Caught the first episode and thought that it was quite a good startto what is the final season. Lots of gore and fucking.
*The character of Marcus Crassus has more dept than every Roman combined thus far. He is fucking brilliant. Pity he will lose that come Persia time in 20years.
*The seeds of conflict between Crixus and Sparty start with Naevia little complaint to Crixus in the tent.
*Whats with the cute slavewoman in Crassues house. She seems to be quite devoted to Crassus Junior (and disliked by Mrs Crassus). Are they going to horror horror show the often long term relationships that many Roman had with slaves, relationshio which went beyond the mere master-slave one?
I liked this episode a lot - not as aimless as the first episode of last season. Crassus is looking like he’ll be a worthy villain to finish this one out.
I thought Crassus was too perfect. He was a great business man but I never pictured him as a great fighter. That is what I like about the show though, they really develop the characters and relationships, so I’m not going to complain. Could still do without the splashing blood.
The (historical) Crassus had a pretty successful military career both against Spartacus and before that, under Sulla. It usually gets overshadowed by his defeat/death by the Parthians, and the even more successful careers of his contemporaries, so I was glad “War of the Damned” emphasized that instead of going with the more predictable “generic rich businessman villain” route.
Granted I doubt the real Crassus really spent a lot of time training in one-on-one combat with ex-gladiators, but it wouldn’t be Spartacus if a character was introduced without him personally killing someone, having sex with someone or having sex while killing someone.
True. But you forgot having sex in the pool of blood of the person you just killed for double crossing you and killing the last person you had sex with previously. Or is it the other way around? Sometimes I forget why they are killing and fucking any particular person and who cares?
A bit of a let down after the first episode, but still good. I did not like Crassus relations with the cute slavegirl, if Plutrach is to be believed, he unlike most Romans of that era was actually devoted to his wife. Ceaser was a big disappointment, too chiseled, too blonde and too wild.
OTH I did like the Roman grain merchant and his wife, ordinary decent people, who are caught under. I also like the fact that they did not fail to show the blood and rape that occurred when the city fell, the slaves otherwise seem like 21st century characters.
Granted I doubt the real Crassus really spent a lot of time training in one-on-one combat with ex-gladiators, but it wouldn’t be Spartacus if a character was introduced without him personally killing someone, having sex with someone or having sex while killing someone.
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At the time, the Roman Army was still in transition from a citizens levy to a fully professional force and many units and formations were filled with less than steller recruits, one of the reasons for Spartacus success. There are documented cases of gladiators being called in to give lessons to recruits in this era and earlier.
I did like the last episode where Spartacus was given a perfect setup to say “I am Spartacus”(the noblewoman asks “you follow Spartacus”), but instead he says, “no, I’m the man himself.”
I’m kinda wondering if she’s some kind of tribute to the character played by Jean Simmons in the 1960 film - a slave woman who was the subject of Crassus’s obsession. In that movie, she was Spartacus’s lover/wife/mother of his child. Maybe in this version, she’ll eventually meet Spartacus and, just for laughs, be the one that ultimately kills him.
I kept thinking he wandered over from the Sons of Anarchy set.
Superb episode. Conniving, orgying, fighting in equal measure. I do wonder what the arcs of the cute slave girl stalking Gannicus are going to lead to. I also like the Roman aristocratic woman and the way she points out how little difference there is between Sparty and the Romans he claims to detest.
What the… Gannicus was the sausage in a four-way just two episodes ago and now he balks when his superhot blonde girlfriend literally pushes a superhot brunette at him?
Now if it taken a more violent tone, say the blonde forces the brunette forward, twists her arms behind her, slams her to her knees to service Gannicus, then pulls a knife and kills her at the moment of his climax because, damnit, he’s her man… that, I could buy.