Back at the end of January I posted a First Look post on Spartacus:Vengeance. Now that the series has finished it's time to write up a series review and look back on another bloody and sex filled series of Spartacus. You can check out that First Look post here if you'd like.
The 1st season of Spartacus was a huge hit for the Starz network in the USA so it wasn't a shock to see the series renewed for a 2nd season. What was a shock was the sad death of star Andy Whitfield to non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in January last year. It wouldn't have been a suprise to see the show cancelled at this point but the show creators decided to recast the role of Spartacus instead. In came Liam McIntyre and the show, as they say, went on. I'll be honest in that I didn't have huge hopes after the change in main cast member. Although he only played the role for one season, Whitfield pretty much made it his own. Now though I stand here corrected as McIntyre was superb in the title role. By the end of the series I found it difficult to even remember anyone else playing Spartacus. That is a pretty remarkable feat considering the huge shoes McIntyre had to fill.
The end of Spartacus:Blood And Sand saw the slaves and Gladiators escape the ludus after massacring everyone within it's walls. This series could be compared to the 2nd season of Prison Break as the rebels evaded capture by the pursuing roman army. Spartacus and Crixus shared a kind of leadership over the rebels although Spartacus was perhaps the overall leader. That's not to say that Crixus was any less important. The character of Crixus has perhaps gone on the biggest journey throughout the show. It was a journey that we were told more about in the prequel series Spartacus:Gods Of The Arena and as such we perhaps cared about him more. That series also introduced us to the back story of the Syrian Ashur and as such we learned why he became the nasty snake he was in this series.
This season was all about Vengeance as Spartacus finally got revenge on those who enslaved him and those he saw as responsible for the death of his wife. It wasn't only Spartacus who saw Vengeance though as a number of other characters seeked out their own brand of revenge on those who wronged them in the past. Lucretia played the biggest con in history as she eventually got revenge on Llithyia in the finale. You may remember that it was Llithyia who locked the ludus doors in the finale to Blood and Sand thus preventing Lucretia's escape. This in turn caused Lucretia to loose her baby at the hands of Crixus. This season saw Lucretia insane after the events in that finale yet she conned her way back into Llithyia's life by pretending to be sane only to get her revenge by leaping to her death with Llithyia's own newborn child. That may seem crazy but that is in keeping with the nature of the show. If the finale proved anything, it proved that anything can happen as 5 characters I considered important to the continuation of the show all found themselves in the afterlife.
GOOD POINTS
+ Liam McIntyre was a revelation as Spartacus. It must've been the hardest job in the world to follow in Andy Whitfields footsteps but McIntyre managed it. In fact he didn't just manage it, he nailed it which is a truly superb achievement.
+The return of Gannicus was something that I expected but it still was a masterstroke by the writers. Gannicus was the first champion of Capua and his unfinished business with Oenomaus provided one of the seasons best story arcs.
+The death of Ashur was perhaps expected as he became a truly hated and evil character. His raping of Lucretia as well as his past misdemeanors all came back to haunt him in the blood soaked finale as he met his end at the hands on Naevia. It was a truly fitting death and definitely one of the high points of the season.
+Oenomaus was one of the stand out characters of the season as he remained honorable to the end. The fact that he was even given his own flash-back episode shows how big a role he played through-out the series. Although his death happened true to history (well true in the fact that he died at the battle of Vesuvius), it was still a shock.
+Lucretia's scheming had me completely fooled. Yes, I should have expected it, but Lucy Lawlesss proved how good an actress she really is. Playing insane realistically is abit of a skill in itself but playing insane pretending to be sane is really hard. Also, she had one of the best lines of the season when she said to Llityia in the finale (referring to the baby Llityia was carrying) 'You were merely a vessel, now let's see it unwrapped!'
+Full credit has to go to the Post-Production team for all of their computer magic. They have created a world that we can believe existed. Their work in producing the skies alone deserves awards.
BAD POINTS
+I still find the way the characters talk to be really annoying. It does help with the realism but I still have to concentrate on what they are saying which can take your mind away from the action when it occurs.
+I found some of the scenes to be a tad uncomfortable. Ashurs rape of Lucretia was one such scene. The torture of the slave by the Romans was too Saw for my liking as they drew lots before each cutting a bit off him. The final scene of Lucretia falling to her death with the newborn baby was really uncomfortable and will remain with me for some time.
STAR OF THE SHOW
This season of Spartacus produced many memorable turns from it's extensive cast. Special mentions have to go to Lucy Lawless and Manu Bennett (Lucretia and Crixus respectively) but the star of the series is undoubtedly Nick E. Tarabay who played Ashur. For an actor to make a character so hated and despised is a talent. In this series Ashur proved what a snake he was as he taunted the rebels right up to his expected death. No one else could've played Ashur in the way which Tarabay did which is a huge testament to the actor.
Although his death was expected, even required, he was a character I would've loved to have seen back for the 3rd season. It would've been interesting to see how low he could truly sink. He was given a good death though and did get what he truly deserved as he taunted Naevia before she cut off his head in a final act of Vengeance.
FINAL OPINION
As I said at the beginning of this post, I was pretty worried about how this season would progress without Whitfield in the title role. All of those concerns were gone by the 3rd episode though as McIntyre settled into the role. Despite being called Spartacus though, this show is far from being about one character though. It's a true ensemble piece as all characters are given ample screen time. It would be easy to forget about some characters but the writers give us opportunity to care about all of the cast. Oenomaus, Crixus, Gannicus, Ashur, Lucretia, Mira, Llithyia, and Glaber were all given equal story and allowed to shine. This season also saw many of those characters die and in any other show it would be difficult to see a continuation. To make a comparison, imagine if Lost had killed off Sawyer, Hurley, Locke, Ben and Kate in the season 3 finale! Or how about if Prison Break had lost T-Bag, Sucree, Michael and Sarah all in the season 2 finale! That's how big those characters were to Spartacus. Not many shows could continue with that loss but Spartacus will and it'll continue to build on it's success.
All in all this was a huge season in the history of the show for many reasons. The recasting of Spartacus had to be spot on and putting the rebels on the road had to work. The characters had to grow too while still keeping to how we know them. This season ticked many boxes and in my opinion is the strongest season yet of Spartacus.
9/10
