I watched this show when it first came out. At first I didn't enjoy it but it grew on me. Such a good series but when I found out the main character died in RL due to cancer, I never watched the new seasons because one of my greatest pet peeves in film/television is the cast changing. I was bored the other night and decided to take a look at the 2nd season. So far so good. It has enough gossipy/female drama to keep my wife interested while at the same time having political struggle and of course action to satisfy myself. So far it seems to be a prequel of the first season, so I have yet to encounter the "new" Sparticius. I hope I am not disappoint.