This week gave us characters who could have easily been reduced to familiar genre archetypes but instead surprised us with layers, vulnerability, and emotional depth.

From a lost Jason Dessen finally building a life of his own to Neagley confronting the demons she’s spent years outrunning and Hondo finding himself at one of his lowest points, these characters reminded us that sometimes the most compelling stories are simply about watching someone become more fully themselves

Check out our Characters of the Week below!

Unknown Number Jason Dessen, Dark Matter (Courtesy of Apple TV)

He was one of the Jasons left outside the Box, with memories of a wife and son who had chosen a life without him. This offered context to a story with many victims, most of whom had no happy ending, or any ending at all.

On Dark Matter Season 2 Episode 5, “Love and Be Loved,” this unknown number Jason found a mother who welcomed him home and made room for two more lost Jasons.

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This Jason found a career building chairs, the perfect resting place for a soul without a tether, and he even fell in love again. 

None of it happened quickly, and Joel Edgerton let us see the years change him with scarcely a word.

(Courtesy of Apple TV)

Then came the test: a chance encounter with Daniela. He recognized her, took the flowers he’d bought, and went home to the woman waiting for him. 

Finally, he put away his pipe cleaner wedding ring. This Jason will always remember the life he lost. Now he has one of his own.

It was such a beautiful character exploration because, with barely any dialogue, it let us watch a Jason who had lost everything slowly build a life he could call his own, right smack-dab in the middle of a story and lives that had written him off. Truly magnificent.

Frances Neagley, Neagley (Sabrina Lantos/Prime)

By now, it’s clear that we’re obsessed with Neagley, both the character and the show itself.

Neagley Season 1 is a strong showing for the character, and what we get is a beautifully complex woman who is so much more than the badass who enforces justice and has a powerful punch and kick.

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We get this incredibly layered woman who learns to grapple with a trauma from her past that was previously unexplored but has wreaked absolute havoc on her life since.

It’s a refreshing hook — watching a woman with a fear of touch and even intimacy come to grips with how much she may actually crave it and slowly tackle it.

Neagley becomes a rare hero who actually wants to face her demons head-on rather than keep running from them, giving us a glimpse of what it’s like when the action genre delivers a complex female action hero with emotional depth and doesn’t treat it like a joke.

(Sabrina Lantos/Prime)

We get a daughter with complicated feelings about her father and who has an innate fear she doesn’t quite know how to voice of being alone.

And we get a fearless leader who eventually realizes that she has more people who care about her than she thought.

Maria Sten is absolutely incredible in this role, giving us a performance that has ripple effects in how it resonates long after the credits roll.

And we get the beginnings of a journey for a worthwhile heroine who dominates the screen with grit, grace, and vulnerability.

Neagley becomes more than a sidekick or supporting character, but a rich character of her own with emotional depth, a woman who feels deeply resonant and relevant as she is dynamic.

She’s inspiring and real, and most definitely a character who sticks with you for many weeks, let alone just a singular one.

Hondo, S.W.A.T. Exiles (Courtesy of STARZ)

It’s true that many folks, some of our own included, had reservations about this S.W.A.T. spinoff.

But S.W.A.T Exiles Season 1 Episode 1 comes in like a wrecking ball offering up something unique in its own right while still carrying echoes a familiar tone to appeal both old fans as well as new.

Most of that is due to Hondo, and we find him in a fascinating place, down and out in ways we haven’t quite seen before, which is alarming for a character who has been through hell and back many times.

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Our hero is somehow perceived by those around him, the very field he dedicated his life to, as a “has-been,” and that, along with a tragedy and personal developments in his home life, has delivered us a broken man with a jaded heart who is struggling.

And it’s easily one of the most compelling places we’ve seen from Hondo yet. It also means he’s just as “broken” as the ragtag team of rejected S.W.A.T. candidates two generations younger than him who he’s trying to train up.

The generational clash is the greatest hook, but it’s Hondo in such a deep, emotionally dark place where he has to climb out of it that makes Exiles so fascinating to watch from its opening credits.

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