Rome, episode 3

[vaznetti]

You know, now that I think about it, what's the point of a spoiler cut for a show like this? I mean, I have no sympathy for people who don't know how Caesar's story ends. Bring on the ides! But for the squeamish and the uninterested, I will cut:

Remember how I said after the first week that they'd gotten the casting wrong? That they'd somehow managed to switch Cato and Cicero, since Cicero is Pompey's age and Cato is relatively young? It works if you switch the dialogue, as well. The exchange between "Cato" and Pompey about leaving Rome was pure Cicero and Pompey -- Cicero is all "are you insane?" at the thought of abandoning the city and Pompey's response is basically "Hello? Which of us is the military genius? That's right -- not you!"

It's not like you can't find all this stuff in Cicero's letters. I suppose the writers might have glanced at those, but you wouldn't know it.

We spent the whole episode thinking that the man Pompey sends to get the treasury was supposed to be Curio, and laughed like maniacs because we thought that, if it was Curio, he'd take the gold and head for Caesar's camp, and that would be a neat way of putting Curio back into the story and getting a sense of how he did Popmey over by switching sides. Sadly, no.

Instead, Titus Pullo ended up driving off with the girl and the cart full of gold! How sweet was that? I loved it!

And this is the thing. I really like the story of Pullo and Vorenus, and I like those characters. Atia gets some good lines (although I have issues with the representation of unrestrained female sexuality in Late Republican Rome, and will have to write something about why that's a problem). But the political history is just careless. I keep having to take deep breaths and say "not for me, not for me." It's very frustrating, because I love this stuff, and I think it could be very dramatic, and I hate the way it gets short-changed.

Not wrtten for me. Words to live by, you know?

Comments

[reginaspina.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was puzzled by the fact that his named appeared to be Curio, but I think it was just something that rhymed like that.

I LOVE that Titus stole the gold. Hee hee! He really IS a pirate, isn't he? Also, Titus's advice to the lovelorn is priceless (and makes me think he got a long way by sweet-talking, not just by paying and pillaging, you know?)

The politics? I kinda close my eyes a little. And focus on dishevelled Antony ;)

[elishavah.livejournal.com]

There are advantages to remembering some of the history, but not everything... It is kind of odd how completely they've flipped Cato and Cicero, though, and I wonder what exactly was their reasoning, because they're being super-careful about so many other details.

In the end, I do love Pullo and Vorenus.

[lenadances.livejournal.com]

I'm deeply puzzled about why they're so very careful with so many things-- using a REAL BLACKSMITH in a scene where you see a blacksmith for 1.2 seconds, if that-- and then letting this stuff go. Historic accuracy apparently means costumes and sets only. Oy. On the other hand, since I can't ever remember who's supposed to be who, I'll just switch them in my head for your sake. :-)

TITUS PULLO IS A GENIUS. We kept rewinding his love advice scene. "Attend to that button." ::dies:: And he goes to rescue the girl! And finds the gold! And briefly has broken oxen but makes them work and heads off into nowhere with gold and girl!

...Oh, no, that doesn't mean he's gone now, right? Oh please no. I could not do without Pullo. Although over-the-top Atia and Octavia squabbling over who would kill whom in which order was fantastic. (Oh, poor Octavia. I'm still a horrible sap about her losing her husband.)

I'm beginning to get a soft spot for Lucius Vorenus. Poor man. So earnest. Such a twerp. Tries so hard. Doesn't understand why the rules he was taught aren't actually the ones that work. Awww.