Spartacus Vengeance.

Spartacus Vengeance ended in typically rip roaring fashion and you have to say over all it was an excellent season.  I had my doubts about the show, more or less, leaving the arena but opening it out has been a success. OK, Liam McIntyre didn't have the power of Andy Whitfield's portrayal, making Spartacus more of a conciliatory leader than brute force commander. But he was still good in the role. 

When Blood and Sand started we all tuned in for the promised gore and nudity but these days it is all about the characters; with the gore and nudity just adding the spice. This week's finale saw a lot of major and major minor characters meet their end. And that has been one of the great strengths of Spartacus we even, sort of, feel sad when the baddies get it, no death is without a twinge of regret that the character is gone. 

Now we have season four to look forward to and the promise of Julius Caesar and, the much mentioned, Marcus Crassus. If the show follows history (well the books and films) then we know the eventual outcome for our hero is not rosy. But getting there will be a non stop thrill ride.

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Spartacus Vengeance.

I started to panic during the first five minutes of Spartacus Vengeance when both Dane and Dan from Neighbours turned up. 'Oh no' I thought, 'Please don't make this a Home and Away and Neighbours fest'. That is what ruined Underbelly for me. If you'll remember, that show was jam packed with them,  episode after episode and, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't accept bumbling David Bishop as a hardened gangster. 

Where was I? Oh yeah, Spartacus. Well I needn't have worried we were soon thrown into the madness of the show. New Spartacus Liam McIntyre is going to take some getting used to. I miss the intensity that Andy Whitfield brought to the role. Suddenly Spartacus  doesn't seem such an even match up against Crixus. Also we have the massive John Hannah shaped hole in the show. It's a little unnerving, an entire episode going by and no yell of 'Jupiter's cock!'. But the villains we have now are more than good enough, the craven snide Glaber and the bad to the bone Ilithyia. Also it was a great idea to have Lucretia survive as some mad Shakespearean type lunatic.

It is early days and things look promising. Those of us who have stayed the course have long taken the gore and nudity as part of the show and it is the characters, and story, we care about now. So I'm looking forward to  seeing who lives and dies. As we all know this is a series that kills off major characters on a regular basis. So buckle up, I think we are in for a bumpy ride.

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