I don't like new Octavian as well as Pirkis. I never got the impression that the guy was actually entirely soulless. And Pirkis rode that fine line that let you think that maybe there was a person in there, not just a machine calculating odds of success, though he was always doing that, too. You could see him sucking it up to make himself do things that went against his impulse as a human being, and you could see him actually get mad and react emotionally within the bounds he'd set for himself. I found that more interesting than somebody who really is empty and a sociopath, which is how newguy is playing him.

And, yeah, I didn't like him. I think,it's because I find that viewpoint uninteresting. And I truly DO believe that even the most evil person believes they're a hero.

We're seeing that more interesting stuff with Vorenus right now. That blithe clueless doing what he MUST, Rah rah rah. So you can watch him do these horrible things and go, "yeah, I can see that." Even when it's totally stupid and setting himself up for ruin.