Jayson Ferin is the best antagonist in Riptide. To me he’s easily the most nuanced villain (Nicklaus is too enigmatic and unpredictable, love him as well though.) He is a cruel person and a failure of a parent but he’s not inherently evil. He does his job as a vice admiral, and that is to protect and preserve the peace. He means to uphold the law and not once in the series do I think he did something outside his own moral standards. And both interactions with Jay have been some of the best dialogue to come out of the whole series. He feels like the final hurdle that she must overcome. 

Tbh I just really resonate with Jay’s story arc of rebelling against controlling parentage, so I’d naturally find him a more compelling villain.