So, I cannot stand Jar Jar Binks. It’s honestly just something you really can’t even get used to by being exposed to it over and over again on the screen. It’s like someone forcing you to watch 2 Girls, 1 Cup repeatedly; you will never be able to watch it without feeling uncomfortable, embarrassed or just completely nauseated.
Daily Archives: February 13, 2012
‘Spartacus’ Losing a Cast Member?!?
Who wants a massive spoiler, possibly for this season of Spartacus? It was just too tempting for me not to read who from the show was just announced by Deadline to be signed on for the newest season of True Blood. I actually didn’t know whether or not to make this a Spartacus article or a True Blood article, but I figured I hate the hell out of True Blood, so BAM! After you read about the actor leaving, it’s not really all that big a spoiler considering that escaped slave-gladiators are not really long for this world. And if you read up on your history you’ll definitely know that the slave rebellion was ultimately put down. Here’s a little slice of IGN’s report regarding the news from Deadline:
Now Deadline is reporting news of a prominent Spartacus: Vengeance star being cast in the new upcoming season of HBO’s True Blood. Which probably means, since one show is filmed in LA and the other is filmed in New Zealand, that this person’s character is probably going to be killed off on Spartacus. Probably. Nothing’s certain, but it doesn’t look good.
Now if you dare to be spoiled you can read after the jump. I’ll let you know its one of the people pictured above who is leaving the show….
And the winner is: OENOMAUS!
Played by Peter Mensah, who according to Deadline will play a Vampire Authority character on the fifth season of True Blood. Ah it’s a sad day that we lose a Spartacus cast member to the fang-bangers. (Yes you Megan) But that being said I’m sure he’ll have a glorious death that he always deserved, possibly in the arena. I can see Gannicus being the one giving him this death given all of the craziness destined to go down between them. Them having to fight one another was always something Gannicus laughed off in ‘Gods of the Arena’. Seems like this time the only way out will be to kill his greatest friend. I’ll be sad to see Oenomaus go, because we’ve seen much of him revealed slowly over the three seasons of Spartacus. He’s had some of the best character development in the show if you ask me. God speed Peter Mensah!
The Walking Dead Review: 2.08 – “Nebraska”
After the three-month hiatus, Nebraska was a much-anticipated episode, and it began where the last episode left off – Rick had just shot zombie Sophia. As we know, Shane let all of the walkers out from the barn. He and Andrea began shooting them one by one. This further pissed Dale off, although Dale hated Shane already, this simply adds fuel to the discontent between them. What I liked about this though, is that everyone else – including Carl – agreed with what Shane did. It really was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t the best way to do it.
Aside from Sophia, Hershel’s wife was also in the barn. When the Greene family saw her zombie body lying in the heap amongst the others, it caused a lot of heartbreak. Beth (one of Hershel’s daughters) was crying when her not quite dead Zombie-Mommy began reaching for her. Beth escaped only to watch her mother’s skull be penetrated by a farming tool. This sent Beth sent into a state of shock – and where was Hershel?
After making it very clear that everyone but his own family was to immediately leave the farm, Hershel discovered an old flask in his dresser drawer. From there he then went to town to his favorite bar from the old days, and promptly Rick and Glenn go out after him. During this bar adventure, two more characters were introduced: Dave and Tony – a couple of guys who are clearly bad news. Their inquisitive about where Rick and the others are staying, and this is the first time that we really see that the dangers to the group are far more vast than just dodging walkers. With Rick’s refusal to pony up any info, the strangers get increasingly hostile, until one of them draws his gun on Rick. Rick very quickly shoots both of the men.
Best scene ever!
Back at the farm, Dale tells Lori that he is pretty sure Shane sacrificed Otis to escape the walkers when they went to the school a few episodes back. Dale explains that although he has no proof, Shane all but admitted it to him. This is a telling factor, as Shane at one point asks Dale ‘What it is you actually do around here?’, it would appear Dale’s most recent job is to see through the bullshit that everyone else appears blind to.
When Beth’s condition seems to get worse, Lori tries to send Daryl to get the guys. Daryl is still very upset about the Sophia situation, and refuses to go. Lori then grabs a gun that I am not entirely convinced she knows how to use at all, and gets in a car to go get the guys from town. She is pregnant and has a son at the farm, but… who cares? The 90 pound woman is going to bring back the three grown men. Only she gets spooked by a zombie …and flips her car. Women drivers… pshh.
I thought that this was a pretty great episode. There were parts of this episode that I thought were slow, but as I was reminded, they are trying to show how desensitized everyone is becoming to the world around them.
I would give Nebraska a 4/5. The scene in the saloon really made this episode.
[Editor’s Note: The scene where Tony and Dave arrive at the bar, which lasted roughly 8 minutes, was for me, the most intensely enjoyable scene in the history of the show. That is largely thanks to a mostly still unknown, and surely under-appreciated actor named Michael Raymond James, who many people will recognize as ‘Rene Lenier’ from the first season of True Blood, but who will forever be known to me as ‘Britt Pollack’ from Terriers. There was something about him and his interactions with Rick, as if he is the ‘Rick’ of the other group, and he wasn’t always a bad guy, he was just handling things much differently. He seemed to channel almost a ‘John McClane’ type of edgy-swagger about him and the way he talked. I was sad to see him killed off so quick, but I suppose it just makes Rick that much cooler in the way he handled it. Kudos to the casting department on that one.]
Spartacus Season 2: Vengeance – Episode 3 “The Greater Good”
This was by far the best episode of the season yet, and that is pretty good for only the third episode. It would seem that Lucretia unleashing that little bit of information about Gannicus and Oenomaus’ wife Melitta happened a lot sooner than I thought, as she and Ashur worked towards gaining the location and intent of Spartacus and the other escaped slaves. I thought that Oenomaus was one of the more intriguing characters of the series, but he really doesn’t compare to the likes of Ashur.
Ashur personifies the concept of scheming and treachery. Having said that, his loyalty is somewhat steadfast as long as the person employing him treats him well. It has already been shown that he is still loyal to Lucretia, though whether that is pure or simply a means to get revenge against Spartacus and the others remains to be seen. I don’t see him ever actually being true to the likes of Glaber. You have to wonder what Ashur’s driving force is, because it’s not likely he could rise much higher than someone’s lackey being a freed Syrian slave in Rome. Either way, he is a brilliant villain for the series and has made plenty of enemies of people who could really beat the living crap out of him. (Oenomaus and Crixus in particular.)
Oenomaus seems to be a broken man at this point after learning of Melitta doing the nasty with Gannicus, and bringing the poisoned wine to drink with him just before it. I would think even though he may want to see Gannicus dead, he may care a little less for long dead Quintus, and still alive Lucretia as well, especially if he finds out that Lucretia is responsible for Titus dying.
There have been some interesting developments indeed going down for the renegade slaves as well. After freeing another group of slaves being transported, Agron and Nasir interrogate one of the surviving Romans and gaining some information about Naevia, which isn’t good. After Crixus finds out that she is supposedly dead he goes into flip out mode and then mopes around quite a bit. It was actually pretty sad to see Crixus react to Naevia’s death, but as the episode wore on you could tell by the way Nasir was acting that something was amiss and when it was revealed you know things wouldn’t be good for anyone who pissed off Crixus.
Finally the truth comes out when Nasir admits that Agron lied about Naevia’s death because he didn’t think it was right that they were risking everyone to save one person. And so Spartacus, Crixus and Nasir strike off with a small group for the mines where Naevia is being held and Agron leads the others to Mount Vesuviusto make camp. I always liked Agron, but I was kind of disappointed to see him screw up the harmony of the group with his lies. It was good to see Nasir as such a valuable member of the group, offering to assist them at the mines, and a bit weird to think of him and Agron as…*gulp*… a couple. Of anything by the end of this episode, the comradarie seen between Crixus and Spartacus was a welcome sight, though by the looks of the ending it may have been cut short.
It would seem Claudius Glaber is finally being useful without having to rely on Verinius and Seppius as he heeds Ashur and Lucretia’s advice to seek out Spartacus and the others at the mines. The scene where it alternated between the fights at the Capua arena and the slaves escaping the mine with Naevia was very well done, both musically and visually. My biggest question at this point is what in the hell will become of Crixus? I really am starting to like the big oaf. And can I just add that I absolutely cannot stand Seppius’ sister Seppia? If actress Hanna Mangan Lawrence was going for ditzy and annoying noble Roman girl then she nailed that right on the head, and is a great actress for making me despise the character after only briefly seeing her in three episodes. I give the episode 5 out of 5 grizzlies, because it was perfect. It kept me on the edge of my seat with the interrogation of Oenomaus and the rescue of Naevia the entire time and left us with an excellent cliffhanger ending. Not to mention there was plenty of action to sustain us barbaric male viewers.
Grizzly Bomb 