'SPARTACUS: BLOOD & SAND' 1.9 - "Whore"

[SPOILERS] There's usually so much testosterone fuelling Spartacus: Blood & San that its female cast members can fall into the background, so it was great to have an episode with more of an emphasis on Lucretia (Lucy Lawless), Ilithyia (Viva Bianca) and Naevia (Lesley-Ann Brandt), even if this spotlight on the women was still entitled "Whore".

This week, Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) agreed to carry out what's expected of him as Champion of Capua, in prostituting himself to wealthy Roman called Licinia (Brooke Harmon) who has a fantasy where she has sex with a gladiator behind her husband's back. Batiatus (John Hannah) is more than happy to have his wife make the arrangements to please Licinia's fetish, as a business move, but matters were complicated when Lucretia's friend Ilithyia heard about the arrangement and decided she'd similarly like to sleep with Crixus (Manu Bennett). But Lucretia's jealousy over having to "share" Crixus, her favoured gladiator she regularly sleeps with behind her husband's back, led to her taking unusual steps to teach Ilithyia a lesson.

Elsewhere in the ludus, Varro (Jai Courtney) confided to Spartacus that his pregnant wife and child have gone missing; Spartacus refused the services of a nubile slave girl called Mira (Katrina Law) to prepare him for his night of passion with Licinia, but later reached an agreement with Mira to investigate Varro's missing family beyond the ludus walls; the lame Ashur (Nick Tarabay) tried to return to gladiatorial training, only to be refused by Batiatus, thus pushing him closer to the Batiatus's rival Solonius in bitterness; Crixus returned to training and appears to have overcome his near-fatal injuries, with an eye on reclaiming his title from Spartacus; and Naevia stole the key to Crixus's cell so they could be together after dark, although her pickpocketing move on a guard was initially misinterpreted by the covetous Crixus.

There was much to enjoy in "Whore", which was thick with sex, jealousy and hatred. I especially liked Lucretia's manoeuvrings, which resulted in a surprisingly horrible deception at the end: letting bitter enemies Spartacus and Lucretia have sex together (their faces hidden behind unnerving masks), believing they were actually having intercourse with Licinia and Crixus respectively. The look of horror on Ilithyia's face was palpable when the cruel trick was revealed in front of Licinia herself, who made the mistake of laughing at poor Ilithyia's situation and swiftly had her skull caved in by the enraged Ilithyia on some stone steps. So now Batiatus has the death of a Rome socialite on his premises to cover-up, while Lucretia will perhaps use her knowledge of Ilithyia's crime as leverage with her?

This hour was confidently written by Daniel Knauf (Carnivàle, Supernatural), and the direction by hyphenate Michael Hurst was easily a highlight of the series so far. At times it was beautifully cinematic, particularly in the excellent Spartacus/Ilithyia sex scene, which buzzed with sexuaity. The compositions and cinematography were also of a higher standard than usual, perhaps helped by the fact most scenes took place indoors (with no need for any greenscreen that often makes the exterior sequences look artificial and slightly cartoonish).

Overall, another very good episode as we inch closer to the finale. I'm interested to see how the dynamic will change between Lucretia and Ilithyia following this episode's horror, if Ashur will go through with helping Solonius, whether or not Crixus will regain his title in the arena, and exactly where Spartacus's fate will take him. Is escape from the ludus inevitable, perhaps with Varro in tow?

Asides

• You may recognize Katrina Law from her guest-starring appearance in Chuck season 2 as Alexis, during "Chuck Versus The Beefcake".
• Anyone else get an Eyes Wide Shut flashback with the Spartacus/Ilithyia sex scene?

WRITER: Daniel Knauf
DIRECTOR: Michael Hurst
GUEST CAST: Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Nick Tarabay, Viva Bianca, Katrina Law, Jai Courtney, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Craig Walsh Wrightson, Daniel Feuerriegel, Ande Cunningham, Brooke Harmon, Tim Foley, Ioane King, Mark Mitchinson & David Austin
TRANSMISSION: 20 July 2010 - BRAVO, 10PM