I said in my last review that I was glad the series was finally going somewhere, and this episode does not disappoint.
Capua is in drought and the town is going mad, so the head honcho decides to hold a games to appease the gods.
Crixus and surprisingly Spartacus are chosen to fight the primus provided by Batiatus' arch enemy Selonius.
The shadow of death is a legend never fallen, never beaten, and only one man has ever lived following a match, Doctore.
Paired together you can feel the intensity between Crixus and Spartacus, and of course they cannot fight together.
This is the first time we see Crixus as doubting and even scared, Spartacus as is his usual self doesn't get it.
Meanwhile Lucretia is examined by the High priestess of Juno's temple about childbearing. She is given a potion and told she must copulate within the hour. Batiatus being away she calls on Crixus, but he advises that sex makes him week for the tournament so she leaves him aware that her chance has disappeared.
Batiatus' men have tracked down a slave dealer who confesses the name of the person who hired him to kill Batiatus. We later see Batiatus in a house surrounded by dead bodies of the family that he has had killed. The merchant to whom he owns a debt confesses the it was Selonius that wanted Batiatus killed. The Syrian kills him and is then ordered to do something far worse.
Back at the games it appears that Crixus and Spartacus have won easily as a team, however everything is not quite so simple.........
The episode deals with love, loss, honour, and an understanding of Crixus and why he hates Spartacus. It also deals with the Roman practice of buying debts and plotting.
It is probably the first time I felt some real character development in the series save the last episode, and it nicely changes your view of some of the character.
The vapid legatus' wife however is just the same as she has always been :)
Capua is in drought and the town is going mad, so the head honcho decides to hold a games to appease the gods.
Crixus and surprisingly Spartacus are chosen to fight the primus provided by Batiatus' arch enemy Selonius.
The shadow of death is a legend never fallen, never beaten, and only one man has ever lived following a match, Doctore.
Paired together you can feel the intensity between Crixus and Spartacus, and of course they cannot fight together.
This is the first time we see Crixus as doubting and even scared, Spartacus as is his usual self doesn't get it.
Meanwhile Lucretia is examined by the High priestess of Juno's temple about childbearing. She is given a potion and told she must copulate within the hour. Batiatus being away she calls on Crixus, but he advises that sex makes him week for the tournament so she leaves him aware that her chance has disappeared.
Batiatus' men have tracked down a slave dealer who confesses the name of the person who hired him to kill Batiatus. We later see Batiatus in a house surrounded by dead bodies of the family that he has had killed. The merchant to whom he owns a debt confesses the it was Selonius that wanted Batiatus killed. The Syrian kills him and is then ordered to do something far worse.
Back at the games it appears that Crixus and Spartacus have won easily as a team, however everything is not quite so simple.........
The episode deals with love, loss, honour, and an understanding of Crixus and why he hates Spartacus. It also deals with the Roman practice of buying debts and plotting.
It is probably the first time I felt some real character development in the series save the last episode, and it nicely changes your view of some of the character.
The vapid legatus' wife however is just the same as she has always been :)
