The recent occurrence of an ATL member's defection to the Dark Side has prompted us to clearly define our position in response to people who think Tess is misunderstood and only a bad person as a result of her upbringing by Nasedo. Here are our responses to the very misled soul who left us:

"I came to the conclusion that it really isn't her fault. She was raised by Nasedo to not think or feel for herself."

Rick: I can't disagree with you more on this. You are quoting politically correct psychobabble here - it’s ALWAYS somebody else's fault. Wrong, wrong, wrong! We are sentient beings, with our own free will. Some of us, myself included, carry a lot of baggage, but in the end the choices we make are our own. The character of Tess is no different. From a logical standpoint, she could have made any choice she wanted to. Nacedo was dead. She had a loving family-Jim and Kyle. She could have had friends - she stabbed them all in the back.

Cornelia: The way you are raised does not define who you are or who you can be! She made that choice!! Once Nasedo died - who's to say that she still had to go along with it...Unless she wanted to. We all make choices in life...This is what she chose to do. Not because her hand was forced but because she wanted too. How do you know that Tess isn't the one who killed Nasedo? What if Nasedo had changed his mind and wanted to renege on the deal?

"What if the alien found by Nasedo had been Max? Or Michael? Or Isabel?! We'd be hating them now, instead of her. It was simply circumstance that made Tess the way she was."

MD: Are we to believe that Tess never spent any time with any people other than Nasedo? Of course not, she knew enough about the world to get by in an ordinary high school. She had many places from which to glean right from wrong, especially from her fellow podsters (assuming she is a podster!)

Rick: Michael was raised by an alcoholic, abusive foster father and he still had a conscience, still needed love, still needed friendship, still had loyalty. The difference between his upbringing and Tess's was really not all that different. The difference between them was that Michael puts the needs of others before his own desires and Tess never did. She comes first and to Hell with everyone else.

Cornelia: You know... "If an if was a fifth...We'd all be drunk" Also...Tess can implant memories. Who's to say that the images Max recalled (Meaning When she was still in Her Pod) weren't false? You know...if it looks $hit...smells like $hit...then guess what it is.... And that's all I have to say about that.

"I am, in no way saying that it is not Tess' fault that Alex is dead. She killed him. It was an accident, but she killed him and now she must pay the price for that."

Rick: Tess can never be made to pay the price for Alex's death because she has no conscience. And Alex's death was not an "accident." She DELIBERATELY messed with his mind to get what she wanted even after he pleaded with her to stop. By your reasoning if Tess stabbed him 25 times but the 26th one would be fatal, as long as she stopped at 25 she would be "innocent." RIDICULOUS

"But it is not Tess’s fault that she was raised the way she was."

Rick: Tess was given a loving home and family by Jim and Kyle. She could have chosen to do anything she wanted with her life. She CHOSE to be evil. It WAS her fault.

"On another note, I am leaving this group for the fact that I think you take this too far. Sure, tess is a character no one likes. But the fact that you hate and despise Emilie De Ravin because she played Tess is ridiculous. Just because she played an evil, back-stabbing bitch does not mean she is one."

Laura: Actually, I don't think that it is a case of us taking the show too seriously, but a case of you taking us too seriously. 

Andrea: But when have we ever bashed Emilie de Ravin as a person? We have never said she was an evil bitch herself, we have only commented (and rightly so) that her acting abilities are completely non-existent. That wasn't an attack on her real life personality or nature. We never even said anything along the lines of EdR is an evil bitch for accepting the money she was offered to play Tess in the first place! We only analytically criticized her theatrical performance. Which sucks.

Rick: No, it does not necessarily mean that EdR is an evil, back-stabbing bitch in real life. She still can't act her way out of a paper bag. And for that she should be ridiculed without mercy.

MD: No one here ever said that Emilie de Ravin was a backstabbing bitch. We said she was a bad actress, and that is our opinion. We hope she'll find a job more suited to her abilities and we wish she'd stop trying to do an American accent. But our criticisms have always been limited to Emilie as an actress, never as a person.

Did this clear things up? If you think we misunderstood this person’s arguments or if you disagree with our points, please email MD.