Spartacus War Of The Damned Review: The brutal end

Spartacus season 3 Review

Blood, Gore and less sex than i expected

I waited for this Spartacus war of the damned season a very long time.

from the first look from the war of the damned I noticed that the creators took whatever worked for them in the past and turned full volume, this time no stops.
You could see it in the excessive blood spilling, the sex (they showed an 0rgy that can fit in any soft p0rn picture) in the first episode of the season. 

Spartacus War Of The Damned - The good stuff

Spartacus season 3 villain - Crassus

This season Crassus outsmarted the rebels almost on every turn and it was nice to see him play mind games with the other side.

What I liked about Crassus was that during most of the season he wasn’t portrayed as a villain. Crassus made some villain moves but you cannot call him a classic villain like it was with Batiatus, Tullius or Glaber. There were several attempts to humanize Batiatus and Glaber but the audience didn't except it. With Crassus the humanization was easier to except, most definitely because of the love story with his slave Kore. Unfortunately for Kore the true face of Crassus was exposed as a man that will do everything and sacrifice anyone to get the things he wants most - Power.

Caesar 

The introduction of Caesar was nicely done; Todd Lasanse makes an interesting Caesar not something that I expected. I always portrayed to myself Caesar to be calculative and rational but the Caesar we saw in the begining of the season is reckless, out of control and has some sick sexual tendencies. You could see from the last scene of the season that Caesar changed due to Crassus's influence to become the leader he was remembered in history.
Todd Lasanse's entire performance was great. Planting him as a spy in the slave’s camp was a great idea. It gave us a chance to see him interact with the slave's camp top dogs and allowed us to see the chaos he caused in a very subtle manor.

Crassus son Tiberius 

Christian Antidormi makes it so easy for me to hate Tiberius. Every sentence that comes out of this little prick’s mouth ignited a fire in me, it made me want to take his head off and feed it to the goats. The self riches Tiberius that was given everything on a silver plate still wanted more and more. The rape of Kore was one of Tiberius's vicious moves against his father for killing his boyfriend; it marked the change in Tiberius from a spoiled brat to a dangerous man. The facts until episode 8 of War Of The Damned served their purpose for building Tiberius as this season's Ashur's replacement but from episode 8 on the credit that Tiberius got was overwhelming:

• Tiberius humiliated Caesar in the most demeaning way possible
• Tiberius took out Agron.
• Tiberius wounded Crixus and later on took his head off.

I accept the fact that Tiberius's glory over Agron and Crixus was amortized because both kills were portrayed as Tiberius struck the blows from behind while his opponents didn’t see him coming. Both Agron and Crixus set their eyes upon taking out Caesar. Still it is too big of an honor for a little annoying brat called Tiberius to take out two legends like Agron and Crixus from the battle field. The end of Tiberius was needed but the payoff from his death as it was done didn't give me the needed satisfaction.

Tiberius vs. Caesar 

The conflict between the two was there from the moment Caesar entered Crassus villa. as the season progressed there were smaller confrontation between the two, mostly it was summoned by mutual insults one towards the other but in the celebration ownering Caesar something changed, the hate Tiberius accumulated towards Caesar made him release Donar (who was sentenced for execution) on Caesar to humiliate Caesar. A move that was good on paper but somehow Caesar managed to reap the following events for his benefit. Tiberius's retaliation on Caesar in Episode 8 blew me away completely. Unfortunately for Tiberius Caesar bounced back to his feet and let Tiberius fall into the trap Spartacus crafted for Crassus.

Liam McIntyre as Spartacus

To tell you the truth at the beginning of this Spartacus War Of The Damned Review I thought about putting this paragraph at the bad stuff section but then I realized that Liam McIntyre wasn’t that bad this season he had his few flaws that I described  in the Spartacus Vengeance season review a year ago but they were not as vivid in this season and overall I was OK with Liam McIntyre's performance as Spartacus

The transformation of Laeta 

from the earlier episodes of Spartacus War Of The Damned I didn’t really understand why Laeta (Anna Hutchison) took so much screen time in the first half of Spartacus season 3 (she is definitely something nice to look at ) but after Crassus sold her to Heraclio (in a brilliant move) I saw the light. Only after Laeta was branded with Heraclio's mark I saw the point that Steven S. DeKnight wanted to make with Laeta. When Ganicus took out the pirates only then Laeta understood in what kind of a mess she is in and that made this scene so awesome (actually the entire episode Spoils of War was very good).

Spartacus War Of The Damned - The bad stuff

Spartacus Crixus split and Crixus death

i have to give credit to Spartacus War Of The Damned writers (most likely Steven S. DeKnight) for writing this angle. The Spartacus Crixus split was known to everyone with a slight history knowledge. I knew that it is going to happen but I didn’t know how it will be carried out in Spartacus War Of The Damned. The seeds were planted throughout the first 8 episodes and it was fantastic, according to this War Of The Damned season I thought that Crixus will break free from Spartacus a lot sooner. When it really happen Crixus's solo run felt rushed, i would have enjoyed having Crixus for a couple of more episodes.

Agron's death (supposedly)

I think that his injury and capture was made to look too simple in my mind. Agron was an important character to be strike down like he was. The production needed Agron to take a massive blow that would keep him on the sidelines and create the link the final episode with the pilot using the red serpent, I guess the ends justify the means.

The ugly Neavea

The ugly Neavea keeps on pissing me off, this chick looks to be out of control killing Ganicus Roman friend out of a sudden, and it’s a pity this dude was fun. Again when they had their battle I prayed that the ugly Neavea will finally meet her maker, even when Ganicus confronted her I thought her end is close, unfortunately again the gods do not show favor to my wishes  ... bummer. The fact that this chick outlasted Crixus is very sad as well. In the last couple of episodes after Crixus passing, she was more tolerable and it wasn't fun watching her go in the end as I thought it to be.

The gay stuff

Right after the 0rgy in the first episode which was mighty fun they switch to gay sex?!?!?! What’s up with that? I’m sorry but that is a major turn off. If that wasn't enough in episode 3 they go even farther with all the gay stuff. People come on I was blocking the disturbing view with my hand the entire time. that was too much for me.

Spartacus War Of The Damned finale - episode 10

The final episode (episode 10) of this Spartacus season 3 was very powerful and brutal in the same time. I knew what was about to happen but as the episode progressed and most of my favorite slaves met their maker in the most brutal way possible, I was afraid that the worst is still ahead because I didn't want to see Spartacus fall. 

While Spartacus was fighting Crassus you could see that he was wounded and that opened the door (in speculative mind) that there might be a chance that Crassus will manage to take out Spartacus by himself. When Crassus caught the sword with his hands, I really thought that this is the end of Spartacus. The three spears were somehow anticlimactic but necessary because no meter what ending would be chosen it would make me feel bad about it.

The final credits in the end were supreme. They made me emotional, remembering all the great characters that took part in this Spartacus Franchise. It made me think how great this show really was. During all Spartacus seasons there were so many characters introduced and so many killed off (almost all). The greatest thing about Spartacus was that every time a character died whether it was a roman or slave, I felt something because Steven S. DeKnight managed to develop them to hold a substantial meaning. That is so unique in a show that has so much graphic violence and so many sex scenes bordering an average soft p0rn movie.

Spartacus War Of The Damned summery

I'm sad to write this Spartacus War Of The Damned Review because this is the last Spartacus review I will ever write.

Another great show came to its unfortunate end. The blow was somehow softened because the announcement to Spartacus's end came a year ago. Immediately after Spartacus Vengeance season came to its end. This is sad Spartacus was one of my favorite shows in the last couple of years. Every time a Spartacus season came to its end i was eager to see what will happen in the next season. 

Starz Spartacus was a pioneer in bringing in the violence and sex back to TV. Spartacus managed to mix the two and create something so brutal that we haven't seen before. It offered its viewers a unique dialog style that caught everyone by storm and wont be forgotten for a long time.

Spartacus Blu ray DVD Links

Spartacus: Blood and Sand - The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena [Blu-ray]
Spartacus: Vengeance - The Complete Second Season
Spartacus: War of the Damned - The Complete Third Season [Blu-ray]

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About Sasha Shapiro

Sasha is the founder and editor of Cool Reviews Rule. He is very passionate about Movies, TV Shows and some Books. His favorite genres are: Action, Fantasy, History, Horror, Sci-fi and Adventure.
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