Spartacus or: let's watch our RingCon kiwis having sex

In April "Spartacus - Blood and Sand" was broadcast for the first time in Germany by the tv station ProSieben. And damn... I loved it!

It's about the young and athletic (what else?!) Thracian who unwillingly becomes a gladiator, gets into a ludus (the home of gladiators and slaves and of course of their Dominus), makes some friends, make some more foes and who tries to fight back his freedom and who wants to get back to his wife (she was taken away from him by the evil Legatus Claudius Glaber).
Ok, writing a summary seems to be quite difficult, so let's just have a look at the different characters.

Spartacus: young, atheltic, stubborn, proud Thracian; wasn't nice to Legatus Claudius Glaber, Glaber sent Spartacus' wife to slavery far, far away (not the kingdom in Shrek); Spartacus becomes a stubborn gladiator in the ludus of Quintus Lentulus Batatius; wants to get his wife and freedom back; doesn't really want to make friends in the ludus, Actor: Season 1 Andy Whitfield, since Season 2 Liam Mcintyre

Legatus Claudius Glaber: played by the incredible, handsome, funny, charming and lovely Mr. Craig "Lederhosen" Parker! married to the daughter of the Senator, bitchy Ilythia, wants to gain more power, seems a bit choleric, hates Spartacus, sends Spartacus' wife somewhere to slavery, wants to kill Spartacus in the Arena, plan doesn't work that well, shit happens

Quintus Lentulus Batiatus: cruel, non-succesful dominus of a ludus, also wants to gain more power (but in the arena), sometimes a bit annoyed by his wife's doings, played by John Hannah

Lucretia: domina of the ludus and wife of Batiatus, not really happy alone in the ludus with all the slaves and gladiators and without giving birth to an heir, starts affair with a gladiator and falls in love with him, becomes friends with Ilythia (you remember the bitchy wife of Glaber), veeeery manipulating and scheming but somehow very lovely, played by AYIYIYIYIYIYIYYI Xena actress, Lucy Lawless (the ayiyiyiyy was the famous Xena scream of course)

Ilythia: the bitchy wife of Glaber and daughter of powerful Senator, very bitchy (need to mention that), wants her husband to gain more power, wants also to have fun, visits Lucretia more and more in her ludus, is attracted by the dirrrrty gladiators but also hates Spartacus as much as a bitchy wife can do, played by Viva Bianca

Crixus: the undefeated Gaul, also very stubborn and proud, best gladiator in the ludus, hates Spartacus, loves the women, good body, played by Manu Bennett

So, short characterisations, and you all know what the story is about.

So in fact the series is full of intrigues, sex, violence, blood, sex, lies, fights, sex, sweat and some more blood and sex. First season should be named "Blood and Sex". Who needs the sand?!

The great thing bout that series is, that the characters aren't just black and white. Lucretia is also kind of a cruel bitch but on the other side very loyal to her husband, respectful to her slaves... And so all characters have their good and bad sides.
Ok, except Ashur... he's just some kind of disgusting asshole... But if you watch the series I am sure you know what I mean...


Unfortunately after season one, Spartacus-actor Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with non-hodgkin's lymphoma. While in therapy, the producers made a prequel of Blood and Sand ("Gods of the Arena") but also had to find a replacement. Whitfield was still alive when McIntyre was chosen, and he gave his blessing despite McIntyre being ten years younger than he was, and underweight for the role. On Sept. 11, 2011, he died of his illness...

Sure, McIntyre will always be compared with Whitfield and I can imagine how hard it is to continue the work another one began so well. He is doing a good job, but Whitfield will always be real Spartacus.
After the diagnose Whitfield filmed his last months. His wife, family and friends now want to publish the material to remember Andy and also to elucidate about the non-hodgekin's lymphoma.
More infos about that:  http://www.beherenowfilmcomingsoon.com/


But! as the title of this blogentry gives some hint... yes, we can watch Craig Lederhosen Parker and also Mark the MC of power Ferguson having sex, not with each other, of course, but well... It's kind of strange meeting these guys for about 8 years now and then you see them having sex... I will never look at them the way I did before :D So, I am looking even more forward to RingCon in 2 weeks xD

And what I also have to mention:
I have no child or a cute lil puppy, but watching Craig Parker in Spartacus playing that evil asshole makes me so proud of him! I think this is somehow what it feels like when your children grow up, leave highschool and go to university... And I am also very happy for Craig that he got such a big  role and I really hope more will follow in future!