I agree that the show can be frustrating. They are trying to make this a show for a wider demographic, but are any women watching this because they are enchanted by watching Margaret furrow her brow or Jimmy's wife make that wan expression? I don't see it. Not to mention that Buscemi and whatshername have no chemistry at all. Frankly, Buscemi (as much as I love the guy) is miscast. He's a great character actor, not a lead. He should be playing the brains of the operation, not the face. He's not convincing in the politician role and it hurts the show a lot.
Pitt is good and much more convincing badass than I would have expected from a guy that I always thought of as a bargain basement DiCaprio. But the best performances are by guys like Stephen Graham and Michael Kenneth Williams who get a scene every 5 episodes if we're lucky. Actually, Michael Shannon is pretty good this season. I thought the character and the acting were cartoonish in the first season but both have humanized a lot, to the point that I actually want to see what happens next in his story as much as I do in Jimmy's story.