It's amazing, isn't it? I'm watching the second season now, and every time he enters a room, the heat factor goes up. I never associated that effect with him before. I got a hot little charge just from his flirting with the queeny translator - the fact that Ethan smiled and played along, and that Josh did it in such an easy, kind-hearted, and sexy way jammed that hotness quotient up about three more notches.

I agree that this is definitely the best work I've seen out of him. And it's a great example of how intangible that kind of development is - it's hard to pinpoint exactly what's different in his acting, but it's unquestionably far ahead of what he was doing ten years ago. It's depth more than anything else, I think. There's more ground under his feet in this part; there's an actual past, which I never felt out of him before. And he's not working so hard, which was something I always found a bit off-putting about him - the effort was so visible in his acting most of the time. Here he's just being who the character is, without trying to be him. It's like there's someone there now, fully present, not just an actor playing a role. His emotions come up more naturally, he's not as controlled. He's just all-around better, in just about every way.

Oy, I hope this series has a nice long run. It's been renewed for next year, I heard. How my naughty bits will stand it, I don't know, but I'm damn sure willing to find out.