pep rally the next day, Dana tells the girls about how Nazarene insulted her and hopes that she falls whilst she does her routine. Later, Dana is bribed by Leila Desari, who found a bloody paperweight in front of the King house, to pay up or else she'll tell the police that Miranda was probably involved in the murders. Dana coughs up the money, but Leila has had a change of heart due to a chat with Austin Elyis, and gives Dana the money back. Dana later learns of Claire's death and splits up from Miranda, who wants to pick up Naomi from the Warner house after Ash Desari mentioned seeing her arguing on the porch with her stepmother, Eve. Dana heads off to the police station to console the Meyer family. Dana calls Monica, a bit distraught over the fact that Miranda hadn't yet shown up yet, and tells her she went off to look for Naomi at the Warner house. Dana consoles Claire's boyfriend Harvey and tells him that Claire always talked about him in such a positive light and that she loved him a lot. Dana is forced to return home by the police, and Dana is outside with her brother Anthony and numerous other neighbors when the hostage situation at the Warner house is cleared up to learn that the Hill Killer had been caught, discovered and killed in the crisis.

Post Season 3 (6-Year Timejump)

It is assumed Dana finished high school. Afterwards, she left Cherry Hill to pursue a career as a professional cheerleader for NFL sports teams, specifically the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dana later married Max De Souza, one of the team's players, in a private ceremony in Las Vegas. Their marriage later dissolved when Dana discovered he was cheating on her with numerous other women, and Dana filed for divorce. Dana injured her ankle and decided not to renew her contract with the Steelers as a cheerleader, instead opting to return home to Cherry Hill. Before she left Pittsburgh, Dana snatched her husband's credit card as a form of revenge.

Season 4/Generation Me

Dana's limo broke down and she was forced to limp back to town, where she was greeted at her brother's doorstep by his current girlfriend Lauren Meyer. During their little catch-up session at breakfast, Anthony noticed her wedding ring and Dana admitted se and her husband eloped in Las Vegas, but that they're over anyway. Anthony is disappointed Dana did not follow family tradition and is appalled she didn't at least tell him. Dana apologizes, whilst Lauren leaves for her latest fashion show. Dana and Anthony admit it is nice to see each other again. Dana initially thinks of staying with Anthony and Lauren, though later changes her mind to live with Naomi and Miranda in Naomi's apartment. The girls go shopping together - finally reunited with each other - and Dana offers them the opportunity to max out her husband's credit card. They reminisice about Claire and their friendship with her in the past and what she would say about their situations, Dana says that she'd say "To hell with them all" and encourages the girls to shop until they drop. They do so, and Dana then gathers her things and moves in with Naomi and Miranda.

Following Miranda's mugging, Dana thinks that the police is doing a lousy job when they let the major suspect Nathan Rossi go, scott free. They mention there is not enough evidence to convict him, Dana doesn't agree, saying the thief and Nathan were wearing the same sweater and she finds that good enough evidence for her. The police say he had no money on his part, so there was no reason to convict him. Dana seems angry as she, Miranda and Naomi leave the station.

Trivia

• Dana was the last of the original main cast to receive a centric episode - her first one was the third season's tenth episode. This was due to the short first season and the fact that her character was comatose for the whole of the second season.

• During the timejump, Dana became a professional cheerleader for the Pittsburgh Steelers.