Spartacus: Blood and Sand

One of the biggest surprises this year was watching this show slow transform from a laughably trashy and shallow mess in the pilot into a genuinely likable and decent drama by the season finale. It's still a bit excessive in the more adult elements, and takes probably a bit too much inspiration from 300 and Rome, but in the end I couldn't help but enjoy it for the most part. These 13 episodes cover the period in Spartacus' life when he was captured and made into a skilled gladiator, right up until his escape and the beginning of the revolt. For the most part it focuses on the arena and the villa of his owner, as things waver between livable and untenable for Spartacus and his fellow slaves. There are triumphs and failures, although it becomes clear as it goes on that it's only a matter of time before things go really bad. This comes to a head in the last episode, which is one of the best payoffs for a season long story arc I've honestly ever seen in a show.

Some stylistic stuff still bothers me about it though. The violence is pretty absurd in places. Sometimes it's fine if a bit too heavily focused on showing the brutality of the events in loving, slowed down detail, but there are bits where the computer blood is just terrible looking and all over the place and breaks the scene's credibility. It makes it feel really cheap. The constant sex is also probably a bit over the top, it's not that I minded seeing naked women but it often veered into near-softcore porn territory. And the dialogue sometimes tried too hard to sound smart and fancy, with characters referring to themselves in the third person and really just talking unnaturally. Just because it's a show about the old days doesn't mean people can never talk like people. These are all quibbles though in a show that's part guilty pleasure and part actually quality drama when it tries to be. This is the part where I'd normally say I'm looking forward to the next season, although unfortunately the actor who plays Spartacus was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and production has been delayed. They seem to be developing a short prequel series to keep momentum going during his recovery, although I can't say how interesting that would be. It could be good if it means more time for John Hannah and Lucy Lawless, two actors who have never been that famous but have always done solid work and were pretty good in this show as the owners of Spartacus and his fellow slaves. They got a significant amount of focus considering their temporary position within the overall story of Spartacus' life, and that stuff tended to be more stimulating than a bunch of nearly naked men swinging swords at each other. We'll see, I guess.