Spoliers ahoy!

There has been a lot of internet buzz around the new show from the Steven S. DeKnight, he who wrote Dollhouse, Angel, Buffy and Smallville. Spartacus: Blood and Sand is about a man from Thrace back in ancient times, who goes to war with the Romans only to be double-crossed by those dastardly dudes. Not only do they break their word but, when he stands up to them, they steal his beloved wife (That’s them, left) and throw her into slavery. Plus they drag him to Italy to be executed. That’s all in the first half-hour. Having said that, it doesn’t seem rushed. The character development is smart and the writing is dense but entertaining.

What sets Spartacus apart is how modern it is. Yes, it’s set in Xena times, but it couldn’t be more different. The first episode is filmed very stylistically, with 300 and Sin City obvious inspirations – slow motion fights, bodies sliced open with splatters of blood hitting the camera. There is also lots of sex and it’s pretty explicit; male full frontal, ladies kissing ladies, Lucy Lawless (right) getting a fingering to juice her up for her hubbie. That’s all very cool, but the worry was would it be all style and no substance? After the first episode you’ll be unconvinced, but it is definitely worth sticking with it.

The pilot ends with our hero going into the gladiatorial arena to be executed. He survives though, by killing the four gladiators. This is when things get interesting and Spartacus: Blood and Sand turns from Gladiator into Rome. You see, the gladiators are trained, bought and sold by owners of a ludus, these men compete (through their gladiators) for the favour of the local Senator. Batiatus, played by the excellent John Hannah, buys our hero and names him Spartacus after the old Thracian king.

This is where the second episode kicks off and the producers, thankfully, put away the buckets of blood and start to exercise their brains rather than splatter them on the camera. This episode is still a bit patchy though. The writers seem to be setting up the society stage after completing the gladiatorial one in the pilot episode, but it feels slightly forced to be honest. The acting is uniformly excellent, but the sex scene between Hannah and Lawless as his wife is excrutiatingly awkward.

Spartacus is determined to get out and find his wife so has no time for this fighting lark. However, he’s rather good at it. So he begins to train with the other gladiators in the ludus. The other, established, gladiators have so much testosterone you’ll skip a period after watching them. The main one, Crixus, is like a panto villain, complete with satanic laugh; he’s just short of twirling his non-existent mustache. The others are a mix of hard man and good guy. This could be an interesting aspect of things and it’ll be interesting to see where they go.

So, as we stand, there are two worlds; the six-pack filled ludus and the sneaky, political society which these men entertain with their lives. It’s all very interesting and I’ll keep watching to see where it goes. Will it be all blood and nonsense, or will the brains behind it start to kick into gear?

Have you seen it? What do you think?