For My Money Spartacus Season 1 Is The Best Show Ever!

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By Josh Holman

When “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” first premiered on American television in January of 2010 I had no idea what to expect. The trailers I had watched were a bit underwhelming, but I knew that Xena the Warrior Princess was in the show, as was that guy from the Mummy who played the brother of Rachel Weisz. Yeah, that guy. He’s funny. What I got was a mixture of 300 and Gladiator with a bit of The Notebook sprinkled on top. You might be saying 300 and Gladiator I get, but The Notebook? Trust me, the romances here are tragic and they definitely don’t take away from the action. Quite the opposite actually. This is one of the only shows that I’ve ever seen where the girls I was watching it with didn’t mind the sex or nudity because that’s just how Rome was and they were slaves after all.

After a few episodes I found a fansite online and I was amazed all the different people who were into this show. Women loved Crixus, Spartacus and Varro. Gay people loved Barca and Pietros, and I loved everything. Remember how much fun we had watching Russell Crowe in the sand, fighting against the odds, a slave to a terrible master? Well we got thirteen glorious hours of that. But not just that, We also get tons of great story lines for a few actors that were just about to get their break in the industry. This is where I was first introduced to Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad, Divergent, Terminator Genesis) (Leslie Ann Brandt (Lucifer) Nick E. Tarabay (Pacific Rim, Motherland: Fort Salem) and then of course we have the marvelous Andy Whitfield. Never heard that name before? That’s okay, most people haven’t.

Andy Whitfield was Spartacus, through and through, balls to brass. He completely absorbs that role and by the third episode you are right there in the ludus with him. He can make you feel any emotion he has with but a glance of his eyes. He was so unbelievable in his role that when he got cancer, they did a prequel series just to give him time to get better. This was not to be. Sadly Andy died on September 11, 2011. He had Already given his blessing to the Australian actor Liam McIntyre to be his successor. Now don’t get me wrong, McIntyre was a great Spartacus, but nobody, and I mean nobody, could Spartacus the way Andy could. Once you watch the series you will understand that this is as true a statement as can be made when dealing with replacements. I have watched a lot of shows but I have never seen thirteen episodes of a show that were this perfect. The way they flesh out each character right down to the finest of details, pulls you right through the screen and into the lives of these horrible, magnificent, beautiful people. You can smell the sulfur down in the pits, you can feel the rain as the clouds finally collapse before “The bringer of rain” and fall down upon the citizens of Capua after the long drought. You will love hating Ilithyia and Glaber, Lucretia and Asher. You will hold a strange affection for Doctore. This show make you laugh, it will make you cry, and it will give many a history lesson.

You can see the parallels in today’s society where Americans just think we’re the best and we deserve everything and screw everybody else. And while there were four seasons of this great show, none of them can compare to the original. Just give it a chance, and I promise, you will not be disappointed.

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