Spartacus Episode Recaps 1 Through 3
Get caught up on Starz epic take of Spartacus.
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Betrayed by the Romans. Forced into slavery. Reborn as a Gladiator. The classic tale of the Republic’s most infamous rebel comes alive in the graphic and visceral new series, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand." Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment. But not all battles are fought upon the sands. Treachery, corruption, and the allure of sensual pleasures will constantly test Spartacus. To survive, he must become more than a man. More than a gladiator. He must become a legend.
Starring Australian actor, Andy Whitfield (McLeod's Daughters) as Spartacus, Lucy Lawless ("Xena: Warrior Princess") as Lucretia, John Hannah (The Mummy, Four Weddings and A Funeral) as Batiatus and Peter Mensah (300, The Incredible Hulk) as Doctore, this unique mix of live action, graphic novel effects and brutal battle sequences is set to make "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" an epic television event.
Ep 101 'The Red Serpent' - A Thracian warrior, enlisted by the Romans to fight, has his destiny seized by an act of rebellious violence. As punishment, he faces death by being forced to battle in the gladiatorial arena.
For a more detailed and spoiler filled recap, highlight the area between the lines.
The series opens on the orgy of blood and violence that is the gladiator arena. An unnamed Thracian prisoner watches, another prisoner get torn to pieces. The Thracian’s gaze takes us from the dry, desiccated sands of Capua to the lush hills of Thrace several months before where he is saying good-bye to his wife, Sura. She tries to convince him to stay with her, but he has pledged his sword to the Roman Auxiliary. That same sword is soon embedded in a Getaen Barbarian, but it is the Roman Legate, Claudius Glaber, who rides up to claim victory at the battle’s end. Showing his authority, Glaber orders the Thracian and one of his comrades to scout the enemy lines, then dismisses them when they return with the news that the barbarians are heading west to threaten Thracian villages. That night, Glaber’s spoiled, pampered wife Ilithyia urges him to seek greater glory and the next morning when he rouses the auxiliaries, he announces they march east towards the better battle. The Thracian protests, violently, and since he knows his life is now worthless, he flees.
Returning just in time, the Thracian saves Sura from a group of barbarians. Their reunion is short-lived, however, as Glaber and the Roman soldiers catch up with them the next day. Glaber condemns Sura to a life of slavery and the Thracian to execution at the gladiatorial games.
At a feast before the games, hosted by Ilithyia’s powerful father, Senator Albinius, we meet Batiatus and his wife Lucretia, who own a ludus, the school where gladiators are trained. Batiatus is upset because only two of his gladiators were hired to fight, while his rival Solonius has eight gladiators in the games. The next day, in the arena, Glaber sends four of Solonius’s gladiators against the Thracian. Despite the uneven odds, the Thracian bravely kills them all. Though Glaber is humiliated, the crowd cheers for his release. Sensing a business opportunity, Batiatus steps forward and offers to purchase him and make him a gladiator within his ludus. Albinius consents and Batiatus names the Thracian prisoner Spartacus. As the crowd cheers for him, Spartacus is carried out, into his new life.
Ep 102 'Sacramentum Gladiatorum' - Enslaved in gladiatorial school, the newly christened Spartacus must try to suppress his desire for vengeance when his new master promises to reunite him with his wife.
For a more detailed and spoiler filled recap, highlight the area between the lines.
Spartacus awakes in the darkness, bloodied and bruised. He reaches out to find Sura and pulls her towards him, but her cries of ecstasy turn into screams of pain as Spartacus is jolted awake to find himself instead beside a gladiator writhing in agony. Spartacus is hustled from the infirmary and thrown into the baths where he is taunted by the veteran gladiators, who explain he is in Batiatus’s ludus, a school to train gladiators. If he is lucky, he will join them in their training. If not, he will be condemned to the mines.
The next day, as Lucretia prepares for a visit from Glaber, Spartacus is initiated into his brutal new life. Doctore, the head trainer, forces Spartacus to fight Crixus, a match that ends with Spartacus face down in the sand. The training continues in the hot sun, a drought scorching all of Capua. Spartacus’ ordeal has only begun and he is yanked out of the mess hall and chained up in a detention cell. Glaber enters and tells Spartacus he raped Sura and shared her with his men before selling her to an unpleasant Syrian. He tosses a love token Spartacus gave Sura at Spartacus’s feet. Having achieved his purpose of tormenting Spartacus, Glaber sweeps out past Batiatus. Upstairs, he retrieves Ilithyia, who is intrigued by gladiators and the life of a ludus.
Spurred by his hatred and anger, Spartacus brutally attacks another recruit, prompting Doctore to complain that Spartacus is untrainable. Batiatus believes he could become a great gladiator, given the proper impetus. Having discovered that Spartacus has a wife, Batiatus promises to find her in exchange for Spartacus accepting his new life. With Batiatus’s words ringing in his head, Spartacus steps up to his final test, a training fight with Crixus. It is a close battle, but in the end, Spartacus gains the advantage. He has passed the test. He is now a gladiator and one step closer to his love.
Ep 103 'Legends' - Though Spartacus proved himself during training and now wears the attire of a gladiator, his coarse attitude and relentless quest to see his wife isolates him from his fellow gladiators and Doctore
For a more detailed and spoiler filled recap, highlight the area between the lines.
Excitement ripples through the gladiators when a new festival of games is announced at the end of training. In the Villa above, it is not excitement Batiatus feels, but anger that his gladiators are only in the lesser matches. Lucretia calms his rage, stating that their party the night before will bring in more business. To that end, she holds out her hand for money, stating both she and their ludus must be dressed to impress. Begrudgingly, debt still heavy on his mind, Batiatus hands over the coins.
A few days later, when the fight card is announced, Spartacus is dismayed to find himself fighting in the lowest match against Varro, earning a mere pittance. Spartacus’ rival at the ludus, Crixus, however, fights in the primus- the best match of the day. Ashur warns him against underestimating Crixus’s ability in the ring and tells him about Crixus’s greatest fight against the twin gladiators rumored to be born of a jackal. Desperate to get into the premiere fight, Spartacus provokes Gnaeus, the gladiator slated to fight Crixus, into attacking him, unsuccessfully.
Crixus, uninterested in Spartacus’s machinations, is focused on Lucretia’s beautiful body slave Naevia, but when he attempts to speak with her, he fails miserably. He has no idea how to charm this quiet, shy girl. She takes him to Lucretia’s bedchamber where he finds his mistress anything but shy. She stands barely clothed, her largest adornment the necklace she purchased earlier. Crixus flatters her mercilessly, then satisfies her the way she demands.
At the party the night before the fight, Ilithyia wanders through the crowd with Lucretia at her side, expressing disappointment at seeing the men to be only flesh and blood, not the gods of the arena. For his part, Spartacus is still angry he has still not moved up the fight card, and so attacks Crixus in full view of the assembled guests who call for the fight to be continued in the arena the next day. Left without options, Batiatus acts as though this was his intention all along. While Varro worries for Spartacus and tells him a legend from the arena, that of Theocles, the Shadow of Death, Crixus finds Naevia in the corridor. He promises that his victory the next day is for her. True to his word, Crixus easily defeats Spartacus. Battered and bruised, Spartacus promises he will train harder. Doctore tells him it is too late.
Episodes 4 through 6 will be on the next article.
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DogsOfWar
3/1/2010
Starz
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