By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.
In the Seaquest universe, between 2001 and 2003 genetic engineering went wild resulting in the creation of humans called Daggers. They were bred for war and totally sterile so reproduction was impossible. The UN banned all such work meaning the Daggers had no function in society. They were kept in camps under armed guard, abused and despised by the guards who also use the “almost women” for sexual pleasure. But the seeds of revolution had been sown. But as Ian said in Jurassic Park life finds a way and one gives birth. That makes them human with full rights as any citizen which draws Captain Bridger and his crew in.
Aboard the Seaquest is a solitary Dagger called Dagwood with the mannerism of a shy child. As fate would have it, Dagwood would become instrumental to the plight of the Daggers and Seaquest itself. Captain Bridger is impressed by his insight into the Dagger situation that everything will work out. It is when Dagwood uses his enormous strength to save O’Neill )Ted Raimi) from being killed that Bridger offers Dagwood a permanent place on the Seaquest.
Dagger’s skin is multicoloured given the different gentc samples used. Dagwood goes largely ignored and unnoticed, used to clean only, He has the strength of a bull and as we soon learn he is much more than just another Dagger. He is an Alpha model K , the prototype for all Daggers. Bridger dislikes the term Dagger as racist. When they find the baby, Dagwood is delighted that he is now technically an uncle.
It is Dagwood that manages to convince his brethren that Bridger is on their side and avert total disaster.
Dagwood quickly becomes part of the crew and enjoys nights out with Lucas, Tony and the others. If nothing else, he is the best bodygusrd you could have on your side. His strength comes in useful time and again even when the crew go under the command of Captain Oliver Hudson (Michael Ironside) in season three.
I have a real soft spot for both Seaquest and the character of Dagwood. Played by Peter DeLuise, he is the son of Cannonball Run’s legend Dom DeLuise and brother of fellow Seaquest cast member Michael DeLuise who plays Merman Tony Piccolo. His performance is so nuanced and likeable you couldn’t help but feel protective of Dagwood. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and brutally honest. He looked like he could crush your skull but he was as gentle as a kitten with his childlike view of the world. Much to Tony’s disbelief, Dagwood doesn’t understand why women wore mini skirts in the 60s.
When Dagwood is accused of the murder of the scientist who created him but does not remember doing it, we discover he was one of mutiple clones. He finds versions of himself in various stages of development hidden in a secret lab. He refers to them as his family. What he also finds is his evil twin has kept on ice because it could not be reasoned with. This version was almost the perfect Dagger but it killed anyone it met rather than the enemy it was meant to. To get a beat down between two Dagwoods is well done and makes for exciting viewing. It is brutal and leaves our Dagwood battered and bruised. We know he is innocent as does the crew but the evidence is concrete up until this point. Brody and Ford take him to do things he would never do otherwise before going to prison like dance and be kissed. Perhaps the most telling scene in this episode is when Bridger tries to tell Dagwood what jail really is. Dagwood tells him he has been in a jail all his life; the only difference is this jail has bars on the windows. His jail has always been the fact he is different even to other Daggers. This shows that Dagwood is well aware of how the world sees him and we see this racism first hand firstly through a prison guard and when he is turned away from a bar. Not even prostitutes will kiss him. So when he gets a taste of an actual life he runs to keep it but thankfully he fights with his evil clone which proves his innocence.He also finally gets kissed by Henderson which is a great reaction moment. If only we got a deeper exploration of how layered Dagwood really was as a character.
This is further explored when the Seaquest is at the mercy of a powerful psychic. He brainwashes Dagwood using his deepest wishes to make him do what he wants. Dagwood admits he wants to be like everyone else and is shown what he would look like as a human. The psychic admires Dagwwod as the new Adam and he will be the template for all future humanity. He beleives this to the point that the villain sacrifices himself to save Dagwood from being killed in an explosion. Tony aand Dagwood have never been closer than in this episode when they share a nightmare implanted by the psychic and he saves Tony from a type of floatation tank when he has a panic attack induced by our friendly neighbourhood psychic. And it is Tony’s fledgling psychic abilities that get through to dagwood to save Lucas.
Someone as powerful as Dagwood is handy to have when facing killer aliens like the Stormers in Dream Weaver with guest star Mark Hamill. But when the Seaquest is taken to an alien world in the season two finale Splashdown, events turn sour very quickly. Tricked by alien forces, the crew are killed when the Seaquest episodes and they sacrifice themselves for the greater good. But Bridger entrusted Dagwood to save Lucas and look after him to find a way home. As the last three survivors, Dagwood, Darwin and Lucas face an unknown future.
However most of the crew are resurrected and wake up on Earth yen years later. Bridger hands command of the Seaquest to Oliver Hudson who makes Dagwood an ensign. He learns quickly from his human friends and you see him being protective of people especially Lucas and Tony whom have a penchant for getting into trouble. There is a DeLuise family reunion when both Michael and Dagwood act alongside their father Dom and brother David. In the episode Vapors, Dom plays Tony’s father, a heavy smoker who spends his time in Buddy’s Smokehouse.
Dagwood stares at him through the glass of the smoking booth and tells him that he is what he imagines his father would look like only with a brain.
In season three Dagwood got to wield weapons and in Good Soldiers, Bridger returns and takes Lucas and Commander Ford on a secret mission. Dagwood asks to go based on a feeling he needs to be there. He experiences visions of Daggers in agony and they discover a secret facility where Daggers were experimented upon to make the perfect soldier. Dagwood is furious angry at Ford and Bridger’s involvement in these atrocities. He says all he has ever wanted was to be like everyone else but not anymore. It triggers a crisis of conscience but he needs the world to know. But he chooses not to as it is too risky.
Hidson sees Dagwood as a civilian but in the episode In The Company of Ice and Profit, Dagwood risks his life taking a bullet in the process. Hudson makes him part of the crew with his own uniform.
Even though ten years have passed, th Daggers are still struggling to be accepted. Along with Brody and Henderson, Dagwood is refused entry to a restaurant but discovers the Dagger’ Sheath, a Daggers only club. There he meets a woman called Rachel who persuades him that the crew don’t really like him and he is only a slave to them, a novelty. He asks to leave but Hidson refuses giving him 48 hours leave or he will be classd as a deserter. despite her best efforts, Rchel fails and he returns to Seaquest. when asked if he wasn’t happier with his own kind, he replies that he is with his own kind. No one sees him as a Dagger here and he sees friends and family. It shows how far he has come since his arrival on the boat.
Dagwood could walk the line between comedy and drama in a heartbeat. It’s a pity they didn’t get further seasons of Seaquest because it would have been interesting watching his journey to almost human. For the one and a half seaosn we did get, Dagwood was easily the best character besides Tony because he brought the best out in others.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 