Each week, I sit down to another helping of Spartacus: Blood and Sand hoping it’ll be better than the week before. Yet I keep watching. There is so much hard work evident in the show that I think it deserves a couple more episodes until I make my mind up about it.

It is a very mixed bag, however. It was touted as a mixture between Rome and 300, but it seems like the writers can’t meld the two easily nor make their minds up if they want it to be one or the other. One the one hand you have our hero up to his next in blood as he fights so that his boss will get information about his lost wife and, on the other,  we have the boss up to his teeth fighting to stay financially and socially above water.

The problem, for me, is that Spartacus’ battle with his external and internal demons is written better and acted better. Having said that, his story is easy to introduce; it’s emotive and little needs be said. Whereas political and social intrigue require exposition and subtle nuance. And subtlety ain’t something these guys bring to the table.

The episode, The Thing in the Pit, was so bloody and explicitly violent that I actually felt ill. This was Saw on television. To make this at all palpable, it needs to be balanced with intrigue and intelligence. Unfortunately, so far, it isn’t.

Where most of the politics should be outside the gladiatorial training ground (ludus), this is actually where the writing sticks and you start of forget about wanting to put the kettle on. The characters in the ludus began as goodies and baddies but have become more layered; there is a tough guy in a loving relationship with another man and no one bats an eyelid, there is the Beast of Capua who was introduced to us as Spartacus’ main rival in the ludus but, as it turns out, is just brainwashed into believing his own hype. When he questions it, things get interesting.

Pity then, that when we leave the ludus, it’s kettle-time. It’s not all the writers’ fault, one sign of a great acting is the ability to get make a mediocre role look good, and again here it’s a mixed-bag. The actors with all of the stuff actors love; dialogue and interplay as well as period language and costume, should be in their element but they look uncomfortable. Lucy Lawless and John Hannah get the lions share of screen time and do little with it. Their portrayals seem, ironically, bloodless. I can’t help but think how better actors would be stalking around enjoying themselves. Viva Blanca (right) is certainly enjoying herself. As Ilithyia, powerful spoiled brat upon whose favour the ludus’ future may rest, she chews up the scenery. Her portrayal is hilariously delicious.

The best thing in Spartacus: Blood and Sand is the one thing I was unsure about when I heard it was coming to the screen. The actor who plays Spartacus. Andy Whitfield (main pic) is a revelation. He has less to do than the others and does more with it. He manages to convey a gentleness and sensitivity in the role, making the character so much more than a great fighter.You root for him, you like him even though he can be one cold-blooded killer, more vicious than any of the other gladiators. His performance alone is what’s keeping me watching.

What do you think? Am I being too hard on them?