I think he's most fun as a heavily layered magnificent bastard.. Oh yes, I agree. Though I think they actually could have done something interesting when Lionel was good in S4 if they just had plotted it out well--like having him encounter people he hurt in the past, for example. But he's really just a supporting character, and considering that season 4 did a bad job developing even the main cast, I guess I'm not surprised they didn't do well by supporting characters.