I wonder if it falls along the lines of if you are a Galemancer or not, though I have seen this split within the communities of those who do choose to romance him too.

I do get the vibe that for most people who don't romance Gale, he's the defacto do-gooder of the group because of how his approval is gained, and that's our impression of him. I'm not too interested in Gale as a romance option, (tho I'll roll a character for it eventually), but even still - experiencing a lot of his scenes second hand, I have a hard time seeing him as this shady guy.

I also usually play darker characters myself, and I appreciate the fact you can still get some interesting conversations and banter from him even though I think he's written to be neutral good. His knowledge about ceremorphosis and his interpretation of Raphael made for interesting scenes with my darker player characters who tend to thrash at the abyss rather than understand it. And since I typically play fighters, his intellectual arrogance wasn't really wrong. I see a lot of people who romance him roll wizards and feel talked down to in many of his scenes.

I also find that his penchant for talking in parables and anecdotes is a defense mechanism rather than patronization, and likewise, if you tell him to shut the fuck up and just spit it out - it almost seems to help him be more direct in what he wants to say (this is my assumption, haven't played this way yet). He is very insecure, and I'm not 100% sure if it's because he feels so utterly rejected and embarrassed or if it's just an echo of growing up a savant.

In the grand scheme of things, bomb or not, Gale is the least of my concerns in a party where I suspect, if given the chance at this stage of the game, 3 out of 4 of the others might kill my pc to wrest control, gain power, or fulfill some secret mission.