Chris Kennal (Cataclysmic Gerosha)

Chris Kennal is a character in the Ferris Access Channel and DozerfleetTV original miniseries Blood Over Water, as well as its Cataclysmic Gerosha novelization. He was originally portrayed by actor Chris Wilson.

Miniseries history
Chris and Mark had worked together at Sleet Mountain for an unspecified amount of time. Somewhere along the way, CEO Clyde Spendelworth got greedy and decided that it'd be easier to pollute a pond nearby the bottling company's property rather than actually spend the money on legitimate waste disposal. By engaging in some fraudulent paperwork, Clyde was able to trick the EPA. As such, Sleet Mountain saved itself millions of dollars. He and a small inner network of conspirators stood to benefit directly from this scheme.

Clyde initially called three employees in from Sleet Mountain to partake with him in the conspiracy; and to share in the embezzled funds acquired through cleanup fraud: Chris, Mark, and George. All of them initially went along with the plan, though only out of fear. Mark, deciding that he didn't want to be responsible for such felonious behavior, revealed in confidence to Chris that he wanted no part of the conspiracy; and that he wouldn't accept any money.

Knowing how close Mark and Chris were to each other, Clyde decided to have George spy on them. George's eavesdropping revealed that Mark wanted out; and Clyde agreed with George that this was too dangerous: Mark had to die for even suggesting wanting out! George soon hired a hitman, in the form of Vance Lingolin, to off Mark. But Vance wound up in an accident in which he himself wound up dead. This failed assassination attempt tipped off Mark that somebody wanted him dead, and he took measures to secure some confidential folders - hoping he could take them home and expose the company's plan on an off day.

Fearful, Clyde ordered Chris go to Mark's house and personally kill him off; luring a newcomer named Ashley Phillips into the conspiracy. Fully aware that she was not someone whom Mark knew very well, Clyde suspected Ashley's ruse to trap Mark would work. He then gave orders to Chris to give orders to Ashley on how to set a trap. Together, Chris and Ashley successfully killed Mark; but they ransacked his house in vain trying to find the "Confidential" folder. Soon afterward, Ashley was never seen again.

What none of them counted on was that Aaron would grow curious as to why Mark didn't call him back on his phone; and that Aaron would go to the apartment and find Mark's folder. Behind Chris' back, Clyde had George lure into the conspiracy his business partner Kyle. Kyle was to be there just in case Chris tried to double-cross everyone.

Chris spends the rest of his time keeping half an eye on Aaron, in the hopes that Aaron doesn't get too close to solving the mystery. Things take a turn for the worse when George and Kyle try to set a trap for Mark (whom they believe Aaron to be, due to the events in Part 2.) This results in them capturing Aaron, and inadvertently exposing everything to him. Amidst their attempt to murder Mark, assuming Chris failed his job, Aaron escapes. This forces Chris to reveal to the other two conspirators that Mark had a twin named Aaron. Also, fearing that they won't trust him, Chris decides that he must earn George and Kyle's trust by agreeing with them to kidnap and murder Aaron.

Secretly, Chris decides that Aaron was an innocent outsider who shouldn't have to die; but he decides he must go along with the plan until the time is right to stage his redemption. He is tempted to simply kill Aaron and call it good; but then he realizes that the innocent outsider Monica has been inadvertently dragged into the mess. Unwilling to murder an outside innocent with a family, Chris decides to trick George and Kyle into believing he will go along with Aaron and Monica's execution-style murders. At the last minute, he decides to knock them out instead - and misfire his gun. He takes advantage of George and Kyle being distracted as an opportunity to betray and murder both of them. He leaves Aaron an apology note for everything, flees with his share of the money, and vanishes. The end credits reveal Chris to be "still at large."

Novel history
Chris and Mark joined Sleet Mountain about three years before the series began, even though both of them were very young upon entering it and had limited experience. Even so, their climb up the ladder was pretty quick. They became best friends, and would often go up to Mark's cabin and enjoy the boating and loose women. However, things changed when Sleet Mountain CEO Bob Lusital announced his retirement. Clyde Spendelworth, a member of the executive corporate board who had some rumors flying that he had some unsavory friends, managed to seize for himself the position of new company CEO. Not long after that, Bob went missing.

Clyde managed to lure Chris into helping him with the cleanup fraud scandal, along with co-conspirators George Lawence and Mark. When Vance Lingolin refused to be a part of anything pertaining to the scandal, and even threatened to expose everyone else, George was sent to assassinate him. Mark began to grow suspicious. When bribes didn't work, Mark did some investigating. He discovered the illegal activities that Clyde was engaged in that were in addition to the cleanup fraud that Sleet Mountain's bottling plant was guilty of. He tried to inform Chris, who acted concerned but also compliant. Mark tried but failed to steal some of the incriminating evidence of Clyde's involvement in the Gleeful-N-Young brothels. Instead, he made do with stealing a manilla envelope containing folders full of confidential files about how Clyde was circumventing regulations and deceiving the EPA.

From there, Clyde decided to perform a power play on Chris. He peered into Chris' past in order to find every possible way to blackmail him, and found enough dirt to do so. Chris, being weak and greedy, agreed to go along with Clyde's plan. George and Kyle Tugrass manage to break into Ashley's house and steal evidence that she'd had an affair with a minister. They use that to blackmail her into visiting Mark with the intent that she'll talk him out of exposing the company. Meanwhile, Clyde convinces Chris to follow Ashley there and kill Mark. Doubting himself the whole time, Chris all the same decided to go through with the assassination plot. He waits until Mark and Ashley are busy having sex, then he storms the bedroom and shoots Mark straight through the forehead. At gunpoint, he forces Ashley to assist him in hiding the evidence. However, he wasn't counting on Mark's twin brother Aaron getting involved. When he learns that Aaron has done his own investigating and now knows too much, Chris is forced to have to decide between friends and financers. He manages to steal some incriminating evidence against Clyde and the brothel, after being tricked into sending Ashley there. He stages a plot with George and Kyle to assassinate Aaron and Monica Shelly, but then betrays and murders George and Kyle. He then follows the evidence to find Ashley, and rescues her. At this point, he is wanted in connection with at least 28 homicide investigations. He vanishes soon after, never to be apprehended by authorities as he goes about his never-ending quest to destroy Clyde.

Plans also exist for him to appear as a much older version of himself in Sodality.

Miniseries characterization
Chris is portrayed as being a (usually) calm, rational, calculating individual. He is understood as being very close friends, almost like a brother, to Mark and Aaron. All the same, he is very unscrupulous and greedy when it comes to money. He is also portrayed to be a bit cowardly, fearful of double-crossing Clyde while his goons George Lawence and Kyle Tugrass are still alive. He is however; willing to resort to deception, fraud, and even murder to get his hands on a little extra cash. However, he likes to believe that he can have it all: close friends and family on one hand while living in greed and villainy on the other.

Novel characterization
Chris has always been greedy and hedonistic, but he's not entirely without a conscience. In this version, he is more conflicted about the decision to betray and murder Mark. He is views as a sort of "Judas" figure, almost immediately regretting his decision to betray shortly after making it. When he realizes what a creep Clyde truly is, however, Chris takes the money only to secure his life in exile. He begins plotting little by little how he will bring down Gleeful-N-Young, and the whole of Clyde's empire; making that his new reason for living in life. He is insecure about letting anyone know his true feelings about any particular subject, and is good about putting on a false face. He is shown in this version to be at least as competent as his miniseries counterpart, and an even more efficient killer. His raid on Gleeful-N-Young took genuine heroics and skill; whereas the miniseries version only took cheap shots. That being said, this version is more prone to the use of violence than his predecessor. He is willing to blow Mark's head off, rather than merely strangle him like before.

This Chris is portrayed as more lecherous than his miniseries counterpart also. Even so, he has his limits. He insists that Ashley put her clothes on before helping him clean up the evidence of Mark's murder, though he does comment on her nude figure. He also finds the Gleeful-N-Young brothels that Clyde secretly is affiliated with to be repulsive, given the young ages and slavery that go on in them. However, he is not above having a one night stand with any drunk woman who appears interested in him.

Miniseries
The character of Chris Kennal began as the brainchild of actor Chris Wilson, who portrayed him in the miniseries. The character's existence emerged every bit as much out of necessity as anything else, in spite at-the-time accusations of narcissism. Someone was needed to play the part of the tall, smooth-talking, friendly associate and company insider whom Aaron trusted. Kyle was all pumped to play a bad guy, and Chris' directorial vision ruled that there had to be two main bad guys plus a CEO villain. Therefore, the Dozerfleet founder was to be cast as George Lawence. This meant that Zach had to fill in as Clyde, with only his obscured back side being shown in order to obscure the fact that it was Zach playing the part. Initially, there were plans for instructors Clayton Rye or Nathan Meadows to play the part of Clyde. Both either declined or were unavailable.

Even as such, Chris didn't show up on screen until the second episode. The first episode featured only two actors: Zach, and a Ferris DPS officer. While Zach played the part of Aaron Stefflin, the officer played as himself. Chris argued that it would be good practice for Zach throughout the miniseries' run, as they needed the star to be the most convincing actor. Chris was as self-conscious and concerned as everyone else in development that his own acting skills were not very great. The Dozerfleet founder's attempts to alleviate the casting issues by sending ads to theater students proved fruitless, thereby forcing everyone in the crew to also serve as cast. Most students, Chris included, preferred being behind the camera to being in front of it.

Chris hinted around the middle of production of Part 2 that he intended for his character to be playing both sides in the struggle. By the end of Part 2, as planning commenced for Part 3, Chris made it clear his character would be a bad guy. However, a final plot twist was worked into Part 4 so that the episode could end happily. This was to be the end of all such efforts to show Chris as riding the fence. But Part 5 took the twists and turns further, on Nathan's insistence that the original ending made Chris "look too cold-blooded." In spite the actor's protests, several shots at the end were re-shot to portray Chris as being slightly remorseful about having committed three homicides. The original ending seemed to contradict Part 4's ending, showing Chris as having little to no remorse and caring only about his own fate. Outtakes of both ending versions can be viewed on the blooper reel.

Novelization
The novelization works harder to make Chris a bit more complex of a character, giving him a fleshed-out backstory and making his motivations relatable. He is tortured this time about the decisions he makes, resulting in his betrayal of Mark seeming more tragic, and his desire for redemption sincere. His quest to save Ashley near the end also carries with it the torment he feels that he is trapped: no amount by his own efforts at redemption will ever be enough; since he has to commit additional murders in order to pull off Ashley's rescue. The miniseries version, however, appears to have only a tinge of remorse at the murders he committed, and is otherwise happy to get his money and leave.