[Enchilada645]

I'm really glad you're enjoying Ark as a villain. A lot of people consider him like a bland guy, but I really enjoyed him as the new big bad. And he definitely has a good balance of "Yeah the heroes can defeat him but he's still a legitimate threat". We see that perfectly in this episode where he's caught off guard with Thouser's arrival and has to rework his plans even if it's just slightly and then manages to pull the biggest win in the series with him fully taking over Zea at the end.

That being said, yeah! They handle Gai's turn around surprisingly well, while the lead up to it might have felt rushed, the one thing I thought they were smart to do was have everyone not automatically forgive him. They'll work with him, they'll agree to his help, but they're not going to wholly forgive him and be buddy buddy with him like nothing's ever happened.

I think my favorite reactions to Gai, if I'm remembering correctly, was the two random AIM's employee's just staring at Gai in befuddlement while he's just there having the time of his life with his dog.