He got a LOT farther than I thought he would, honestly. I didn't feel that way because of him or his ability, but because of the obvious barriers he had to deal with and all the people so fervently committed to him staying silent and out of their sight.
I'm hoping someone more prominent than myself will point out the disproportionate amount of worry people had about him being on the show, when compared to how much controversy (or lack thereof) he actually brought to the show. I mean, people acted like it was the end of the world, and it ended up being just like any other TV show.