Given that this short, prequel series to SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND was necessitated by star Andy Whitfield's ongoing battle with cancer, I think it does a very good job. In essence, this is a show that sets out the early days of the House of Batiatus that features so prominently in the original series, revealing how the characters played by John Hannah and Lucy Lawless rise to fame.
At least half of the cast list is populated by new faces, and most of the fun comes from guessing what's going to happen to them, given that we know they didn't return for the later series. I'll admit that I wasn't too enamoured by Dustin Clare's boastful Gannicus, but the presence of Jaime Murray, Marisa Ramirez and Stephen Lovatt is more than enough to retain the interest. And, of course, there are many old favourites who return, like the characters of Crixus, Oenomaus and Ashur, and we get a chance to see the reasons they turned out like they did in SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND.
As in the first season, John Hannah steals the show with his endless plotting and ranting against the gods. He's fantastic here, and I think it's great how the producers were able to get another six episodes of entertainment value out of his character. The action is as stylised and grisly as ever, if not more grisly, and there's enough manipulation, backstabbing, gossip and heartfelt emotion to satisfy any fan of TV drama. Okay, it's not quite as good as BLOOD AND SAND, but that's purely because there are only six episodes to work with here, rather than 13, so they just don't have time to cover as much ground.
At least half of the cast list is populated by new faces, and most of the fun comes from guessing what's going to happen to them, given that we know they didn't return for the later series. I'll admit that I wasn't too enamoured by Dustin Clare's boastful Gannicus, but the presence of Jaime Murray, Marisa Ramirez and Stephen Lovatt is more than enough to retain the interest. And, of course, there are many old favourites who return, like the characters of Crixus, Oenomaus and Ashur, and we get a chance to see the reasons they turned out like they did in SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND.
As in the first season, John Hannah steals the show with his endless plotting and ranting against the gods. He's fantastic here, and I think it's great how the producers were able to get another six episodes of entertainment value out of his character. The action is as stylised and grisly as ever, if not more grisly, and there's enough manipulation, backstabbing, gossip and heartfelt emotion to satisfy any fan of TV drama. Okay, it's not quite as good as BLOOD AND SAND, but that's purely because there are only six episodes to work with here, rather than 13, so they just don't have time to cover as much ground.