The Real Crew are a team of engineers who maintain the Avenue 5 throughout her eight week voyage. They are located in a hidden part of the inner ship below the main bridge and were originally headed by the First Engineer, Joe.
Origin and Purpose[]
While the ship is automated, meaning it flies and maintains its own course, there is a small number of engineers required to perform updates, maintenance and repair any damage caused by outside sources.
When the Avenue ships were built Herman Judd only wanted highly attractive people to be viable, as a result of this the Real Crew were banished below the main bridge to work out of sight while a team of actors - the Bridge Crew - were hired to look pretty and pretend to control the ship.
Relationship with the Bridge Crew[]
The Real Crew wasn't given any choice about being hidden away because they weren't deemed 'pretty' enough and so are bitter towards the Bridge Crew. They have consistently ridiculed them though aren't openly hostile towards them, and the two groups have been known to work as team as seen in Wait a Minute, Then Who Was That on the Ladder?
When she introduced Ryan Clark, the leader of the Bridge Crew, to her fellow engineers, Billie McEvoy had originally believed they would hate him since he is also an actor. However, after only a short time they grew to accept Ryan almost as one of their own and seem quite fond of him which put Ryan at ease around them. They are seen drinking and joking shortly after Billie introduces them and work together to keep the Avenue 5 under control.
Members[]
Joe[]
Joe was the First Engineer until his death in episode one of the first season; I Was Flying, and portrayed by actor Joplin Sibtain. He was the only person aboard the ship who knew Ryan to be an actor and Ryan referred to him as 'the real captain' as well as his friend. Joe was the only one who knew almost all of the lies brought on by Judd's insistence that only pretty people be seen so possessed a sort of omniscience which the crew now lacks.
His death was caused by a gravity shift while he was outside the ship attempting to fix the delay. He was pierced through the heart by his own screwdriver and dangled outside the ship until Billie went to get him; upon being brought inside the ship Joe's body thawed out and blood spurted from the wound quite violently. They later buried him in space using Herman Judd's coffin which his assistant, Iris, always transported with them. Unfortunately, the coffin was mostly made of gold meaning it was incredibly heavy and so instead of being jettisoned far from the Avenue 5 as planned he ended up orbiting the ship with the three other bodies to be buried in space. Ryan later refers to Joe's corpse in the coffin as 'Tutankhamen Joe'.
As the chance of being rescued approaches the Real Crew realize that it will be unlikely for Captain Clark to successfully dock the ship as he's not been able to do so even a single time with the simulation. Worried, Cyrus leaves the ship at the end of season one and retrieves parts of Joe, primarily his hands, which Cyrus places in a clear but bloody plastic bag; he does this because he thought it would be funny. With Joe's hands it should make it possible for any of the more qualified Real Crew to dock the ship instead of Ryan. Unfortunately, due to the vacuum of space the hands have burst.
Cyrus[]
Cyrus is the most prominent and outspoken member of the Real Crew after Billie. He sits at a station which faces the main access door from the bridge and is a fairly hard working member of the team. He originally appears as a result of the Second Engineer, Billie, asking him to calculate if Control's three year extra journey time math is correct. After a false start of only six months he eventually reaches the conclusion that the Avenue 5 will be stuck in space an extra three years and six months.
Trivia[]
- They were taking bets on how long Ryan would last after the 'incident'.
- There is a seemingly endless supply of popcorn and beer in their work space.