Spartacus 3x10: Victory
I sobbed my way through the entire episode, really, from about the halfway mark, and so I probably either missed or forgot several things. But wow. What an amazing conclusion to this magnificent show. I feel kind of sorry for the people who refuse to watch it, because they will never know what they missed, and I'm envious of the people who have yet to start watching it. I wish I could do it all over again.
In no particular order, here's the stuff that struck me about this ep.
- Crassus and Spartacus, meeting before the battle, and clasping arms...and then meeting in battle, when Spartacus looked about as scary as a human being can look. He was literally death personified. I had a moment where I thought, wow, and he is still pretty, even covered in so much blood and so many wounds, he is barely recognizable. It's the eyes. His eyes were so fierce. I just...wow. His fight with Crassus was amazing, and of course Crassus was training for just such an eventuality. It's ironic that Spartacus almost had him there, was an inch away from ending him, before he was struck through. AND THEN HE PULLED ONE OF THE SPEARS OUT. SPARTACUS!!!! And then Agron and Nasir ride up to pull him to safety!!! More on that in a second.
The other thing I liked about the first meeting with Crassus was the fact that Spartacus talked about choice and freedom, which I've been going on about in my posts this season. It is the essence of everything. Choices led all of them to where they are - once they were free to make those choices. Not everything is inevitable, as this episode proved out; one can stand and fight, but there are other choices.
- The opening scenes, with Gannicus and Nasir leading battles, shouting, "I am Spartacus!" \o/ \o/ \o/ Beautiful homage to the movie, clever twist in the way it was used (strategy! I loved it!), and also it gave me chills. I don't know how many of you hung in through all the credits, but at the end, the very last shot of the credits was of Andy Whitfield shouting, "I am Spartacus!" and it caused me to burst into tears all over again.
- UGH UGH GANNICUS UGH NO. I didn't want him to be crucified. I was crying so hard. UGH. And when he looked up, and saw Oenomaus there smiling at him, and then saw the arena surrounding him, I wept even harder. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNICUS D:
- Saxa and Naevia died strong and in battle, and that was fitting, and perfect. But oh, wow, I hated to see it happen. So much.
- Spartacus' death...well. I had to rewind. MY SOBS DROWNED HIM OUT. But I loved the bit where he said he would finally hear his own name again, spoken by his wife. Oh my god. And Agron and Nasir right there to hear that.
- The red serpent on the shield! Great and unfortunate things! I really thought they would not come back to that, and that the entire prophecy had been disposed of in season one in the arena, but I guess not. Wow. That was a nice touch, as was the use of Agron's shield to mark Spartacus' grave.
- AGRON AND NASIR LIVED. THEY LIVED. And they are the heroes of the story, the ones who carried forth Spartacus' name! For once, the canon gay characters lived, and saved the day (tho they could not save Spartacus, in the end, but they did spare him from dying by Roman hands). THEY LIVED. It would not have been unexpected for them to die, but wow, way to subvert the whole doomed gay romance thing. AMAZING. SO AMAZING.
- Poor Kore, on the other hand, not so much with the amazing. I HATE THAT SHE WAS CRUCIFIED. It made me sad that Spartacus didn't stab Crassus right in the heart.
- Caesar, that magnificent asshole. It's SO WEIRD for me to not be rooting for the Romans. I love all things Roman. But the light and fire in his eyes every time he killed a rebel, just, NO. I hope like hell he gets his own series. I want to like him. I just can't, in context. *g* Plus we had a brief glimpse of Pompey, which was fun.
- Gannicus stepping up to become a leader was so great. As was Nasir making a stabbing shield for Agron (made with loving hands!), and Gannicus finally understanding what it is to put others before himself, and Agron proving incapable of retreating from a fight, and Spartacus showing intensely brilliant battle strategy.
I loved every bit of this episode. It was a perfect ending. I hate that the show is over, tho. That was some excellent teevee.
Some articles you guys might enjoy:
A very spoilery interview about the finale with Steven DeKnight
"Victory" review by the A.V. Club