he sorta redeems himself in his last appearance, when he wears a wire, but he becomes a goauld. apparently he never was seen on-screen again or died off screen so fans speculated he likely got out of the ship before it exploded.

That's why he was so perfect in TNG. He comes in to replace Picard and the audience is primed to hate him. We see him from the perspective of the crew who have to adapt to this new hard ass that wants to make seemingly arbitrary changes and who lacks the flexibility of their previous captain.

And yet, his character isn't just another incompetent asshole from starfleet command. He's a leader taking command in a crisis that will very likely result in a war. He doesn't have the luxury of slowly getting to know the crew and earning their trust, and respect, and friendship. He needs them to be as ready as possible as soon as possible, and he needs to know his orders will be carried out to the letter and without delay. His orders aren't unreasonable, he just isn't indulging the crew and being the warm and fuzzy type.

Any other actor and this would have probably been an unremarkable B plot.

Must be his squinty, smug little eyes eh

Beverly Gills Cop 1 and 2 he's a stickler for procedure, but definitely a good guy. One of those shark movies he plays a reasonable guy as well, I think.

I wouldn't be surprised.