Sunday, August 1, 2010

Becker

So this character showed up on Primeval after Steven bit the dust. R.I.P. Steven. But you ask, why am I analyzing the probably least important secondary character on Primeval. Simple. Because he's interesting.

Unlike many of the other characters on this blog, we know virtually nothing about Becker's past, except that he appears to have a pretty fluent military background. The long and short being, he's the muscle of the operation.

Unlike many of the other recruited hands that wield weapons, his main goal isn't to capture creatures, although the result of his actual goal usually ends up doing just that. In reality though, his real goal is to keep everyone alive. Sadly, he doesn't succeed in the end with Nick Cutter, who ends up being killed by his ex-wife. Though, Becker usually takes on the role of a soldier, that isn't to say that he doesn't have a sense of humor.

For instance, when Abby's brother lost her lizard in a game of poker, Conner probably asked Becker if he could play the role of his private army for a few minutes, just with a couple other guys. Becker, decked out with full gear, sunglasses, and chewing gum nearly scared the lizard's captor out of his wits when Conner stepped out of the way to reveal him.

But it seems throughout the series that Becker has formed a rather close bond with Conner... in fact, more close than probably any of the other members of the team. Becker probably recognizes Conner's genius and doesn't mind lending some muscle to back up the science.

Another true sign of the difference between Becker and the rest of the soldiers on base is that he's solely loyal to Lester and the team of scientists under him. While he may take orders from whoever commands him at the time, his true loyalties don't lie there. A prime example of this loyalty was when he recorded something that a leader who had taken over the base had said, and had handed it over to Lester. A political repercussion of this recording caused Lester to be placed back in charge of the base and her to be thrown out.

But while Becker is pretty easy going, there are times when he's backed into a corner. He likes a little extra cushion when it comes to support personnel. When he doesn't have it, he gets moody. When he's cornered in a seriously dangerous situation and doesn't have support, he acts rather rashly. When Abby, Conner, Becker, and Danny went to the future to retrieve Abby's brother, Abby kept refusing to let Becker go and get backup. So when they finally found her brother and began to pull him out of a hole, they were being swarmed by creatures that could kill them. So, cornered, and without backup, Becker runs away from the group, fires his gun at the creatures, and gets them to all chase after him so they'll leave Conner, Abby, Danny, and Abby's brother alone.

Becker also played a kind of doubleganger game with Conner to take out one of Hellen's guards.

As a character, Becker has an extreme sense of loyalty, but he also has very strict morals. He believes in doing his duty to every extent of his ability, but he will never do something that he believes to be wrong without forming a plan to make it right again. There are people he likes more than others. He probably trusts Conner and Abby more than anyone else on the team, because they have been in the group the longest. This ability to trust them so openly, probably allows him to open up and add a little humor to his work. He respects his post, but isn't above using the whole thing for a little laugh. All in all, Becker is really one of my favorites.

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