Gannicus is back! Gannicus is back! Gannicus is back! Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Where was I? Ah yes, Gannicus is back. After some bitching in the top box, most of it directed at poor Glaber, Varinius (Brett Tucker) announces the executions as both Ilithyia and Seppia (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) cast adoring eyes at him. Crixus, Oenomaus and Rhaskos (Ioane King) are brought out to face Gannicus and half a dozen gladiators. Battle is begun... but not finished, as we are taken back to the events of the previous day.
Spartacus, unrepentant for the disastrous trip to the mines, leads the rebels to an abandoned temple. Abandoned except for an old man, Lucius (Peter McCauley) who lowers his bow when he hears Spartacus' name and tells him that the captured three are to be executed the following morning. Agron goes to Naevia, who is tending to Nasir's (Pana Hema Taylor) wounds and thanks her for saving his life. She tells him that they never should have rescued her, sounding like an ungrateful bitch. Luckily Spartacus wasn't in earshot to hear her. He was too busy planning a rescue mission, "one that will ignite the hearts of all yet enslaved", which the booming triumphalist music tells us is going to be a spectacular finale to the episode. Nasir, recovered from his injuries, wants to go with them but is not fit enough yet. He and Agron kiss and Spartacus gives the rebels a rousing speech before he leads a small band back to the arena!
Gannicus, back in Capua, takes the company of a whore. She recognises him and asks him why he has come back if he is now a free man. He muses over his past glories and past indiscretions.
Ashur, having returned to the villa with Marcus' dead body instead of Spartacus, draws Glaber's ire who tells him he will be sent to die in the arena with the others. Varinius, Albinius (Kevin J. Wilson), Ilithyia and Lucretia put the final touches on their secret plans. Glaber must be kept out of the loop, which is why they're meeting in the middle of the villa in broad daylight surrounded by slaves and servants. Ilithyia explains to Lucretia afterwards that their coded talk of "encumbrance" means that she must have an abortion. Thank Jupiter the Romans didn't have Rick Santorum to mess up her plans. Lucretia does her best to save Ilithyia's baby in his stead. First she tells her that taking the medicine right away will cause her to be absent from the games, which would arouse suspicion. Then, she strikes a deal with Ashur: she will invent a vision to convince her husband to spare him in return for him replacing Ilithyia's medicine with an inert mix of water and herbs. Ashur promptly repays her by going straight to Glaber and telling him that he knows Ilithyia is trying to get rid of the baby. Uh oh... After confronting her, she tells him that her father is divorcing them and she's leaving him for Varinius.
Cut back to the day of the games and some excellent duels precede the main event. As Spartacus and the rest move into position, Varinius gives his speech and the condemned are brought out to face Gannicus, the other gladiators and their certain doom. The battle is begun once more and Spartacus' plan is put into action. Gannicus tries to apologise to Oenomaus, telling him that he never wanted any of it to happen, but he doesn't care for his words and the battle continues. Rhaskos is killed and Oenomaus lies prone beneath Gannicus' blade when Spartacus' plan comes to life. The CGI is pretty poor to be honest and it looks quite fake. It also raises the question of whether Spartacus has turned from a freedom fighter into a terrorist. In the ensuing confusion, Spartacus launches a spear at the top box, aiming to kill Glaber, but succeeding in only wounding Seppius (Tom Hobbs). It's basically a rip-of of the moment at the end of 300 when Leonidas throws a spear at Xerxes: it's done in slow motion and it catches his cheek as well. As everyone flees, someone has the opportunity to save someone else's life; someone who is trying to make their life a lot harder. Mercy is not granted...
A good, solid episode. Attention is equally divided between the storylines this week as several major events happen. The best bit is obviously the return of Gannicus and everything that happens outside of the villa is clearly just moving towards his meeting with Oenomaus. The final event is perhaps the weakest part. The unconvincing CGI is part of it but the fact remains that Spartacus has reached the point of no return: the point where he stops killing only Roman soldiers and slave-owners and starts killing ordinary Roman citizens. It's going to be interesting to see what direction the writers take him in now. Will he continue indiscriminately killing Romans? Will Glaber be able to use this as propaganda against him to secure more forces from Rome? Or will they ignore all of the ramifications of this and just carry on as if nothing has happened? Somehow, I suspect the latter is true.
Ilithyia boob watch: Nothing.
7 out of 10.
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