warm-for-the-rest-of-your-life:

So I was going through the Elias tag (well, carl elias), and I saw this post about people describing Dominic simply as a “brutish thug” in contrast to Elias as “a more refined man of honour and respect.” …do people really do that? ‘Cause that’s extremely irritating.

Dominic’s smart. That’s part of his whole thing. That and the fact that people consistently underestimate him, implicitly because of the colour of his skin and his general build. He looks like the sort of person the word “thug” is meant to bring to mind. But he’s clever. He manages to take over several gangs, he works out a lot of what Elias must be doing to stay on top and takes a lot over from Elias, too–it was Elias that used to own the prisons, remember. The guy brings Elias to his knees, for god’s sake. And he’s good at people, too–Shaw buys his act, and it’s not like Shaw is unobservant; he sets up the school; he gets Malcolm’s mother free, in “Brotherhood,” after he decides that Malcolm would be a valuable asset; he convinces the guy’s second to betray him in “Point of Origin;” and in “The Devil You Know” he understands Elias enough to know that there was a chance Elias would turn himself in if it meant that he’d let Anthony go (and although he didn’t anticipate it before Elias made the comment about hubris, he worked out that it was a trap before the explosives went off). In a lot of ways he resembles Elias. (I maintain that it was out of character for him to have not realized Elias set Link up after Elias literally warned him that he was going to, and correspondingly that it’s out of character for Elias to warn him.) (…also, just from a “refined” point of view, they both clearly have some basic understanding of Roman history. Also see Link vs. Anthony on the subject. (Oh, and I’d forgotten this until I saw it in the wiki, but talking about Dominic’s tactics Elias refers to Sun Tzu.))

Which isn’t to say that there isn’t a difference between Elias and Dominic. Of course there is, and it’s an important, thematic one. But it’s nothing like “brutish thug” versus “refined man of honour.” No: Dominic operates more impersonally, rather as a businessman, while Elias operates on ties of personal loyalty. It’s an implicit replay of the dynamics of Team Machine versus Samaritan.

Consider Dominic. In “Blunt,” he’s revealed to be laundering money through video games–both clever and impersonal. I can’t recall the exact line, but in the same episode he says something to the effect of “We don’t need more soldiers. We need more gamers.” Indeed, he never seems to care very much for most of his soldiers except, basically, as tools, as extensions of his will. “Only one rule,” he says; “we all die in the end,” which does not exactly imply he has a lot of close attachments. He obviously cares about Link, but arguably not as much as Elias cares about Anthony, and more importantly he doesn’t trust him (even though he was childhood friends with Link, just as Elias was childhood friends with Anthony). He misunderstands the understanding between Elias and Reese and Finch, mistaking what is basically a personal relationship for a business arrangement. Even his introduction to Team Machine is a more impersonal reflection of Elias’; like Elias, he successfully deceives one of Team Machine’s agents for most of an episode, but unlike Elias a) he’s not a Number (meaning there’s less of a personal connection) and b) his deception isn’t revealed to Team Machine at the end of the episode–it’s not until “Point of Origin,” I think, four episodes later, that they work out who he is. Similarly, Elias comes to develop a personal relationship with Reese, while Dominic does no such thing with Shaw (and indeed I think it’s significant that it’s Shaw, here, and not the more relationship-oriented Reese).

It’s an impersonal view, and it’s one which sees people as largely replaceable. In other words, it’s Samaritan’s.

And–look, this approach obviously has its flaws. He kills Link, who never betrayed him (though did not seem to be loyal like Anthony was loyal; “I think my boss is wrong about you. If you had the numbers, you’d have given them by now,” he says (approximately, this is a paraphrase), and seems to be in all sincerity. And then he appeals to Anthony’s self-interest. Which is a standard tactic, sure–but he very much does not seem to get the depths of Anthony’s loyaly.). But it’s important to note that Dominic, like Samaritan, was winning.

Elias, in contrast, operates on ties of personal loyalty–in this season, it’s pretty much entirely on ties of personal loyalty. There’s his relationship with Anthony, with Bruce, even with Harold and John–everything’s about relationships. And consider: in “Asylum,” he tries to get John (and Fusco) out of there, at least in part I think to keep John safe. Talking about Harold: “so I should betray a friend?” He’s obviously not loyal to John and Harold; their interests are too opposed. But he cares about them. And if you look at the way John’s talking to him in the basement towards the end, I think he cares too. (Even in TDYK, it seemed to me like they cared about Elias for more than just his restraining influence on violence.) But it’s more than that–Elias’ arc in TDYK parallels what happens to Team Machine later on in the season (!). One of the people who was loyal to him has turned against him (Gino/Shaw (though, yes, obviously Gino was less loyal than Shaw–but Elias seems to regard Gino turning against him as a sign that things are grim indeed).). This leads to the capture of his most loyal lieutenant (Anthony/Root & Finch). But the boss of the other side (Dominic/Samaritan) offers a deal: if Elias (/the Machine) turns him (/it or her-self) in, the lieutenant(s) will be let go. Despite what the lieutenant would prefer, Elias/the Machine agrees to this deal. Despite surviving, however, they are severely weakened by the encounter. And no, obviously the parallels aren’t perfect, but they are significant, especially when you contrast Dominic’s approach. Elias’ “weakness,” essentially, is the same as the Machine’s: he cares about the people who work for him. (The fact that he’s able to exploit Dominic’s lack of trust in Link makes me wonder if Team Machine will be able to do something similar to Team Samaritan.)

TLDR: There is an important, thematic difference between Elias and Dominic, but it has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. Instead it’s a difference in approach, one which (deliberately) reflects the differences in approach of Team Machine vs Samaritan. This reinforces the main conflict and also allows the show to explore the dynamics of such a conflict without having to handle the sheer stakes a Machine vs Samaritan conflict would necessarily involve.