Spartacus: Vengeance season review / Episode 1: “Fugitivus”

WARNING: There are spoilers to be found.

The makers of Starz’ Spartacus show have had a rocky two years getting to what is ultimately the second season, subtitled Vengeance.  Right around the end of season one (Blood and Sand), its lead Andy Whitfield was diagnosed non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma and in order to allow him to recover, a short prequel series Gods of the Arena was released in the absence.  As many reading this know, Whitfield sadly passed away before filming begun on Vengeance, but was around long enough to pass the role onto Liam McIntyre.  Its hard to replace the lead on any show, but Spartacus had a bigger problem: it had a lead character that couldn’t really be dead at this point in the series’ run, and having another actor replace someone else who filled the loinclothed slave-turned-rebel leader’s shoes is a dicey proposition at best.  Watching the first episode “Fugitivus” allayed a lot of those concerns very quickly, almost being a non-issue by the episode’s striking end.

When we meet up with Spartacus and his gang of escaped slaves, it’s been weeks since the house of Batiatus fell, and Roman noble Seppius (Tom Hobbs) has been sending mercenaries out to hunt them down, and as evidenced by the stylish opening, end up getting cut to ribbons.  Spartacus is in that ambush, and decides to use one of the bodies to send a message to now Praetor Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker), the man who put him and his now dead wife into slavery.  It’s only Glaber’s name he scrawls on the dead man, but the message is pretty clear: come and get me.  His Roman superiors are none too happy with his handling of Spartacus, and order him back to Capua to kill this rebellion.  This is not something he wants to do, with his scheming wife Ilithyia (Viva Bianca) now pregnant and someone who definitely doesn’t want to go back there, and with his political status in jeopardy, has no choice but to go.

Spartacus and his band aren’t exactly doing well themselves, living in the underground sewers of Capua, and barely getting by on the food found, mainly by the Gaul ex-slaves who follow Crixus (Manu Bennett).  The group is forced to make a pretty big decision when news of Glaber coming with a legion of soldiers hits: stay and fight or leave to the mountains to grow their army.  Both Spartacus and Crixus have a big debate over what to do, with both men on different agendas: Spartacus to kill Glaber, and Crixus to find his love Naevia.  Considering the two very rarely see eye to eye, there is a real issue at stake here: kill the rebellion by killing Glaber or kill the rebellion hunting a slave who may already be gone.

Its not that Spartacus is completely hellbent and blind to the needs of the group he’s the de facto leader of, as he does spends time contemplating with his new girl Mira (Katrina Law) and helping his the widow of his friend Varro, Aurelia, get out of Roman territory with her son.  He’s aware that he could lose control of his forces without Crixus, so he volunteers himself to help find a lead on Naevia’s whereabouts.  This leads to the big centerpiece of the episode, a whorehouse (filled to the brim with more than your share of pay cable nudity) escapade that turns all kinds of bloody, but pays off with a start to finding Naevia.  Of course, Spartacus won’t leave until Glaber’s dead, which leads him to go off to kill Glaber on his own.

Its surprising to see the very contained last season expand with many different factions in play.  In the case of Seppius, its proving himself and handling his sister Seppia (Hanna Mangan Lawrence), in a relationship that just tows the line at being incest-y.  For Glaber, its to improve his standing by destroying Spartacus, and for the time being, set up shop in the former house of Batiatus.  Its here that another big reveal is made: Batiatus’ wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) survived her stabbing from last season (unfortunately, her love child with Crixus didn’t), and despite Ilithyia wanting her dead, she’s kept alive as an example against Spartacus’ uprising.  How she managed to stay alive and hidden these many weeks is a bit of a stretch (and for a house we last left with dozens of bodies, it’s body-less now, so people at least went through the place and still didn’t find Lucretia), but with Lawless’ performance of someone who may be completely gone (or not), it’s a welcome one to see that Glaber’s house will have its own kind of internal strife.

Glaber makes a public speech, which would be a perfect opportunity to strike for Spartacus, but that goes south when its discovered Aurelia has been captured, marked with the sign of “fugitive” (on her head), and it turns into a rescue when Crixus and some men arrive to retrieve Spartacus and Aurelia.  Glaber escapes, Aurelia dies in transit, and Spartacus finally agrees to head to the mountains to build his forces to fight Glaber.  As tempting and as shocking it would be to take Glaber out of the picture, its good to see a big goal laid out for the season for Spartacus to accomplish.  And with the next move to free Naevia from whatever nobleman has her, that resolution won’t come for awhile.

 If anything in the absence between seasons, the show has improved in its opening episodes.  The first episode of Blood and Sand was too much style over substance, but if anything the opening episodes of Spartacus’ seasons since have been solid starts for the series.  For a show that is known for many gladiatorial fights, its kind of humorous to see that the one here is brief, and for the spectators watching it, seems boring.  The show has to stretch out, and its attempt to snap loose of its Gladiator-esque roots appears to be working so far.  If anything can be leveled as to something missing, is several characters throughout appear briefly (such as the in-hiding former Doctore of Batiatus, Oenomaus, played by Peter Mensah, but does so in a pretty badass fight scene) or not at all (the back-stabbing Ashur).  But, we got a whole season (and another one due to an early renewal) to see how all of this comes into play.  But if this episode is any indication, its going to get extra bloody in Capua before its over.

--For the future, I’ll be reviewing the season and post on future episodes around the following Sunday (give or take).  This got done a bit early due to Starz posting the episode to view online early to build up for this week’s premiere.  And like this post, there will be spoilers to the episode, so don’t complain.

   

--Maybe its just me, but I think I agree with Aurelia here with her forbidding with her last breath Spartacus to find her son, even if she was beaten, marked, and bleeding to death.  That guy leaves dead bodies behind like people leave used tissues.

--Almost forgot to mention Agron, the still alive brother of the gladiator brothers from Blood and Sand is still alive, and quite blood hungry.

--I love that just for a moment, there’s the possibility that Lucretia is a figment of Ilthyia’s stressed out mind.  It calls to mind Battlestar Galactica for a second, another show Lawless has graced.

--Speaking of Lucretia, who stitched up her gut wound?  Hmmm...

--If you’re not a fan of speed-ramping, the opening scene will likely piss you off.

--John Hannah’s appearance on the show as Batiatus is missed, or maybe I just miss him screaming, “Jupiter’s cock!”.  Yeah, that’s probably it.

--That tiered whorehouse fight is awesome.  I did say that, right? 

--“Agron, I believe he’s dead.”

--“It seems Naevia is not here to attend to you.”

--“You are not dead.  You still draw breath.”  And then comes out the intestines.

--“I am not Doctore.  Not anymore.”

--“You had me at ‘whores’.”

--"Place ear to chest, and you will find it absent sound."

--“We will face the hordes of Rome again, and the gods shall weep for their suffering.”

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars