One of the things I noticed in Season 1 of Dominion was the careful setup of characters and the near total inversion of the nature of all the characters, notably, Archangels Michael and Gabriel.
Many fans adore and worship Michael, but he is a complicated character, definitely not entirely good. In the television show Dominion, Michael is “God’s Enforcer.’ We are introduced to him as the savior of mankind in the Angel Wars, and meet Gabriel as the scourge, intent upon erasing mankind to draw the Father back.
During S1, a flashback reveals that Michael has slaughtered a huge number of humans, stopped only by Gabriel and sister Uriel. This basically introduces what Gabriel alludes to during S1, that Alex (and the other humans) didn’t fully comprehend the nature of Michael. And, yet, he clearly loves Alex and would do just about anything to protect him. Finally, the close of S1 shows Michael at his murderous worst, killing his lover, Becca and seemingly abandoning Alex.
Another character that we see change is Claire. We are introduced to Claire as a gentle, fairly mild soul, a teacher. And, although we are aware she is destined to lead Vega, as a result of the political structure, it doesn’t appear clear that she’s up to this task. But, by the end of the season, toughened by the direct higher angel attacks and having to “grant mercy” to her 8-ball inhabited mother, we meet a much stronger, tougher Claire.
I’ve left Gabriel until last. He’s fascinating. Gabriel could definitely be a one-dimensional evil character. But, we see during the course of S1, he’s driven by the loss of his Father. He DEEPLY loves his twin brother Michael. He prevented the extermination of the human race by stopping Michael. In fact, he passionately cared for humans, at one point. His conversion has carried through Season 2, where we see Michael shielding him from the unpleasantness of actually murdering humans, as well as Gabriel’s profound love for his “chosen” son, David. We see the awful circumstances he’s subjected to and JUST when our sympathies are deepest with him – being tortured by Julian – I fear we will see yet another character inversion.
A hallmark of a good show is complexity of characters. I think that fans are passionate about shows which demonstrate that people (and, well, angels) are complicated, driven, emotional, strong, weak, and wonderful! Dominion certainly delivers on THAT.
— Kiddle
