AgLA06 said:
He shows authority and pushes Major Eagen back down in his seat and says the loud mouth Britt is his. Keoghan politely asks him to let him do it. He'd owe the Major one.
Just like he does the same when Eagen gets up to sing and ruin the moment in the O Club after the successful Uboat pen mission.
Or in episode one when he calmly lands in a bad crosswind that scares his crew. And then calls off a following Fort.
Or when he calmy suggested that the group fall back to protect Keoghan's fort even though everyone knows that makes them all vulnerable and no one wants to.
They all default to him because they respect him and his quiet confidence. That's the role he's playing.
I'd suggest lowering the shaded glasses and re-watch the episodes again. He leads in just about every episode.
And you are conflating the real Gale Cleven's words and actions with Austin Butler's delivery.
I'm not saying that the real Gale Cleven wasn't a leader. Obviously he was. This character is based off of him, and so the things he says and does is indeed "leadery". However, Austin Butler delivers his lines in a monotone quiet voice that is not "quiet confidence" but "just plain bad".
It would be like if Patton was played by Michael Cera instead of George C. Scott. He could say the exact same lines as George C. Scott and ride in the front of armies on top of tanks like the real Patton, but it would still be pathetically weak voice that takes the viewer out of the moment.
Now if there is evidence of the real Gale Cleven being meek like Butler, then I'd take all of this back. But I doubt that exists (somebody would have said so by now). If it did exist, then I would expect a line in the show that addressed it. Like have another respected pilot say "he's quiet, but he'll keep you alive." or something like that.
I think what happened is pretty simple: that Hanks liked him as Elvis and hired him for this show. But they were justifiably concerned that he would act it as Elvis so they got him a vocal coach. And that Butler's way to refrain from Elvising this role is by talking quiet and slow. It makes sense that they would hire Butler, despite these issues. They figured Butler would be a star, but they could still hire him at a cheap price for this show because Elvis hadn't aired yet.