DMZ: Each Main Character's Best Quote | Screen Rant
The HBO Max miniseries DMZ sports an impressive cast, and each of the major players has a quote that best captures their story and outlook.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for DMZ.
In the HBO Max miniseries DMZ, America has fractured into the Free States of America, the United States of America, and the DMZ on the island of Manhattan. The series is based on the comic series of the same name and stars Rosario Dawson in the leading role.
As the story is quite insular and grounded, DMZ does not need to rely on spectacle or special effects like the traditional comic book screen adaptation, rather putting its faith in impactful dialogue and impressive performances. As such, each main character has a line that perfectly exemplifies their perspective, motivation, and personality.
Rosario Dawson is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having spent years as Claire Temple, one of her best roles, throughout all of the Marvel-Netflix series – which have recently found a new home on Disney+. Like Claire, her character in DMZ, Alma “Zee” Ortega, is also a medic, dedicating her time to healing others all the while searching for her lost son.
She says “Eyes forward, love” several times throughout the series. Significantly, it is the last thing she said to her son, Christian AKA Skel, both before they’re separated at the beginning and at the end of the show. “Eyes forward, love” not only consistently links Zee and Skel, deeply resonating with both, but it also perfectly captures the overall message behind DMZ – even in the darkest times, look forward and focus on the future.
Opposite Dawson in the antagonistic role of Parco Delgado, Alma’s ex and Skel’s father, is Benjamin Bratt. Viewers will likely best recognize Bratt from Doctor Strange, Modern Family, or Private Practice. Although always cool and suave, Bratt shines as the intimidating and hostile figure that is Parco Delgado.
He lets out several great lines throughout each episode, like, “After eight years a civil war, what do you want, to borrow some sugar?” upon reuniting with Zee, but this selected line best exemplifies how Parco thinks of himself. He is egotistical and vindictive, having let the power he’s accrued over the years corrupt him, and, in turn, he corrupted Skel. This line comes off exceptionally potent as the two fight in an emotional moment in the final episode, with Parco finally being defeated.
The main premise behind DMZ is Alma returning to the island of Manhattan in search of her son and, while doing so, learning how to motivate and lead the people of DMZ. She learns he is still alive, going by Skel and serving as the heir to and enforcer for Parco’s “empire” with the Spanish Harlem Kings.
The years away from his mother have changed him into a cruel cutthroat just like his father, but Alma never gave up on him. In the end, he found the light and helped her take down his father, and he was open to receiving the punishment that he thinks he deserves. Freddy Miyares gives a uniquely nuanced performance of a comic-book character and delivers the line that best showcases his still intact innocence and vulnerability despite years of indoctrination.
“You Want To Know How To Inspire Loyalty? You Baptize Someone With A New Badass Name.”
Hoon Lee – also seen in Apple TV+’s See alongside Jason Momoa's Baba Voss, one of his most likable characters – takes on the role of orderly turned mobster politician, Wilson Lin. He is the only major character to not survive the series, having been murdered via defenestration by Skel at the end of episode three. Regardless, Wilson delivers several poignant and special lines, including, “I can read a person like a ten-cent comic,” in a little cheeky nod to the source material.
However, this line, also from episode one, stands out amongst the rest as it foreshadows what will then happen to Alma throughout the show. She enters DMZ with one purpose, but in meeting all these new people and seeing what life is like there, her perspective shifts, and she finds a new calling and a new name.
“I Know You’re Scared. I Used To Be Scared Too Till I Realized It Ain’t Worth It Anymore. We Can Die A Million Ways Each Day, So What’s The Point?”
At the true heart of the series is Jordan Preston Carter as Odi. While he is not always at the center of the action between Zee, Parco, and Wilson, his story is quite essential to the overall narrative. He seems to act like the personification of the DMZ. He is young, impressionable, and damaged, yet he is still resilient and optimistic. Like the city, he grows and heals, finding his home with his new guardian, Zee.
This quote is actually Odi’s very first and is part of a scene also introducing his grandpa, Cedric, played by Henry G. Sanders. It is later revealed that Cedric is actually dead and Odi is imagining him, like his conscience incarnate. As such, this quote packs even more sentiment and help makes the audience even more invested in his survival.
“I Used To Do That. Like Pretend And Live In Daydreams. Then After A While, It Started To Hurt More Than It Helped. When I Saw You Today, Just For A Second, I Felt Myself Looking Forward.”
Although Sydney Park is credited as a recurring role in what some consider one of the best HBO Max Original shows, she plays one of the most central figures in the story as Tenny. She is Skel’s love interest – helping in releasing him from his father’s indoctrination – and is considered, as she claims, “royalty in Chinatown,” linking her importantly also to Wilson Lin. Furthermore, she reveals to Zee that she is also Queen Dope, the local radio host, and helps her campaign against Parco for Governorship of DMZ.
This quote comes in the second episode upon having struck up a relationship with Skel. Of course, it harkens to Zee’s quote, “Eyes forward, love” and the idea of looking to the future rather than wallowing in the past. Though the road there is tragic, upon meeting Skel, she begins to hope again, and in the end, it leads her to a brighter future out of the DMZ.