Character Analysis
The Helpers are a sad lot, indeed. Most of them are former secret agents—the good men and women gone missing (5.165)—but some of them, like Mr. Bloomburg, are just people who threatened Mr. Curtain's plan in some way and had to be… ahem, detained (a.k.a. brainswept and retrained).
But perhaps the most interesting thing about the Helpers is that they've been thrust into a role normally reserved for children—they aren't supposed to speak unless they're spoken to, and in general, they're supposed to be seen, not heard. Sound familiar? Yeah, both of those are phrases normally applied to children (by people who don't like them or don't see them as being as important as adults).