Eva Stratt is such a woman of all time.
She could've been an archetypal villain, ruthless and one dimensional, especially since you're supposed to root for Grace, but I am so glad she is far from that. Sandra Hüller plays her with such depth. You can tell that, despite sending them to their deaths, despite keeping her distance, she really does care about the astronauts.
Her affection for Grace in particular grows over time, and it nearly bleeds out of her every time they're in the same scene. Urging everyone to clap for him when he discovers the Astrophage are cells, as well as when he enters the conference room aboard the ship, singing to the crew (while for everyone, but specifically for him). And "I didn't mean to bother you" "You don't bother me" and knowing that she means it because she's blunt enough to say it right to his face if she didn't.
When Grace says, "It must be hard, having to ask everyone to, you know..." and Stratt replies, "Actually, it isn't," but when she asks Grace not to struggle as he's being taken away, you can see that for one moment, it is, so much so that she nods as almost if she's re-convincing herself that this is what she needs to do.
She is Earth's scapegoat, a duty she accepts with equanimity, a woman who loves Earth so much that she is willing to make great sacrifices for it. Even to sacrifice someone she loves just as much. Even though it hurts.
