SPARTACUS - War Of The Damned - Episode 2

The stoning of the slave was particularly brutal to watch. I know it's all just effects and extra ketchup but what a barbaric way to go out - all the while tied up. The solution Spartacus takes upon seeing the spectacle end says all you need to know about the mindset of this series. Slavery and Roman occupation are wrong and freedom is something that will be fought for regardless of the cost. Death is preferable to enslavement.

I am enjoying watching the Roman prepare for their battle and how everything they do has a political end. The craftsmen of Rome are put to use creating arms and armor to equip an army. You forget sometimes that all this stuff had to be paid for somehow and it's interesting to see the infrastructure that existed at the time - an infrastructure that could support an military industrial complex that was Rome. I appreciate these little details. It doesn't just feel like padding.

Both sides have interesting characters especially the Brad-Pitt like actor playing a young Julius Caesar as a young roustabout and reckless but talented soldier. But what was with that scrotal bloodletting? I hear it is something and in episode 4 we will find out what that is. Am I the only one that noticed it?

 

Both he and Crassius see value in their alliance. Crassius gets a named political player on his side and Caesar gets his debts repaid. This whole arrangement also gives us some charismatic players for the Roman side.

Trust me, Spartacus is a lot tougher than this bathrobe might suggest. It's the only thing clean he had left in his closet when he left the house in the morning.

The next episode will be the cleanup and fortification of the town that the slaves just decimated. It's only going to get worse from here.