James Brody

James Brody
Lieutenant James Brody
First Appearance	Daggers (09/18/1994)
Last Appearance	By production order: Spindrift (11/08/1995) By broadcast order: Brainlock (01/12/1996)
Creator
Portrayed by	Edward Kerr
Information
Family	Allison Brody (mother)
Born	October 141993
Death	2032

When Brody was six years old, his mother was involved in a murder cover-up at the (accidental) hands of Franklin Thomas. Contracting, the P-Core A virus, Brody's mother was place in cryogenic suspension and he was sent to live with his grandparents, who "let (him) get away with murder. After joining the navy, Brody led a stealth invasion during the North Korean Crisis in 2010, which Captain Bridger considered to be a "nifty piece of work."

Assigned to the G.E.L.F. colony prison island, Brody began to sense subtle changes in the behavior of the G.E.L.F.s, finally culminating in their uprising and seizure of the colony. Brody, however, was able to escape and was picked up by the seaQuest, after which the crisis had ended, he joined the crew as tactical officer. As tactical officer, Brody led most away missions into hostile environments and manned the weapons console when Commander Ford was in command.

When Brody's mother awoke from her cryogenic suspension, she sought out her son, who took her aboard the seaQuest to shield her away from assassins plotting to kill her, hired by General Thomas, to protect his career. Ultimately, Brody was able to apprehend Thomas, allowing his mother to return to cryo-stasis, secure in the knowledge that when she awoke again, she would have nothing to fear. He also promised his mother that he would be with her again when she was revived.

When the seaQuest was abducted to the planet Hyperion in 2022, Brody was wounded while part of an away team sent into the Hyperion mothership intent on destroying it. Brody, along with the rest of the away team, were apparently destroyed along with the ship after Captain Bridger detonated an explosive attached to the ship's plasma core, but was able to be rescued by the Hyperion rebels and returned to Earth with the majority of the crew by the year 2032.

Brody butted heads with the seaQuest's new captain, Oliver Hudson, played by Michael Ironside, who apparently favored his personal student, Lieutenant Fredericks, over Brody. However, when President Alexander Bourne and Larry Deon conspired to gain control of Fredericks' psyche-implant, Brody was able to learn the truth and inform Captain Hudson, saving both Fredericks and Secretary General McGath, whom she was being manipulated to assassinate.

At some point in his life, Brody sired a child with a woman. However, being a career-military and a private man, Brody never told any of the seaQuest crew of that aspect of his life. He himself only found out about the then 10 year old child after the ship returned from Hyperion and the mother of the child decided to contact him after one of her parents had recently died.

Brody ultimately died later that year in a rescue mission to save Lieutenant Henderson from a Macronesian death sentence. His last words were "With your shield or on it."

Background

Brody was played by Edward Kerr and was named after Police Chief Martin Brody (played by Roy Scheider) in Jaws. Brody was Chief Crocker's replacement, both on the show and on the ship (after Royce D. Applegate was released from the show and Chief Crocker retired from the navy). Kerr was not fond with the content of the episode "Alone" and refused to appear in it. Frustrated with the direction of the show and afraid that the series would hurt his career, Kerr requested to exit the show along with Scheider. NBC granted him his release as well, under the provision that he continue to play Brody for a few episodes into the third season so his character could be killed off for dramatic impact.

The two actors originally considered for the role of Brody were Dan Gauthier and Paul Gross.