The show didn't hit its stride until the Mysterious Black Dude replaced the Big Dumb Farmer as the second-most-central character and the neighboring town of New Bern started causing problems. I almost didn't come back after the hiatus but there just wasn't much to watch after the hockey games were over, and after a weak first couple of episodes I got hooked in (once the shooting started and the body count of regulars approached that of The Sopranos).