I do think a lot of people don’t realize that the point of dispatch isn’t just the idea of redemption. I mean yeah, that’s the most blatant theme in it—the game about redeeming villains is about redemption, go figure—but dispatch is not only that. I think it more so explores the idea of a bonafide hero, which (you can say I’m wrong because I only have tumblr/yt but) I don’t really see discussed??
mecha man is slandered on LIVE TELEVISION for failing to avenge his father. even after years of being a hero the world only admonishes him when he finally can’t do so; invisigal tries to rebut robert’s criticism of her in ep. 2 by claiming that he’s “no real hero”; mandy confides in robert about how tired she is of the “Blonder Blazer” identity, saying that people see the hero before mandy; flambae refers to mecha man as a “real, actual hero” (really interesting considering how fast he called out mecha man in the superhero bar. . .); and there is a continuous choice in terminology when it comes to royd and robert’s conversations in “making the man mecha”.
there is a consistent theme of attempting to be a REAL hero— and the utterly crushing toll it takes when finally achieved. people don’t care that you’re a hero, they don’t care how well or long you’ve been doing your job, they will only watch and stare at you for doing what is considered the minimum. it only matters when you slip. one of the strangest writing choices in my opinion (and I think a lot of people share the same sentiment) was robert being forced to cut someone. I remember distinctly getting to that part of the game, hearing blonde blazer say it’s to “raise the bar” and being so utterly confused?? like, gee whiz what an easy way to make your team hate you. and the fact it happens so early in the game as well? you barely know this team. you don’t know a lot about the team members, none of their motives, stories, etc. you are essentially taking a complete stranger and deciding to cut them off from their support network, friends, and job.
and I do think the game understands this— when cut, sonar/coop both go to red ring, which while sounding extremely banal, does make sense when you think about it. they have no other place to go to besides the phoenix program. with criminal records like that, they won’t find any work other than that of crime. as I stated before, you basically strip everything they had from them when you cut them from the team. where else are they to go?
invisigal plays a HUGE role in this convo as well. we know that she is probably newest to the program, compared to the other z-team members who are all extremely comfortable with each other (blonde blazer saying she “sees a lot of potential in invisigal”, meaning she couldn’t have been in the program for that long); she’s the rowdiest, insubordinate, and generally a wildcard. she’s impulsive and reckless and extremely immature. these are likely the traits the player likely gets from her first impression, and that’s why her argument with robert was so confusing to me when i first watched it. why is this defiant, arguably least hero-like hero out of the whole z-team trying to define what it means to be a hero, and to mecha man of all people? and not even to mention that this convo comes right after invisigal’s failed attempt at capturing thunderstruck, ending with an injured civilian.
and I think it’s all really just a heady dose of projection. invisigal understands the standard on what it means to be a hero because she’s always trying to hold herself to it. it’s very explicitly stated that invisigal WANTS to be a hero, she wants to be good. she is always holding herself to the framework of being a hero, and yet it is so unattainable for her. to not just be one, but to look like one; she patently states that she isn’t like blazer in the manner of which she can effortlessly be a hero, but that invisigal innately has “villain powers”. she is destined to be evil, because she doesn’t have the look, or the powers, or the destiny that allows heroism within the life that was bestowed upon her. that she’ll never be viewed as anything more than vermin, an average villain.
except that’s EXACTLY what the z-team aims to disprove, and that’s why I absolutely love them. the z-team is a fucked up group comprised of infamous, boisterous, unruly former villains, with their dishonorable lives and lewd humor. and yet they also saved the city. and yet they were able to pull together as not just a team, but the team that rescued la from a crime gang. and yet they care so very deeply for one another with their own flawed yet so very loud ways. yes, they were never the ideal group of elite saviors— they’re an insanely strange bunch of people. but they’re heroes, and they protect lives and community and their city. because they were given the chance to finally grow instead of being perceived as outcasts.
what I’ve been trying to say (very verbosely) is that the point of dispatch isn’t just the idea of redemption— it’s that, and the support, tenacity, and courage it takes. it’s that and the care for the person underneath it takes. it’s that and the understanding of an individual not just as an emotionless worker set to certain standards, but a moving, breathing person who needs someone to guide them, to support them, to see their potential and let them through the door. and that person is you.