Spartacus and Crixus move their base of operations from the sewers under Capua to an isolated villa owned by a Roman who provides Crixus with some information on Naevia, whom he owned for a few days, before he is dispatched to the Afterlife. Tiberius, the Roman's man-slave, is less than pleased and tries to kill Spartacus. He fails, obviously, and Spartacus begins training him and the other freed slaves. We'll probably be seeing a lot more of him. Other than that, Spartacus is in this episode less, taking a back seat to the unfolding events in Capua. There's the obligatory "kill some Roman scouts" scene, of course, and Mira questions Spartacus as to the nature of their relationship. She's starting to get very clingy. Don't be surprised if she's the next person who got too close to Spartacus and goes the way of Sura and Varo.
The real action in this week's episode is going on in Capua. Glaber is determined to find Spartacus at any cost. He proposes an alliance with Seppius, a local douche bag, who declines, seemingly more interested in fingering a particularly yonic fig. Lucretia wants to perform a sacrifice to ask the Gods for help in delivering Spartacus. Glaber is happy to go along with it but Ilithyia is sceptical and apparently entertains the idea of killing Lucretia. She also has a vivid fantasy about Spartacus whilst bathing nude and being washed by an attractive brunette. I love Ilithyia. As for Lucretia, is her apparent memory loss a ruse? Whilst shopping with Ilithyia she reveals that memories are returning and she recoils from a cloaked figure who hands her a note. More on that later...
Oenomaus, meanwhile, has decided that death in the Pits is the only way to reclaim his honour. We are treated to some flashbacks of him as a young slave, savagely killing all before him before being purchased by Batiatus' father. After facing several opponents and besting them all, Oenomaus looks to have met his match. He's whacked several times with a gigantic two-handed hammer and should have received a shattered jaw and multiple broken ribs but is apparently only bashed and bloodied. As his opponent prepares to deliver the coup de grâce, Oenomaus is rescued by persons unknown and taken to Batiatus' ludus. There, in the presence of Glaber, Ilithyia and Lucretia (who fingers the note from earlier), he is delivered by the hooded person, who reveals themselves to be a much-missed character from Blood and Sand!
A very good episode on the whole. A little more Spartacus and a little less Mira would have been an improvement. Mira's encounter with a recently freed slave girl who questions her relationship with Spartacus merely seems to be setting her up to get closer to Spartacus only to be killed. Can't imagine where they came up with that one. There are some cracking lines (Batiatus' father's encounter with a slave-owner in the Pits delivers two of the best) and Ilithyia bares (almost) all for the second week in a row. Batiatus is still missed, but less deeply than last week. His brilliant lines are being doled out to other characters and his scheming is being taken up by Ilithyia and, by the looks of it, Lucretia.
8 out of 10.
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