He definitely seems to have worked even harder this season, and--not being catty or bitchy, but just looking at it from a trained actor's perspective--let's face it, LG was not a good actress in that role. And there's no way that didn't increase the number of takes, the amount of coaching, and the hours spent filming her scenes. And most of her scenes were with him. Which pushed him even harder.

I feel for him, I really do. What he's doing isn't easy. I know if anyone has the self discipline to do it, though, it's him. And I'm cheering him on over here.