Five shows to watch while waiting for Game of Thrones Season 7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtPKOvpazyk
3. Spartacus
Highly stylized blood and gore, action-packed scenes with our heroes inexplicably always coming out on top, and loads and loads of full frontal nudity…and sex. Lots of sex. Starz’s Spartacus really did have it all, and it did a full year before Game of Thrones.
Spartacus was broken up into four seasons: three regular seasons and one prequel season. The prequel season came directly after Season 1, because Spartacus himself (actor Andy Whitfield) was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. (He died in 2011.) So Starz had to choose a new actor to play the title role (Liam McIntyre), and away they went with two more amazing seasons.
Following the actual timeline, and putting the prequel season first, this is how to watch Spartacus:
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. Gods of the Arena follows the House of Batiatus in the Roman city of Capua before the arrival of Spartacus. Here we learn about Crixus’ backstory, and the tragedy of Oenomaus’ wife. This was a perfect prequel season, and something HBO should think about in regards to Game of Thrones.
Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Blood and Sand is where Spartacus actually enters the picture. When the season begins, Spartacus isn’t called Spartacus—he’s an unnamed Thracian warrior fighting under Claudius Glaber in a campaign against the Getae. The Thracians don’t normally get bother with the problems of the Romans, but since the Getae often raid the Thracians’ lands, Glaber is able to persuade them to enlist in the Romans’ service as an auxiliary unit.
During the fighting, Glaber’s wife Ilithyia persuades him to seek greater glory in order to impress her father, so Glaber stops attacking the Getae and moves his forces to face Mithridates in Asia Minor. The unnamed Thracian doesn’t like that, and leads a mutiny against Glaber. He then returns home to find his village destroyed by the Getae. He finds his wife, Sura, and tries to run, but is captured by Glaber the next day. He’s condemned to die in the gladiatorial arena for his crime, while his wife is taken away and condemned to slavery.
The unnamed Thracian is shipped to Capua in Italy, where he encounters the House of Batiatus. Despite wanting to give up, the Thracian destroys his opponents in the arena and becomes an instant hit with the ravenous crowd. Senator Albinius (Ilithyia’s father) decides to commute the Thracian’s punishment from death to slavery, angering Glaber. With the Thracian’s true name still unknown, Lentulus Batiatus, the owner of the House of Batiatus, suggests that he be called Spartacus. To find out the rest, you have to watch.
Spartacus: Vengeance. Vengeance picks up right where Blood and Sand leaves off. I will spoil nothing. Just watch it already.
Spartacus: War of the Damned. War of the Damned is the final chapter of the Spartacus saga, and it goes out with a bang. The creator of the show, Steven S. DeKnight, knew what he was doing with Spartacus, and didn’t drag it out too long. For that we are forever grateful. Plus, he showed some incredible class in the final credits of the final episode by paying homage to Andy Whitfield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls81UrU42Pw
Spartacus is available on Netflix
Spartacus is not available on Hulu
Spartacus is available on Starz on Demand
Spartacus is available on Amazon Prime
Spartacus is available on iTunes
Next: Marco Polo