Last night on The Passage’s fifth episode, How You Gonna Outrun The End of The World?, we were introduced to a new character: Horace Guilder, played by James Le Gros.
Who is James Le Gros?
His name may not ring a bell but if you’re a movie or TV fan you’ve probably seen James Le Gros at least once or twice. In the 1980s and 90s he starred in movies as diverse as Drugstore Cowboy, Singles, and Point Break.
More recently he’s made appearances on TV, appearing as Dr. House’s last patient on House and recurring as Wade Messer on Justified.
Who is Horace Guilder?
When Horace Guilder is first introduced on The Passage, Brad conveniently gives Amy (and viewers) a description of who this new character is.
Guilder is the Deputy Director of the Department of Defense. He’s known for creating several very expensive tactical technology programs — and also for taking credit and avoiding blame.
It’s clear there’s something shady about this guy and that becomes even more obvious as he sits down to discuss Project NOAH with Sykes and Pet. Sykes wants to shut the project down, but Pet believes their subjects have become telepathic.
Guilder is very interested in what that could mean. He reveals he’s recently switched departments — he’s now the Deputy Director of the Department of Special Weapons and he’s no longer interested in curing avian flu.
Now he’s much more interested in the possibility of using the abilities shown by the subjects, especially Amy. He never says so, but he’s clearly thinking that if Amy is telepathic or exhibiting other special skills, he might be able to use her as a weapon.
He sits down with Amy to see if he can detect any signs of the special skills he’s hoping for. Amy immediately pins him as a bad guy. Instead of being insulted, though, he gleans that she’s reading his mind.
The episode ended before Guilder reached a verdict about the fate of Project NOAH, so it’s quite possible we’ll be seeing more of him in future episodes of The Passage.