SKY META
This started out as a fandomhigh-related post about how I'm going to play Sky, but as things tend to do inside my head, it blossomed into something a LOT bigger. So bear with me, this will have a point.
( TILDIR musings on Sky. )
( TILDIR musings on Sky. )
I think you've pretty much nailed down the perspective I had of him. When we first met him, Sky could definitely come across as mean, but there was never any malicious intent. He just thought he was better than the other cadets, and according to test scores and performance evals, he technically was. He worked hard to get where he was, but his underdeveloped social skills cost him. And I bet he wasn't even aware of his shortcoming. Who the heck needs social graces when you're bringing in the worst criminals in the galaxy?
Jack definitely brought out the worst in Sky, and I actually felt kind of sorry for him. It can't be easy to transition from street life to SPD, and he had to deal with Sky's hostility on top of that.
I'm not sure I would say Sky's social skills were stunted, per se, but I guess that depends on what you think his background is. I personally don't think he joined SPD super early in his life, but his dad's disciplinary style may have been military-tinged, and set the tone for Sky's behavioral inhibitions later. Some unusual level of maturity might have arisen due to the death of a parent. But really, I know plenty of people without military influence who just aren't that great with people. :)
I think knowing how Sky turns out later is useful in trying to set up a pre-SPD personality for him.
Reply
Yeah, in an environment like that, where obedience to one's superiors is expected and valued, and he got to be where he was through devotion to SPD and what it stood for, it may have gotten him to be a Ranger but it also didn't teach him much about getting along and playing nicely with the other kids. His one, all-consuming goal was to be the Red Ranger, and that made him lose sight of developing interpersonal skills to some degree. He did whatever he could to become a Ranger, but once he got there, and Jack and Z were brought in, his usual methods of coping with other people- dealing with them as teammates and professionals- suddenly didn't work as well as it did in the past. He had to learn how to treat the others as his friends, not just his colleagues.
I personally don't think he joined SPD super early in his life, but his dad's disciplinary style may have been military-tinged, and set the tone for Sky's behavioral inhibitions later. Some unusual level of maturity might have arisen due to the death of a parent.
That, too. Sky hero-worshipped his dad, and I'm sure his death caused a whole host of problems with Sky's development as a person. Maturing too fast was quite likely one of them, and I'm sure to some degree everyone he knew expected him to follow in his father's footsteps. That's a lot of pressure to put on a kid his age.
As for his background, I think Sky most likely joined SPD in his early teens. Canon at least establishes that he was at the Academy for more than 3 years before the beginning of the series- in "Idol", he mentions that he and Dru started out at the Academy "years ago", and that Dru left 3 years before the series, which is what makes me think Sky was involved in SPD in some fashion for quite a while.
I think knowing how Sky turns out later is useful in trying to set up a pre-SPD personality for him.
I think so, too- the Sky we saw after he got over his insecurity and rivalry with Jack, the one towards the end of the series, is more or less how I'm going to try and play him. Still arrogant, but not as abrasive as he was at the beginning of the series.
Reply
Leave a comment