Oh my god! Spartacus: Blood and Sand!

[fembuck]

You guys, I don't quite understand it you guys, but this show has gotten sooooo good!  Like I don't mean it just sucks less than it did at the beginning, I mean that it has become honest to god riveting TV. 

Episode 6 was the first one that really made me stop and be like, "wait ... wait ... WAIT ... I'm I sitting here speechless after a fucking episode of Spartacus:  Blood and Sand?" and I was.  Honestly, I just sat there fucking stunned by how amazing the episode was.

Now, I've just finished watching the last two episodes and *blinks*  what?  I don't even THE SHOW BROKE MY BRAIN!  I'm just thinking about it and thinking about it, and thinking about it and it's like ...



But more than any other episode, 1x09 "Whore" blew my fucking mind.  Blew it.  Up into little pieces.  My mind.  Blown.  The last scene with Lucretia and Ilithyia was like O_o forever.  Any fan of Lucy Lawless just needs to grab "Whore" and watch it because Lucy is phenomenal.   Lucretia is fucking scary as hell ... and it's really being to turn me on.  The woman is so *crying and shaking* she makes me want to hide under the bed ... and then crawl under the covers in service to my domina.  Also, in a shameless attempt to try and get people to watch this episode Lucy Lawless kisses another woman TWICE in this episode! (I'd feel bad playing the Xena GoGA card, but this episode is awesome and everyone should watch it).



Also, and I know that the character has divided fan opinions from the beginning, but Viva Bianca is kind of a revelation as Ilithyia.  She has added a depth and subtly to the character that I never expected to be there in the beginning.  I don't care how much you hated Ilithyia after the first few episode, if you do not want to hug her (ep.8 aka "Mean Girls Capua") and aren't a little fucking scared of her (ep. 9 aka "Stop Laughing") then Siberia would be jealous of the deep icy depths of your heart.  Without exaggeration.  My heart is in pain right now.

Another pleasant surprise is that with episodes 8 and 9 Spartacus has developed a bit of a personality and has started to display some brains.  His personality is the personality of a huge douche, but honestly it makes me like him.  Spartacus has turned into a cunning and shrewd little bitch and me likes it.  I have actually started to pay attention to scenes he's in.  Andy must be so glad they're giving him a chance to act now, cause he's actually pretty okay at it when Spartacus isn't doing his best impression of a judgmental 2x4.

Oh, also Erin Cummings fans she's featured in episode 6 and episode 7.

Spartacus 1x06 - Delicate Things

Spartacus 1x07 - Great and Unfortunate Things

Spartacus 1x08 - Mark of the Brotherhood

Spartacus 1x09 - Whore

WARNING:  if you are sensitive to gory images you might want to take a look at the note below to know when to cover your eyes.  The descriptions will contain very minor spoilers and could save you a bad night's sleep.

MAY CONTAIN SLIGHT SPOILERS

Mark of the Brotherhood and Whore both contain shots that I wish I had never seen.  If you want to avoid mentally scarring yourself  put your hand over your face: 

In episode 8 after you see the first nail driven into the man being crucified (if you want to know what visual your missing just listen to Lucretia's dialogue when the hammering is going on and you'll realize what it is).

and

In episode 9 after Ilithyia is all like "Stop laughing!  Stop laughing!" and kind of pounces.  Just turn your head away.  Trust me.

Also, there's like a 2 second flash at the very end of this episode that you'll want to avoid looking at, because it's the small gross visual from the 'stop laughing' scene.

Comments

[trancer21.livejournal.com]

I'm a couple episodes behind but, dayum, how the heck did you get a hold of eps 8&9? You are like the SUPREME QUEEN of Crack Dealers!! But, yeah, I'm actually surprised at how much I'm liking Spartacus. It was definitely shaky in the beginning but they seem to be finding a groove now.

[heart1e55m00mba.livejournal.com]

OH DUDE. The end of ep 9 was fucking EPIC. And beyond all that epicness going down I'm totally digging the scheming of the side characters. It's amazing how much this show has improved in the span of a couple of episodes.

[madndizzee.livejournal.com]

I watched the first episode and was all meh. The slow-mo blood spattering thing got old real fast. But since you gave it such glowing reviews and provided links, I may as well give it another go. :P

[ralst.livejournal.com]

This was in my 'watch if/when the squeeing starts' pile, so I guess that means I'll be catching up this weekend.

[karatam.livejournal.com]

Did you hear that the second season is being delayed because Andy Whitfield (Spartacus) has been diagnosed with cancer and is receiving treatment? His reps say that his prognosis is really good, but still, it's a scare

[ad-astra4love.livejournal.com]

*flails* i had no idea eps 8 and 9 had leaked. thank you thank you thank you. i'm strangely addicted to this show. i'm praying for more erin via flashback (her death i didn't seem coming).

[lostingeekdom.livejournal.com]

I've downloaded it. I'll watch this sometime, I swear. It's in my to-do list, right along with watching "Bitch Slap" ::cringe:: I know I suck as a femslash fan . Thanks for the crack. I'm one of those who're super squeamish about violence and definitiely need the warning :)

[tempest819.livejournal.com]

Oh good, i'm not the only one who thinks the quality of the show turned around big time. ;-)

I TTA, after the first 4 or 5 episodes the show really found its footing. Now that the writers/producers have gotton over the thrill of 'yay, we can curse as much as we want, show sex as much as we want and no one can say no cause we're on pay cable now' they finlly got back to the task of actually creating interesting characters and plot lines.

I think one of the coolest moments was Lucretia kissing Ilythia at the end of ep 9. Not for the titilation of it, because the moment didn't really bring that up for me, but, for the use of it as a way to show the change in dominance in their relationship. I remember in the earlier episodes when Ilythia kissed Lurcretia a couple of times and Lucretia looked flabergasted. I thought Lucy Lawless's choice in reacting that way was odd because considering how free sexually every character is on that show, I didn't think Lucretia would be unnerved just because another woman kissed her. But, now I see, and your comment helped illustrate, that Lurecita responded to those earlier kisses because she was uncomfortable with Illythia feeling so comfortable 'invading her space' and because Illythia seemed to use those kisses as a way to put Lucretia in her place, ya know. Like, I'm gonna kiss you just for the fact that I can and you can't refuse. It was a power trip and now that power is back in Lucretia's hands she's all about returning in kind!

Love it! I thougt that was really clever. Of course my endorsement doesn't really mean much. I'd probably be riveted if you dangled keys in front of me. Oooo, shiny!

[lilcam2525.livejournal.com]

I have never been so vindicated to have a Netflix subscription than these last couple of episodes. 'Whore' was such a delicious little mind-screw that I may rewatch just for the hell of it.

"Stop Laughing" might just haunt me something fierce. And Lucy with Viva? Genius! I wouldn't mind some more Mira screentime either.