Spartacus - Blood and Sand

The Red Serpent The opening episode is just a cautious step toward the main plot. It’s something like a background to Spartacus' story, the beginning of his hatred for Claudius Glaber and his love for his wife Sura. The visuals starkly interpret the popular look of 300, but that very quickly disappears from the face of the franchise, which is just as well. Only the entrance of the main bitch, Glaber's new wife Ilithyia, can be described as engaging. Sacramentum Gladiatorum The confused Spartacus meets Varro, once a free citizen, now a friend in the Ludus under Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Batiatus. Slowly, Batiatus' wife Lucretia is also gaining ground, captured only as a dangerously sexy washcloth with claws retracted. Legends While it appears that Spartacus will be staying in the Ludus for some time, legends are told about local champions and their principal opponents. Lucretia learns how to handle the provocative and at the same time very naive Ilithyia. Crixus falls in love with Lucretia's personal slave Naevia and competes with Spartacus in the arena. The Thing In The Pit A game on the verge of bankruptcy is being played, which nevertheless opens the hearts of both Lucretia and Batiatus. The confusion and delirium in Spartacus' mind are nothing compared to the bond that Lucretia and Batiatus have with each other. There is no barrier that can separate them. Shadow Games Lucretia blossoms like the noonday sun with every new thought of coitus in her lover's arms. But she never stops loving Batiatus - more than her life itself. Along with the preparations for the duel with Theokoles, the feud between Spartacus and Crixus begins to boil, Doctore's secret is revealed and Solonius finally cuts his own branch out from beneath him. Director Michael Hurst's abilities reach new heights. The series is definitely captivating - all my previous criticisms have been forgotten. Delicate Things Images of betrayal, a few wasted lives, and the turn of several characters to Tartarus. Batiatus, in his blindness, will not know for a long time where he went wrong. However, Ashur will probably become immortal. He's out there dreaming of a gay idyll in freedom at the mercy of Barca. And Sura? The last remnants of 300 left with her. Great and Unfortunate Things It is perhaps too spiritual a work. Spartacus mourns and trades his own identity for his wife's faith. The real world beyond the walls of the Ludus is weighing on Varro and Doctore suspects betrayal in the Barca departure case. Ilithyia is becoming unmanageable. Lucretia has too little room for her own magic. Mark of the Brotherhood The detective story passed by just as quickly as Crixus seized the opportunity to prove on every front that he was capable of competing with a true champion. The heavens opened over Lucretia, Spartacus survived Ilithyia's assassination, and Ilithyia herself was truly distressed by a wasteful social event. And Ashur? We know how it is with these people. He's only looking out for his own bag of money. Whore This is one of director Michael Hurst's highlights in the series, and after cutting a perfect turning point in all the developments so far along with the creation of Theokola, he went on to take on another massive task - the destruction of Ilithyia. Lucretia and the bowels of the House of Batiatus became a veritable slough of vice, and while the high-ranking Licinia breathed her last, Lucretia committed herself to a new friendship. One that was meant to bind her and Il together forever. Party Favors Unfortunately, this episode did not bear the fruit that Batiatus and his appetite for a political career had hoped for. The youthful Numerius has become a mere instrument in Ilithyia's revenge, which she had vowed to wreak on Spartacus long before he himself became champion of the noble city of Capua. You can't resist the lust of a young panic, but it is a great pain that this coldly calculated maneuver cost the life of the most human gladiator of all, the valiant Varro. Old Wounds In retrospect, it appears that the fundamental mistake in Batiatus' path to power was his elimination of Lucretia having knowledge of his plans. He sealed his own future with the senseless murder of Sura. Yet it is clear from the example of the contrition he showed in the Varro case that he never acted blindly. He was blinded only by his own desire to overcome himself. The return of Spartacus to his old Thracian nature is due to chance and the selfish love of the slave girl Mira. Surely even the oily Ashur could not have expected such a thing. Crixus' comeback is just the cherry on top of the ride to hell represented by the last three episodes of the epochal Blood and Sand series. Revelations With the anticipation of the finale comes the brilliant departure of good friend Solonius, Ilithyia's meeting with her dear husband, and Spartacus' deliberate preparation for revenge. The beautiful widow of Varro refuses financial help from Spartacus and becomes a slave in the house of Batiatus. What can be missing in order to find happiness? Nothing but a decisive end to the forbidden love of a gladiator and his personal slave by the Dominus. Kill Them All The bloodbath finale that has everything. To make the final story of the gladiatorial uprising and the slaughter of the Roman nobility more attractive, the narrative is split into a series of flashbacks and there is something for everyone. Mira claims coitus from Spartacus, Varro's widow Aurelia takes revenge on the young Numerius, Crixus takes revenge on Lucretia, and Ilithyia gains the impression of absolute superiority... Doctore is expecting freedom, so he gives Ashur a few minutes of his time. Of course, the left-wing Spartacus speech must be heard, and we will thus meet the survivors again on January 21st (27th), 2012. (01/09/2019) (less) (more)