Kid Sampson

Kid Sampson is one of the young pilots in Yossarian's bomber squadron, an easygoing, boyish presence who treats the war with the breezy confidence of someone who doesn't quite believe it can touch him. He jokes, he flirts, he flies his missions, and he seems, at first, like the war's designated survivor.

Howell plays him with an open, sunny warmth that makes him instantly likeable in a cast full of anxious, calculating men — he's the one character who seems to be having fun. That lightness is exactly why the show can use him so effectively, letting his charm lull you before the absurdity and horror of the war reassert themselves.