Spartacus: Gods of the Arena: 'Past Transgressions'

Mild spoilers for Spartacus: Blood and Sand ahead:

Some prequels provide the perfect opportunity and position to begin watching a series; Sky1‘s Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (which is a six-episode prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand), however, is not that kind of a prequel. Within the first minute of ‘Past Transgressions’ - immediately after a quick recap of the events that occurred in Blood and Sand - we dive right back into the world of gory gladiatorial combat in a reliably disgusting fashion. Unsurprisingly, Gods of the Arena remains fantastically excessive, with significant amounts of nudity, sex, violence, gore and profanity. It’s hard to tell from just this one episode, but it’ll be interesting to see if this short series will - through sharp writing and good pace - become as addictive and exciting as Blood and Sand.

Even if it is great to return to Capua and the House of Batiatus (with John Hannah’s character still alive), the circumstances that led to the existence of this prequel are less than ideal. Andy Whitfield (who played the lead role of Spartacus in the first season) was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which led to the delay on the production of Season 2. Gods of the Arena was made to fill the time in between the seasons but when Whitfield’s cancer returned, he had to step down from the project altogether (his part has been recast, and the titular role will be played by Liam McIntyre for the second season). Of course, it’s very unfortunate to lose Whitfield (and his absence is definitely felt here) but I’m glad that the show hasn’t had to be canceled entirely as a result.

The plot of Gods of the Arena shows us the events that occurred before Spartacus came to the be in the ludus (and, therefore, before he and the other slaves pretty much killed everybody). Batiatus (John Hannah) has recently become a lanista (a manager of gladiators), Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) - who will later become Doctore - is recovering from fighting Theokoles, the manipulative Ashur (Nick Tarabay) is a trainee gladiator and champion-to-be Crixus (Manu Bennet) is new to the ludus, having only just been bought by Batiatus. The current champion, and the character that the show appears to be focussed around, is arrogant Celt Gannicus (Dustin Clare), who is a skilled yet overly cocky warrior in the arena (towards the end of ‘Past Transgressions,’ he fights and defeats somebody while blindfolded).

The first episode of the six-part series was high on expositional dialogue and familiarising the audience with this world (which wasn’t really required). As I indicated earlier, it still has the gore and depravity that one would expect... However, whilst that's occasionally entertaining, those aspects of the show aren’t what attract me. Thankfully, there were a number of moments that make me confident that Gods of the Arena will be an exciting ride - Oenomaus and Batiatus, in particular, look set to have intriguing stories.

It’s difficult to know what to make of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. I think that it really lacked the presence of Whitfield, and I wonder if that’ll be a persistent concern of mine. It still, though, has got the atmosphere and many of the characters that I found addictive and enjoyable to watch throughout the first season of Blood and Sand, which will make it interesting enough for me to continue watching. Prequels always have to battle against the fact that they inherently feel unnecessary (I'm looking at you, Star Wars prequels); ‘Past Transgressions’ was enough fun for me to like it, but there’s no doubt that the remaining five offerings are going to have to provide something more to keep me as hooked as I was to Blood and Sand.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena airs on Mondays at 10pm on Sky1

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.