Spartacus: Vengeance 2.1 - Fugitivus

Andy Whitfield's death less than six months ago was a tragic end for a promising actor and Spartacus fans like myself will always remember him as the original Spartacus. In fact, I have seen some fans claim online that the series should have ended and Liam McIntyre shouldn't have been cast. I don't agree and neither did Whitfield, who gave the casting of McIntyre the thumbs up and wanted the series to go on. McIntyre has a difficult job to do. How did he get on in the first episode?

He does OK. Apparently the first scene he filmed for the show was the scene just before the halfway point where the slaves burst into a brothel and slaughter the soldiers and other men they find inside. It's an appropriate way to ease him in: a fight scene full of blood, breasts, severed limbs and gratuitous sex. McIntyre's not as muscular as Whitfield and lacks presence somewhat, but otherwise he does well and at times I forgot that it was even a different actor playing Spartacus.

The story's pretty straightforward: Spartacus and the rebels are conducting a guerilla campaign in and around Capua. Glaber is despatched to quash the rebellion. He protests but because of his patronage of Batiatus and his delivery of Spartacus he has no choice. He takes a newly-pregnant Ilithyia with him (pregnancy hasn't stopped her taking all her clothes off, fortunately) and they discover Lucretia, half-mad and apparently with no memory of anything since the drought at the start of the first series. Crixus and Spartacus disagree over what they should do - Spartacus wants to kill Glaber and take his vengeance on Rome, Crixus only wants to be re-united with Naevia - and Varro's widow Aurelia is preparing to leave to be re-united with her son.

It's a decent episode and hopefully things are only warming up but it does feel quite methodical. Also, it misses Batiatus. It really, really misses Batiatus. He was easily my favourite character and without him, I think Spartacus could really drag. His scheming and politicking was the driving force behind the last two series and John Hannah played the foul-mouthed blaspheming ludus owner with relish. I wish they could have found a way for him to come back too.

6 out of 10.