Spartacus: Vengeance Brings Death to Yet More Romans

Starz’s hit historical-fiction franchise Spartacus returns tonight with Spartacus: Vengeance, bringing death to yet more ancient Romans in the bloody continuance of the story of the Thracian Spartacus.

Sadly, Andy Whitfield, who brought the character Spartacus to life in Spartacus: Blood and Sand, died of non-hodgekins lymphoma, leaving the franchise’s creators uncertain about the show’s future. But from that uncertainty came Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, an entertaining prequel and stop-gap, which satiated fans appetetites for the dark fictionalized story of life as a gladiator in ancient Rome while allowing another actor to pick up where Whitfield left off, Austrialia actor Liam McIntyre.

McIntyre, whose credits include his role as Bell Captain Lew in HBO’s Emmy® and Golden Globe–nominated hit The Pacific, works well as Spartacus, though he seems a bit young for the role.

In Vengeance, Spartacus has lead a successful slave rebellion against the gladatorial House of Batiatus, as viewers saw in the gripping conclusion of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. But the Thracian’s struggles continue, as his gang of gladiators aim to strike fear into the heart of the Roman Republic, and Gaius Claudius Glaber in particular.

Glaber, directly responsible for both Spartacus’ woes and his presence in the Empire, has risen in Roman society and has been compelled to return to Capua to crush the gladatorial rebellion before it further embarrasses Rome.

Presented with the false choice of satisfying his personal need for vengeance against Glaber, the man who condemned Spartacus’ wife to slavery and eventual death, or making the larger sacrifices necessary to keep his rag-tag army of slaves and gladiators from being slaughtered by Roman legions as they try to escape, Spartacus is forced to stand his grown and fight.

Fan favorites Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), Peter Mensah (Oenomaus) and Manu Bennett (Crixus) reprise their roles, as do Dustin Clare (Gannicus), Craig Parker (Glaber), Vivian Bianca (Ilithyia), Nick E. Tarabay (Ashur), Katrina Law (Mira) and Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Naevia), giving Spartacus: Vengeance all the satisfying eye-candy, class warfare, blood-soaked action, complex sexuality, villainy and heroism that fans have come to expect.

Tonight’s episode, “Fugitivu” continue to utilize the entertaining 300 styled cinematography and poses an intriguing question: How did poor Lucretia survive Crixus’ improptu and crude “cesearean section”?

Viewers may watch the second season premier tonight on Starz at 10pm ET/PT.

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