I watched S10E03 "The Cop On The Cover" recently (as in a couple of weeks ago) and something stood out: Terri O'Brien (Jean Simmons) is beyond annoying. She thinks she knows it all, but she really has no clue what is going on. It doesn't help that she's written in such a way as to get under McGarrett's skin but there's something off, as if the writers made her unnecessarily over the top.

I've been meaning to write about this for a bit but "Star Trek: The Next Generation" prompted it now. I just watched S04E21 of that show called "The Drumhead". Simmons portrays retired Admiral Nora Satie who is hell-bent to uncover a conspiracy where none exists.

So now I have to wonder if part of the problem isn't with the actress herself. There's nothing wrong with Simmons' portrayal of Terri but the last time I watched I found myself irritated by her at every junction, including her feminism (mind you, I'm a woman and I get this was a big thing in late 1970s but it's on my last nerve now). She seems obsessed with making McGarrett look bad, which is completely stupid. She yells at him at his treatment of the Longworths, particularly Stuart (Henry Darrow) who paid a ransom to get his kids back after they were kidnapped. She also loses her mind because of her perception of McGarrett's uncaring attitude toward Joe Moala (Moe Keale) after he has a heart attack. Except that was a ruse to escape. She inserts herself at every opportunity despite McGarrett and Danno's efforts to stop her.

To make matters worse, Terri herself is tied up and gagged by Stuart's co-conspirators (we find this out as the episode goes on) in an out of the way house. While she's gagged, McGarrett takes an opportunity to preach at her. (blah blah blah!) The closing has her rolling in a multi-course chicken dinner as a mea culpa. (Gag!)

Am I really that off in my assessment?