One: Jace Corso/Derrick Moss (Marc Bendavid)

[Just Here]

Charming but a bit of a goof, he is the crew’s moral center, a guy who always TRIES to do the right thing, despite the odds stacked against him and no matter how unpopular the course of action. He is a space cowboy, a bit of a daredevil, and the closest thing to a hero onboard the ship. Sure, he screws up – but he means well.

 

 

[Mars477]

The problem with One isn't that he's the well meaning good guy.  We already have one of those, in Six.  But One is a well meaning good guy who is also completely, aggressively, bland and generic.  He is the ur straight white male video game protagonist, who really is a positive emotions teddy bear until he's a one shot one kill combat god, who hits on all the ladies, and is Always Right.  And to make matters worse, Marc Bendavid is a terrible actor who can't even say that he got cast because he's good looking, because he's not exactly All That (Do you emote, bro?).  Fuck, as much as people hated Major Lilywhite from iZombie early on, Robert Buckley is a hell of a lot more buff, and also had the chops to instill his stock Perfect Fiance with the charisma, personality and human shades of grey that helped that character transcend its archetype.

[MissLucas]

The character sheet does sound as if Crichton or someone similar was used as blueprint. But somehow the writers haven't managed to pull it off so far.$

 

bit of a goof: I don't think One has ever showed much talent for goofiness - probably in his interactions with Three. So far the Android is more of a goof.

 

moral center: Yes, he tries to do the right thing - but so far he's hardly ever been the only crew member who did so. As has been mentioned above Six has been doing a pretty good job of being a good guy too.

 

He is a space cowboy, a bit of a daredevil, and the closest thing to a hero onboard the ship. Come again? Most of the time he's flailing around, acting as if he's morally superior to the rest of the crew (Three got that right) and hasn't yet showed enough badassery for a space cowboy or a daredevil.

[FurryFury]

The problem with One isn't that he's the well meaning good guy.  We already have one of those, in Six.  But One is a well meaning good guy who is also completely, aggressively, bland and generic.  He is the ur straight white male video game protagonist, who really is a positive emotions teddy bear until he's a one shot one kill combat god, who hits on all the ladies, and is Always Right.  And to make matters worse, Marc Bendavid is a terrible actor who can't even say that he got cast because he's good looking, because he's not exactly All That (Do you emote, bro?).  Fuck, as much as people hated Major Lilywhite from iZombie early on, Robert Buckley is a hell of a lot more buff, and also had the chops to instill his stock Perfect Fiance with the charisma, personality and human shades of grey that helped that character transcend its archetype.

I'd agree with you, but not about Major, he's still boring for me. But One is worse, he has way more prominence on the show and he really feels like a very annoying cliche/male power fantasy. I couldn't believe my eyes when he put the moves on Two the next episode after kissing a random girl for whatever reason. Ugh.

 

And his moral superiority is just insufferable.

 

This type of character should be either deconstructed (which I hoped the show would do in the beginning, like make him the worst criminal of the bunch or lying about the amnesia) or played by an immensely charismatic actor (although even that may not help that much).

[xfuse]

So far I like One because I want to know why he's on the ship but they better give him some unique skills soon because it doesn't makes sense that an average Joe could change his face, get on-board the Raza with a group of serious criminals and not be killed.

[Shanna Marie]

He is a space cowboy, a bit of a daredevil, and the closest thing to a hero onboard the ship. Come again? Most of the time he's flailing around, acting as if he's morally superior to the rest of the crew (Three got that right) and hasn't yet showed enough badassery for a space cowboy or a daredevil.

I don't know that I'd use the words "space cowboy" or "daredevil" because he doesn't have the flair I'd associate with those terms, but he does have some guts and is willing to put himself out there and try risky things on behalf of others.

 

I have some trouble with the idea that someone should be condemned for trying to do the right thing. It sometimes seems that wanting to be good is seen as a worse crime than actually committing crimes. I guess the main problem is that he's being good without style points.

 

I can see potential for goofiness of the adorkable variety because he could be pretty dweeby, the Boy Scout type who's completely out of place with the cool kids. They just haven't done anything with that.

 

But the real question will be who he is and why he's on the ship. The plastic surgery idea was the real Jace's theory. I'm suspecting it's something else.

 

You know, wiping the memories would be (and was) an effective way of saving those people from a band of mercenaries. Where did that symbol he found come from? Was he the one infiltrating the mercenaries to disrupt them?

[xfuse]

 

But the real question will be who he is and why he's on the ship. The plastic surgery idea was the real Jace's theory. I'm suspecting it's something else.

But he or his whatever he is took Jace's face and place before the memory wipe. So there is a reason why the real Jace was set up and someone took his place and I hope it's not for the miners. I want him to be a cop or another bad ass bounty hunter after one or all of them.

[FurryFury]

I have some trouble with the idea that someone should be condemned for trying to do the right thing.

 

It's not trying to do the right thing, it's the way the show constatly tells us he's better than other characters. Six is also trying to do the right thing generally, but he's not shilled this way and it's doesn't feel like the show REALLY wants to make him happen the way it is with One. If one character out of the whole ensemble is constqantly being shilled it feels really annoying.

[MissLucas]

Yes, it's the constant hammering on how good he is that makes the character annoying - not that he is good. That and the lack of depth/edges make the character problematic. From what we know about him so far it's possible he assumed the identity of the real Jace Corso to infiltrate the Raza - that would be a badass move by someone who's not afraid to get his hands dirty in order to get a job done. Classic undercover cop story where moral ambiguity sooner or later comes into play. That could be interesting but the character needs more layers to make it work.

[Mars477]

A huge problem with any further developments featuring One is that Marc Bendavid is a terrible actor whose range spans from "blank faced" to "mild digestive issues". I wouldn't trust him to carry much of anything.

[Ely]

A huge problem with any further developments featuring One is that Marc Bendavid is a terrible actor

 

To be fair, he really doesn't have it easy with One. Contrary to characters like Three or Six, One is by default rather whin-y and a little bland. The latter because he is the closest to a male lead this show has so he cannot be as polarizing. Most of the other actors have a lot more to play with. OTOH, it's his job to make it work. Anthony Lemke manages to make Three lovable.

 

I think one of his major problems is the way too early hookup with Two. I hope there will be an explanation for it later but I doubt it. The viewers are supposed to care about a couple and two characters they don't know and who don't even know each other.

 

That being said, I could not help but cringe at the bad acting in episode 5 when One goes to Two's room and finds Three there. Both One and Two are better when they are not forced to act on some chemistry between them that isn't there.

[sjohnson]

I don't find Three lovable, or even very likeable. And most of what he thinks is just kind of stupid, which is kind of dull. I don't think that makes Lemke a bad actor, I think it means I don't like Three. He makes me think of Pope from Falling Skies, which is not complimentary in my opinion.

[krimimimi]

I don't know that I'd use the words "space cowboy" or "daredevil" because he doesn't have the flair I'd associate with those terms, but he does have some guts and is willing to put himself out there and try risky things on behalf of others.

I agree completely about terms like "space cowboy" and "daredevil" and certainly the whole "hero" bit, and I really wish they hadn't gone there. Even if it's not too thick in the presentation, I can't help but feel it's in the back of their heads. I also really dislike the characterization of a megacorp CEO as a "goof." It would have been nicer if they had given him some teeth (see theories of sociopathy in business), or just made him a wealthy heir, and not supposedly successful in his own right, which corresponds more with what we've been shown. (I would've preferred teeth, to be clear.)

The thing that really bugs me about his character isn't that he's not afraid to risk himself for a good cause, but that he insists (primarily from necessity) on demanding at least that level sacrifice of those around him (because he can't do it on his own). For example, after nagging interminably while locked in the vault that the crew needed to show the intruders what they were made of, when the doors finally open, it was everyone but One that was armed and at least nominally prepared to fight. Contrast that with Six's plan in episode 2 to fly the shuttle on a presumed suicide mission kamikaze-fashion into the corporate ship. The only one at risk from their team was himself, and all the others stood to benefit from his actions. Six's comment at the time to One that he was the only one with a lick of sense on the Raza just added insult to injury after pretty much everyone had demonstrated more sense than One. One has heart (if boringly so, which is my second complaint with the character. good does not have to be whiny or bland.), but few brains. Six, otoh, was the one demonstrating hero material.

And the scene chewing rendition of the real!Jace was just frightening. Less of either One works better for me. Especially less in combination with Two. YMMV.

On the amusing side, Britta over on gateworld had this to say about One: "I do like that he isn't really who he can't remember supposedly being (and how many people get to say that?)" I like that, too.

Edited August 29, 2015 by krimimimi

[Shanna Marie]

I also really dislike the characterization of a megacorp CEO as a "goof." It would have been nicer if they had given him some teeth (see theories of sociopathy in business), or just made him a wealthy heir, and not supposedly successful in his own right, which corresponds more with what we've been shown. (I would've preferred teeth, to be clear.)

There's still room for it to turn out that he's just a figurehead who inherited the corporation and all his apparent success is actually the doing of someone else in the company. Maybe I'm influenced by the fact that he has that Not!Paul Rudd thing going on and I can't help but think of Paul Rudd's character on Parks & Recreation, where he was the heir to the corporation they thought was going to be a cutthroat opponent in the city council race because of his tactics, and it turned out that the tactics were all from the people surrounding him, while he was a goofy puppy of a guy who was really very sweet. I could imagine One turning out to be like that, where he's the easygoing nice guy who doesn't really want to be running the corporation and lets the executives do all the work while he does press interviews and goes to charity benefits -- until he learns what the evil executive is really up to and finally takes action, for the first time in his life. That would explain the really stupid (and probably expensive) plan. I can't imagine him being a ruthless business tycoon unless the memory wipe completely altered his personality.

 

I don't recall from the news clippings he found -- is there any indication that Derek Moss is currently missing? You'd think that would be all over the news, and if it's not, it's a good sign that there's someone shady in the company if they're hiding that fact and going on with business as usual.

[atomationage]

I didn't have any problem with Marc Bendavid, his performance, or the character in the first season.  Now it looks like Derrick Moss is dead and he may only be playing the real Jase Corso.  I'm looking forward to it. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Now that Derrick Moss is dead, how does that situation [evil CEO, Corelactic Industries itself, etc] tie back into the Raza crew?  I don't believe for a minute that that whole ordeal will be just jettisoned via an airlock.  If its just a singular character its connected to - and not (just) Jace Corso - my money would be on Marcus Boone/Three, seeing as how he was 'supposedly' the guilty party in killing Catherine Moss.

However, if the entire situation comes back to involve the whole original population of the Raza, I believe that the evil CEO of Corelactic will be in cahoots with Ferris Corp and/or Galactic Authority, which will all add up to some big plan to capture/kill the Raza'ns, or have them framed for something uber nefarious. 

Edited July 4, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[atomationage]

The death of this character, together with Mazzolli's remarks about the actor not being in the show, puts this series on a low priority for me.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

6 hours ago, atomationage said:

The death of this character, together with Mazzolli's remarks about the actor not being in the show, puts this series on a low priority for me.

Out of curiosity, did you read/hear Mallozi's remarks somewhere other than the article linked in the 2.01 ep discussion thread? 

If referring to the linked article, what I got from his remarks it sounded like MB will still be in the show, just in a (very?) limited fashion until the Raza crew tracks Corso down after they escape from Hyperion-8.  At which point I'm guessing they'll capture him to get revenge for killing One but somehow he'll prove worthy and end up becoming part of the crew.;  just my own personal theoretical prediction on how that will play out.

[MissLucas]

Yeah, I think (provided One is really dead dead) that's how it's going to play out. Marc Bendavid's name is still popping up first in the credits before Melissa O'Neil's - no way the show kicks off its leading man just like that. This might be a soft reboot since Derrick Moss wasn't such an exciting character but we'll see.

Edited July 6, 2016 by MissLucas

[atomationage]

9 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

Out of curiosity, did you read/hear Mallozi's remarks somewhere other than the article linked in the 2.01 ep discussion thread? 

I read the article in the thread.  It sounded like he doesn't have much use for Bendavid, and we won't even hear about Corso until about the fifth episode.   Even then, there's no indication that the actor will actually be in the show.  

Spoiler

In episode five,  The Android goes undercover to help the crew track a dangerous, yet familiar, foe.

I guess next week's episode will show whether or not the actor is listed in the credits.  Last season, and up until that article, this show was always a top priority.  

[sjohnson]

Personally I'm tired of antiheroes. Ryo's evil plan to conquer the throne was quite enough antihero for me. Moss' temptations to niceness were a good contrast to the rest, who are far more typical. Playing at being amoral, or only accepting that you are good to your friends (since being mean to your friends is really low, this isn't a high standard!) or being too damn cool to care are all pretty similar. I'm willing to see if they can step up Kal Varrick's game.

But really, if it's just going to be about how cool the found family is, Killjoys does do one liners better, even if they believe that people in the future will actually like blue lights mounted on the walls so they can shine in your eyes. 

[FurryFury]

I know better than believe the writers (or actors) when it comes to character death. I mean, guys, it's been around for more than a decade (at the very least). Remember Starbuck's death in BSG? They even removed her from the credits for a few episodes! And then we had the recent Jon Snow debacle. I've no idea if One is really dead or not, but personally, as a viewer who hated the character, I hope he is, because I love it when shows course-correct and try working around their problematic issues. Of course, I still don't care about the actor, but at least real Jace probably wouldn't be as annoyingly self-righteous as Derrick.

[MissLucas]

Did anyone in the whole universe ever believe Jon Snow was dead? With Starbuck I had some weak hopes it might be true (I hardly ever hated a character as much) but not even removal from the credits did the trick, arrgh! Also: show-runners are lying liars who lie.

One might be dead but I don't think Marc Bendavid is looking for a job.

[call me ishmael]

My suspicion is that he is dead (and I have to say that his falling backward onto the floor was one of his better acting jobs in this show) because I think that his death is going to drive the rest of them into figuring out that they are small pawns in a larger conspiracy that started with the murder of his wife and the framing of 3.  I still think that Jace C probably killed the wife and was supposed to be on the raza to kill 3 but things got messed up (Jace would have been taken care of when 6 was freed of the memory wipe after the second destruction and brought them all in) etc.  On the other hand, that might actually mean the writers had a serious plan so I may be being too optimistic.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

That's an interesting theory, call me ishmael, but I would rebuttal with the fact that when One/Derrick Moss first encountered - and was captured/interrogated by - Jace Corso in the fourth episode of season 1, Marcus Boone/Three was with him the whole time.  I don't remember any hints given by Corso to indicate that he was given orders to take out Boone once joining the Raza gang.  In fact, he seemed to not even recognize (or care) who Three was, just that he so happened to be caught up in that little mess.

Edited July 8, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[call me ishmael]

6 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

That's an interesting theory, call me ishmael, but I would rebuttal with the fact that when One/Derrick Moss first encountered - and was captured/interrogated by - Jace Corso in the fourth episode of season 1, Marcus Boone/Three was with him the whole time.  I don't remember any hints given by Corso to indicate that he was given orders to take out Boone once joining the Raza gang.  In fact, he seemed to not even recognize (or care) who Three was, just that he so happened to be caught up in that little mess.

Good point.  I had forgotten that.

[Wouter]

On 6-7-2016 at 5:04 PM, atomationage said:

I read the article in the thread.  It sounded like he doesn't have much use for Bendavid, and we won't even hear about Corso until about the fifth episode.   Even then, there's no indication that the actor will actually be in the show.  

  Reveal hidden contents

In episode five,  The Android goes undercover to help the crew track a dangerous, yet familiar, foe.

 

Actually, there is a clear indication: there is footage of Marc Bendavid in this trailer (at 041, 0:42) that is obviously not from the first episode:

Most likely, it's Corso. On his blog, Mallozzi has also assured that Marc will be back - though he doesn't say anything about screentime.

I guess that Marc will still play Corso quite a bit, but once Corso gets offed it may be over for him (the odd possible guess role in a time travel or alternate universe notwithstanding).

[Wouter]

On 6-7-2016 at 10:14 PM, call me ishmael said:

My suspicion is that he is dead (and I have to say that his falling backward onto the floor was one of his better acting jobs in this show) because I think that his death is going to drive the rest of them into figuring out that they are small pawns in a larger conspiracy that started with the murder of his wife and the framing of 3.  I still think that Jace C probably killed the wife and was supposed to be on the raza to kill 3 but things got messed up (Jace would have been taken care of when 6 was freed of the memory wipe after the second destruction and brought them all in) etc.  On the other hand, that might actually mean the writers had a serious plan so I may be being too optimistic.

Mallozzi has repeatedly claimed that he has a 5-year arc planned out (in broad strokes, obviously). If the show has sufficient rating to get that far, it would stop with S5 and he claims he knows the fates of the main characters. He added that not every story will end well, which may already have been demonstrated in the case of One.

As for Corso, I doubt he killed Derrick's wife, but it certainly looks like the acting-CEO of Corelactic now hired him. He easily could have gotten the idea after learning the details about Derrick's disguise - he could have figured Corso would be more than willing to do the job.

[atomationage]

23 hours ago, Wouter said:

Actually, there is a clear indication: there is footage of Marc Bendavid in this trailer (at 041, 0:42) that is obviously not from the first episode

Thanks, I had forgotten about that, but I'm not sure that's not a deleted scene from the first episode.  These are the next three episode descriptions:

Spoiler

3.  I've Seen the Other Side of You

"A computer glitch makes the crew turn against one another."

4.  We Were Family

"Three reconnects with his former crew; the Android finds herself in unique company."

5.  We Voted Not to Space You

"The Android goes undercover to help the crew track a dangerous, yet familiar, foe."

I'm guessing that Jace Corso is in episode five, and I hope that he stays on after that.  

Edited July 9, 2016 by atomationage

[Wouter]

2 hours ago, atomationage said:

Thanks, I had forgotten about that, but I'm not sure that's not a deleted scene from the first episode.  These are the next three episode descriptions:

  Hide contents

3.  I've Seen the Other Side of You

"A computer glitch makes the crew turn against one another."

4.  We Were Family

"Three reconnects with his former crew; the Android finds herself in unique company."

5.  We Voted Not to Space You

"The Android goes undercover to help the crew track a dangerous, yet familiar, foe."

I'm guessing that Jace Corso is in episode five, and I hope that he stays on after that.  

Corso is a good candidate for episode 5, allthough this crew doesn't lack enemies so it's not a certain thing.

The footage from the trailer doesn't at all fit into first episode though; the person is armed and moving cautiously through a derelict looking corridor. Almost certainly, this is yet to come.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I know show creators/producers - especially in the sci-fi genre - can be "lying liars who lie", but I tend to believe Mallozzi when he says that One/DM is really dead.

However, if JM hadn't *confirmed* it, I could've seen it played out later as it was a setup by One/DM to fake his death to investigate his wife's murder and Corelactic/current CEO.  He had a Transfer Transit clone made (a special one that both still looked like JC after the DNA scans & didn't 'go poof' after "dying"), then himself impersonating Corso as the killer.  The DNA of the clone would still be Moss' because of the transit technology, so would have worked very well in that sense, if was the story plan for later.

[MissLucas]

But he needed JC's DNA to make such a Transit Clone - otherwise the Clone would look like Moss.

Even if One is gone for good his story is not - there are still way too many open questions and I suspect the answers to those tie at least partially in to other still not resolved and new plots. And Jayce Corso will get entangled in those plots.

[Wryly]

I want them to bring Derrick Moss back with his original face and original memories, but no memory at all of being One.

I think I would enjoy the role reversal this would create between him and the crew. In the first season, it's One who urges the group to stick together, be loyal. They often brushed him off. I'd like to see a new relationship dynamic where it is now the crew who want Derrick back, but Derrick doesn't remember them and considers them strangers. Especially if there continue to be episodes like "I've Seen the Other Side of You," where Derrick's personality presence could have really made a difference.

I'm also curious if I will like the character more if he is played by a different actor.

[Raja]

It looks like he will be used like Brett Dalton, Agent Ward of Agents of SHIELD. I wonder if the assassination of One was the long term plan or came about due to audience reaction during the first season?

[zxy556575]

I've never mastered creating a poll topic here, but it would be interesting to see a count of how many people liked or disliked One. He was certainly one of those divisive characters who provoked strong feelings.

[formerlyfreedom]

13 minutes ago, lordonia said:

I've never mastered creating a poll topic here, but it would be interesting to see a count of how many people liked or disliked One. He was certainly one of those divisive characters who provoked strong feelings.

 

Gave you a hand there, @lordonia!

[MissLucas]

I voted for 'other'. I always thought the idea of the character cool but the execution was terrible. Back in season one I mentioned that a lot about One is reminiscent of Crichton in Farscape: Generally good guy finds himself on a ship full of convicts/criminals and needs to find a way to cope with them. The difference being of course that One did not know about his non-criminal identity for a couple of episodes. And Crichton tried to see the good in the people surrounding him and he came to accept that it would not always be that easy (the episode where the crew was willing to mutilate Pilot in order to find a way home was really, really hard to watch).

One had too many moments of 'OMG you're all so awful' especially once he knew about his true identity - he came off as quite sanctimonious. Crichton had those moments too but he also came up with plenty of batshit-crazy ideas to save the day and win the respect of his crew-mates. One hardly ever had those.

[sjohnson]

Thought One was the antithesis of cool. (But cool is overrated.) Also, having a character who wasn't a BAMF was an invaluable different perspective, something essential in the long run to drama. Varrick likes to kill people when he's frustrated so he doesn't work for me as the voice of reason. As to Marc Bendavid's performance, I thought he was doing One well enough that he'll never be forgiven for it. On the other hand, his Jace Corso just seems like constipation turned mean.

[Chaos Theory]

I thought One had potential especially now that season 2 looks like it is digging into everyones past a little more.  Although by no means my favorite character I thought the story of him looking into his wife's murder further was a good one especially if he got tempted to cross into the dark side while searching for answers and ultimately finding them.  

[Oracle42]

From the character description for One it seemed like the writers wanted him to be everything anyone has ever loved about a sci-fi hero. And they had all of the other characters reacting him as if he actually was PerfectSciFiHeroGuy. It was incredibly grating because the showrunners/writers failed to create an actual three-dimensional character and Bendavid's limitations as an actor kind of highlighted all the problems with the writing for the character.

One wasn't a bad idea but he was a badly developed character portrayed by a weak, bland actor and the combo was...not good

Edited July 24, 2016 by Oracle42

[Wouter]

On 23-7-2016 at 2:48 PM, Raja said:

It looks like he will be used like Brett Dalton, Agent Ward of Agents of SHIELD. I wonder if the assassination of One was the long term plan or came about due to audience reaction during the first season?

FWIW, Joe Mallozzi has consistently claimed that he has a 5-year arc planned out for the series. From the very beginning. If that's true, then killing One at such an early stage must have been part of it. Too much would change otherwise.

[Raja]

1 hour ago, Wouter said:

FWIW, Joe Mallozzi has consistently claimed that he has a 5-year arc planned out for the series. From the very beginning. If that's true, then killing One at such an early stage must have been part of it. Too much would change otherwise.

The most famous 5 year plan was Babylon 5. I don't believe replacing the commander After the first season and XO after the pilot  was as written. Here with new cast arriving maybe 

[Wouter]

4 hours ago, Raja said:

The most famous 5 year plan was Babylon 5. I don't believe replacing the commander After the first season and XO after the pilot  was as written. Here with new cast arriving maybe 

True, but the commander in Dark Matter is Two. In Bablyon 5, a new main character was brought in to take much of Sinclair's role. If One was replaced by someone, it would have to be Devon I suppose? We'll see how that character gets developped.

[Raja]

Sorry I meant Commander Sinclair of Bablyon 5 being replaced with Captain Sheridan after the first season and Commander Ivanova taking over for the XO played by Tamlyn Tomita in their pilot movie

[MissLucas]

As far as I know (and this is terribly complicated once you lose yourself in that subsection of geekdom) Straczinksy did have a famous plan but he had also taken into account that over several years of production changes would become necessary - especially with regards to the cast. So he had implemented a fail-safe called 'trap door' for every character i.e. he kept the door open for other characters to take over a specific arc should an actor decide to leave. (My apologies to die-hard BS5 fans for simplifying the complicated issue and the surrounding debate.)

It seems clear that Bendavid had no intention to leave the show. I think the analogy with S.H.I.E.L.D. is more likely. Bendavid will stick around as Corso and that that was indeed part of the original plan. The whole set-up with Corso/Morse needs a payoff.

I really don't think audience reaction has anything to do with it. I haven't followed the show in other communities but sometimes a character hated in community A is a fan-favorite in community B. Also: Three garnered a lot of negativity too and he's still around and kicking.

[Wryly]

A tweet from Dan Jeannotte (that's the actor who played pre-surgery Derrick Moss) says he will make an appearance in episode 8. Wonder if it's just a flashback or an old video recording.

[Wryly]

On 7/23/2016 at 5:23 PM, MissLucas said:

I voted for 'other'. I always thought the idea of the character cool but the execution was terrible. Back in season one I mentioned that a lot about One is reminiscent of Crichton in Farscape: Generally good guy finds himself on a ship full of convicts/criminals and needs to find a way to cope with them. The difference being of course that One did not know about his non-criminal identity for a couple of episodes. And Crichton tried to see the good in the people surrounding him and he came to accept that it would not always be that easy (the episode where the crew was willing to mutilate Pilot in order to find a way home was really, really hard to watch).

One had too many moments of 'OMG you're all so awful' especially once he knew about his true identity - he came off as quite sanctimonious. Crichton had those moments too but he also came up with plenty of batshit-crazy ideas to save the day and win the respect of his crew-mates. One hardly ever had those.

I'm surprised you didn't mention the most glaring difference between the two. Crichton actually had a personality.

He joked. He nicknamed everyone. He wheezed mad laughter. He made constant Earth pop culture references that nobody got. He made pets out of DRD's, named his gun, and said things like, "welcome to the Federation Starship SS Buttcrack."

His personality did not just end at "good." But One's personality ended at "good."

Also, I went into shock during the episode where they cut off Pilot's arm. Pure shock. "Did that just happen?" shock. I had a serious crisis of faith in Zhaan in particular. I could not BELIEVE how quickly Pilot and the crew put that behind them.

[FurryFury]

15 hours ago, MissLucas said:

As far as I know (and this is terribly complicated once you lose yourself in that subsection of geekdom) Straczinksy did have a famous plan but he had also taken into account that over several years of production changes would become necessary - especially with regards to the cast. So he had implemented a fail-safe called 'trap door' for every character i.e. he kept the door open for other characters to take over a specific arc should an actor decide to leave. (My apologies to die-hard BS5 fans for simplifying the complicated issue and the surrounding debate.)

It seems clear that Bendavid had no intention to leave the show. I think the analogy with S.H.I.E.L.D. is more likely. Bendavid will stick around as Corso and that that was indeed part of the original plan. The whole set-up with Corso/Morse needs a payoff.

I really don't think audience reaction has anything to do with it. I haven't followed the show in other communities but sometimes a character hated in community A is a fan-favorite in community B. Also: Three garnered a lot of negativity too and he's still around and kicking.

I think with Three it was more character development/better writing that changed people's opinions around (although I liked him from the start because he was a total Jayne expy and I freakin' LOVED Jayne). One... well, he's controversial, to say the least. And both writing and acting are at fault. Still, my gut feeling says it might have been planned, or even that he's not actually dead anyway.

[call me ishmael]

Could you add 5:  Who is One?  He was so uninteresting that I have forgotten about him.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

This is all speculation on my part, as I know absolutely nothing about how anything will play out on this show......... but going with the assumption that for whatever reason, the crew has to take on Jace Corso instead of killing him or turning him over to somewhat trustworthy authorities, either later this season or in the future;  they'd have a way to make him 'docile' or easier to control.  Just force him into a cryo-stasis chamber and wipe his memories, like what happened to them at the start of the series.

Would I want that?  Not really.  As I stated in the S2E4 thread, I would prefer at least one person on the ship that is/was a criminal because of personal choice instead of being a result of the harshness of their maturing lives.  But it is an option to consider if JC/MB is to become a series regular or star again in later seasons.

Edited July 25, 2016 by iRarelyWatchTV36