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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

SPARTACUS: SEASON 3, WAR OF THE DAMNED, EPISODE 1: ENEMIES OF ROME


The first episode of the final season of “Spartacus” has only just finished and already it feels like we’ve been through a war.

The show lost its original Spartacus (the charismatic Andy Whitfield, who passed away of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma), enlisted another (Liam McIntyre), and, all told, muscled its way through two seasons and a mini-series. Now, finally, the really epic part of this epic begins.

The first episode, titled “Enemies of Rome,” baptizes us in blood in the opening scenes. Spartacus and his men have broken through the lines of the Roman troops, who have once again foolishly underestimated them. And then we see Spartacus himself, mounted on a horse and armed with a sword, coming for the commanders, who are now realizing, far too late, the peril they are in.

Some of our old comrades from past seasons are there–Crixus, Gannicus, Naevia (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) and the gang. But the backdrop this time is a whole theater of war, not just an arena. The stakes have been raised, and the bloody conclusion is in sight. “Underestimating your opponent is a Roman trait,” Spartacus says later.

The Roman leaders are having a meeting about their losses, as they are washed by naked servants, naturally. They give us a recap within this recap–Spartacus has seen a string of victories on the battlefield, we hear, and former slaves are rallying to his side and swelling his army. The current leaders of the Roman legions are running out of denarii to fight the battle. So the decision is made to get someone with deep pockets (do togas have pockets?) to lead the fight: Marcus Crassus (played by Simon Merrells).

We first see Crassus sparring with a gladiator slave, while his son Tiberius watches. Crassus loses the bout, but he’s learning the slave’s tricks. It’s all good preparation for fighting Spartacus and his gladiator army. An emissary arrives and asks Crassus for assistance to fight Spartacus–they want 10,000 men. In exchange, he’ll be given a command–below the current commanders. Surprisingly, Crassus agrees to the lousy terms, even though he has all the leverage. After the emissary leaves, Tiberius questions his father’s decision. Crassus give him a knowing look and says it’s all about the glory of Rome. He’s a wily one, that Crassus, and he’s playing a long game.

There’s a brief Starz-y interlude in which, gratuitously, Gannicus takes on a couple women at once, followed by a scene with Agron getting it on with his warrior lover, Nasir.

Spartacus later takes Gannicus to task–he’s got to stay sharp. He asks him to take his rightful place as a leader. Gannicus says “I would not be set above my brothers” as Spartacus is.

Spartacus comes down from his high horse–literally, he was riding a high horse in the opening scenes of this show–to tour his military encampment incognito. He finds that the men are hungry and are eating horses.

Spartacus decides it’s time to take some action. He hatches a plan for a stealth attack against the enemy commanders. “A few men might penetrate defense unnoticed,” he says. Agron is to lead the men in his absence as Spartacus, Gannicus, and Crixus go on the mission.

Another Starz break as we see Naervia and Crixus make out a bit. But it doesn’t go as far as Starz usually goes, just a few kisses. This is only a one-hour show, after all.

Tiberius and Crassus argue about how worthy an opponent Spartacus really is. Crassus says they have to look out for him; Tiberius thinks that his wealth and position clearly give him advantage over a common slave like Spartacus. Crassus, to teach his son a lesson, asks him to test his theory by taking on his gladiator slave. Tiberius is easily bested. Crassus tells him Spartacus has done the same to other nobles, “and laughs as they tumble from the heavens.”

Crassus fights the slave himself. This time he makes the contest to the death, so the gladiator slave is forced to do his best. “Come at me as you would an opponent in the arena,” Crassus demands. Crassus wins the match, and thus demonstrates that the slave has taught him all he knows, and his usefulness, to him at least, has come to an end. Crassus kills him. Thus we see Crassus is both crafty and cruel. “A man’s true enemy is doubt, a thing I would not carry into battle against Spartacus,” Crassus says.

Spartacus, Gannicus, and Crixus surprise the Roman commanders and cut them down with a bold stealth attack. Blood is spurting like the fountains outside the Bellagio. Or rather, I should say, like the fountains around Rome.

Spartacus pins down the two Roman commanders. He is asked for his terms of surrender.

“There are none that I would trust a Roman to honor,” Spartacus snarls.

He then executes a double decapitation, as the headless bodies fall before him in slow motion.

News of the death of the commanders reaches Rome. An emissary suggests that Crassus’s own messenger may have helped lead the rebels to the fallen commanders. In any case, Crassus is now the only option and is placed in sole command of the war against Spartacus. Everything has worked out as he planned it. He’s like Machiavelli, 1500 years in advance, playing his enemies like a game of chess (to borrow a line from Lauryn Hill).

“I serve the glory of Rome,” Crassus says.

With Crassus soon to be at his sandaled heels, Spartacus looks to find his army a city in which to camp.

To borrow a line from “Game of Thrones,” winter is coming.

And so is Caesar. Alea iacta est!

SOURCE: SPEAK EASY

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