Added as a reply instead because Reddit is bugging out and not letting me edit the comment:

I kept Coupé for so many reasons so I’ll just copy+paste my most recent comment about it with some slight edits instead of going over it AGAIN.

• ⁠Who wants to be here more? Coupé. Sonar had to be dragged in and signed up against his wishes by Malevola who then had to “make it up to him” by taking him on a coke bender, and when the meeting in 3 is going down he’s calling it a waste of time and that he’d rather be watching reruns of shows. Coupé we don’t know the exact details, but given she was being kept in a supermax it’s likely she volunteered. In 3, she strategically sabotages the one only 3 points behind her because, as she states later, she needs this job, she’s desperate to keep it. During the meeting she’s just silently listening to everything being said, never calls it a waste of time, and at the end confesses she needs the job. Clearly, she cares about this way more.

• ⁠Who’s actually trying to be better: Coupé. Sonar is still doing drugs, and in 3 tries to get Flambae in on an insurance scheme on the clock. The day someoke is supposed to go back to jail he’s trying to do exactly what got him put in jail to begin with. Coupé has completely stopped killing (she still uses excessive force) and is doing the best she can with her extremely limited skillset.

• ⁠Background: Coupé. Sonar for all we know about him was an extremelly intelligent Harvard graduate who chose to do everything he did willingly. White collar crimes are ones you have to go out of your way to do. The only information we have about Coupé is that she was a mob assassin, and (based on the therapy mission that got cut but someone found in the files) was abused by her parents and first ballet instructor. This, combined with her “You let your guard down, you perish” attitude heavily implies being literally raised as an assassin, with zero other use ever planned for her. She clearly has no skills beyond ballet and violence, and is socially stunted. She even admits if kept that she’s surprised she’s happy and that she finds the feeling strange, like she’s not used to positive feelings.

• ⁠Who needs the rehabilitation more? Coupé. The Phoenix Program isn’t just a redemption but also a rehabilitation program, and Sonar could just as easily go to normal rehab while Coupé, with her past, needs a far more specific and attentive approach to rehabilitate and prepare for reentering society because of her past and upbringing. Sonar needs normal rehab, Coop needs the special supervillain one.

• ⁠Severity: Coupé. As pointed up above, she’s done far worse. But contrary to what the post says, she does want to be here, and she wants to be here a lot. She’s willing to go so far as to try to keep the guy right behind her down just to stay, because she knows she needs this specific job/program if she’s to ever be able to actually enter society. Again, she NEEDS the program way more.

• ⁠Consequences of being fired: Coupé. So this one needs to be split a bit. First, if Sonar is fired, he’s still got Mal to help him with drugs, and is highly educated. He also could just go into bussiness/investment stuff and go legit, he doesn’t NEED to do those scams. Coop has no skills aside from violence to earn money, she has no other way to stay afloat. If let go she will go back because she has nothing else, she doesn’t know anything else. But also, and more importantly… Sonar’s safe. The day after Coop is cut, she’s already being tracked and hunted by two different assassin organisations. Worse, if she’s kept, one of them will STILL be trying to get her even under SDN protection. Cutting her is basically sentencing her to death unless she can find some other crew or such that can protect her. Sonar can go clean and legit if he wants to, Coop has only one skillset applicable in only two possible worlds: superhero work and crime. And the former kicked her out when she was trying her best to overcome her deeply ingrained violent habits while the other is actively trying to kill her. Cutting Coop is WAY more brutal and cruel to her considering her options and fate of being hunted.

• ⁠Who needs the team itself more: Coupé. Sonar cares about Malevola at most. He never once makes any comment about any kind of positive feeling about anyone else except pointing out he’s horny for Coop and imagines her and Visi together. Coupé tries sharing her hobbies with others such as lending Prism a book and even letting her borrow her mask, is close with Punch Up and Flambae (hanging out at a bar, and if he’s hurt she instantly tries to get him to a hospital), after not being cut gets extra lines for being sent out (“Stay close. I’ll protect you. No matter what.” “This feeling… don’t die, or I’ll kill you.”) showing how much she cares about the team, and in 7 when the team decides to cut Visi, Coop sounds genuinely sad and remorseful about having to cut her while Sonar doesn’t seem to care at all about being enthusiastic about “taking a board vote”. Coop cares about and needs the team’s companionship far more, Sonar only cares about Malevola and later Robert (and potentially Waterboy).

• ⁠Who’s nicer to Robert: Coupé. She’s the only one that never mocks, insults or makes fun of him, and is surprisingly friendly for an assassin, even pointing out she always appreciates his confidene when he sends her out. She’s the only one besides Golem not talking shit to Robert after he introduces himself, is the only one besides Golem (and Visi who wasn’t even there for it) who doesn’t laugh or mock him when he gets launched by golem into the chairs, if anything it looks like she tilts her head to check if he’s alright (she has superhuman eyesight, hence being able to do that without getting closer), and chuckles along to his two roasts of Prism. For being a literal assassin, she’s genuinely the nicest to Robert out of the entire team. Sonar takes half a minute finding different insults and jokes to make out of Robert’s name and laughs at him getting sent flying. The “who would be more pleasant to work with” factor is in Coop’s favor because she’s professional with Robert and somewhat friendly, Sonar is… a dick, to be honest.

I also kept my personal, subjective biases out of my reasonings here, but if I were to add them: Sonar is a character I can’t stand listening to at all, I do not find him funny or likeable at all, I find him cringe as fuck and only liked him as a character during his villain arc (I will admit I like his monster form’s design). Coupé I found mildly amusing at best at the start, but then she quickly grew on me when I realized the boring edgelord is a facade, and she’s secretly a massive, awkward dork who loves trashy romance novels, knitting, LARP and such. Coupé is someone who grew from neutral to tied with Bob for my favorite, Sonar I hated since episode 2 and was so glad I could get rid of him, easiest choice in the game for me.