Rome 2.09 No God Can Stop a Hungry Man
Mar. 21st, 2007 10:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baleanopteraTo lay all the cards on the table – I’m not sure what I think of this episode. I loved the Pullo, Vorenus and Mark Antony parts – but the Octavian plot…um, well it bored me.
But to take the love part first (and that is the biggest part I swear!):
I loved the whole Vorenus dreams of Niobe, all while being the only "true Roman" left in Egypt. It was so heartwrenching and good, and I went all weepy when I saw Niobe again. (I miss her! I’ve missed her all season!) There was also something true and just about Vorenus, the traditional, stoic Roman, upholding the Roman way of life.
I adored all his scenes with Caesarion, especially when he was talking about Caesarion’s father. Not only was it a touching tribute to friendship, but I liked how the calmer Vorenus was back. The one we haven’t seen that much of since season one.
And I loved how his relationship with Mark Antony has changed from one of independence of Antony as a way to feed his family, to one where he is Antony’s trusted officer sent on "delicate assignments". I also felt that Vorenus has started acting as, or perhaps is representing, Antony’s conscience. Perhaps just as Pullo is Octavian’s common touch and empathy? At any rate it’s fascinating that both Pullo and Vorenus are serving with men that are such opposites of themselves, except when it comes to their darker sides. Vorenus and Mark Antony share a penance for self destruction, whereas Pullo and Octavian both possess a savage ruthlessness when it comes to killing. Does any one else see this or is this me on the lost track of over-speculation?
As for Mark Antony ,Cleopatra really does bring out the worst in him. This isn’t the first time Antony has done something stupid – he did after all have a dwarf dressed up as Cato and made two female slaves fight each other while he watched. But the hunting of the deer was particularly unsettling. He felt to me more like a man trying to escape himself and his position, than a man in love. All his talk about how the people would always love him just felt a little disillusioned and sad. How the mighty have fallen.
It must also have been particularly chilling for Mark Antony to hear Vorenus say that he recognised the symptoms from himself. After all Mark Antony has seen Vorenus in the pit of despair complete with rotting heads under the table. Comparison to that is probably not calming.
I also loved Pullo as chief of the Aventine, talking to the people and calming them down.I actually liked the Pullo and Gaia story, although that doesn't mean I like Gaia. I don't - in fact I dislike her rather much - but her relationshop with Pullo was well handled. I didn’t find it unnatural or sudden at all, in fact I was rather expecting it. Pullo doesn’t like being alone – and Gaia has more than signalled that she was available. I think what sold their relationship for me was how different it was from Pullo and Eirene’s marriage. He talked to Gaia in a way he would never have talked to Eirene – calling her a "cold hearted bitch" and so forth. Eirene was always the princess, then one his voice went soft for. The only time he sounded soft around Gaia was when she was dying, and if he hadn’t sounded concerned and comforting then I would have thought him deranged and notmy Pullo.
As for Memmio - that just shows that you should always kill your enemies. Keeping them alive, even as an example will always lead to trouble. Every "Evil Overlord list" will tell you that. ;D That said: how did Memmio manage to walk after that many years in a cage?
Then the Octavian part:
I didn’t realise I was bored until the Octavian/Livia sex scene. Then, amidst all the slapping and panting, I kept thinking: what is the point of this? Not in the "OMG! I’m disturbed! What is the point of showing this!?", but more "Hmm… is there a point to this? Wonder if I can just skip it and make myself a cup of tea." Now I see part of the point – Octavian has control issues, so he gets release through kinky sex. There is a certain logic to that, but it just struck me as dull characterisation.
(and also a rather gratuitous parallel to the Antony and Cleopatra sex scene up against the pillar. And I’m not touching the whole theme of women controlling their powerful men through sex that was going on. Including even Atia who no longer was having sex, and therefore had lost all power. )
There has also been a trend the last episodes of people around Octavian vocally expressing what Octavian is thinking. In this episode it was Livia with her: "you are sending them away to start a war etc" As a storytelling device I guess this is fine, but it doesn’t give credence to Octavian’s intelligence when everybody around him is always guessing his next move. In fact it took Cleopatra three minutes in a drug induced haze to grasp Octavian’s motives. This just makes Octavian look common and dull, and miles from the sharp boy he used to be. In fact I got the feeling that Octavian won more because Antony and Cleopatra were too busy doing their Sid & Nancy routine, than political competence. I just find that a little sad because it diminishes Octavian as an antagonist/protagonist.
But all in all: YAY ROME! And I cannot believe that the next episode is the last. I've seen the preview and it fills me with dread. And what will I watch after Rome!? Well, possibly Friday Night Lights - but wha! I will miss my beloved sword and sandal epic.
ETA: Also any thoughts on the episode title? Who does it refer to? What does it mean? I guess it has something to do with desire and/or revenge? I obsess about titles, I know...
But to take the love part first (and that is the biggest part I swear!):
I loved the whole Vorenus dreams of Niobe, all while being the only "true Roman" left in Egypt. It was so heartwrenching and good, and I went all weepy when I saw Niobe again. (I miss her! I’ve missed her all season!) There was also something true and just about Vorenus, the traditional, stoic Roman, upholding the Roman way of life.
I adored all his scenes with Caesarion, especially when he was talking about Caesarion’s father. Not only was it a touching tribute to friendship, but I liked how the calmer Vorenus was back. The one we haven’t seen that much of since season one.
And I loved how his relationship with Mark Antony has changed from one of independence of Antony as a way to feed his family, to one where he is Antony’s trusted officer sent on "delicate assignments". I also felt that Vorenus has started acting as, or perhaps is representing, Antony’s conscience. Perhaps just as Pullo is Octavian’s common touch and empathy? At any rate it’s fascinating that both Pullo and Vorenus are serving with men that are such opposites of themselves, except when it comes to their darker sides. Vorenus and Mark Antony share a penance for self destruction, whereas Pullo and Octavian both possess a savage ruthlessness when it comes to killing. Does any one else see this or is this me on the lost track of over-speculation?
As for Mark Antony ,Cleopatra really does bring out the worst in him. This isn’t the first time Antony has done something stupid – he did after all have a dwarf dressed up as Cato and made two female slaves fight each other while he watched. But the hunting of the deer was particularly unsettling. He felt to me more like a man trying to escape himself and his position, than a man in love. All his talk about how the people would always love him just felt a little disillusioned and sad. How the mighty have fallen.
It must also have been particularly chilling for Mark Antony to hear Vorenus say that he recognised the symptoms from himself. After all Mark Antony has seen Vorenus in the pit of despair complete with rotting heads under the table. Comparison to that is probably not calming.
I also loved Pullo as chief of the Aventine, talking to the people and calming them down.I actually liked the Pullo and Gaia story, although that doesn't mean I like Gaia. I don't - in fact I dislike her rather much - but her relationshop with Pullo was well handled. I didn’t find it unnatural or sudden at all, in fact I was rather expecting it. Pullo doesn’t like being alone – and Gaia has more than signalled that she was available. I think what sold their relationship for me was how different it was from Pullo and Eirene’s marriage. He talked to Gaia in a way he would never have talked to Eirene – calling her a "cold hearted bitch" and so forth. Eirene was always the princess, then one his voice went soft for. The only time he sounded soft around Gaia was when she was dying, and if he hadn’t sounded concerned and comforting then I would have thought him deranged and not
As for Memmio - that just shows that you should always kill your enemies. Keeping them alive, even as an example will always lead to trouble. Every "Evil Overlord list" will tell you that. ;D That said: how did Memmio manage to walk after that many years in a cage?
Then the Octavian part:
I didn’t realise I was bored until the Octavian/Livia sex scene. Then, amidst all the slapping and panting, I kept thinking: what is the point of this? Not in the "OMG! I’m disturbed! What is the point of showing this!?", but more "Hmm… is there a point to this? Wonder if I can just skip it and make myself a cup of tea." Now I see part of the point – Octavian has control issues, so he gets release through kinky sex. There is a certain logic to that, but it just struck me as dull characterisation.
(and also a rather gratuitous parallel to the Antony and Cleopatra sex scene up against the pillar. And I’m not touching the whole theme of women controlling their powerful men through sex that was going on. Including even Atia who no longer was having sex, and therefore had lost all power. )
There has also been a trend the last episodes of people around Octavian vocally expressing what Octavian is thinking. In this episode it was Livia with her: "you are sending them away to start a war etc" As a storytelling device I guess this is fine, but it doesn’t give credence to Octavian’s intelligence when everybody around him is always guessing his next move. In fact it took Cleopatra three minutes in a drug induced haze to grasp Octavian’s motives. This just makes Octavian look common and dull, and miles from the sharp boy he used to be. In fact I got the feeling that Octavian won more because Antony and Cleopatra were too busy doing their Sid & Nancy routine, than political competence. I just find that a little sad because it diminishes Octavian as an antagonist/protagonist.
But all in all: YAY ROME! And I cannot believe that the next episode is the last. I've seen the preview and it fills me with dread. And what will I watch after Rome!? Well, possibly Friday Night Lights - but wha! I will miss my beloved sword and sandal epic.
ETA: Also any thoughts on the episode title? Who does it refer to? What does it mean? I guess it has something to do with desire and/or revenge? I obsess about titles, I know...
