Agreed.
The thug approach was really lame. I would have preferred a more intelligent approach to the dark side. Take Palpatine, for example. He manipulated every single being in the OT in order to rise in power. He could be mercyful (as Chancellor Palpatine), when being so will let him come closer to his own twisted plans. Everyone was a tool to him, a means to an end.
This is what I want to see. Put everyone against everyone. Create distrust, mislead the Galaxy into thinking you are it's savior, when in reality, you're it's conqueror.
Now, that's evil.