One of the positive aspects of Armada is that even with the series less than a season old there has already been a fair amount of character development among the relatively small cast. Among those who has had their character developed is Alexis. However, I don't think that it developed in a way that some people would like to see.

One of the traits with Alexis that stands out the most is her apparent superiority complex. Even from the first episode, one could easily imagine that she considered Rad and Carlos somehow inferior to her. To some, this may be welcome- after all, Carly and Marissa (Generation 1) put up with what seemed to be a lot somedays, and Tai (Robots in Disguise) often was the level head in the group. Here, we have a pro-active female character. Unfortunately, this is not quite so. In the episode Ruin, it is Carlos who loses his head for a holographic image of a young girl. However, Alexis obviously feels that Rad also is in love with the image, resulting in her verbally criticizing both of them just as hard. Now, it could be argued that she is jealous; I doubt it. In the episode Underground, she stopped twice to rant about how she would change things *when* she became President. Not if, when. And all this in a self-righteous tone. Even the constantly vocal Tai never made such statements, appearing to content herself with just yelling at Speedbreaker for chasing little red sports cars.

Now, think about this. First off, she tends to treat Rad and Carlos as inferior. Second, she is making rants about how things would change- in her mind, for the better- if she were in charge. What does this add up to? At best, a TF version of Lucy Van Pelt. At worst, a feminist in the making. But not just any feminist, a parody of a feminist. Why else would she stop to rant at the times she did? The timing suggests that while the character herself believes these statements wholly, the audience should not take them as seriously as she does. Alexis, at the least, is self-righteous- an anomaly among the other female humans in all the US cartoons.

As a counterpoint, it could be argued that her actions are those of an insecure little girl trying to understand things beyond what she can comprehend- and with her supposedly high intelligence, she finds it more than a little frightening. It can also be said that she really has a crush on Rad and that her comments in Ruin were made in jealousy. There are a few occasions where she does show some sympathy towards them. However, if this is even half true, then she and Rad will be written in together in a fashion similar to Spike and Carly while Rad becomes another Chip no matter what else is going on.

Intentionally or not, Alexis as a character is well on her way to official status as a parody. Admittedly, we're still only part of the way through the first season. This leaves a lot of room for character development. However, something tells me that unless within this first season we will be seeing the Armada equivalent of Desertion of the Dinobots Alexis will most likely remain static as a character unless a concerted effort is attempted to change her character.

^Lucy Van Pelt is a registered trademark belonging to the estate of Charles Schultz and whatever syndicate carries the Peanuts strip. My use of the name is in no way official.