Spartacus 3x10: "Victory"
I am surprisingly okay with the way the series ended. In fact, I am growing happier with it the more it settles in my mind. In my opinion, this was pretty much as positive an ending as possible - far more positive than I expected.
The title of the ep seems very fitting. I think the show did a good (if unsubtle) job of showing that while the Romans achieved military victory and succeeded in brutally quelling the rebellion, the former slaves won a crucial victory of their own - one that was far more important, in its way. Their victory was the rebellion itself, whether or not they were ultimately killed; they won by freely choosing their fate.
Spartacus!
Spartacus' death worked very well for me (leaving aside the usual absurd combat antics, which, hey, that's just how this series rolls). There was never really a chance he would survive. Not because of history - which, in his case, could actually have been tweaked, given that his body was never identified -, but because of the character himself. There was no future for him beyond the rebellion, and certainly no happiness. Everything but the rebellion ended for him with Sura's death. For him, dying in freedom, having taken so much Roman blood and having freed so many other slaves to live or die in freedom, was truly the happiest possible ending.
I loved the call-back to the fact that "Spartacus" was not actually the man's name at all. At long last, he had come to the end of the tragic section of his life that took even his name from him; it was a relief, and he will now finally go back to being [insert real name here], happy in Sura's loving embrace.
Also, even though the actual death scene was a bit kitschy, I loved it anyway. Especially the Spartacus-Agron bromance was immensely satisfying (I loved that during the entire ep, actually). It was wonderful that Agron could be there for Spartacus... and I'll get back to that in a bit.
Castus!
The prize for the second-best death scene goes to Castus the handsome flirty ex-pirate. I loved the entire dynamic between him, Nasir and Agron during this episode, and particularly in the final battle. It seemed to me that all three of them had acknowledged Castus still had romantic feelings for Nasir, but that he would no longer try to act on them because he'd realized Nasir would never turn to him; that Agron was now entirely secure and no longer jealous; and that there was friendship not only between Castus and Nasir, but also respect and growing friendship between Castus and Agron. (And can I just say that Agron's actor is pretty damn amazing? There's scenes where it's like you can see right into Agron's soul.) Nicely done, show.
Naevia!
Oh Naevia, I loved you so much until you took a turn to "psychotic murderer" this last season. Why? Sigh.
But still, this was a good ending for her, too. I am actually grateful that Naevia will not have to live on without Crixus, as I feared - ever since an unfortunate moment several eps ago, I was afraid she would get a classic "survives pregnant with Crixus' child as the happiest possible ending for her" send-off, which, ugh, so much no. That would have been horribly cruel. For me, this was the happiest possible end for Naevia after Crixus' death, just as it would have been for Crixus, had Naevia died first.
Oenomaus!
Yay for Oenomaus making a final appearance for Gannicus. I missed him so much, just like Gannicus did. Just that little glimpse of him was a relief in the middle of that scene. And really, thank you, show, for not treating us to the 6000 crucifications in minute detail. Argh.
Agron and Nasir!
I am so glad that my speculations concerning the likelihood of Agron and Nasir surviving turned out to be correct. They're not historical characters, there was that fake-out with Agron's death in the battle that cost Crixus' life, followed by Agron's torture and last-minute rescue... it didn't feel like the build-up to an actual death to me in narrative terms. And I really can't say how relieved I am that I was right. And how relieved I am that Nasir didn't die, either, leaving Agron alone - that would have been even worse than both of them dying.
Also, I am very glad that Agron got to fight in the final battle, because he needed it so badly. Not only did he need to kill some Romans, but he needed to prove to himself and everyone else that he could still fight, that they hadn't taken everything from him. He did so, in spectacular fashion, and he was there to fight at Spartacus' side right to the end, as a brother should. Before, he was shattered and broken - more dead than alive, as Gannicus put it. After, he was grieving and devastated, but alive again. Himself again.
I am certain that for Agron, his successful participation in the final battle will make the difference between true recovery and a chance at happiness, and horrible guilt, depression, bitterness and self-loathing.
And it's all thanks to Nasir's love and inventiveness. I think that Nasir could have guilted Agron into following Spartacus' initial orders and leading the non-fighting slaves north. But instead, he supported Agron's wish to stay and fight, because he knows Agron, and knew perfectly well how badly he needed to do this. Nasir would much rather have died by Agron's side than see him live as a broken man. He found a way for Agron to fight even with both hands horribly wounded - and so in a very real sense, he saved Agron.
(BTW, judging by Agron's performance with the sword Spartacus told him to hold, I'd say that given time, Agron will make a full recovery. He could move all of his fingers and he could close his hand almost entirely; the problem was just that the wound was still entirely unhealed. Screw realism; I am all for it.)
Romans!
Saying that I liked the ending of Kore's and Crassus' plot would be misleading, but I did think it worked well, and was definitely the right choice in terms of Crassus' character. It was satisfying, in a way, simply because anything else would not have felt true to the characters. There was never really a chance of Crassus simply taking Kore back and forgiving her. Not even if she hadn't killed his son (who really was the perfect - if younger and less competent - mirror image of Crassus; if he'd had another two decades or so, he'd have grown up to be just like his father).
WTF, Pompey? WTF? First Fratboy!Caesar, now WhiteWedding!Pompey...
The sequel...?
If there really is going to be a sequel with Fratboy!Caesar and his triumvirate, count me out.
Well, count me out unless Agron and Nasir appear in it. But fortunately the chances of that are vanishingly small, seeing as they're going to be making tracks to get out of Roman territory, and Caesar's times of gallivating about Gaul and Germania are over.
Blood!
And now for something entirely different: Was it me or did the series run out of fake blood in the final stretch? Naevia was the only one who seemed supplied with anything approaching the usual amount. I guess there wasn't time for the usual slow-motion shots of dozens of liters of fake blood spraying everywhere... or maybe they didn't want to order new blood so late in the series and just made do with the left-overs. ;-)
Coming soon on this blog: Sexy pics of key members of the Spartacus cast in a bathtub. I think everyone needs that kind of thing now.
The title of the ep seems very fitting. I think the show did a good (if unsubtle) job of showing that while the Romans achieved military victory and succeeded in brutally quelling the rebellion, the former slaves won a crucial victory of their own - one that was far more important, in its way. Their victory was the rebellion itself, whether or not they were ultimately killed; they won by freely choosing their fate.
Spartacus!
Spartacus' death worked very well for me (leaving aside the usual absurd combat antics, which, hey, that's just how this series rolls). There was never really a chance he would survive. Not because of history - which, in his case, could actually have been tweaked, given that his body was never identified -, but because of the character himself. There was no future for him beyond the rebellion, and certainly no happiness. Everything but the rebellion ended for him with Sura's death. For him, dying in freedom, having taken so much Roman blood and having freed so many other slaves to live or die in freedom, was truly the happiest possible ending.
I loved the call-back to the fact that "Spartacus" was not actually the man's name at all. At long last, he had come to the end of the tragic section of his life that took even his name from him; it was a relief, and he will now finally go back to being [insert real name here], happy in Sura's loving embrace.
Also, even though the actual death scene was a bit kitschy, I loved it anyway. Especially the Spartacus-Agron bromance was immensely satisfying (I loved that during the entire ep, actually). It was wonderful that Agron could be there for Spartacus... and I'll get back to that in a bit.
Castus!
The prize for the second-best death scene goes to Castus the handsome flirty ex-pirate. I loved the entire dynamic between him, Nasir and Agron during this episode, and particularly in the final battle. It seemed to me that all three of them had acknowledged Castus still had romantic feelings for Nasir, but that he would no longer try to act on them because he'd realized Nasir would never turn to him; that Agron was now entirely secure and no longer jealous; and that there was friendship not only between Castus and Nasir, but also respect and growing friendship between Castus and Agron. (And can I just say that Agron's actor is pretty damn amazing? There's scenes where it's like you can see right into Agron's soul.) Nicely done, show.
Naevia!
Oh Naevia, I loved you so much until you took a turn to "psychotic murderer" this last season. Why? Sigh.
But still, this was a good ending for her, too. I am actually grateful that Naevia will not have to live on without Crixus, as I feared - ever since an unfortunate moment several eps ago, I was afraid she would get a classic "survives pregnant with Crixus' child as the happiest possible ending for her" send-off, which, ugh, so much no. That would have been horribly cruel. For me, this was the happiest possible end for Naevia after Crixus' death, just as it would have been for Crixus, had Naevia died first.
Oenomaus!
Yay for Oenomaus making a final appearance for Gannicus. I missed him so much, just like Gannicus did. Just that little glimpse of him was a relief in the middle of that scene. And really, thank you, show, for not treating us to the 6000 crucifications in minute detail. Argh.
Agron and Nasir!
I am so glad that my speculations concerning the likelihood of Agron and Nasir surviving turned out to be correct. They're not historical characters, there was that fake-out with Agron's death in the battle that cost Crixus' life, followed by Agron's torture and last-minute rescue... it didn't feel like the build-up to an actual death to me in narrative terms. And I really can't say how relieved I am that I was right. And how relieved I am that Nasir didn't die, either, leaving Agron alone - that would have been even worse than both of them dying.
Also, I am very glad that Agron got to fight in the final battle, because he needed it so badly. Not only did he need to kill some Romans, but he needed to prove to himself and everyone else that he could still fight, that they hadn't taken everything from him. He did so, in spectacular fashion, and he was there to fight at Spartacus' side right to the end, as a brother should. Before, he was shattered and broken - more dead than alive, as Gannicus put it. After, he was grieving and devastated, but alive again. Himself again.
I am certain that for Agron, his successful participation in the final battle will make the difference between true recovery and a chance at happiness, and horrible guilt, depression, bitterness and self-loathing.
And it's all thanks to Nasir's love and inventiveness. I think that Nasir could have guilted Agron into following Spartacus' initial orders and leading the non-fighting slaves north. But instead, he supported Agron's wish to stay and fight, because he knows Agron, and knew perfectly well how badly he needed to do this. Nasir would much rather have died by Agron's side than see him live as a broken man. He found a way for Agron to fight even with both hands horribly wounded - and so in a very real sense, he saved Agron.
(BTW, judging by Agron's performance with the sword Spartacus told him to hold, I'd say that given time, Agron will make a full recovery. He could move all of his fingers and he could close his hand almost entirely; the problem was just that the wound was still entirely unhealed. Screw realism; I am all for it.)
Romans!
Saying that I liked the ending of Kore's and Crassus' plot would be misleading, but I did think it worked well, and was definitely the right choice in terms of Crassus' character. It was satisfying, in a way, simply because anything else would not have felt true to the characters. There was never really a chance of Crassus simply taking Kore back and forgiving her. Not even if she hadn't killed his son (who really was the perfect - if younger and less competent - mirror image of Crassus; if he'd had another two decades or so, he'd have grown up to be just like his father).
WTF, Pompey? WTF? First Fratboy!Caesar, now WhiteWedding!Pompey...
The sequel...?
If there really is going to be a sequel with Fratboy!Caesar and his triumvirate, count me out.
Well, count me out unless Agron and Nasir appear in it. But fortunately the chances of that are vanishingly small, seeing as they're going to be making tracks to get out of Roman territory, and Caesar's times of gallivating about Gaul and Germania are over.
Blood!
And now for something entirely different: Was it me or did the series run out of fake blood in the final stretch? Naevia was the only one who seemed supplied with anything approaching the usual amount. I guess there wasn't time for the usual slow-motion shots of dozens of liters of fake blood spraying everywhere... or maybe they didn't want to order new blood so late in the series and just made do with the left-overs. ;-)
Coming soon on this blog: Sexy pics of key members of the Spartacus cast in a bathtub. I think everyone needs that kind of thing now.