Re: Casting for Nona . . . It's fine. I was suspicious of the character, but that's probably because I didn't trust her with my Max. I didn't want her taking advantage of him. I'm protective like that, I guess. :-) But the actors played well off each other, and the definitely seemed comfortable with each other.

Re: Jake . . . I believe it's in the pilot that Max says that Jake could be a real son of a bitch sometimes. And in one of the early eps, Charlotte states that the boys weren't even speaking to each other when Jake died.

That's one of the things that could have been really interesting had the show continued, an examination of Jake and Max's relationship. Max, as the younger brother, loving Jake, but also feeling like he was living in his shadow. Jake the "good son," as the pilot ep says. Jake who followed in his father's footsteps, vs. Max, who seems to be more artistic, more of a free spirit, wilder, and yet lacking in confidence when it comes to his sense of his place in the family. Ya know?:

You're welcome for the transcription. I'm getting to the point where I'm just transcribing the entire ep, because everything seems to feed into everything else in one way or another.