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[timetravelingsherlockian]

Isaac as Minor Antagonist -- Queer Ambiguity or Main Character Perk?

CBS Ghosts' Isaac is both the show's most prominent queer character and perhaps the most likely of the main cast to be an antagonist. He has a habit of lying, second only to the show's main character, Sam. Is this moral ambiguity a holdover from queer-coded villains of the past? Or an artifact of his flexibility as a main character?

Firstoff -- I *love* Isaac. He, along with Pete and Alberta, is my favorite character from this show. As far as I'm concerned, the only flaw this gay disaster (affectionate) has is his dislike of D&D.

But -- Re-re-(re-)watching this show, I realized: Of the re-occurring characters Isaac is one of the most likely to be narratively positioned as a minor antagonist. What does this look like? Isaac is one of the most frequent re-occurring characters to 1) make a decision that 2) creates conflict that 3) characters must solve by the conclusion of the episode.

What this post is not: This is not a critique of Isaac's "camp" or "flamboyant" mannerisms, OR of how he is portrayed verbally in the show (e.g. gay jokes). That is a different essay. (Honestly, a bunch of his charm as a character comes from these elements, and Brandon Scott Jones, his actor, is queer himself and acts similarly-flamboyant when not playing Isaac (x), so I'm inclined to treat these as just aspects of the character -- like Captain Jack Harkness' hypersexuality -- that you take or leave, I suppose.)

I am also presuming that the show writes Isaac in good faith. This assumption is not a requirement for this post or argument, but, rather, shows my own hand as the analyst.

I am also not presuming that any of his actions are "out of character." It is the first 10 episodes of the first season of an American sitcom; at this point, it's character development. If it happened on-screen, it happened, and it counts.

I am not comparing this to BBC's Ghosts. That is a different show.

Since I'll be (re)watching the episodes anyways...

I will be comparing Isaac to other main characters for each episode to see: 1) who was the minor antagonist (if any re-occurring character)? 2) What "bad" things did Isaac do (vs. other characters; think of this as a Cinema Sins tally of Isaac, if you will)? 3) Did any other characters have worse (or comparable) behavior? 4) Who Spurred the "bad" behavior?

Results are below the cut.

Spoiler alert.

Pilot

Episode Conflicts: Sam v. Ghosts; Jay v. Carl (gas station attendant); Sam v. Jay

Rap Sheet:

- Isaac is the one who expounds upon the potential consiquences of a hotel, convincing Thor that the hotel is bad.

- Plans haunting (not counting this one -- self-defense & part of general Captain duties).

- Walks through Jay, which begins argument b/t Sam & Jay. (Note: Jay ignores the other two hauntings.)

Other characters --

- Alberta seems willing to drop Sam & Jay off a bridge with their feet encased in concrete.

- Trevor proposes haunting plan.

Summary: While Isaac coordinates the Haunting, Jay is the minor antagonist (reticent to create the hotel), and Trevor *accidently* kills Sam. Verdict: He's innocent, your honor.

Hello

Episode Conflicts: Sam v. her sanity; Ghosts v. Sam; Ghosts v. Jay; Hetty's beauty rest v. Flower; Isaac v. Hamilton (one-sided)

Rap Sheet:

+ Isaac opens up "diplomacy" as an option.

Other characters --

- Trevor again is the strategist, proposing the plan to annoy Sam to the negotiating table.

- Thorfinn is still violent in this one ("Chop their legs off! Hang them from trees!").

Summary: Conflicts are largely driven by Sam & Jay's belief that ghosts don't exist. Verdict: Isaac's still innocent in this one.

Viking Funeral

Episode Conflicts: Isaac v. Alberta; Isaac v. Alberta v. Creepy Dirk; Hetty v. Suffrage; Thorfinn v. shame of abandonment; Thor v. metaphysical reasons for remaining a ghost; Thorfinn's bones v. American Human Remains laws; Jay's consciousness v. financial pressures

Rap Sheet:

- Strategically belittles Alberta's qualifications to run against him.

- Isaac agrees with Hetty that women shouldn't vote, for strategic advantage.

- Isaac catalyzes the downstairs Cholera Ghosts to vote (to thwart Alberta).

Other Characters --

- Sam blatantly lies that the ghosts support her decision to refurbish the fountain. First major instance of Sam lying on the ghosts' behalf in the series. (Isaac: "Bravo! Bravo! Well done!")

- Alberta catalyzes Sam & Jay to get rid of the bones.

- Alberta decides to run against Isaac (Conflict: either +1 minor antagonist point to Alberta OR Alberta's the Hero against Isaac's Status Quo).

- Jay does the blatantly criminal act of unturing Thor's bones (with his permission).

Other Notes --

- Isaac's candidacy is positioned as The White Male (v. Alberta).

- Isaac's classism and pettiness are also in full force ("those dirty filthy ignorant commoners").

- Isaac's "dirty tricks" (his words) ultimately thwart himself (as Creepy Dirk takes the plurality vote). While he champions Democracy, he himself concedes to Alberta's moral superiority. Being thwarted by your own "dirty tricks" is the mark of a classic villain.

- Sam doesn't even acknowledge her lie or the problems it caused in this one. Points to Isaac for being the bigger person.

Summary: The gang gets up to a lot of shit in this one, and Isaac's "dirty tricks" are thwarted by female empowerment and his own tactics. While his actions are largely reactionary to Sam, there is a lesson to be had. But Sam, unlike Isaac, gets away with it. Sam also has no conceptualization of construction project management. Verdict: Alberta's Minor Antagonist.

Moral of the Story: Do ranked-choice voting.

Dinner Party

Episode Conflicts: Woodstones v. Farnsbys; Jay v. Sam (Jay's cookie lies); Jay v. Ghosts (spies); Hetty (& Thor & Alberta & Isaac) v. Trevor (& Flower & Pete)

Rap Sheet:

+ No violations here. Caught the carriagehouse zoning violation.

Other characters --

- Hetty forbids Trevor (& everyone not Thor, Alberta, or Isaac) from attending.

- Thor's doing most of Hetty's henching this episode.

- Pete, Flower, & Trevor incite a kerfuffle mid-party. While Alberta joins in, Isaac is notably absent in adding to the commotion.

Summary: The ensemble cast is showing. The Farnsby's are *evil*, and Hetty's got minor antagonist spot. Verdict: Isaac is the plot's +1; catalyst, not an antagonist.

Halloween

Episode Conflicts: Kids v. Woodstone Mansion; Kids v. Ghosts; Kids v. Sam & Jay; Thorfinn v. Gazebo; Ghosts v. Sam & Jay (avoiding revoking TV privileges).

Rap Sheet:

- Lies about setting fire to the gazebo.

- Ropes Thor, Hetty, and Sas into lying too. -- Framing innocent children. (Thank Someone for Alberta.)

- Attempts to beguile Pete over to "their side" (vs. "good" -- self-admitted), turning Pete's values against him.

- Proceeds to try to wheedle his way out of the punishment he incited.

Summary: This ghost gets busted. Verdict: Isaac's the secondary antagonist.

Pete's Wife

Episode Conflicts: Carol's lies v. Pete's feelings; Jay's sci-fi wisdom v. Sam's best intentions; Thor's callousness regarding solo-watching It's Getting Hot in Here v. Sas' feelings; Thor's inability to apologize v. Sas' feelings.

Rap Sheet:

+ Isaac doesn't have much to do in this one. He's a bit nit-picky about Pete's "so-called wife", but he tries to be a supportive friend about Carol/Jerry ("If it means anything, I would completely understand if Beatrice [his wife] ended up with my best mate, Edward.")

Summary: Isaac stayed out of trouble in this one. Verdict: +1 to trying to be a supportive friend.

Flower's Article

Episode Conflicts: Sam v. Flower; Flower v. shame of not living up to her own ideals; Sam v. Editor's choosiness; Flower v. Alberta's & Isaac's curiosity

Rap Sheet:

- "Sam, you must write this article."*

- Isaac tag-teams Alberta's interrogation.

- "What if you were to tell us your deep dark secret so we can steer Sam as far away from it as possible?"

- Begins giving excuses for his and Alberta's interest.

+ "I was never at the Boston Teaparty."

*Note. He and Alberta later say this was obviously bad advice. They were just bored. Jay proposes this first.

Other characters --

- Sam pitches Flower's bank robbery story despite Flower's adamant objection.

- Jay says Flower will never know if Sam goes through with it.

- Alberta decides she needs to find Flower's secret.

- Jay proposes the ghosts gathering information for Sam; Isaac expounds.

- Alberta begins interrogating Flower.

- Sam says Isaac & Alberta advised her to write the article. (pawns off responsibility; incomplete truth)

Summary: Isaac's drug into this mess by Jay, Sam, & Alberta. While he does initially say "Sam, you must write this article," Sam proposed the article and Jay encourages her into going for it. Isaac & Alberta later agree that they gave terrible advice. Isaac continues to clean up his messes. The true antagonist was inside you all along. Verdict: Isaac's henching again.

D&D

Episode Conflicts: Isaac v. Nigel (murder); Isaac v. Nigel (betrayal); Isaac v. Isaac's fear of rejection; Sam v. her fear of disapointing Jay; Jay v. Internet connection.

Rap Sheet:

- Forbids handwashing. Yes, he's trying to save fresh water. Yes, he does pay for it. Still. A public health nightmare.

- Literally shoots a man (it was an accident, but he designed a gun without a thought to gun safety, which is A Bad).

- Failed to tell said man for >250 years (this is just bad practice).

+ Note. I'm not counting the fight b/c that was in home defense.

- Dislikes D&D (Note. He, Sam, and Nigel are the only characters to dislike the game. This is, in my opinion, his greatest character flaw.)

Summary: This is Isaac's episode, so I'm dis-inclined to count this one. Still. Shoots his love interest and fails to mention it. Forbids handwashing. And Dislikes D&D. Verdict: -1 for the handwashing. -1000000000 for the D&D. The monster.

Alberta's Fan

Episode Conflicts: Todd v. propriety & boundries ("Todd, you creeping nut!"); Alberta's pride v. Isaac's pride; Thorfinn's desire for connection v. Hetty's propriety & memory problems; Jay v. Jay's squeamishness; Todd v. strychnine; Pete v. Progress

Rap Sheet:

- "Alberta? You're down here? I could've sworn I just saw you upstairs...Nope! That was merely your visage, on a 35-year-old man's back! My mistake!"*

( ...the very next scene... )

+ "I was just having fun. I apologize. I'm sorry." *comforts friend*

*Note. Isaac's the only character that antagonizes Alberta regarding Todd.

Other Characters --

- Todd. Just. Todd.

Summary: Isaac's a bit of a dick in this one. Verdict: not the antagonist. Just a dick. Who then apologizes. I'll call this one henching.

Possession

Episode Conflicts: Ghosts v. Hetty; Jay v. Hetty ("I'm literally being colonized from the inside-out!"); Davinport v. Woodstone residents; Hetty's obligations v. Hetty's desires; Hetty v. The Irish; Jay v. pigeons; Jay v. Electrician's tardiness

Rap Sheet:

+ "Isaac would know what to do!"

+ "We're happy to have you back."

Note. Isaac gets to be the episode's exposition expert for possession & Hetty's support.

Other characters --

- Hetty takes over Jay's body (& doesn't negotiate!)

- Hetty does ... everything.

- Flower drugs Davinport with ... herself.

- Sam lied to Hetty to get her upstairs for the exorcism.

Summary: Technically Davinport is the main antagonist (story ends when he's satisfied), and Hetty is the Hero (Cheeto dust), but Hetty is an incredibly effective secondary antagonist. Verdict: Isaac nearly solved this one. Thank Someone for Hetty driving through the barriers.

My Takeaway:

Stats

By Episode

Minor Antagonist: 2/10

Henchman: 2/10

Catalyst: 1/10

Hero: 1/10

Other: 4/10

In Pie Form:

Isaac is equally likely to be a bystander as instigate or exacerbate the show's conflict. He is twice as likely to exacerbate the show's conflict than solve it. He is equally likely to be a minor antagonist OR henchman as he is to be the solution.

By Character

Isaac: 2

Jay: 1

Hetty: 3

Flower: 1

Sam: 1

Alberta: 0

Pete: 0

Sasappis: 1

Thorfinn: 0

Trevor: 0

Other: 1

In Pie Form:

Note. Hetty is the most-likely to be a Secondary/Minor antagonist per episode. Isaac is second-most-likely.

*The former chart counts "D&D" as the Hero, and the latter counts Sam as the Minor Antagonist. (Though the primary conflicts are a) Isaac's cowardess, b) Nigel's anger.)

Hetty

Minor Antagonist: 4/11

Henchman: 1/11

Catalyst: 0/11

Hero: 1/11

Other: 5/11

Note. Hetty shares Secondary/Minor antagonist role with Isaac in "Viking Funeral" (obstacle for Alberta; hence "4" instead of "3"). "Possession" is counted twice -- once as Minor Antagonist, and once as Hero (Hetty removes herself from Jay and adds the secret ingredient of Cheeto dust).

Hetty's most likely to be doing nothing for the narrative, but still more than twice as likely to be exacerbating the conflict than solving it. If Alberta & Flower weren't in the narrative, this would be a real blow for feminism.

TL;DR:

As a Meatloaf song once said, Good ghosts go to Heaven / Bad ghosts go everywhere. Isaac is less a villain than an adherent to improv's yes, and rule.

While Hetty is more likely (by 1 episode) to be the secondary antagonist, Isaac is still twice as likely to exacerbate the conflict than to solve it, and equally likely to be the secondary antagonist than to help solve the conflict.

In regards to his lying -- The only episode where Isaac lies before Sam lies is "Halloween" (she lies to cover up Isaac's lies from the police); all other significant fibs followed Sam lying for her own benefit. And in all significant instances of Isaac lying, he faces consiquences. (unlike Sam)

Is this queer-coded villainy? You decide.

I would put Isaac's portrayal as queer engagement.