Thematic Schematic

We'll return to this in the future as things continue to evolve, but I want to get some basic (obvious) ideas down, just in case.

What's at stake?

For The Group, their continued existence. In a way, they're struggling to carve out a niche in a world that may or may not be passing them by. This is not a last-ditch attempt, but it is certainly going to be one of their last acts should this fail. They're becoming an anachronism in a world that is finally winding its slow way towards peace, and in a way, this team is a way to keep hope alive, by killing people. Is it brutal, and does it contravene what they originally believed in? Yes. Have they lost sight of what originally drove them? Yes. This is the problem with becoming single-minded; sometimes, you even lose track of your singular goal, you're so focused on getting there.

The government is much the same as The Group. In a twisted way, we're going to see them parallel each other. Decentralized entities searching for a purpose, and willing to manufacture it in any way possible, just to justify their own existence. I keep harping on it in my own head, but the law is a juggernaut that feeds itself. In a way, the government is the same way, attempting to fuel itself and keep itself running. They are also becoming increasingly relevant in this newer, gentler world. They are no longer defined by "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" because no one is lacking for any of the three. They now need to find a definition, and choose to be the yang to The Group's yin. We are all defined by our opponents. Who is to say which side is correct?

As for the team, caught in the midst of this, they are all individuals. Whether they'll outwardly admit it or not, each person is defective, broken in some way. Even if they've found a way to function in society, society nonetheless shuns them, rejects them, for something they can't truly help. They've got a variety of reasons to join "group therapy." Jail time, normalcy, financial gain, redemption, revenge, more drugs, boredom, blackmail, justice, altruism. However the reason they found themselves coming to the team, they develop a sense of camaraderie, and find in their dysfunctional team a family that they never could have found in the outside world. In the end, for these individuals, what they're fighting for is each other. The problem will develop when they realize that remaining a team is untenable, as the Group/government struggle, as well as their fight against [terrorism?] continues to strain them, drive them apart.

What is the overarching theme? I see it as the inevitability of progress, as well as the inability of individuals to resist. You either go along, or get washed away.