Said A. Bayan

Just finished watching Spartacus. What a show. Best thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Such great characters; Crixus, Gannicus, Oenomaus, Crassus and of course Spartacus as well as great fictional characters like Agron, Nasir and Ashur. Knowing that it's based on a real story and that the good guys didn't win the war was so heart-wrenching. As the episodes and seasons go on you start to get emotionally attached to the characters and their personalities. My favourite was Gannicus because of the transformation he made from the wine and sex loving care-free guy with gladiatorial talent to a real leader that matured as the war carried on and to see him die the way he did (no spoilers) was so sad considering all he wanted was a 'glorious death'. I guess his hallucination of the crowd chanting his name how they used to in his glory days makes up for it but his facial expression is that of a sadness as he didn't go out the way he always wanted to. One thing I want to note is that neither Spartacus, Gannicus nor Crixus were killed in a fair one to one combat. Both Spartacus and Crixus had their man down but were speared from behind, and Gannicus was never given the opportunity to complete his one to one combat with Caesar. Also, the real Castus was one of the main leaders of the revolution but he is given a minor role in the show as a pirate-turned good guy. Also, Oenomaus was not black in real life, he was a Gaul like Crixus. Another thing I would like to add is that the creation of fictional characters like Agron and Nasir that would go on to survive was a smart thing on behalf of the producers as it gave viewers that small "happily ever after" feeling when in reality, every one of the surviving 6,000 rebel slaves were crucified along the road between Rome and Capua. Very sad but that's the reality. Also, Crixus split from Spartacus way earlier in real life than in the show. One has to wonder how the revolution would have panned out had they stayed united the entire time and just followed Spartacus' lead. They may still have been defeated as Pompey was coming from the North but it would have been interesting to see how it would have went. Overall, this is the best show I have ever seen and it's very disappointing that this extremely talented cast has not been given many major roles since Spartacus finished about six years ago. Spartacus, Gannicus, Oenomaus, Crixus, Agron, Nasir, Varro, Lugo, Donar and the rest are all our heroes forever. I actually liked Crassus and Caesar even though they were the enemy. They had that respect for Spartacus that people like Glaber and others didn't have and that's perhaps why they were able to defeat them. LONG LIVE SPARTACUS, CHAMPION OF CAPUA!