Project Hail Mary inspired me to rewatch my other favorite high-tension high-laughter Ryan Gosling movie with great relationships and no romantic subplot: The Gray Man, and I love it so much that I have to inflict it on the world. In rant form, obviously
I absolutely adore how Sixās character behaves. Normally government assassin type characters are portrayed as having little attachment, no morality, no loyalty, and being very jaded and bitter. Instead of that, Six took what little heād been given and made almost a life with it. His loyalty to Fitz borders on filial (and he directly talks about how theyāre basically family), he doesnāt hesitate to add Claire to that picture when he meets her, and Margaret Cahill is almost like a matriarchal figure to him I feel like. His life is weird and violent and unpredictable but he has his couple of people that heās unfailingly loyal to, and thatās so lovely to see
I also love how he just lets people be what they are. When Margaret Cahill says she doesnāt want him to be sympathetic, he doesnāt try to contradict that (though the way he put his hand on hers was adorable). When heās trying to pull Claire away from Fitz for her own safety and sheās kicking and screaming and running away, he never tells her to stop or be quiet or anything. He doesnāt let her stay with Fitz bc he wants her safe, but he also doesnāt expect her to act like anything except what she is: a grieving and upset child. And with Miranda, he doesnāt seem upset at her at all for literally tranqing him and locking him in the trunk of her car even though most people would be. He doesnāt expect her to trust him without proof, or even necessarily with it, and he still tries to keep her safe. Heās so incredibly hyper-competent and somehow sort of submissive at the same time. Like he really lets the people around him dictate the tone of any given interaction, possibly as a way to compensate for how powerful he is? Idk I love him as a character
Similarly, he puts the safety of any person who can reasonably be called āhisā (Claire, Fitz, Margaret, Miranda) so far above his own, it actually makes me crazy (the bit where he shields Margaret with his body while theyāre being shot at comes to mind, and then again with the grenade). And not even their safety, but their emotional well-being? At least with Claire; in the final standoff with him and Lloyd, she runs over to hug Six when Lloyd lets her go and he hugs her back really tight even while heās involved in a pre-fight stare-down with Lloyd. Heās so protective and caring and kind in spite of all of the ways that the world has tried to beat that out of him and I love him so much for it
Last thing bc Iām getting tired of typing: the symmetry between Six saying āthe white pants, the trash stache, it just leans Lloydā and Lloyd saying āif it werenāt for your childish sense of morality and $8 haircutā¦ā like the way they describe each other is just so fun to me. Lloyd freaks me out, that man is insane, but there is a symmetry between their characters thatās really fun
Actually I thought of one more thing: Six is so not flashy in everything he does, itās so fun. The people fighting him will be showing off and then heāll do the bare minimum efficient thing to take them down and then move on, or even use their flashiness against them, like, itās so delightful. Heās so competent that he doesnāt need to rub your face in it. He doesnāt ask for any acknowledgement for how he helps others but always acknowledges when others help him (his quiet āthanksā to Miranda after the train(?) scene is adorable). I just love him a lot ok?
(Also heās hot. Like, heās loving, protective, violently competent, submissive, good with kids, and hot as hell. What more could a person want in a character?)