Captain Tylor: Lucky Idiot, or Genius

[CDLviking]

I felt like talking about Captain Tylor today. I want the opinions of those who have seen the show. Do you think he's a moron who just happens to get lucky, or is he a tactical genius? Keep in mind that if he's a genius, he would probably have to be one of the most brilliant men in the galaxy to pull some of those stunts on purpose.

[Nate]

Honestly? Lucky idiot. A lot of the stuff he did, he had no clue what he was doing (as evidenced by the Marines' "gift" in the fifth or so episode). Now, that's not to say that he doesn't have a plan sometimes...I think he does do a bit of thinking occasionally...but more often than not, I think it's dumb luck.

[Rev. Doc]

Yeah, afraid I have to go with lucky also. But that just makes the series more enjoyable.

[termyt]

How about genius idiot? That's how I view him. He has a very simplistic view of the world and he will not allow anyone to complicate it for him.

He's surrounded by political back-stabbers and brilliant tacticians, all of which spend so much time trying to figure him out - scared to death he's actually a tactical genius in disguise - that they can't accept the obvious.

I think that kind of makes him a military idiot savant.

[Kaori]

Lucky idiot--it's the basis for much of the humor in the series. He does, however, have some good ideas, such as treating his enemies like people. The fact that he is simply a nice guy who treats people like human beings is part of what makes him such a good captain.

[CDLviking]

I lean more toward the genius side myself, a lucky one, but still. I think a lot of it lies in his realization that a lot of things depend on luck. The shows humor isn't about him being stupid, but about him being irresponsible. He has a college education, so he's not an idiot, he just appears to everyone else to be lazy. I think that his irresponsibility allows him to adapt to any situation, and he has realized that. He also takes notice of things very closely. He is the only one to figure out that Harumi is a spy, and often notices people's intentions before they do. Now, I highly doubt that someone like him would be successful in real life, but within the context of the show, I think he is meant to be a genius.

[SAimNE]

personally i'll have to go with a genius.... he may rely on dumb luck to get him to a situation where he can win, like when he's running but then deciding to stop exactly when it becomes possible to win. I always wondered whether they would go one way or another, but then towards the end of the series SPOILER: Highlight text to read: when he is trapped in a coma you can hear one of the voices say "it's easier to play the fool than(didnt hear this part)"which means it's a VERY high probability that he is just pretending to be an idiot to smooth over his relationship in the crew.... all tylor wants is a cushy job, he doesnt care if they respect him and has even shown that he prefers when they treat him like crap as always. All of that adds up to make me think that he relies on luck, but at the same time he makes his movements under his veil of stupidity.... i.e. i think he may have actually known the gift was a bomb from the marines SPOILER: Highlight text to read: and at the end even when he was half out of his mind with brainwashing he found
that something was odd with the decoration in the queens safe house that turned out to be a bomb.... this did nothing for him luck or otherwise so i think he simply knew what it was and then started deciding what he could do about it(which is why he was able to react fast and shield her)