I know close to a year later fans are still morning the loss of Chandler Massey on DOOL. Hard to blame them, although he seem to lose his enthusiasm for the role before he left, he was pitch perfect in the coming out storyline. Some powerful stuff, especially in scenes with his grandmother and three EMMY's in a row later his departure is still felt deeply.
I have barely been watching since he left, partly due to time but mostly due to his replacement. It has been close to 10 months and Guy Wilson has yet to win over most of the shows fans. It is not his fault really, I am sure he is a wonderful guy, but he lacks depth, and although he may visually be close to the character, he brings such annoying body movements and facial expressions with him that is like a little playing grown-up in most of his scenes. The show seems committed to him, but the character basically died after Massey's exit for many.
Thankfully, in my eyes, Massey's replacement was never Wilson. Long before Massey took his exit, the show wisely began grooming it's next leading young man with Casey Moss. With Massey still on the canvas, Moss had an easier time integrating into the show and cast and quickly became the shows most active younger actors. He has been saddled at times with some thankless story lines (including making him a teen summer romantic Romeo) but hopefully the show will give him his edge back as it flows into the fall.
