James is such an interesting character to me because he’s dumb but like in a naive, kind of way. Dumped all his stats into intelligence but not wisdom kind of situation. Like you’re smart enough to find a way to purify a heavily polluted source of water but can’t wrap your head around why leaving your kid in a tin can with residents and hostile cops who are extremely loyal to the vindictive overseer (who you have just tricked and blind sided) is a bad idea.
Like who knows what the wastelands like and the horrors you’ve experienced but James, buddy, did you really think throwing this all on Jonas (who would ideally become the new doctor and probably swamped with work from the chaos because there’s no way James thought shit wouldn’t go down even if there wasn’t an infestation) and your freshly adult child was a good idea?
“But they’re an adult—“ not to infantilize them, but few 19 year olds given no heads up at all could handle even the best case scenario of James leaving (being a social outcast and targeted by the cops and tunnel snakes, probably in some sort of life debt by Alphonse)
I would be a little more forgiving if his plan wasn’t so half baked like, if I recall correctly there was no time limit and Li/the others did not know he was coming back. He didn’t know about the enclave coming back either at least to my knowledge. James had all the time in the world to prepare LW for the worst but didn’t because uh…destiny? Catherine’s ghost came back to haunt him??? Somebody fart???
But he’s voiced by Liam Neeson so I forgive him.