Pilot

Pilot is fused, quite literally, to the living ship Moya—a many-limbed creature grown into her control chamber, tending her nervous system and translating her moods to the crew. Gentle, anxious, and fiercely loyal to his ship, he wants only to keep Moya safe and her fugitive passengers from getting her killed.

A character who is basically furniture becomes one of the show's warmest presences through voice alone. Lani John Tupu gives Pilot a fretful, put-upon tenderness—equal parts long-suffering parent and devoted spouse to Moya—so that a stationary puppet ends up feeling more alive than half the cast walking around him.