Talk:Jacques Schnee/@comment-35434444-20191124084627

Jacques is a somewhat rare character on the cast in that he genuinely commands presence even at his most indignant. Sadly, he's very one-note. He's abrasive, tigerish, petty, and stubborn beyond all reason and that's about it. The most complex he ever gets are his occasional hints of snark. On a cast of characters that's mostly tepid, meek, or active in a fun-loving way, he's actually quite refreshing.

One thing that's always bothered me is that we know he wants money but we're never told why. The implication is that he's so unremittingly callous that he wants money for its own sake; a caricature of a wealthy shareholder who interprets the world in terms of stock market graphs. But he would actually be a much nicer person if that were really the case because, when it comes to making money, self interest only gets you so far. There comes a point where you have to treat it like a game where promoting the other players is vital to your success. To get a man as cruel as this show seems to want, metaphysics, "the sickness of the mind," has to be involved.

My guess is he wants to preserve his company's future since that's what money represents: future stability. Therefore it makes sense that he would elevate Whitley as much as possible and was probably planning to disinherit Weiss whether she rebelled or not.

I guess then, the only real problem here is that it's never brought to us in these terms: When Jacques complains about the embargo, he always mentions the figures and never the ramifications that this has for his ideal future, making him look much more one-dimensional than he really is.