


Barrett's character is also super smart - his entire job is to make it so the mission can even happen, and ensure everyone can get home. He's the navigator. He ALSO has a fairly typical life; he's got a full family and everything. At the end of the day, he goes home and does stuff... with his family.

The third protag (Wyatt - Matt Lanter) is a white guy; he's the protector - his job is to keep the other two alive. He's the one with the sad backstory. As a character? He's probably actually the least interesting. He's good though, and he's nice to look at :D

Anyway, there's a few reasons I am watching - the writing is... not awesome sometimes. There are kind of dorky/cheezy places. I'm not completely sold on Spencer's performance, but she's trying. Lanter *sells* his character, though, and Barrett is just fun to watch.

Barrett (Rufus) - given that he's black, and these folks are time traveling - he sells the "Are you people fucking kidding me" damn well. It's not an act, it just IS. "You want me to what? In this time period? Are you kidding me?!" It's a reminder that HELLO SKIN COLOR IS AN ISSUE without actually yelling it in your face. And while some people really could use a good yelling in the face, I'm glad to see TV continuing to more subtly play that in a way that might make people go "Oh yeah that's a problem" without immediately rejecting it because it's being yelled at them.

There are also plenty of secondary characters who are not white guys. Most of the characters we deal with regularly are non-white. It's kind of awesome.