Spartacus: Vengeance: Season 2

Fans of Spartacus: Blood and Sand and the prequel Gods of the Arena: Draw near, that I may break words with you.Know this in advance: there are parts of this second season (or third, depending on how you're counting) of the Spartacus saga that _you will not like_. But the gods do not favor such thoughts! WE are for Spartacus: Vengeance, preferably on Blu-ray, which has had noticeably better picture and sound quality than the Starz broadcasts. Bend ear, and I shall give good reasons to make purchase:- The story is on a par with, possibly even better than, Blood and Sand. It's different - how could it be otherwise? - but more complex and on a much grander scale. The same goes for the setting. Spartacus has always featured impressive camera work and CGI, and this time around it is, at times, literally jaw-dropping and downright beautiful. Much of S:V looks and feels more like a movie than a TV series.- The cast outdoes itself yet again. Liam McIntyre takes a couple of episodes to get comfortable with the daunting job of filling Andy Whitfield's sandals, but by mid-season he's rocking Spartacus every bit as hard as Whitfield did. Cynthia Addai-Robinson takes awhile to get into her role as Naevia (replacing Leslie-Ann Brandt,) but makes up for it and then some in the final episode. All the returnees own their characters in splendid fashion, even when those characters have dramatically changed (see below.) It's very hard to pick a standout this time, but I'm going with Nick Tarabay. Yeah, Asher, who this time around is pushing his intelligence (he's smarter than he appears) and cunning (he's even more of a snake) to their limits in an attempt to gain real wealth and power. Tarabay takes what was a relatively minor character in the other series and brings him to the forefront as a downright fascinating, and in a way even tragic, figure. Where was he hiding this guy in S:B&S?- Lucy Lawless, who takes her character Lucretia on a horrific roller-coaster ride from wife and house-mistress (with a touch of the Borgia thrown in,) to mad prophetess, to a vengeful slave's plaything, to confidante-and-perhaps-assassin of a powerful family. You'll be genuinely wondering whether she's crazy-like-a-fox, or just plain crazy, right up to the moment of the Stephen King-worthy climax in the final episode.- "Libertus". Spartacus and his generals return to the arena in Capua one final time, and the result is the best episode of any of the three series up until this point. This and the season finale are by themselves worth the price of the entire set.- "Wrath of the Gods". I didn't think it was possible to top the finale of Blood and Sand. They did it.- The bonus features are all worth watching, especially the "making of" episode 5 featurette. For someone who still pictures the lights-camera-action Hollywood stereotype behind the scenes, watching 21st-century state-of-the-art "filming" with its complex battle choreography, robotic digital cameras and virtual sets is endlessly fascinating.To be sure, there are a few problems with S:V:- First and foremost: only ten episodes. The whole blasted thing was over and done with inside of three months. And this is weird, because there is easily 13 episodes worth of story here. As others have noted, this means that a number of intriguing plot threads (e.g. Lucretia's rescue from the ludus massacre, and the Seppia / Seppius relationship) were just barely touched upon. I assume they blew the budget on episodes 5 and 10, but still, ten episodes simply were not enough to tell this story as it should be told.- As with S:GotA, the story starts out slow, taking a couple of episodes to ramp up. Clearly the producers' fault for spoiling us with S:B&S, which was solid from end to end. ;)- It's clear at this point that the producers are making a conscious effort to outdo themselves sex-and-violence-wise with each new season, and in S:V it's actually become a detriment to the show. We now have the camera lingering on spilled intestines and increasingly-bizarre mutilations for no other reason than "Hey, look what our effects guys came up with THIS time!" We also have numerous scenes set in a brothel that clearly exist only to (ahem) insert sex that they couldn't work into the storyline. (This season could have been subtitled "Meanwhile, back at the whorehouse...") S:B&S proved that they can use the sex and gore intelligently to pump up an already good story. So why go all gratuitous on us now?- Ten. Episodes. At a higher price than most other series' 22-episode seasons. (If history is any guide, however, the price will come down soon after release.)Sum of topic: Buy it, but wait until the price comes down somewhat. Five stars, but just barely this time - the length, the price and what is now the almost overbearing sex and gore almost cost it that 5th.

Season 1 of Spartacus was awesome. Unfortunately they had to change the main characters actor. The original passed away from cancer, but the person they recasted with did an amazing job picking up the mantle as Spartacus. The series continues to be entertaining and deceptive. Its a must watch show if you havent seen it.

I watched the 10-episode season of Spartacus: Vengeance. What an amazing story. I won't give too many spoilers, but in many ways, this is the best season of Spartacus yet.If you're new to the series, you can start with Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. That's the prequel they filmed when series star Andy Whitfield got sick.Andy had filmed the original series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which got everything off to an impressive start. Co-stars John Hannah and Lucy Lawless were brilliant, the entire cast was top-notch, and the story-line was epic. Blood and Sand ends in a rebellion that claims the lives of Hannah's and Lawless' characters, and the story was set to boil over into the next season.Then Whitfield came down with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He took time off to fight his disease. In a stroke of genius, the show's creators decided to show what happened at the gladiator school BEFORE Spartacus arrived. We were introduced to MORE amazing actors and characters, and Hannah and Lawless got to explore depths of their treacherous yet devoted characters that are some of the best roles written for anybody - ever. Gods of the Arena is really the story of Hannah and Lawless' characters, and their incredible scheming.Sadly, Whitfield lost his battle with lymphoma. So when it came time to cast the next season, Spartacus: Vengeance, the show's producers picked Liam McIntyre, who looks a lot like Andy. Stunt-casting like that usually fails, and Liam plays a more warm, less cold-blooded Spartacus. This will rub some viewers as wrong, but if you accept that personal growth is a big part of the story, it actually works.Spartacus: Vengeance takes place after the events of Spartacus: Blood and Sand so is called "season 2" in a move that will confuse many viewers. The producers sweetened the plot by bringing back Lucy Lawless' character, Lucretia. Though she seemed dead at the end of "Blood and Sand," they found a way to bring her back, totally mad after the events that saw her house, marriage and life ruined.Spartacus: Vengeance tells the story of the early stage of the Spartacan rebellion, or Third Servile War. And there is enough intrigue, back-stabbing, and plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat. If you liked Lucretica's scheming, just wait till you see what Ilithyia, played by Viva Bianca, gets up to. The ending is both horrific and satisfying, and makes this the role of Lucy Lawless' career. Xena, Shmeena!Vengeance is a season in which most characters ask themselves: "What's next?" For Spartacus, it's "What's next after I pull off a slave rebellion?" His answer is a quest to find love with Mira (maybe) and definitely vengeance on Glaber, the Roman senator who first hired him as a mercenary then sold Spartacus and his wife into slavery.for loyal Crixus, what's next is to find redemption saving Naevia -- their illicit love ended with her being sent off to the mines. Crixus is obsessed with freeing her.For Doctore/Oenomaus, what's next is how to find honor after he's lost it all. We learn Oenomaus' backstory. You thought maybe you learned his history in the prequel, Gods of the Arena. There's a lot more to the man.For Gannicus, the freed gladiator, what's next is finding something to live for. His character has been adrift since Gods of the Arena. Can Spartacus inspire Gannicus with new purpose?You probably know that Spartacus is based on a real person, though very little is known about him. Gannicus, Crixus and Oenomaus were all real gladiator/rebels as well. One change is that in real life, Oenomaus was a Gaul; they make him a Nubian for the series so they could use Peter Mensah, a martial arts master who is also a masterful actor.And I have to mention actor Nick Tarabay, who plays scheming gladiator and all-around scumbag Ashur. He's not a historical figure, but seems modeled after the character Aaron from Titus Andronicus; the character who boasted:"I have done a thousand dreadful thingsAs willingly as one would kill a fly,And nothing grieves me heartily indeedBut that I cannot do ten thousand more"Speaking of Shakespeare, the language of TV's Spartacus will seem Shakepearean at times. To get that effect, the writers translated Roman texts -- words and phrases -- literally and incorporated them into the scripts. The language really helps transport you to another time.If you liked Rome, if you liked the Sopranos, consider TV's Spartacus. The show is not for kids or even teens, or anyone with a weak stomach. But it is awesome.