Cruz, who has been an LGBT activist for his entire career (since he first appeared on the scene as Ricky Valquez on My So Called Life), encourages those who have been discouraged by Hugh’s death to keep watching. “I think, in the end, it’s going to be well worth everybody’s time,” said Cruz.

We’ll see that these two people have a real connection that goes beyond this mortal plane and even the physical plane and, could lead to a really epic love story, which is what I’m being told. I am to be preparing myself to throw myself into it, and I am.

While much of the reaction around “Despite Yourself” has understandably been centered around Hugh’s death, his character got a lot to do prior to the heartbreaking scene. This included calling out Lorca on his questionable decisions, an instinct that proved to be right on the money, given what we now know about the character.

“Yeah, and sadly that’s one of the other reasons why I had to go,” joked Cruz. “Because Culber was going to open his mouth and then you’d never get to Episode 15.”

More seriously, Cruz said he was excited for the episode because he was “excited about the fact that we really got to see [Culber] step up and question authority and be a leader in a lot of ways.” In general, the episode was an opportunity to flesh out Culber’s character.

Who is he and what is his point of view on the story and the people around him? I think if we go back, I had always been playing, from the beginning, when I showed up in Episode 4, a real hesitancy to latch on to Captain Lorca’s team. I think I was always a be weary of him and questioned his motives. Because he was always pushing Paul to go beyond his physical limitations.

Cruz has some good insight into the importance of Culber’s character, outside of his relationship to Stamets and in terms of the larger thematic goals of the show.