‘Incorporated’s’ Roger Caplan deserves a little sympathy

Reaching the halfway point in Season 1 of “Incorporated,” we’ve seen a load of cool future tech, watched the drama unfold in both the Red and Green Zones and delved into Aaron (Sean Teale) and Elena’s (Denyse Tontz) backstory, which lends further meaning to the elaborate rescue mission underway.

But while it’s a dire trap Elena has fallen into — Spiga’s sex trade — we have to take a moment and try to look at the whole series from a different perspective. Roger Caplan’s (Douglas Nyback), to be exact. Sure, Aaron comes from a tough place and has good reason to seek revenge. And yes, the classist dystopia that finds civilization separated into Green and Red Zones looks like a horrible reality to live in. But if you twist your perspective for a second and look at the world through Caplan’s eyes, you may find yourself a little sympathetic to his own state of being.

From Caplan’s point of view, rival Aaron — he knows him as Ben, for now — is a threat to both his own progression within Spiga as well as to the company itself. If you set aside the privilege that comes with being Caplan for a second, you’ll actually see a loyal employee that wants to do good by Spiga, and his family.

RELATED: ‘Incorporated’s’ Roger Caplan deserves a little sympathy

Just as every decision Aaron makes is for his long lost love Elena, Roger’s real purpose seems to be gaining acceptance and respect from his father. That yearning for the love he never received pushed him to go so far as to trudge around in the urine stained trash of the Red Zone streets to capture and eat a rat… All for that highly coveted info left behind on Aaron’s encrypted keyhole.

Roger may be an annoying roadblock in Aaron’s mission, but let’s also remember that Aaron here isn’t much of a hero himself. His big plan comes from a purely selfish place. And so far, we’ve not seen any sign of a secondary set of goals to bring salvation to those outside of this posh, fake lifestyle of his. Oh, and that wife of his who genuinely wants to have his baby? She has absolutely no clue that the identity and life story he’s presented her is a flat out lie.

When you take all this into consideration, it’s hard not to look at Roger Caplan with a little sympathy. Sure, he’s a smarmy dude with sinister inclinations of his own. But in 2074, it feels like that’s an all too common trait. Daddy issues, man. They can be a real downer.

“Incorporated” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy.

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