Buckley Ware

**Buckley Ware**, also known as **Feliks**, is a main character in the first season of HBO Max's *The Flight Attendant* and a guest character in the second season. He is portrayed by Coook

He is an out of work actor and “whisky connoisseur,” whose boozy charm & go with the flow attitude is very attractive to Cassie, or so it seems. In truth, his out of wedlock persona is a front for something much more sinister.

## Throughout the Series

### "Rabbits"

While attending "oyster night" at a bar with Shane Evans, Cassandra "Cassie" Bowden meets Buckley. She finds it an unusual name, but he tells her it was his grandfather's name. He tells her that he is an unemployed actor and his schedule is open. The two dance together and that night, they have sex.

### "Funeralia"

Buckley calls Cassie, asking if she wants to meet him that day. She lies, however, that she has a training session at work and asks for a rain check.

### "Conspiracy Theories"

While busy trying to gather evidence that will exonerate her in the murder of Alex Sokolov, Cassie receives a text from Buckley saying that he's thinking of her and that they should get together for a drink sometime. Later, after a meeting with her brother Davey goes badly, she calls up a couple of her friends but gets no response. She eventually falls back on Buckley. The two kiss intensely before again having sex.

Afterwards, Cassie points out his collection of stuffed animals and he tells her that he has a thing for animals and can't even watch a movie in which a dog gets hurt. He tells her that he wishes his apartment allowed pets, that he took in all of the stray animals as a kid. He shares a story from his childhood of a giant oak tree in his family's front yard in which somebody had strung up all of the neighborhood cats. She then has a hallucination which Alex asks her if the "dead-cat guy" is her rebound after him. They argue about Alex's illicit activities and when he suggests that she grill Sabrina Oznowich for information, she leaves Buckley to do just this.

### "Other People's Houses"

Cassie receives a text from Buckley, asking her if she had caught up with her friend. Later, she and Max], the boyfriend of her best friend Annie Mouradian, are out investigating Lionfish when they happen to run into Buckley, who is out jogging. He claims that it's the universe telling them to hang out, but Cassie promises she'll text him back later.

### "After Dark"

Cassie has hit rock-bottom following a falling-out with her friend Annie after Max was badly injured a car crash while trying to help her. She calls several of her other friends, hoping to spend time with them, but gets no response. Therefore, when she receives a call from Buckley, she asks if he's lonely and wants to see her. He agrees "yes and absolutely yes," so she heads to his place and the two presumably again have sex. Afterwards, the two head to a bar / strip club, where Cassie dances on a pole and fends off an FBI agent that has been sent to tail her. She then decides to try to make things up with Annie, but when she goes over to Annie's place with Buckley, things do not go well at all.

Both extremely upset and very drunk now, Cassie decides that it's time to do something crazy. They wander back out into the streets of New York and find a chained-up mechanical pony. Telling Buckley that she doesn't like what it represents, she suggests that they set it free. They end up doing just this, pulling it up from its chains and trying to drag it away. They are both arrested and taken to jail. Later, when Cassie is bailed out of jail, she asks if it was Buckley who bailed her out, but is told that Buckley is still in jail. She leaves the jail and comes face to face with Miranda Croft.

### "Hitchcock Double"

Cassie and Miranda talk and after clearing up their misconceptions about each other, begin to form a plan to put Cassie's troubles behind her once and for all. As they move to implement the plan, Cassie gets a call from Buckley. She tells him she's at home sleeping things off. He tells her he doesn't have to lie to her and that he thinks they have something amazing and that he wants to see her. He suggests that they run away together, but she tells him that while she likes him a lot, she's realizing that she only ever sees him when she's drunk or lonely. He tells her that this means he makes her feel better, but she tells him that she needs to start making different choices in life. She says that two weeks ago she would have thought what they had was perfect, but now she feels like they need to stop things before they really get started. He tells her he doesn't understand and ends the call.

Later, Cassie and Miranda are at Annie's place, trying to recover Alex Sokolov's *Crime and Punishment* book, which contains the bank account numbers of clients he was trying to protect. Suddenly, someone starts trying to break down the door and believing it to be Feliks, an assassin sent by Miranda's boss Victor, the two flee via a fire escape to the rooftops. In the process, Miranda loses the book. Cassie wants to go get it, saying that they shouldn't just give up, but Miranda tells her that Feliks is scary. She tells her that he's killed women and children and even once gutted a bunch of cats, hanging them from a tree. This triggers something in Cassie's mind and she peeks out across the rooftops, where she sees Buckley Ware. "Holy shit," she realizes. After the two escape the rooftops, Cassie asks Miranda if they can use their knowledge of him to trap him. They form a plan to travel to Rome together and kill him.

### "Arrivals and Departures"

Cassie and Miranda travel to the airport together, but Cassie is startled when Miranda unexpectedly exits, stating that there's something that she has to take care of. Cassie travels to Rome, only to run right into Buckley in the middle of the airport terminal. She steps forward, he grabs her, and she immediately shouts that he's attacking her. Megan Briscoe shows up and backs her up and things end there for the time being. Later on, Miranda finally makes her way to Rome, only for Buckley to force his way into an elevator that she boards. "Hello, Feliks," she comment coolly. The two of them both pull out switchblade knives and she comments that he'll find her harder to kill than cats. The two begin a fearsome fight, which ends with Miranda taking a blow to the head.

In Rome, Cassie secures a gun with the help of a friend named Enrico. The two then head to Cassie's hotel room and Enrico promises to return later. Cassie freshens up in the bathroom when she spies something on the bathtub out of the corner of her eye. She pulls back the shower curtain and finds Miranda lying, apparently unconscious, in the bathtub. Standing on the upper edge of the bathtub is Buckley. Seeing him, she races for the door and tries to unbolt it, but is not able to manage it in time before Buckley grabs her from behind. The two begin fighting and he pulls out a switchblade, asking what her plan was. He tells her that Miranda couldn't save the day, but just then, Enrico returns. Unfortunately for Cassie, Enrico is not able to put up much of a fight and is quickly incapacitated. Buckley tells Cassie that he's been using her lost ID to track her all over the world. He says he's like catnip to her and reveals that he's been following her around in various disguises, just as he killed Alex while in disguise. He gets her in a headlock, but she manages to escape, stab in the leg, then pull her gun on him.

She shoots him, but her aim is badly off and she only grazes him in the leg. He gets back up and she again points the gun at him, but just then, her co-worker Shane bursts into the room and shoots Buckley, this time managing to get off a more solid shot that disables him. After the dust settles, the two meet outside and she asks him to explain. He reveals that he's actually a secret agent with the CIA, monitoring their supervisor Megan for corporate espionage against her husband, Bill. As they continue to talk, Buckley is wheeled out a stretcher. He comments to her "Cassie," drily, and Shane remarks that he's lucky she only hit him in the leg. "I have really bad aim," Cassie admits.

### "Backwards and Forwards"

Following his capture, Buckley, now fully going by the name "Feliks," is tried and convicted of his crimes and sent to prison. One day, he receives a visit from a woman, Jenny, who claims to be a journalist working on a podcast for a story about Alex Sokolov's death. She reminds him that she sent him a letter about it, but he tells her that he's not interested. At this, she says that she'll just go. He agrees, and starts to hang up the phone he's using to talk with her. She, however, backpedals and tells him to wait, admitting that there is no podcast and saying that she's not sure why she thought that was a good lie. She then tells him that she actually read about him online and that she had to meet him, as she found him to be handsome and obviously innocent. He, however, tells her that he's sorry but that she's mistaken and he did commit the crimes that he was convicted of. He continues that he did it because he was in love. She asks if somebody hurt him and he asks her if she's ever heard the name "Cassie Bowden." The two then begin a series of on-and-off communications in which Feliks tells her that he can't get Cassie out of his head and still feels her pull. She asks him if he thinks he could ever love again and he tells her that he wants her to find Cassie and study her. She tells him that she just wants to help him and he suggests that Cassie maybe is just in the way and that he could love her if Cassie was dead.

Following this, Jenny joins the same Alcoholics Anonymous group as Cassie, pretending to be a recovering alcoholic herself. She keeps appearing in places where Cassie is, secretly keeping tabs on her, while also claiming to be interested in interviewing Cassie regarding Alex Sokolov for a podcast. She also ingratiates herself with Cassie's brother Davey and they begin seeing each other socially. She eventually knocks out and drugs Davey as a means to lure Cassie. Once Cassie arrives at what she believes to be Jenny's place, she reveals that it is not actually her place at all, but that of some sweet old woman who doesn't lock her doors. When Cassie asks what is going on, she reveals the whole story, showing Cassie a wall full of photos with hearts, pictures of Feliks and the phrase "Mr. and Mrs. Feliks." She then tries to kill Cassie using a hammer, but Cassie manages to evade her and eventually overwhelms her with Davey's help. Afterwards, Cassie comments on how badly Feliks messed her up, though Davey thinks that she was already pretty messed up to begin with.

## Personality

Buckley Ware gives off the impression of being a charming rogue, but is actually a cold-blooded assassin. He also has shades of being a stalker, trailing Cassie wherever she goes while acting outwardly as though he has a romantic interest in her. He claims that he is in fact, into her, and has had to pretend to be drunk a lot because of her. He is also a master of disguise, able to blend into a crowd and make himself completely unrecognizable. He was even on Cassie's original flight to Bangkok, observing her while she was talking with Alex.

## Trivia

* Whereas it was Miranda Croft who killed Alex Sokolov in the original *The Flight Attendant* novel, in the television series it was Buckley Ware, or Feliks, who committed the murder instead. Show creator Steve Yockey described this change as being necessitated because unlike the book, the series wasn't to have dual narrators, as Miranda Croft, or "Elena" is a narrator in the book. It was therefore decided to preserve Miranda as a villain that viewers could fall in love with, which wouldn't have worked if she had murdered Alex.
* Feliks was not originally slated to appear in the second season of *The Flight Attendant*. His appearance was added due to the desire of Cassandra Bowden actress Kaley Cuoco for there be a big twist that viewers would not see coming. Writer Ian Weinreich then pitched the idea of Jenny being a "Manson chick" for Feliks, and the show's crew ran with the idea after Sarah Schechter of Berlanti Productions loved it.

## Appearances

Season One
* "In Case of Emergency" (credit only)
* "Rabbits"
* "Funeralia"
* "Conspiracy Theories"
* "Other People's Houses"
* "After Dark"
* "Hitchcock Double"
* "Arrivals and Departures"

Season Two
* "Backwards and Forwards"

## References

1. ↑ Max Original - The Flight Attendant. HBO Max. Retrieved on November 16, 2020.
2. ↑ Ng, Philiana (December 17, 2020). 'The Flight Attendant' Creator Answers All the Biggest Finale Questions (Exclusive). Entertainment Weekly via Kare 11. Retrieved on December 19, 2020.
3. ↑ Jacobs, Meredith (May 26, 2022). ‘The Flight Attendant’ Bosses on Leaving Cassie in a Hopeful Place & Possible Season 3. TVLine. Retrieved on May 27, 2022.