Spartacus: Vengeance on Starz - Page 4

I think we will miss John Hannah more on the show then the change in who is playing Spartacus. hannah brought the charisma to the show with the dialogue he was given and they need a character to replace that. So far they don't have it but it's only 1 episode in.

John Hannah was essentially the soul of the show, IMO .. he was constantly torn between doing the right thing and doing the wrong thing ..

As well, his average appearance, physically, made for quite a contrast with the buff gladiators and hot slave girls ..

Although he was portayed as an evil, without morals villian, he somehow was very human at the same time .. vulnerable and somehow likable ..

Yes, Batiatus was an important character ..

Well put!

He's clearly dead in the parting shot of him and Lucy. No way they pumped all that blood from his lungs, stitched him up, put in more blood, and brought him back to life. Now, a zombie Spartacus spinoff would be something I'd watch.


larry

And according to history, he also died in the rebellion.

I miss him.

I think most of us do ..

Yeah, I hope the show can find its way without Hannah. For me, the first season was much more about Batiatus than Spartacus.

History has something to do with this?


Agreed.

Lets not forget:

It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do~Miracle Max

Watched ep 1 last night. Good but I agree with others here, it's missing something...John Hannah!

Hannah's style & his dialog made the show special. I do miss the way he talked Not detracting from Andy Whitfield, the new actor or any of the cast. It's just that Battiatus seemed more central to the core of the story than one would have thought. I'm glad Starz gave us the prequel to make up for Battiatus' "departure" from the story.

One thing I noticed...didn't see any bare breasts in the coliseum crowd. I almost thought Starz had cleaned up the show...then there was the brothel scene so all is normal

The new actor, Liam McIntyre, seemed a little more sensitive or less hardened for lack of better words than Whitfield played the role. Whitfield's Spartacus had heart, depth, feeling for sure, but he also was hard, stubborn & steadfast. This one bows more to wishes of others, more concerned for the group. Not sure how to describe it but anyway that's what it seemed to me. I'm not sure the Andy's Spartacus would have agreed to leave the city.

Looking forward to ep 2.

Surprisingly yes, most of what they have shown and the historical people are real. Even Crixus. They follow it pretty good but take a lot of liberties obviously.

I keep forgetting how short most of Hollywood is. There is no way I would have guessed Crixus was under 6'. Guy looks huge on TV, instead he's about my height.

Remember the average height of a Roman soldier back then was 5'5". I figured I would add this little bit of history.

I am more surprised at the actors height, than the characters

Agreed. They do look 6' on TV.

Yeah I'm about 5, 10 too. Not Spartacus or Crixus 'like' however.

I saw a blonde with bare breasts revealed in the cheering crowd. But it went by fast!

Second week's episode still seemed slow and definitely missing something. But I have faith it will get better. Maybe as some of the past characters start building more into the story line.

Not sure this "on the run" theme is going to be as exciting as having the big matchups in the arena have been in previous seasons. Sort of changes the whole dynamic. But I am still anticipating being entertained.

Sure, it's still very entertaining, especially from a gore aspect but they really don't have any interesting characters like Batiatus who just nailed all the humor and drama week after week. Glaber is a dud. Meanwhile, Oenemaus who can be interesting is trying to kill himself. Hopefully he'll return to some type of leadership role which is where he flourishes. It's nice to see Mira get more dialogue this year and her role holds a lot of promise.

Unfortunately Liam, IMO in week 2 still failed to bring any sort of wit, charisma, or passion to the table. At least Crixus is bringing some intensity.

Just something to keep in mind - its much harder for a taller person to look the part when body building. The muscles are longer. Two people can be of equal strength, but the shorter one will be more ripped. Stallone is a very short guy - if you look he always wore shoes basically with wood blocks on the bottom to make him look taller.

Unless somethings changes, I'll be turning the channel. Seems to me the blood and splatter is more important than the story. Sadly, this show is boring. I was a HUGE fan, but that has quickly changed.

Have to agree with you, especially about John Hannah & Liam. The stubborn, hardened intensity that Andy's portrayal had is not there with Liam's. Maybe the writers deliberately want it that way. Or it could be the actor's interpretation. But these 2 episodes did lack something, maybe passion is the right word.

Nice to see Ilithyhea is treacherous as ever. She is one wicked lady. I wonder if she'll do something to make sure the slave girl who caught her trying to do Lucretia in stays silent

And Lucretia is playing a neat little game, hope everyone saw the look in her eye at the end...she's got her plotting face on.

Even tho the show has changed & John Hannah is gone, devious things are still going to happen

Count me as one of those folks who were huge fans of Season 1 but am worried now. S1 took a few episodes to get rolling so I haven't given up yet. I stand by my prediction at the end of S1 that stepping away from the ludus would be a seriously risky move.

Andy had more physical magnetism than Liam, more than Manu Bennett, who has alot. Unfortunately, it's very apparent that just grimacing and swinging a sword isn't enough to carry off the Spartacus role. There was a stillness in Andy, a thoughfulness, along with tons of charisma that as his character grew in S1, eclipsed (as it should) the other actors in the arena. I don't see that physical confidence in Liam, partly because he's not in serious shape, but mostly because he lacks the depth of an older actor, the wry humor and that unquantifiable something that makes one notice you're something special. Andy had it in spades...maybe he didn't when he was 28...but, he surely had it at 37.

I'm afraid that callow Spartacus is going to kill this series. They've reupped for another season, so Starz is either blind or Liam will get better. However, if the central character can't carry the load, I don't see how.

As far as them taking the series out of the ludus...they had to. Therre's no reason the series can't be compelling retelling the ups and downs of the slave rebellion...it's a big story. The ludus and arena ran it's course through one and half seasons. It was getting old.

Maybe this will be Liam's only season as Spartacus. They might cast another actor to play Spartacus next season. Every season will have a different actor play Spartacus.
That would be nice.

:shrugs: I'm just glad to have it around at all...

I like seeing Katrina (and her freckles) too.

Can't believe I am going to say this, but the nudity in this episode seemed to be to much and over the top, seems like there wasn't a scene with someone having sex or being nude in the background. Also, the fake blood splatter effect appears to be back again. It was used heavily at the beginning of season 1 then dropped off, now its splashed across the screen constantly. In addition, WAYYYYYY to much usage of the slow mo camera shot, found it distracting more then anything else.

I concur. I wish she'd pay us a visit here again.

Thay have really expanded her role this season. She's a damn good actress and very easy on the eyes. She's not classically beautiful but she definitely has that "something".

Too many c*ck in ar*e references.. or did they say on instead of in?

I'm still trying to learn this english they speak with lots of pronouns missing..