Chap 10, page ~20, character behaviour

[Ayrin]

I've only read as far as chapter 10, but one thing is bothering me like hell in an otherwise stellar comic...

Most of the main characters (Dan, Whisper, Kari and Larissa) are behaving as absolute bastards.
Why am I saying this? Well, Hal just got his leg removed because Dan decided it was a good idea to shoot him. Sure, Dan didn't want them to ditch Whisper, so it was somewhat justified, but so was Hals decision that they needed to get out of there, asap.

Anyhow, I have no real problem with the reason, just explaining it so people don't need to go back and read the pages just to know what I'm talking about.

The problem is that no one is showing any sympathy what so ever to Hal. They are still going on in the normal "Hal is an utter bastard, let's ignore him or speak badly about him". I'm not certain if Hal has done something before the comic started to deserve this treatment, but on screen, so far, his only crime has been to make some somewhat lecherous comments and suggest that maybe they could get a new ship.

[Lokekar Kra]

I feel the lack of sympathy is due to how Hal has treated others. His remarks while often funny also show he does not really care about other people's feelings. He refers to everyone by a nickname which if my memory serves me often are derogatory in nature. It is hard then for them to feel any positive feelings toward Hal.

Neither Hal nor Dan did the best things, of which was try to negotiate the situation, or even more simply just ask Vae if they should wait. Nor did they try to find out exactly how much more time till Whisper would arrive. Of course sitting here in my chair I do not have impending sense of death/doom to cloud my judgement like the characters did at the time.

[charles]

I get the impression that the loss of limbs isn't necessarily a big deal in the Crimson Dark universe either. Hence why they probably don't care so much to see him missing it as a result of being shot.

He obviously has no problem with Augs so he'd likely get an Augmented leg to replace it. But I agree with Lokekar Kra. None of them really did the appropriate thing. Daniel should have called ahead to Vae that Whisper was going to continue with something and make a run with him or she should have called Vae with the situation to let him decide if it was worth her sticking around.

And yeah, Daniel hates being called "Dan" and lets Larissa know shortly later in a rather snappish manner. Kid grew some brass ones I reckon.

Even so, he was still quite cut up about actually shooting someone. Even Dan:
http://www.davidcsimon.com/crimsondark/ ... rip_id=360

[jae]

I don't think "absolute bastards" is exactly right -- presumably Dan didn't intend for the shooting to end in amputation.

But I think they're all being smugly exclusionary about Hal -- how come they care so much for ex-crew-member Sarah, but ex-crew-member Hal is dismissed completely? Hal is Not Their Type -- he's an insensitive jerk, while everyone else is suh-suh-suh-suh-sensitive.

But then -- how are they effectively different from him if they if they treat him the same way he treats them? Where's the sensitivity in just dumping him as quick as they can (emotionally as well as administratively)? And, as I said, they come across as smug in their condemnation of him, smug that they're all Better Than That..

[Ayrin]

Well, I have no real problem with the reason for the amputation, both Dan and Hal were stressed out. In hindsight, I'd doubt my decision to shoot Hal like hell if I'd been Dan. Just hitting him would probably have felt a bit more appropriate, but still, I have no problem with that part.

As for amputations being less of a deal in the CD-universe... Well, yes, probably, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be pretty horrible to lose a limb. Just because he can get an aug to replace it doesn't mean there was no trauma, physical an psychical.

Earlier in the series I interpreted the interaction Hal-rest of crew as mostly banter, but now? It seems to have been some pure hatred there, otherwise their behaviour is *truly* horrible.

I think jae put it quite a bit better than me. "Smugly exclusionary" is probably a better term. And I think they treat Hal far worse than he has ever been shown to treat anyone else on the crew. He has acted like a cocky bastard/insensitive jerk, but as far as I know, that's the extent of his crime.

[NefariousDrO]

I tended to get the strong feeling that Hal was dangerously close to being a loose canon. He'd given indications that with the right inducements he'd turn his back on them pretty easily, at least that's how it seemed to me. I wouldn't call him an insensitive jerk, I'd call him an untrustworthy selfish jerk. Right or wrong he clearly wasn't as much "in" with the rest of the crew, and they seem to have felt he had it coming. You may be right though in asking if that's fair or not. As we've seen elsewhere in the comic, the crew doesn't always make the right decisions or handle things in the best ways. That's part of why I like this comic: the characters have flaws and sometimes make mistakes.