despite being a divisive character for his impulsiveness, hostility toward our protagonist, and his unchecked aggression toward Waterboy, Flambae may be the member of the Z-Team who's demonstrated the most compassion(?) thus far?
He thinks helping people is "kinda cool" (as long as they aren't annoying, then he thinks it sucks lol), it's important to him to attend his niece's dance recital (I guess he could have been lying about that? but it's so specific...), and when you send him on a mission to show off the "sweeter side" of the Phoenix Program in a TV interview, he has a character-specific solution to that mission that involves making bananas foster (bananas cooked in caramel, doused in rum, flambéd, and served with ice cream). these are all extremely endearing character traits that suggest Flambae is much more complicated than "angry guy who sets things on fire"!
out of all the Z-Team, I believe he's also at the top of the leaderboard in terms of successful missions. say what you will about him being a vain, pickme loner with a "fuck you, I got mine" attitude who can't stop getting into stupid fights, but these are hero missions he's succeeding at. taking all this into consideration, I don't think pure ambition can be credited as the sole source of his success. I think he really wants this, even if it maybe heroism doesn't come naturally to him.
I believe jacksepticeye mentioned that the voice director (Coupe's VA) was very clear and thorough when instructing the other VAs on how to perform their lines, which makes me think it's not an accident that Flambae sounds almost, like, embarrassed? when Robert calls him out for starting that fire in the park. almost like he it's something he genuinely can't help (yes it is very predictable for the fire powers guy to be a pyromaniac with poor impulse control, but y'know, if it ain't broke don't fix it). but while he may have powerful destructive impulses, the fact that he's gotten this far at the SDN demonstrates to me that he has made a CONSIDERABLE effort to overcome them, and that's worth a lot!
I'm also EXTREMELY curious about the altercation between Flambae, Waterboy, and Robert in the break room in Episode 4. he acts like he genuinely doesn't realize he was being a bully by throwing trash in Waterboy's face? and the way he says "In fact--" just before Robert throws food trash at him makes me wonder if he was going to say something like, "YOU'RE the one being a bully," which wouldn't be completely unwarranted?! Robert gives them that big pep talk about seeing their pain/potential/fear and believing in them anyway, and still cuts someone after a big win, which would obviously make them feel like no matter how hard they try, their efforts don't matter--which feels especially cruel, after Robert made it seem like he actually gave a damn about their success (and I do think this is on Robert, since he's kind of demonstrated that the only member of the Z-Team he's personally invested in seeing succeed is Invisigirl; probably because she knows he's Mecha Man, so he isn't holding her at arm's length to try and hide that part of himself from her... but I'll save my thoughts about Robert's lack of commitment to the Z-Team for later)
back to the break room scene in Episode 4: Flambae demands to know if Robert is going to "snitch" on him, and then, pointedly, doesn't snitch on Robert to Blonde Blazer when she enters the room. maybe he just recognizes that if he does, Robert can justify his actions by saying Flambae started it.
he also seems kind of subdued when interacting with Waterboy during missions?? almost like he feels bad for bullying him after Robert pointed out that's what he was doing?? and then Flambae sounds like. abashed, when he tells Waterboy over the comms, "Listen. You tried, and you suck. It happens. The important thing is, you suck. And you... and you know this, now." (the subtitles differ slightly, but this is what the voiced line sounds like) Flambae honestly sounds like someone TRYING to give good advice to a rookie and failing miserably. But he IS trying?? which is so interesting?? after Waterboy threw out his lunch and it seemed like Flambae was going to begrudge and resent him for that forever??? bro is over it in an hour!
I can't tell yet if Flambae is like, the de facto leader of the Z-Team whenever they're between dispatchers, or just the one who's been on the team longest because his mission performance has kept him clear of cuts... but he definitely FEELS like he's going to be one of the more important characters in upcoming episodes. not least of all because he has some kind of positive(?) interaction with Robert in the gym, where Robert looks like he's going to have some kind of QTE flashback to their first fight.
but because this villain rehab program is LITERALLY CALLED "THE PHOENIX PROGRAM", and FLAMBAE IS THE FIRE POWERS GUY. like. come on. allegorically speaking, he's ABSOLUTELY going to be a major lynchpin in the narrative going forward.
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