Why do you have such a strong reaction, my child?
this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2025
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TenForward: Where Every Vulcan Knows Your Name
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eyetwitch
I can still hear the condescension in that statement. I don't think I've had such a strong reaction to any character on any TV show or movie in (checks watch) jfc 30+ years
Greetings, fellow geezer! They just don't make them like this any more.
For good reason, it'd be too much like RL right now
So true, I think it was a good idea to not explore her past, to find out how her character came to be. I think we may have ended up sympathizing with the character if we knew what drove her to behave the way she did (even as we were equally appalled by her behaviour)
Honestly, the point of her character is that she’s a narcissistic sociopath. She’s not a good person. She’s a cautionary tale that is specifically showing how toxic that becomes when combined with dogmatic theocracy, even in the context of a nominally progressive religion.
You are spot on, I was looking at it from the perspective of when I first saw those episodes. To borrow from another show, Babylon 5's Comes the Inquistor - the character seems to be the anti-Delenn.
*I actually wrote alot more in response to your comment, but the tl;dr was just as long as the response, once I'd composed my thoughts it was straying into essay territory and we're all just here for a distraction 😁
Oh yeah, B5 is another one of my favorites. Some episodes are definitely cringey, as a lot of tv from the 90s was, but overall, it tells an incredible story.
And I’m floored at how pertinent a lot of its cautionary tales are to how the last decade or two have unfolded.
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She’s just the best at being the worst.
Marc Alaimo was great but I think Louise gets the crown. Her cloying malevolence was just so believable. Everyone knows someone like that in their life, it's the same reason Umbridge worked so well in Harry Potter. The fake nice person.
Dukat on the other hand is just plain evil. Sure they tried to make him more relatable with Ziyal but in the end he was just an evil asshole, not many layers.
I agree. Dukat was bad, we knew he was bad, he knew he was bad, everyone knew he was a baddie
I believe, Winn believed she was good, which is what made that character so easy to hate. We all know people like that in our own lives
the focus on her in the last 7 episodes did my heart so good.
It was nice to wrap up her story arc. I'm still not sure how I felt the storyline of her + Dukat + Sisko + The Pah Wraiths. I understand that was her redemption story, but I feel as though her character got off too easy. She'll go down as a hero by her final act, when she should also be remembered for the her endless conniving pursuit of power
By and far. I didn’t watch until pandemic, and it was my intro to Louise and I fell in love with her as an actor. Seeing wholesome comments about her from colleagues and fans alike but watching her become a vile and reprehensible creature of a person is the epitome of art.
The only other actor I'd put up there in that category of very nice person who plays an evil git is Jack Gleeson. He really made us love to hate Joffrey.
Edit: And Imelda Staunton actually. Umbridge is the same energy and Imelda seems very kind.
Alan Rickman was a good dude by all accounts. I think it's fairly common for villains to be played by nice people. Usually the complete assholes don't want to play villains... don't want to give away what they're really like.
Gul Dukat was Voldemort, but Kai Winn was Delores Umbridge.
I loved to hate Louise Fletcher's characters. Nobody did it better.
inhales
MY CHILD…
We need some type of punctuation that conveys contempt.
If they just started watching wouldn't they call her Vedek Winn? She isn't elected Kai until almost season 3.
They're just really fast at binging Star Trek.
That user watching trek like:
Louise Fletcher played her so well! She made Winn easy to hate. Awesome actress!
She is one of the best characters though. That doesn't mean she's likable but she creates conflict which is interesting/entertaining.
You are absolutely correct! If you want engagement post a Kai Winn meme 😂
That's one sore spot for every one, even people who are long time lurkers on any platform will have an opinion on that character. I myself would normally just have a sensible chuckle, or a brief exhalation of amusement...but when anyone brings up Kai Winn, I too must voice my opinion
100% It reminds me of the piece of shit kid from The Strain. Even having me hate them is an achievement. Having a person actually feel or care strongly about a character is not easy to do.
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Nurse Rat Shit! She really is phenomenal at portraying unbearable characters.
She is one of my favorite characters, too. She's one of the best most vile repulsive idiotic and self-righteous characters in TV history.
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She's my favorite story in The Lion, The Witch, And The Audacity Of This Bitch.
Winn Adami is in the running for best Star Trek villain of all time.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: we need an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch between Kai Winn and Delores Umbridge
If your favorite character isn't Morn then you aren't a real fan. That Morn, he'll talk your ear off!
For other "fun" sci-fi Louise Fletcher roles, check out Invaders From Mars, Strange Invaders, and Brainstorm.
She's the Umbridge of DS9
You have that backwards.
from a "oh my god she does so good in that role", yeah i see it. she's so hateable. i can see actors enjoying watching louise fletcher, i mean i do and i have a little community theater experience even though i'm not that great.
my favorite character is odo though. love rene.
Garak, Quark, and Odo were my top 3 (not in that order). I always enjoyed a good Garak episode, but the episode where Quark thinks he's finally out-witted Odo, when Odo had booked the holo-suite for his anniversary with Nerys was one of my favourites
This is a time when the difference between "good" and "well" are important. She did well.
You loved to hate her.
Good Boy
Do we have better words to distinguish between a fictional character and the in-universe character? As in, I really hate the in-universe character Kai Winn, which is why I really love the fictional character of Kai Winn.
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She was a big part of the show. Just little more than half evil.
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