Finally watched Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

[Tisiphone]

So bored being iced in the other day, I ordered Starz and was able to catch the first two episodes of the new season. Not too shabby. Lots and lots of Xena/Hercules people in them, and the violence is a 10.

For some reason, I thought Lucy's character was bad, but she's not. Guess they leave that to Gaia, who I ain't too sure about.

I'm gonna order last seaon's on Netflix so I can find out who's/who and what's what. Can't decide if I think the new guy's hot though. Will need further viewing.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

Lucretia has seemed pretty nice so far in GotA, but in B&S we saw more of her conniving side, where iirc she maneuvered to get a few people killed and generally had no morals as long as what she was doing would benefit her or her husband.

 

[Tisiphone]

And this is a prequal to B&S, right? This is how it started? So I would probably confuse myself more if I watched B&S and then GOtA.

 

[Cassie]

Lucretia is just learning how to be EVIL in Gods of the Arena. Gannicus is hot, IMO! Watch Crixus' face for hilarious face acting!

 

[Tisiphone]

Oh, Crixus and I go way back. Watch him in the Xena episode "Antony & Cleopatra." He's hot, yes...but overacts a tad too much with his eye movements.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

If I were you I'd try to watch B&S first, as the joy of GotA is seeing how the characters end up being such arseholes later on, and it's obviously being written with the assumption that you'll recognise who's who and why their actions are important. It might not have the same effect in reverse.

 

[Cassie]

Then you can be sad about Andy Whitfield, too.

 

[Cassie]

Holy shit.. pretty brutal sex.

 

[Tisiphone]

What a way to experience your first time. Poor thing.

 

[Cassie]

Even though the show is really campy at times (which I love), they do a good job depicting some serious things. Lucy Lawless was awesome in this episode too, you could see how uncomfortable Lucretia was about all of that.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

So this is like Spartacus: Revenge of the Sith?

 

[Cassie]

Probably better than Revenge of the Sith, I NEVER SAW THAT MOVIE, OK?

Gods of the Arena has so far been better than Blood and Sand, IMMMMO... but I think it's because the writers and actors feel more confident now that they know we loved B&S, and that we haven't been turned off by the campy stuff, or the brutality.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

Of course, there are some stupid threads on IMDb about there being too much sex "This is just smut!", or complaining that they shouldn't have rape because it's not fun to watch "The sex scenes have become gross and disturbing!".

Some of these viewers don't seem to recognise that it's a brilliant drama as well, where the sex isn't just there to titillate, but because it's what would really be happening in that world and with those characters.

 

[Cassie]

The slave girl in the last episode was especially heartbreaking. She was excited about what she thought was going to happen, but it turned out so dark and disturbing. It was probably one of the best dramatic moments of the series.

 

[Fuddlemiff]

I like that Lucretia cares at least a little for the slaves, even if she does ultimately let them get treated like shit by other people. She's not evil, just bound by the world around her, which is relatable. I guess it's the kind of thing BSG was always trying to do with his "flawed, conflicted characters", except better.