True, true. I do agree that your assessment on Finn’s dichotomy is pretty accurate. I think the hard part is figuring out what is too much of one side, and what is not enough of the other, you know?

I do think he is a good person from the beginning. A little self-serving, but good. Like you said, he doesn’t want to kill the villagers at the beginning. But for me it was a debate of whether or not he should be a little more on the selfish side at first to have him progress as a more selfless person, or have him fluctuate.

It’s like, he did something “good” that put him in danger. Will he want to do that again if he can avoid it? Even though helping the Resistance seems like the right thing to do, he still doesn’t want to do it at the beginning of TLJ. Maybe that’s where the dilemma stems from?

I think you’re right, though. You could have him kill the other Stormtroopers less, especially that brutal saber move on Takodana. Haha. Maybe in the hangar he could still blow up the empty TIEs though to create some chaos, if that could work. And those changes would help if he ends up trying to save Stormtroopers in IX, which I hope they will go in that direction with him.

So what do you think about moments like when he runs over to help Rey even before he meets her? A part of me feels like having him running over towards the fight yelling “Hey!” seems like the writers were trying hard to make him seem like a good guy.

My only guess is that as a Stormtrooper, he thought he would be a hero, a protector of the galaxy. When he snapped out of it, he realized he was the opposite, but he still wants to be that hero. But that might seem weird when he doesn’t seem compelled to join the fight for the galaxy with the Resistance.

I don’t know. It has to be a balance, but a proper balance. Appreciate your thoughts on all of this.