Stratt's intentions for Grace are really so fascinatingly opaque. He was the first person after herself she had tested for the coma gene, but when the call went out for eligible volunteers he wasn't on the list. She didn't tell him. She had him trained in every relevent skillset, but prevented him from volunteering for the mission, even if he'd wanted to.
There are so many ways you could interpret the sequence of events. Did she hide it from him because she was afraid he would volunteer, or because she was afraid he'd try to cut and run if he knew there was a chance he'd be asked to go? Or because she didn't know how he would react and didn't want to risk introducing an unknown variable?
And then why ensure he's trained for the job after first making sure he wouldn't be selected to go? He didn't even find out he was eligible until after the crews had already been selected, and then only because Yao assumed he already knew. Was she always secretly planning to send him anyway, or did she very much not want to send him but couldn't practically afford to not train such a well-qualified candidate?
Or was she just bullshitting entirely about the whole secret backup thing, and he really was trained on all the gear so he could certify it as mission-ready? Not because she had any nefarious secret plans for him, but because she trusted his judgement. (Because one thing we do know for sure is that she very much did trust his judgement, at least in all things related to science.)
I don't fucking know. I don't know anything. I'm pretty certain she didn't intend from the beginning to knock him out and shove him onto the ship in place of Dubois or Shapiro, but that's the only call I'm confident in making. Eva Stratt I want to study you like a bug.
