TV Review: SPARTACUS: VENGEANCE: Season 2, Episode 9: Monsters

Spartacus Vengeance Season 2 Episode 9 Monsters Review. Spartacus: Vengeance: Season 2, Episode 9: Monsters had two surprises for the viewer, two out of left field that were both stunning and dismaying.

The first surprise involved Seppia (Hanna Mangan Lawrence). The way in which her character was represented throughout the season, the viewer probably expected more from her (to use coitus and beauty as weapons) but that was not to be. Seppia was a pawn on the chess board, later becoming a vengeful pawn easily manipulated.

Her death scene was one of the most over-the-top spectacles ever on the Starz TV show. The human body can not hold the abundant amount of blood that sprayed out of her neck in slow motion in garden hose fashion.

The use of slow motion was a little heavy this season but here it was used with blood to create the preposterous. The moment was well choreographed but as I said earlier, her demise was a shame. Hanna Mangan Lawrence and her Sepphia could have had a far better and rewarding character arc not only for her as an actress but for the show as well.

The second surprise of this episode involved Ominious (Peter Mensah). How does someone who was a champion in the arena, then a Doctore, then someone who fights countless opponents in The Pits get beaten by an Egyptian wielding knives? It was one of those flabbergasting moments that are rare on this show, which might be a good thing or a bad thing.

In the first season of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Doctore told Spartacus that Crixus (Manu Bennett) had weakness that Spartacus never exploited in their fight. Ominious is a fighter that calculates, strategizes, and looks for weaknesses in his opponents. Letting a knife user get that close was uncharacteristic of Ominious. It would have been more characteristic if Ominious kept him at sword-length, those giving him the advantage and eliminating the Egyptians’ striking ability. Show writers Brent Fletcher and Steven S. DeKnight saw it differently, unfortunately.

It was dramatic how the Ominious/Egyptian fight ended though. The viewer probably never saw its resolution coming.

Also adding to the drama and destruction of this episode was the first use on the series of catapults.

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