The show, as you already know from S1, operates with a specific type of narrative engine: there is always, always, always a lit fuse burning somewhere. Every time he extinguishes one fuse, another one somehow gets lit in the process. And for the whole thing to be even remotely believable to any extent, Bateman has to play this guy who is almost supernaturally composed.

Marty Byrde is not a showy part like Tony Soprano or Walter White, and he's not cool like Don Draper...but he's more recognizable to me as an actual person than any of those iconic characters. I'm not smart or calculating enough to be Marty Byrde...but he's normal enough to be me. And that makes it easier for me to imagine myself in this situation.