User blog comment:Raised By Wolves/Character Appreciation - Week 1: Alejandro/@comment-4742462-20170103012806/@comment-24152851-20170103015159

The reason people like Alejandro as an antagonist is because he actually works for all of his victories. Sure he has a lot of unexpected talent, but the majority of his handiwork is from his strategic mind playing the other characters. The intelligence he shows isn't godplaying, as that can't be brushed off as making a fictional powerful out of nowhere. The writers had to think hard themselves to give him the intellect he showed.

I guess him dumbing down other characters is a valid criticism, but it's nowhere near as bad as Mal. They justified in-universe with Alejandro using his charms, and it only worked on girls. Mal caused characters to be dumbed down without even directly interacting with all of them.