Rome: 2.01 Passover
Jan. 11th, 2007 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baleanopteraSome thoughts on "Passover". And here there be massive spoilers - so tread carefully.
Rome: 2.01 Passover
First – the opening shot of Caesar in the dark and empty senate was absolutely haunting. I liked how, even if he was dead, Caesar remained the focal point for most of the episode. You can kill the man, but not the myth.
Also I liked the way they death with the aftermath for the assassins, but for me this episode was all about Vorenus. I’ve always liked him, but I’ve liked Pullo better – but after this I think their pretty much equal. Mostly because of the sheer utter disaster that Vorenus faces in this episode, and how it completely unravels him. In short he breaks my heart. First he curses his family, and then he looses them. He looses his dignity and his sanity – it’s like a Greek tragedy, and since we have had a cathartic ending (if we get one) it’s all very hard to handle.
(Sidenote: I don’t think Niobe’s children (for the boy isn’t technically Vorenus’) are dead however. Though I’m not sure I have a reason for not believing that beyond flat out refusal on the grounds that it would be too horrible. But the bad guy, Erastus, didn’t seem very believable when he said he fucked them and dumped them in the river. Besides – it would make no sense. Such an action contains no profit, and dumping them dead in the river would set no example as there would be no bodies to verify your tale.)
Thankfully there is a pause from all the death an tragedy with Pullo and his pastoral proposal (also fun with alliteration). I found this scene both sweet and incredibly sad. First the fact that he starts out with: I know we got of to a wrong start (aka I killed the person you loved) – and then he proposes.
Then comes the part that breaks me: Eirine calls him ‘master’. He immediately tells her not to, but still it shows that she still thinks of him that way and it makes you wonder how much of her yes is really voluntary. That feeling is reinforced by her calling him master later on.
I also loved how Pullo’s first reaction to hearing Ceasar was dead is grabbing the messenger and steal his horse. Hee! Then came the scene that made me all teary - Pullo finding Vorenus in the empty insula, and Vorenus not being really coherent – and Pullo calling him “Brother Vorenus” again and again to calm him. *sniff* I had to stop the episode there and just collect myself a bit.
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alexandral said Niobe’s funeral reminded her of a scene from a plague funeral, and it did. So bare and dark. I liked the wet earth and the black – almost like all colours has been drained from Vorenus’ world now that Niobe is gone.
But the whole Vorenus arc of this episode was tragic – from him weeping by Niobe’s body to him carrying a severed head up those stairs. It was like watching the civilized, caring Vorenus simply evaporate – and this mad savage appear. Also the filming in the last scene, with all the browns and reds, made me think of blood and earth and primitivism.*shivers*
I also loved Octavian in this episode – but then again I really like Octavian. In “Passover” he seemed to come into his own, and started claiming what was his. Once he was named heir he was determined to keep his inheritance – to the point that he played his mother against Marc Antony by using Servillia – very clever.
Marc Antony was mostly steaming with rage, and I can understand why. You could really see him wanting to hit something (or someone) when Octavian was made Caesar’s heir. Not the best day for Marc Antony no. Still…he will get his kicks, come Cleopatra and all. *g*
And go Calpurnia for spitting Servillia in the face!
Rome: 2.01 Passover
First – the opening shot of Caesar in the dark and empty senate was absolutely haunting. I liked how, even if he was dead, Caesar remained the focal point for most of the episode. You can kill the man, but not the myth.
Also I liked the way they death with the aftermath for the assassins, but for me this episode was all about Vorenus. I’ve always liked him, but I’ve liked Pullo better – but after this I think their pretty much equal. Mostly because of the sheer utter disaster that Vorenus faces in this episode, and how it completely unravels him. In short he breaks my heart. First he curses his family, and then he looses them. He looses his dignity and his sanity – it’s like a Greek tragedy, and since we have had a cathartic ending (if we get one) it’s all very hard to handle.
(Sidenote: I don’t think Niobe’s children (for the boy isn’t technically Vorenus’) are dead however. Though I’m not sure I have a reason for not believing that beyond flat out refusal on the grounds that it would be too horrible. But the bad guy, Erastus, didn’t seem very believable when he said he fucked them and dumped them in the river. Besides – it would make no sense. Such an action contains no profit, and dumping them dead in the river would set no example as there would be no bodies to verify your tale.)
Thankfully there is a pause from all the death an tragedy with Pullo and his pastoral proposal (also fun with alliteration). I found this scene both sweet and incredibly sad. First the fact that he starts out with: I know we got of to a wrong start (aka I killed the person you loved) – and then he proposes.
Then comes the part that breaks me: Eirine calls him ‘master’. He immediately tells her not to, but still it shows that she still thinks of him that way and it makes you wonder how much of her yes is really voluntary. That feeling is reinforced by her calling him master later on.
I also loved how Pullo’s first reaction to hearing Ceasar was dead is grabbing the messenger and steal his horse. Hee! Then came the scene that made me all teary - Pullo finding Vorenus in the empty insula, and Vorenus not being really coherent – and Pullo calling him “Brother Vorenus” again and again to calm him. *sniff* I had to stop the episode there and just collect myself a bit.
alexandral said Niobe’s funeral reminded her of a scene from a plague funeral, and it did. So bare and dark. I liked the wet earth and the black – almost like all colours has been drained from Vorenus’ world now that Niobe is gone. But the whole Vorenus arc of this episode was tragic – from him weeping by Niobe’s body to him carrying a severed head up those stairs. It was like watching the civilized, caring Vorenus simply evaporate – and this mad savage appear. Also the filming in the last scene, with all the browns and reds, made me think of blood and earth and primitivism.*shivers*
I also loved Octavian in this episode – but then again I really like Octavian. In “Passover” he seemed to come into his own, and started claiming what was his. Once he was named heir he was determined to keep his inheritance – to the point that he played his mother against Marc Antony by using Servillia – very clever.
Marc Antony was mostly steaming with rage, and I can understand why. You could really see him wanting to hit something (or someone) when Octavian was made Caesar’s heir. Not the best day for Marc Antony no. Still…he will get his kicks, come Cleopatra and all. *g*
And go Calpurnia for spitting Servillia in the face!
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no subject
Date: 2007-01-11 10:22 pm (UTC)And for some strange reason I liked him even more. :D. I always liked Vorenus more - may be because he was always the brains of the company (not to say that Pullo is slow-witted or anything) , or may be because he was always so earnest and composed and may be because he is a look-a-like of one of my friends in Russia (one I used to like quite a great deal). But I reached the point of "he is awesome" now that he lost it. But I like Pullo too - my heart has a large space. :D And the scene where Pullo was kissing Vorenus almost broke my heart. They seem to be very free with giving each other kisses in Rome.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-12 02:58 pm (UTC)Hee. Well, I would never argue that Pullo is a bright beacon of intelligence. Not that he is slow - he's just not that deductive. ;)
But I reached the point of "he is awesome" now that he lost it.
Oh me too! It also felt a little like the hard soldier that has always lurked under the surface was released with fury. For Vorenus has always been so controlled, so concerned about proper forms and the right way of things - and now it seems like he has shaken away all of that, and he has actually become rather scary.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-12 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-12 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-15 11:32 pm (UTC)To start with the question you asked re: my entry: I guess I do think Lucius's children are dead. Erastus seemed quite scummy enough to have done it, and so unconcerned about human life that I think he wouldn't have cared about a profit but would just have tossed them aside when he was no longer interested. Plus, from a storytelling point of view, this is a pretty bleak series, and I think it would be too soap opera-y if they suddenly turned up alive.
I think you hit the nail completely on the head re: Eirene's acceptance of Pullo. I think she still think of him as her master and also as her only protection from a life of...what? Prostitution, maybe. She certainly has no other way to support herself as a free woman that I can see, so I think she probably sees him as the more desirable of very few options.
And the filming of this show has always been beautiful, but the dark, muted color palette of this episode was especially effective.
no subject
Date: 2007-01-16 11:49 am (UTC)I think it would be too soap opera-y if they suddenly turned up alive.
But wouldn't that depend on the manner of how they turn up and how hey have fared? I feel very much like the Devil's Advocate now. ;) But I keep thinking about a quote from The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (of all places): "How do you hurt a man who has lost everything? You give him back something broken."
I guess my point is that even if the children would turn up to be alive, this doesn't mean it will be a joyful and positive event.
I loved the filming of this episode. They played so wonderfully with contrasts of color and light. I also loved how they started directly after the assassination - and basically opened the episode with one of confusion and grief - and then they let the darkness and the vengeance build. The final shot of Vorenus climbing the Aventine with a severed head gave me chills!