So I was wrong, but only about Gale. I went through and grabbed SH, Wyll, Lae, and Gale then sent them all back to camp. Gale did in fact keep getting approval but none of the other characters did. I even tested just leaving SH a few screens away from the "Say Please" scene with Lae, and she didn't react.
It might just be Gale has a bug in 9, or he is more connected with us than the other characters? But probably the bug, not the worm bug, the code bug.
Maybe Gale is a creep who casts
Scrying every time he's not in an active party.
It would explain why he is the second least popular character of all...
Well, apart from the fact that he eats magic rocks.
