Yeah, I was surprised they're portraying him as such a milquetoast.

I agree. I did not even realize at first that was who that character was supposed to be.

Well seems like TR may have finally grown a pair when he fired Captain Conner.

Totally - I came here to write the same thing. They originally cast (and I believe even shot scenes with) Sean Astin but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts so they cast this other misfit as a last-second replacement. Imagine you're a D-list actor who is given the opportunity to play one of history's great characters in one of the best novels of the past 30 years...and you deliver this piece of shit with no emotion, nothing special, not even an effort. Truly shameful and in my opinion ruined the show