>if you get a chance The Churn is the novella with his
>backstory. it's not required but it kinda fleshes out his
>character development. but he was abused when he was
>powerless. did whatever to survive. knows he doesn't have a
>fully functional moral compass, and therefore gravitates
>toward people who do (who become the objects of his trust and
>loyalty, as you note).

I've got a huge backlog of books piling up around me, so I doubt I'll get around to it, but your summary of his character development fits very well with what I've seen onscreen. Thanks for saving me the time, I guess!

>yep. clarissa mao. sister of julie mao (who is the tragic
>figure / first contact of the proto molecule, and core of the
>protomolecule's human persona when the asteroid eros became
>self aware and steered itself to venus. before creating the
>ring gates). clarissa was / is nuts. the 'good girl' to her
>rebellious sister, striving for daddy's affection
>(jules-pierre mao who is the kajillionaire who financed the
>whole protomolecule shit and intrigue that almost killed hte
>solar system the first time). she got the implants to go get
>revenge on holden an nem.

Yeah, I only remembered her sabotaging stuff. Probably watched that season in a haze of weed, lol.

>i kinda liked it. the blurry shit (as opposed to a slow
>motion) gave you a sense of the high intensity + short
>duration action of her mods. amos was like, 'is it always like
>this afterward' (when she was vomiting and weak and damn near
>passed out). and when she says yes, he comments, "shitty
>design". and she responds that she wasn't really thinking long
>term when she did it.
>
>i really enjoyed the short, near future fiction discourse on
>the implications of body modification from the last couple of
>eps.

Yeah I didn't mind that it was over fast, or that they didn't show the action itself too much, just the visual & sound effects themselves came across as a little corny. I think it could've been done better. Like hearing a few snowy footsteps offscreen and dude getting swept off his feet in a flash. Cut to Amos standing there with a dumb look on his face and her collapsing on top of prepper guy's body. Or something, I don't know.
I really do like that the implants have a high cost associated with their use, helps to make it feel realistic instead of turning her into some kind of superhero.