#i don't hate him but gosh i did to start

[coldtomyflash]

Why do you think the writers love propping Nate so much? I think his character comes across as either boring or an irritating, sometimes chauvinistic a**. While on a mission to rescue Mick/history, he convinced Amaya to sleep with him and later did the same thing with Zari while his supposed best friend Ray was in danger. And Klemmer asked if new Zari will be worthy of him? She and almost every other character are far superior. I wish the writers would have gone with the plan to kill him off.

I don’t hate Nate as much as all that, but I do think it’s a bit weird that he was introduced as like... here’s the only guy who can figure out history and that the Legends exist... here’s a guy who they need to decipher history as if Gideon doesn’t exist... here’s a guy who can steel up and save them... here’s a guy that all the girls fall for... here’s a guy who is rich but a rebel(?)... here’s a guy who’s in touch with his emotions (honest, we promise, just ignore him seducing teammates when other teammates are in danger). Here’s a Progressive Icon (TM), don’t you all love him?

haha okay so that’s a bit harsh. I just do find it odd. i found him at first to be basically a ray clone, but more bro. his narrative beats followed a very similar path to ray’s in the season in which he was introduced. he gained powers, which stripped him of being different in a way that made his brain more valuable than his brawn, which would have kind of been a neat addition to the Legends dynamic at that point. he has a personal history which ties in to their missions etc thanks to his family, and his family gets all this focus over time thanks to his dad, when we barely get to explore the families of any of the other Legends, and only ever for a one-off?

I do like Nate. I should clarify - i like him as a character and as a person it’s like “dude’s trying his best and is aiming to be nice and is mostly harmless. good on him.” I like how open he makes the rest of the team.

but ultimately to answer your actual question - 

i think the writers love Nate so much because they see themselves in him.

nate is designed as if he’s supposed to be an audience-insert character. he figures out the legends are real. he’s a history nerd. he geeks out over the time periods they go to. he starts out without superpowers. he starts out as a liability, often overlooked.

the problem is they jumped the rails with him super fast, from the potential to be an audience insert who helps highlight the absurdity of the narrative, to instead being propped up because the writers (i suspect, because this is just speculation) fell in love with nick zano and with the character he portrays way too quickly. they want the history nerd to get the girl. they want the team to need him. they want powers for him, they want him to be important, his family history to be explored, his ability to get others to open up to him to be unparalleled. they want for nate what they want for themselves.

there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but the problem is that nate’s never been the most interesting character on legends, not by a long shot, and by propping him up, they take away the things that do make him interesting, and wash his flaws as if they’re positives (see: seducing teammates, being irresponsible paying off for him, etc). the team is only as interesting as their dynamics together, and nate contributes to those dynamics, but i wonder what else we could have got if they’d written him without powers, a little less sure of himself, a little less good guy james bond, y’know?