Datu

[Red Shirt]

Props for the spoiler warning. I have a friend with a simmilar accent, but Datu sounds like he's trying to talk loud without yelling. You're right about it sounding like Jay Oligario is reading from the script. Well, actually his is, but he still sounds like it too.

Datu's specific background isn't discussed directly, weather he was 1st generation American born to immigrant parents, or if he was an immigrant himself...
I think of the character as speaking English as a second language... that he speaks it well but is still getting accustomed the proper syntax. Hence the unusual cadence to the his speech mannerisms. I have known some people that were speaking English as a second language and this was true for them as well... an unusual meter and cadence, unusual pauses and word choices in their speech. Not the wrong word per se, but not necessarily the word that an English as a 1st language speaker might have used.

The main problem I have with Datu is that he is supposed to be the maintenance guy for the apartment building, which would mean he has some mechanical ability, but to be able to fix the generator, then get a car running, then later on fix the hydraulic line on the helicopter, and finally to fix the "pelican", wow. Is he just super mechanically inclined, or some kind of savant? If he was that good, wouldn't he have had a better job than just being a maintenance guy?

Again, a significant gap in his history. If he is an immigrant, then what was his profession before coming to America? I suspect the character is at the core very mechanically inclined and that his previous occupation was something rather technical and highly placed. But as it seems to be the case, at least popularized, that much of the training, certifications and degrees that immigrants obtained at home is "not accepted" here in the US. Datu then took a job that was closest to what he knew.

That's not to say that "maintenance guy" is a menial position. Being a facilities manager would require you to be well versed in several trades like plumbing, electrician, carpentry, ect.

Matter of fact, I seem to remember Datu saying that he was going to night school to get his contractor's license.