I have to admit, I really wasn’t sure about how this series was going to last.

Sure, you have Raimi and Lucy with a few other stars mixed in. A lot of T&A never hurts either. But after a (LONG) while, it becomes repetitive. The fights blurring together, no real plot forwarding save a few scant threads. If True Blood was back on, I’d probably would have dropped Spartacus to the way side.

Until this episode. I LOVE John Hannah as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus! The vile and evilness he conjurers. Even though I keep having The Mummy flashbacks, this episode cinched him as one of my favorite bad guys. This episode single-handedly hooked me back into the series. Sure, his sodomizing of a slave while his wife watched in the pool as they discussed evil deeds was pretty darn hot. And the orgy with the gladiators and whores was great as a background for Spartacus’ plotting.

I even liked the slap that Lucy Lawless’ character gave the slave to instruct her on what the slave had seen. I half-wondered if it was improvised.

But the ending… I am at a loss for words. That look that John Hannah gave and the way Lucy Lawless’ character tried to explain things away… was MAGNIFICENT.

If you fell to the way side a few episodes back, now would be a time to come back in. I thought this was going to be the level of Rome initially and was disappointed when it seemed to rely more on the blood and effects to magically manifest a plot than to have a plot to begin with. But this episode is the spice that sets everything aglow.

For those new to series, watch it all the way through. You will not be disappointed.

spartacus blood and sand - lucyl_johnh