TV Show Review

TV Review: SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE: Season 2, Episode 10: Wrath of the Gods

Liam McIntyre Spartacus Vengeance Wrath of the Gods

Spartacus Vengeance Season 2 Episode 10 Wrath of the Gods Review. Spartacus: Vengeance: Season 2, Episode 10: Wrath of the Gods took the viewer by surprise. Who could have foreseen the major character death count and how twisted the Ilithyia (Viva Bianca)/Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) plot line would become.

There was a great dramatic moment when Ilithyia was going to kill Lucretia, movie-grade. I thought Lucretia had gone sane again but it seems all that time she was still insane. What an unforeseen and beautifully shot sequence as Lucretia killed off all of Ilithyia’s body slaves and then made her true intention known to Ilithyia.

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Did Lucretia cut Ilithyia’s child out of her belly? If so, how did she survive the continuous blood loss from the archaic Caesarian operation? Did she die from the blood loss after Lucretia killed herself and Ilithyia’s baby (at first I thought Lucretia was going to drop the baby and but when I saw her true intention, I just didn’t think it would happen until it did)? It would make sense since she was so grey and dropped to the ground. Since there is no one left to stop her bleeding, Ilithyia may be counted amongst the dead in this episode as well. We will have to wait until Season Three to find out the answer to that.

Great writing by series creator Steven S. DeKnight on that plot line.

Like Theokales in Season One (written about here: TV Review: Spartacus: Blood and Sand: Season 1, Ep. 5: Shadow Games), it took two people to kill the Egyptian. I wish the former Doctore (Peter Mensah) had not “fallen into shadow” at its end though. His presence will be missed as will Lucretia’s.

I loved how a little history, and I do mean a little history, was shown as Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) snuck into the Roman encampment by scaling Mount Vesuvius. Turning the catapults against the Romans was good except for the fact that Spartacus and his three companions were too few to keep loading and firing them. Whatever the catapults were throwing looked heavy so how could they load and work multiple catapults?  Logic fails, action and drama remain.

I thought Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker) would get away in the end (to fight another day) but that was not to be. He should have run to that tunnel that Spartacus and company escaped through when Glaber previously attacked. Glaber’s foreshadowing before he died was good but unnecessary. If the viewer knows history, they know how The Third Servile War ends. BTW, what is the point of Glaber’s armor if a gladus could easily pass through it?

Ashur (Nick Tarabay) and his final battle was really hard to swallow but well shot. I can suspend disbelief to a certain extent but believing that a former body slave (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) could beat a man that had been trained to fight for years (even the lowest of the low like Ashur) and who had fought in numerous arenas pushed the Starz TV series even farther from reality than it normally delved. Ashur toying with Naevia the viewer could totally believe but Doctore must have taught his students never to let their guard down, not matter what. Though Ashur’s opponent was on her knees at one point, she was still armed and had no mortal wounds. Ashur is not stupid, no one could ever call him that. Just because Naevia is a woman, that Doctore training, that lesson (never let your guard down) would not have left his mind, especially after what Crixus did to him in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (written about here: Spartacus: Gods of the Arena: Season 1, Ep. 6: The Bitter End and pictured here: Spartacus: Gods of the Arena: The Bitter End: High Resolution Photos).

The fight did have its moments though.

During part of this episode, I finally began to see Liam McIntyre as Spartacus and not as a replacement. It took long enough.

For more Spartacus: Vengeance reviews, photos, videos, and information, visit our Spartacus: Blood and Sand Page.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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