The indicators are certainly mixed as to whether HRG's organization is good or evil.

Umm Bad!Dad killed Claire's parents, then adapted her, cause a cute little blond baby being orphaned right when he and his wife found out they could not have kids was a message from God.

That is like the freakin Chilean death squads man. They may not know they are evil, but they are evil. Yeah they are human, not bwah-ha-haing mixed motives, not all bad, genuine love of Claire. That is what evil looks like.

I mean (to paraphrase) 'sometimes people resist when we kidnap them, and we have to kill them. Shame about those tragic accidents'. That is pretty evil.

Does anyone have his exact words?

I think Claire's dad meant/implied --at the least, what I got out of it was that sometimes the people they're kidnapping freak out, get defensive, and bad shit happens from there, and maybe it's because OWI has better kung fu than the green supernaturals that they come out on top, and the greenies end up dead.

But still, it's not benevolent in the least to go around kidnapping people for some vague catch-and-release objective, and then once in a while, to add to the violation of it, whoops, there was a scuffle and they (the already confused supernaturals who then get to be labrats for a brief while) end up dead. Darn.

I do like the analogy that Daddy and OWI are like spies with some noble mission who are not above using unsavory tactics or using people and putting them in harms way to gain their objective. Supposed to be the "good guys", but not someone you'd like to be friends with.

So maybe Glasses-Guy = the Operative. Huh.

I think Claire's dad meant/implied --at the least, what I got out of it was that sometimes the people they're kidnapping freak out, get defensive, and bad shit happens from there, and maybe it's because OWI has better kung fu than the green supernaturals that they come out on top, and the greenies end up dead.

Yeah, I certainly didn't take it as a deliberate "We kill them" statement. It was more of a "Sometimes, er, bad shit happens."

Do we know Claire's dad's first name? This has been bugging me.

They're the Council of Watchers, an institution with both noble aims and systemic evil.

Yeah, I certainly didn't take it as a deliberate "We kill them" statement. It was more of a "Sometimes, er, bad shit happens."

This is pretty much it. Mind, they don't exactly stop by and say, "Hey Let's talk about your superpowers over coffee." Instead, they go straight for the kidnapping and, apparently, branding.

So I can see why someone might take it the wrong way.

They're the Council of Watchers, an institution with both noble aims and systemic evil.

So Claire's Dad of Mystery is Quentin Travers?

Mind, they don't exactly stop by and say, "Hey Let's talk about your superpowers over coffee." Instead, they go straight for the kidnapping and, apparently, branding.

I wonder why they don't, though. I'm serious. What are they really doing to these people? Why wouldn't they go willingly, if they are presumably "helping" them? Especially because most people seem to be rather perplexed and confused by the development of their powers, so wouldn't they be receptive to someone coming and saying, "I know what you're going through. We can help"? Supply some fake OWI credentials, and there you go.

How can this organization be considered "good" if they let an extremely deadly radioactive dude back out on the street?

Maybe that dryness is his hook, but I can't distinguish it from a piece written in all seriousness about the clichés that irritate him. How can you tell?

This is in the opening paragraph:

Some of these, like the ridiculously sexy female scientist/alien/robot/whatever, detract from the realism -- but no one is complaining about it. Not me, anyway. Hooray for Jeri Ryan!

When you start out with "Here's a thing that doesn't make sense either, but I don't care because it results in hot chicks," I don't know how it can be taken as a manifesto. I don't mean that he's not at all serious. But... again, I think of recaps. Do I think Wesley is an ass? Sure! Do I care as much about that as people seem to think? No, but it's an easy thing to make jokes about.

So, to me it sounds like: is he tired of these things? Sure! Is he going to stop watching a show or a movie just because they turn up? No, of course not. Hell, I've been complaining about the way spaceships all seem to agree on a universal "this way is up" for ages, but it doesn't stop me watching things with spaceships. 'Cause that'd be crazy, with spaceships being so cool and all.