#Me about her (Dr. Alexander Hilbert)

[nellied-reviews]

Cigarette Candy Re-listen

Okay, it’s episode 5 of my epic Wolf 359 re-listen, and that can only mean one thing: 

Cigarette Candy

In which Eiffel is ill, Minkowski and Hera are out of the picture and I have way too many thoughts about how Hilbert is totally not making Eiffel sick. Nuh-uh.

Where do I even begin with this episode?

Maybe I'll start with the obvious: Cigarette Candy is a very different episode on a re-listen. It was a sinister, tense episode to begin with, sure. But knowing that Hilbert really has been making Eiffel sick adds a whole layer of uncertainty, for me at least.

Because what is the point? Largely, I think it's an episode about whether or not Hilbert can be trusted. We heard last episode, after all, that the good doctor was  willing to leave Eiffel to die in space. It's natural that we might now wonder where his loyalties lie. And so we get this, an episode that teases us with the idea that Hilbert might, in fact, be a bad guy. And of course, the answer we are left with, at the end of the episode, is that no, Hilbert’s creepy and weird and a million kinds of unethical, but ultimately he is one of the good guys.

It's a brilliant misdirect, and it relies entirely on us misunderstanding what an evil Hilbert would look like. We, like Eiffel, assume that Hilbert, if he were actually evil, would be the archetypical mad scientist. And mad scientists aren't generally subtle. They certainly don't do regular things like help Communications Officers overcome the flu. And so we assume, since Hilbert isn't cartoonish in his villainy, and does, ultimately, help Eiffel, that he mustn't be a villain at all. We're wrong, of course. The episode doesn't give that away, though. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Because as Cigarette Candy starts, it's not immediately clear that that's where this is all going. Instead, we tune in to a weirdly happy Eiffel, who claims he's trying a new, more optimistic approach to life. It's odd, and doesn't exactly bode well, especially with the occasional, gross coughing that Eiffel insists is no big deal. But it still feels like a light-hearted, comedy set-up. And hey, at least Hilbert seems to be doing something helpful, this time, right?

Of course, it's worth mentioning that Hilbert's "help" involves the titular cigarette candy, which are what Eiffel calls his nicotine lozenges. These, we quickly learn, are the reason for Eiffel's new, sunny outlook on life. They're sugary, they're soothing and - oh, yeah - they taste like "day-old ashtray". Which... eww!  But apparently Eiffel prefers that to the default cinnamon? Enough that he's consuming them in unwise quantities? I don't know, it certainly wouldn't be my choice. But you do you, Eiffel.

In any case, it leaves us in this weird situation where Hilbert is actually in Eiffel's good books, which is fun to listen to, until the doctor suddenly lets slip that hey, Eiffel, it's strange how you aren't experiencing any myalgia... yet.

It's super unsubtle, and part of me really wants to believe that Hilbert did it on purpose, just to troll Eiffel. "English such inelegant cudgel of a language", my ass. I see you there, Doc.

Funny as it is, though, it also marks the point at which the episode takes a sharp U-turn into psychological and medical horror, as Eiffel slowly begins to suspect that Hilbert has been poisoning him. Things only get worse when Eiffel faints and is taken to sickbay, and when Hilbert admits that he's not really a proper doctor, bound by all of those pesky ethics, it's downright chilling.

One phrase in particular, I think, tells us everything we need to know about Alexander Hilbert's motivations: "Always saw Hippocratic Oath as leaving one with a very limited scope. True science mustn't be so severely hindered." Hilbert, in the end, is all about the science, and he'll break the rules to get results, if needs be. It's a single-minded, pragmatic focus that we’ll see from the doctor over and over again as the show wears on. Here, then, although we don't know it yet, we're actually getting our first proper insight into what makes Dr. Hilbert tick. Pretty neat.

That said, on a first listen-through, before we learn about Decima, it just sounds like your standard mad scientist rant. It's followed up by some more mad scientist antics too, as Hilbert confines Eiffel to sickbay, ties him up and claims total authority over Eiffel's schedule, cutting him off completely from Hera and Minkowski. It's textbook nefarious, and so it sets Hilbert up perfectly as a properly sinister, if slightly cliché villain.

Of course, it's also just about plausible. We can just about see how confining Eiffel might help him get better soon, and we can just about see that he's not fit to be working, and we can just about see how a lack of distractions might be helpful. Add Eiffel's potential delusions into the mix, and we can see how the whole business could just be a misunderstanding, a product of Eiffel's fever and Hilbert’s lack of people skills. We can't 100% write the doctor off as a villain - and so the episode manages to maintain the tension, all the way through the back end of the episode. Is Hilbert really as evil as he seems? Or is Eiffel imagining it all? 

It's at this point that the first season's log format works in our favour, because if we're only hearing the personal logs of Douglas Eiffel, we're only getting the story from one very limited, potentially delusional point of view. We aren't getting Minkowski or Hera's more balanced perspectives, and so the suspense is preserved - is Hilbert trustworthy? We can't know. It's the sort of thing the show won't be able to do as easily in later seasons, at least not without finding a plot-related reason to side-line the other, more objective characters. Here, though, the nature of Eiffel's logs creates a more claustrophobic, tense bottle episode, where we can never quite be sure what's going on.

The absence of Hera and Minkowski is also ominous in and of itself. The pause after Eiffel calls out to Hera and she doesn't answer, in particular, is really eerie, at least for me. I don't know, I guess I'm just used to Hera being there?  It certainly cranks up the tension, especially when Hilbert foils Eiffel's attempt to contact Minkowski, and even more so when he reveals that he also knows that Eiffel hasn't been taking his drugs - that's why he's been giving him them intravenously.

And look, I know we've said that Hilbert isn't bound by the Hippocratic Oath. Being shady and unethical's kind of his thing. But can we just stop and appreciate just how messed up it is to drug Eiffel like this? It's not even like it's the first time this has happened, either. Remember the halothane gas? What we're seeing, in that light, looks more like an emerging pattern - a pattern of incidents where people are messed with, physically or psychologically, without their consent.

It's something we'll see again and again, throughout Wolf 359, and more often that not, it's linked less to individuals like Hilbert, and more to Goddard Futuristics, and their general ethos of dehumanising callousness. Hilbert is possibly evil, sure. But he's backed up by a whole, sucky-ass corporation, who have created an environment where consent - and all of the respect for human dignity and life that that implies - is not encouraged or valued. It's a gross, corporate attitude that is linked directly to moments like this, where Eiffel can be drugged and held captive against his will precisely because Hilbert knows there will be no official consequences for it. Goddard Futuristics do not care about human minds or bodies. They just care about the profits. It's not the same thing that drives Hilbert, as a character. But it aligns with his goals. Hilbert wants answers. Goddard wants money. Neither care much for actual humans.

That's actually one of the most frightening things about this episode - that, and the recording that Eiffel makes for Minkowski, urging her not to trust Hilbert once he's dead, which is funny, in a dark sort of way, until you think about Lovelace's old crew, and how Dr. Hilbert - sorry, Dr. Selberg - picked them off, one by one. That's essentially the exact same scenario that Eiffel's imagining here, when he worries about Hilbert going after Minkowski next, so perhaps he's not too far off the mark. Yikes.

Still, all is well in the end, as Hilbert reveals that Eiffel is cured! The knife was only for cutting Eiffel's restraints - way to not terrify your patient, doc! - and now Eiffel is cleared for duty, effective immediately. Phew!

It's a relief, for Eiffel and for us, and it's very easy to just see it as a heart-warming ending. The mad scientist turns out to be a good guy after all, Eiffel learns a lesson about judging people, and everyone goes back to their routine. Crisis averted. The episode asks, "Can Hilbert be trusted?" The ending tells us that he can. Case closed.

Only it's not that simple, is it? For one, Hilbert admits that Eiffel was infected with a tropical flu from his lab; knowing how much we now know, how likely is it that that "tropical flu" was actually Decima, or somehow Decima-related? In this respect, Hilbert's trustworthiness is actually far from established.

Secondly, though, and perhaps more interestingly, there's also the idea that Hilbert might have genuinely cured Eiffel, but might still be up to no good. A dead Eiffel, after all, means no more Decima research, and that would be a disaster for Hilbert. Keeping the crew alive and healthy is in Hilbert's best interests, and so, to a degree, he is actually trustworthy, or at least reliable. In fact, Hilbert is probably one of the most reliable characters in the series, if only because he can always be trusted to protect his own interests. Unlike the others, whose goals sometimes shift, and whose actions are often determined by their emotions or their underlying characters, Hilbert almost never acts in such a way as to compromise his goals and his work. His focus is single-minded, and it makes him very, very reliable - trustworthy, almost. But good? Ethical? Not so much. It's at best a parody of integrity, a twisted, brutal code that doesn’t care much for other people.

The story, I think, is more interesting for it. Instead of a story about how Hilbert secretly has a heart of gold, we get a more unsettling story about how Hilbert can be relied on, but only to a certain extent. Instead of a story about a good person being good, it's the story of a bad person doing good - and that is infinitely more compelling.

And of course, all this is only really obvious in hindsight. Listening to it blind, we get an episode that is funny, tense and just about the right kind of creepy. It's simultaneously the darkest thing the show has done so far, an excellent black-humour-filled bottle episode and (almost) a heart-warming tale. To have that and all the bonus, retrospective Hilbert characterisation?

*shakes my head*

This episode, man.

 Miscellaneous thoughts:

 I said already but cigarette candy sounds so gross!

Zach Valenti does such a good job of sounding properly, horribly ill throughout this whole episode

"Officer Eiffel, you look terrible." Aww, no need to sugar-coat it, doc!

"You're not making me sick, are you?" "What possible reason could there be for doing that?"  *whistles innocently*

Ugh when Hilbert says "Good night!" like that :O

Heh, the ticking clock in the background when Hilbert gets the kife out is a nice little touch

"Bedside manner is like anaesthetic. It just gets in way of what needs to be done."

[tobusydaydreaming]

This post is dedicated to Lieutenant Commander Renée Minkowski. The woman who cared about her people so much that it brought her out of a three day coma. May she have a happy reunion with her husband and brandish her sick bullet scar with pride.

This post is dedicated to Officer Douglass F. Eiffel. He may never be the man we knew and loved, but may he strive to be that man once more and better himself doing it.

This post is deadicated to Chief Science Officer Dr. Alexander Hilbert. May his life’s work continue on Earth and help heal like it was intended to.

This post is deadicated to Hera, the most powerful AI in existence. May she find a home on Earth surrounded by the people she loves and may she always be good enough.

This post is dedicated to the badass Captain Isabel Lovelace. May she live the rest of her life tearing down Goddard Futuristics brick by brick and laugh while doing so.

This post is dedicated to ballistics expert Officer Daniel Jacobi. May he blow up many more things and carry the memory of Dr. Alana Maxwell with him always.

This post is dedicated to Colonel Warren Kepler. The man who pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes and gave his life to protect the Earth and the people he cared about. May he Rest In Peace knowing that he died a good man and a hero.

This post is deadicated to the brave crew of the U.S.S Hephaestus. May the Urainia make it home and allow them to tell their story, and the stories of those who parished. May they be able to proudly say “surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me.”

[ihaveapencilbehindmyear]

“His friends are safe. They have a new shelter. But everything is still so loud, like a battle. Frankly, Doug is sick of it. And Hilbert says he has a cure.”

Finally, the Wolf 359 Bright Sessions AU you’ve all been waiting for! Wait, you haven’t been waiting for it? Well, check it out anyway, and all the other Wolf 359 2017 Big Bang works!!

It’s starting to get either cramped or cozy in here, Doug isn’t sure which. Cozy because they’re settled into a comfortable schedule, him and Hera and Minkowski. Hilbert is still hanging around the sidelines of everything- he hasn’t quite figured out what to do with all his guests yet, even though he’s the one who let them in. He mostly stays in the lab except for meals, and sometimes, Doug hears him pacing around the safe house. The Hephaestus he calls it. Doug calls it ‘the-way-too-damp-cave-system-in-an-uncharted-mountain’, but hey, whatever floats his science boat. Doug isn’t about to piss him off and get thrown outside into the elements. Minkowski said it wouldn’t be half bad here if everything didn’t keep breaking- luckily, Hera always knows what’s going on. That’s the schedule. Wake up, breakfast, alarms go off, Hera tells them what’s going on and the rest of them fix it. Eat some more and go to sleep. It’s better than what they were doing before, that’s for sure.

Cramped because, as usual, he can hear everything. Everything. Every alarm, every sigh, every complaint, every creak and groan of the old floorboards and bang and clash of the shitty pipes. Now normally, Doug isn’t one to pop out of bed straight away. He can and will longue with the best of them. But these days, his headaches have gotten so bad, he can’t even get up for a hour or two. He wakes up because something is too loud and can’t sleep again, so he stays laying down, eyes shut until he hears Minkowski get up. Nothing, of course, can be easy for Superhero-in-Training Doug Eiffel.

God, he wishes. Just maybe, if this was a super power, he could learn to live with it.

No. Instead, Doug is an Atypical. Humans with special talents. Gifts. Superhuman mutations, if you will. Minkowski, for instance, can make things levitate, which would be lame, if that didn’t include herself, which means Rene Minkowski, the uncoolest person in the world, can technically fucking fly. Then there’s Hera. Who can predict the future. Because who doesn’t want to do that? Even Dr. Alexander Hilbert has some kind of super genius gene floating around in his DNA.

What does Doug do? Wait for it.

Super hearing.

So yes, before you ask, he can hear you pee a mile away.

It was useful when they were on the run. He could tell when danger was coming, but not where it was coming from unless it was an especially quiet night. You don’t know how many sounds there are. You try pinpointing exact ones where everything in the world is either humming, buzzing, or banging these days. It hurts. A lot. Being closed off in a mountain doesn’t help, because everything has some kind of echo-y quality to it, so each sound comes back. And comes back. And comes back. And Doug wants to cut his own ears off sometimes. You’d think he’d be used to it by now.

Maybe earplugs would help, now that they’re safe-

Wait. Someone is approaching his room. By the heavy, shuffling footsteps, and the tense breathing pattern, it’s definitely Hilbert. Yeah, Minkowski and Hera are still in the dining hall, Hera prepping breakfast and Minkowski chatting with her about today’s repairs/future disasters. Hera is laughing, maybe it’ll be a good day. He can hear the hint of a smile in Minkowski’s voice as she leans back in her chair at the table and the boiling water from the stove, aw man, Hera is making grits again? -

“Eiffel. If I may have a word.”

Doug swings his legs off the side of his bed, the fullness of Hilbert’s voice bringing back to his own room with a wince.. “You know, it’s typically considered polite to knock, doc.”

“You hear me coming. No need.”

They stay there for a second, awkwardly. Hilbert clears his throat after a moment, and Doug winces. “That is what I’m here about.” Hilbert says, beaming- well, as much as Hilbert can beam. More like his eyes lightened slightly, and his typical frown wasn’t as hard as stone.

Doug blinks. “Your- your cough?”

“No no. You.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I’m here to help. With your power. Each sound too loud, affecting your mental and physical states, yes? I’ve been working on a few experimental trials regarding the nature of powers, how to control them better. Your gift is not a matter of learning like Minkowski’s and Hera’s. You already know how to hear things. You need to learn how to tune out the unimportant sounds.”

Like that hasn’t occurred to Doug before. He may not be a super genius, but he’s not a complete moron. “Look doc, I’ve tried that-”

“I’m sure you have. That’s why I’m suggesting these trials. I’ve been developing this drug for a long time now, and I assure you, it’s perfectly safe. Perfectly. I was in the middle of testing it with other Atypicals when the AM caught wind of us and captured them all. I got lucky. So I can continue to help Atypicals, either by providing shelter or providing treatment. I understand your skepticism. But I do mean well.” He’s walking away, and the footsteps are too loud again, and a pipe just burst in the bathroom and Minkowski is swearing under her breath and it’s so loud and he says, “Doc, wait.”

“We’re too comfortable.”

“That’s the idea,” Doug says, because he’s still in bed, surrounded by at least ten blankets, and frankly, is too tired to be confused as to why both Minkowski and Hera are hanging over him like they’re waiting for something.

“No Eiffel. Not what I meant.” Minkowski continues.

“Alright, well if you don’t want to join the cuddle puddle, I’ll just ask Hera. Hera baby? What do you say?” Without waiting for an answer, he grabs her hand and drags on on top of the pile of blankets. Hera squeals happily, which is still too shrill for Doug’s ears, but the rush of the stream running in the caverns over their heads is less insistant. He doesn’t even want to see the look Minkowski is giving him right now. If he focuses, he can hear her teeth grinding behind her pursed lips.

“Eiffel, focus. I’m trying to say I think something suspicious is going on here.”

He rolls his eyes. “You always think something suspicious is going on everywhere. Commander, you’re the one who was saying it’s not a bad place to stay. Why shouldn’t we be comfortable here? What, do you not trust Hilbert?”

“Doug, I don’t trust anyone.” she said, which didn’t answer his question, and kind of stings. It’s like she’s saying Doug is wrong is let Hilbert experiment on him. It’s like she’s saying she doesn’t trust Doug .

“She doesn’t mean that,” Hera murmurs to him, not directly in his ear but more into his shoulder, so it’s muffled and not as loud. She’s sweet like that.

“Well if you’re so nervous, what do you propose?” Doug finally says.

“Hilbert is going to be busy today, she wants to explore the places in the base we haven’t seen yet. Just in case he’s hiding something.” Hera explains, and Minkowski nods. “I know you’re going to say no Doug, so I’m going to say, please? For me? For the thrill of the adventure? And you’re going to say-”

“Well I can’t argue with someone who knows exactly what I’m going to say. But-”

“Why can’t you just look into the future and tell us what we’ll find?” Hera puffs out her chest and lowers her voice, trying to copy his signature shit-eating grin. “And I’ll say future events can all be different, because there are many different outcomes to all things. I can’t say with one hundred percent confidence what we’ll find. Soooo-”

“It’s adventure time then.” Doug finishes for her, and she grins.

Hera seems excited, at least. It’s enough to perk him up. He feels kind of weary, but it’s not from the echo of their footsteps this time. Secret experiments at night really drain a guy.

I wonder if Hera knows.

No, probably not for sure. There are many different outcomes to all things and all that. If something were to go wrong with even the slightest possibility of it, she’d tell him. He’s sure of it. So they explore. They find nothing but old files. Other Atypicals who have stayed in the safehouse before. Someone named Lovelace, someone named Lambert. Nothing interesting, and if Hilbert knows they were snooping, he doesn’t say anything as he sticks another needle in his arm.

Weeks pass, not without incidents. They’re just not as noticeable to Doug anymore. He can still hear them, but it’s. So nice. Not to have everything crowd his thoughts all at once. He doesn’t even mind the alarms at this sound level. They’re almost soothing.

Well, the normal ones might be. Then there’s this powerful one that would have brought him to his knees if it wasn’t for Hilbert’s drug. He groans, and Hera jumps, and Minkowski barks, “Hilbert, what the hell?”

“That’s the intruder alarm!”

“Intruders?! Eiffel, didn’t you hear them coming?”

“Forget why he did not hear, why did Hera not see?!” Hilbert snaps, then runs out of the room, calling back, “I’ll see if I can enhance security in time!”

With a real emergency, and Hilbert out of the way, Minkowski finally blooms back into her commanding, uptight, perfectly prepared and ready to face a shitstorm self. “Head to the entrance. Hera, what do you see?”

“N-nothing Minkowski, I didn’t see anything like this-”

“Eiffel, what’s your take?”

Even with Hilbert’s help, he can’t hear a thing over the alarms. “Uuuuuuuugh, no good commander, too loud to hear anything.”

“Then we need to act fast. I’m going to-”

There’s a crash, and Doug screams, he thinks he’s screaming, he can’t tell over the rush of air pouring in and the sound of grunts and groans, as if there’s a whole army on the other side of the door. Instead there stands a woman, bathed in gold light. There’s blood on her lips and dirt on her dark skin. She spits red on the ground, and the glow around her fades. “Who the hell are you?”

“I believe we should be asking you that.” Minkowski says stiffly, and Doug can see her fist tightening. A desk behind the intruder is now hovering a few inches off the ground, just in case.

“Alright. If that’s how you want to play it, fine. I’m Isabel Lovelace, and I’m here to destroy all of you.”

“Isabel Lovelace.” Minkowski repeats, and Hera says, “That’s not possible.”  

Doug, ever the sensible one, squeaks out, “Whoa whoa whoa, destroy us?!”

“It is possible, because I’m here, and I’m going to kill you.” Her eyes are burning. “And when your precious backup gets here, I’m going to kill them too. And I’ll make my way to the AM, free all the innocent people have hurt, and burn the building to the fucking ground. You can’t get rid of me. I just. Keep. Coming back.”

Then, everything happens at once. For once, Doug sees it instead of hears it.

Hilbert stumbled back into the room, and he’s letting out choked gasps.

Isabel is glowing gold and then suddenly, there’s two of her, and one is dashing at Hilbert.

The other is knocked out cold, because Minkowski put her floating desk to good use.

The second Isabel grabs Hilbert, she’s tackling him to the ground, but when the first is on the ground, she blinks, and multiplies again. The third Isabel Lovelace is more visibly relaxed. “Atypicals?”

“What did you think we were?” Hera demands, vibrating with anger. She normally doesn’t fight, when they were on the run all they needed was Minkowski and a really big boulder, but she seems ready now. “Agents in a safe house?”

“Kid, this is the worst safe house you could possibly be in. Selberg over there is an agent, hiding innocent Atypicals before the AM sweeps in and kidnaps them. He did that to my old crew. And the agents on my tail are the ones who tormented them.” “You lead AM agent's here?!”

Minkowski’s snarl is waved away. “You got caught up in my war. But I can help you when it’s over. What am I working with here? Levitation,” she says, glancing away from Minkowski’s glower.

“Future sight and regular human.” Hilbert growls.

“ What was that. ” Could have been Minkowski, but he isn’t sure which because he can’t hear anything for some reason. He can see Hilbert’s grave face, Hera’s shaking hands, and Lovelace’s look of pity as Hilbert mentions the drugs, but all he can hear is the blood in his ears.

“C’mon Doug,”

It’s so loud, everything else isn’t coming through, it’s just his voice taking over his thoughts. That’s never happened before, why isn’t anything else coming through? C’mon Doug, focus.

“Selberg did that to you, didn’t he?”

He couldn’t even hear Lovelace come in. “What?”

She clears her throat. “Sorry, Hilbert. He tested on you. Didn’t he?” Doug pulls his hands away from his head, stunned into silence. She nods. “That’s what I thought. Stay back here. You’re not going to want to be around when the AM agents get here.”

Doug took that to mean ‘you have some time, but you should stay out of the way you weak little human’.

Doug did not take that to mean ‘they’re on the way and you’re going to be ambushed in the kitchen, so grab a snack on the way to hiding’.

“Put your hands where I can see them, Eiffel.”

Doug raises his arms slowly, still holding a frosty hot pocket. He knows that voice. He’s been running from it for years.

Warren Kepler stands in the kitchen with a gun, flanked by his trusty partners, Daniel Jacobi, boy on fire, and Maxwell, not a mutant super genius but might as well be. “Howdy. Surprised you didn’t hear us coming and get the door for us.”

With Doug as a hostage, it’s easy to get Minkowski and Hera to stand down. Lovelace is feisty, but the threats eventually get to her.

“I don’t think so, Isabel. We wired this place before we came in. One spark from Mr. Jacobi here and this whole place goes up in flames.” “Even your friends here?” Lovelace snarls, and Kepler laughs. “I take it you have it all figured out, now don’t you?”

“I always do Lovelace. And if you want to stay alive to, you know, kill us, you might want to back down. Maxwell, escort her out. Hilbert, old friend, tell me what you got here.”

Hilbert clears his throat, looking uncomfortable for the first time Doug has ever seen. “The same Atypicals I mentioned in my reports. Future sight, levitation, and our former Class C. I’ve been testing on him, and now he’s basically a human with above average hearing.”

“As usual, your choice of subjects is astounding. Still. Jacobi, take him to the back. I’m not interested in his kind.”

“Just relax Doug. I won’t hurt you. Unless you want me too,” Jacobi winked, which was not as charming as it would have been, considering his shoulders were on fire and he was holding a harpoon. Scary shit.

It was so tiring, dealing with all the scary shit.

No, don’t go there Doug. Stay focused. Keep him talking. Be cool. “Why would I want you to hurt me, Jacobi?”

“I don’t know, maybe you’re into that-”

“Don’t- why are you doing this? Don’t talk to me like we’re friends.” Shit, he lost his cool.

“Aww, Dougie, I thought we were friends. We’re pretty similar, you and I.”

“We are nothing alike .”

He smiles. “Huh. You know I was gonna say something about our loyalty to our friends, our general tomfoolery, but instead, I think I’ll agree with you. We’re nothing alike. Because I’m Atypical. And you’re not anymore.”

For a moment there, he believed him.

Then he could hear Hera’s quiet sobs from the other room.

Doug gritted his teeth. He couldn’t hear anything else.

[luvkirby4ever]

Wolf 359 Theory:  [SPOILERS]

As of Wolf 359 episode 46, Boléro, I don’t think that Hilbert is dead.  I posted a brief mention of it and some people were interested in my thoughts… so here it goes.

It goes without saying that this is based purely on speculation and wishful thinking.  I’m also slightly paranoid that if there’s any bit of truth to my theory and the writers discover that I’ve caught on they’ll change things for fear of not looking too predictable.  So please keep in mind that this is a completely nonsensical post by some annoying fan who just discovered Wolf 359 and binged the entire series in a week.

I’ve also decided to keep this under a “read more” cut to spare anyone’s dashboards.  (Also please excuse any typos- I’m typing in a hurry and I have problems transposing words.)

To start things off, let’s take a quick examination of Dr. Alexander Hilbert. He’s a very interesting character (and feels complex when trying to nail his feelings in a scenario) but he’s actually got a pretty easy overall motivation: His research is above all else.  Anything he does is either directly or indirectly tied to his overall motivation of continuing to study the Decima virus for the benefits of mankind.  His actions are not based on some sort of moral scale (asking himself if this is the “good” thing to do) but rather based on a scale of how his actions will further his cause (will doing this help/harm his ability to work on the Decima Project).  This is important to remember.

For ease of reference, I’ll be including [episode numbers in brackets] to indicate where I’m pulling some of these facts from.  I won’t do this for every point but for some of them that might be less obvious/harder to remember in case you want to listen for yourself.

In-universe reasons why Hilbert might be alive:

We never saw a body.

If he did die via fiery explosion I don’t expect a body(/pieces) to be left.  We still don’t know, however, if somebody bothered to check the area of the detonation.  So we don’t know if there’s any signs of escape/refuge.

Hilbert’s dialogue up to the explosion was suspicious.

Why would Hilbert specifically tell Minkowski how long it would take him to get into the room?

He does this multiple times… which is convenient for letting your enemies know when to set a bomb timer (it’s also useful for ripping out the hearts of your fans T^T)

He already knew that the plan had started to unravel/go wrong, so wouldn’t he be suspicious talking to Minkowski if she isn’t answering him back?

The engineering section is weird.

Ah the advantages of an audio-only medium:  the audience isn’t too sure of how to picture the area.

What we do know is that Hilbert and Lovelace stockpiled napalm in the “secret room that nobody knows about” in the engineering section .

We ALSO know that the secret door to Hilbert’s brain-scan chair is located in the back corner of the engineering section behind gears and such [ep 11].

It’s established, however, that the area which begins to reach past Hera’s sense horizon does not begin at the secret door room, but rather a little before it [ep 38].  Which gives me the impression that the napalm was not stockpiled in the room with the chair… but in that area nearby.

The door to the brain-scanner sounded heavy [ep 44], it is possible for Hilbert to have taken refuge from an explosion there?  I’m honestly not sure.

Since Hera can’t sense exactly what’s going on in there, she could only confirm in Desperate Measures that Hilbert was “heading towards the engineering section”.  So we don’t know what he was doing once he got off the radar.

Hilbert has wanted Maxwell dead multiple times.

Hilbert knew that Maxwell could turn Hera against them, so he has expressed interest in killing her [ep 36], about how not killing her was a wasted opportunity [ep 38], and killing/incapacitating her [ep 44].

The cockroach metaphor:

(Courtesy of Lovelace:)  “You really are a cockroach- dirty, sick, and impossible to kill.  And, God help us, that might be what we need right now.”

Remember- he has survived at least one other Hephaestus mission and years of working with Cutter [minisode 7].

More meta (storytelling) reasons why Hilbert might be alive:

The brain-scan chair’s story thread is still open.

Instead of asking yourself what Hilbert chose to do with the chair, ask yourself this:  “Do you think we’ll be able to find out if he’s dead?”

If the Lovelace we knew is alive and Hilbert’s alive, that would mean that Minkowski would have to live with fact that Maxwell was the only one who died that day.

Minkowski really didn’t want to kill someone- can you imagine the kind of mental/emotional pain that would cause knowing that Maxwell was the only one murdered?

It would also put additional strain on Hilbert’s relationship with her (she DID kill Maxwell because of the shock of his supposed death)

good for the ever-swinging pendulum of the story

Eiffel’s comparison between Hilbert and his own bad life-decisions could be explored more.

Eiffel laments Hilbert’s death partially because he wanted to see Hilbert “turn towards the light”.  This is because Eiffel’s trying to use this as a measure to figure out if he can become a better person after all the terrible things he had done.

So, can you imagine… if Hilbert actually turns around and does something horrible?  It sets up a ton of potential for struggle and strain, as well as Eiffel being forced to deal with the fact that some people won’t change.

On the other hand, there’s also that gushy part of me that wants to see an 11th hour Hilbert appear out of nowhere and save Minkowsi’s/Eiffel’s/Hera’s(/Lovelace’s?) asses because GDI he needs them to stay alive.  For science.

Would we ever find out why there’s bad blood between Hilbert and Kepler if Hilbert’s dead?

Unless Kepler reveals this or it’s the focus of a minisode I don’t think so.

Hilbert’s knowledge of the SI-5 and having worked once with Kepler are unexplored

Why was Cutter so interested in Hilbert’s Decima research [minisode 7] yet it was okay for the Decima Project to be retired [ep 33]?

Were they using Hilbert for something else?  Was this something he knew about?  He seemed to know a little bit about radiology… were they really just using him to dabble with aliens?

Given Hilbert’s reaction to Wolf 359′s change from red to blue, I’m going to guess that Hilbert wasn’t lying about not knowing about this weird alien stuff.

Which furthers the question- why was it okay for Kepler to terminate the Decima Project?

Speculative “reasons” why Hilbert might be alive:

Minkowski makes it a special point that they need Hilbert (to usurp Kepler) [ep 38].

This was right after Hilbert was thinking about the chair.

Hilbert didn’t really end up doing much to further the plan in Desperate Times and Desperate Measures (other than being the presence who died)… but what if this is foreshadowing further?

“Can I help you, Commander?” “Listen. [beat] I know your suggestions haven’t exactly… gone over well, but, I don’t want you to- [beat] Whatever we do, we’re going to need you, doctor. I want you to know that.” “I know that.”

He knows- and interestingly enough he’s showing a small trace of comradery.

I don’t think he’s completely consistent with this but he is under no obligation to call her “Commander” anymore.  Hm.

There is no character who has so far exhibited the ability to research/handle the Decima virus other than Hilbert.

Doug’s cough has been causally showing up again, so if he’s supposed to stay alive much longer he’s going to need a doctor.

Also, the Decima has reached a new stage [ep 33] so for all we know Doug is in for some rough bouts.

Hilbert is hellbent on staying alive because he believes that he’s the only one who can continue the work and that “If only the work can continue without me.  Then that will have to suffice.” [ep 38]

Suffice… as in it (the chair) will have to do as a last resort.  As in it’s not nearly as good as surviving as finishing it himself (insert speech from… ep 25 I think about Hilbert playing his hand through to the end).

Hilbert may have turned to the SI-5 team.

In episode 38 Lovelace says that she thinks Hilbert would switch sides if Command would take him back.

Hilbert responds “no”… but he wasn’t saying no to the idea of switching sides.  He was saying no and continues to justify that Command is done with him.  He never denied that he’d switch sides.

This would make Jacobi’s involvement with the explosion more suspicious since he could be covering for Hilbert.

Stabby the space roomba.

Okay but can you imagine.

That’s all the time I have for now!  Let me know what you think.  I love Hilbert and am really hoping he’s still around, even if he’s going to bring more suffering ^^;  There’s always that corner of my mind that- like Eiffel- imagines some sort of internal conflict inside Hilbert.  Ha.