How do you feel, it's a top ten list...

I finished up Spartacus over the weekend.  My overall opinion of it was...meh.  The more it went on, frankly, the worse it got: more over the top, more implausability...just got to big for it's britches.  See, when it was a show about a gladiator, like in the first season (1) and the prequel (1.5), then it was based on character, and plot and characters plotting.  But during the second season (2) and the third (3), then it was all about 'show': bigger sets, more blood, larger crowds of unnamed extras, and more grandiosity....all at the expense of character development.

But enough about that.  What I'm going to do now is list my Top Ten Favorite Characters of Spartacus.  And be forewarned, some on here for no other reason than they were just pretty eye candy.

10. Castus (Blessing Mokgohloa) Seasons 2, 3

Okay, granted, he wasn't much of a character, just one of the pirates who was left behind because he got so drunk he passed out.  But he because a potential love interest for Nasir (a scene which if anyone knows was ever written out in flash fiction, please let me know cause I'd want to read it!), and a cause of jealousy for Agron.  But he seemed like a decent guy. And he was an amazing piece of eye candy.  And really, with a flirty smile like in the pic above, I dont know HOW Nasir could say no.

(as an added plus, here's a pic of the actor wearing just a hoodie!

What a shame the show didn't show Castus in just a loincloth!)

9. Tiberius (Christian Antidormi) Season 3

He was young, obnoxious, ambitious, immature, hot headed and frankly, not very likeable at all.  So why is he on the list?  come on...LOOK at him!  He's adorable.  It's a shame we only saw his ass twice.

8. Saxa (Ellen Hollman) Seasons 2, 3

She was one of the German slaves rescued from the ship.  I like her mainly cause, from the start, she's such a she-cat!  On the ship, while still chained and in a cage, she grabs the Roman slaver and stabs him repeatedly.  That because her signature fighting style, knives.  I loved how every time she was in a fight, she'd ned up jumping on a Roman from the back, or better yet, on his front, wrapping legs around his waist and stabbing him until he fell.  And then remained on him, still stabbing him.  Fierce.

7. Quintus Batiatus (John Hannah)  Season 1, 1.5

The best conniving, master planner on TV since JR Ewing....but who's plans usually somehow turned around and bit him in the ass.  But he still kept trying.  The nerve of this guy to try everything he did never failed to amaze me.  And it was always fun watching his plans crumble to ashes and then watching him freak out about it.  And THEN, make plans to overcome it all.  Plus, who else swore like him?  Jupiter's cock, indeed!

6. Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) Seasons 1, 1.5, 2

 She's basically a copy of Quintus, but with boobs.  She makes all these elaborate plans that never turn out the way she wants them to.  But that's not enough for her to make the list.  What DID get her on the list was just how much she went totally batshit crazy in the 3rd Season.  I mean, surviving the gladiator's attack on the ludus, wandering the villa out of her mind, become an 'oracle', but most of all, slicing Illithyia's son out of her womb, carrying him to the precipice and then simply falling backwards off of it, to her death.  Bat.  Shit.  Crazy.

5. Pietros (Eka Darville) Season 1

He was first just eye candy to me (and, well...he still is), but as they developed his character as the lover of Barca, I came to care about him as a person.  And I was angry when he was raped and abused, and frankly pissed off when he hung himself.  I think I might have cheered when his rapist was thrown off the side of the cliff...the bastard.

4. Varro (Jai Courtney) Season 1

He was a decent character, a free man who sold himself into the ludus so he could send money to his family.  he was a good man, one of the few honorable ones in the show...so of course, he had to die.  His death angered me too.  But while alive, he was one of the best characters on the show.  Plus, he's a tasty piece of eye candy, for sure.

3. Mira (Katrina Law) Season 1, 1.5, 2

I like her because she started out as little more than a house slave, but she became an awesome archer and asset in battles.  She didn't remain a helpless, useless slave.  It saddened me to see her die, I liked seeing a strong sensible female character rise from nothing.

2. Doctore/Oenomeus (Peter Mensah) Seasons 1, 1.5, 2

Surely THE most honorable man in the entirety of the series.  And a character with a GREAT backstory.  He was fully fleshed out and very real.  But I liked him so much because, as I said, he was honorable, and remained so until the end.

1. Nasir (Pana Hema Taylor) Seasons 2, 3

Almost from the time I first saw him as a shirtless slave, standing in a corner watching his Dominus have sex with a slave, I liked him. (I'm guessing it was a hair probably)  I hoped he'd become a reoccuring character, I just didn't expect him to become a main character.  And one involved in the only gay relationship between main characters on the show to boot (well in the later seasons anyway).  And much like Mira, he started as a simple house slave and became a major player and warrior in the battles.  And I like him for that just as I like Mira for it.  And everytime he entered battle, and they'd show him, I was afraid he was gonna die.  Especially in the last episode, when I expected ALL the rebels to be killed.  Imagine how overjoyed I was when Nasir, and his man Agron, BOTH manage to survive.

I think that, in a way, made up for the lack of a decent goodbye when Agron when to assault Rome, and I then expected him to die.  I mean, Spartacus fucks the Roman redheaded chick for the first time the night before and we get a scene full of slow motion sex between them, but Nasir and Agron, who have been a couple FOREVER, don't even get a kiss goodbye.  Weak.  Course, they DID get to go off into the sunset together, so that makes up for it. (And yeah, it's DEFINITELY the hair....)

And here, as way to make up for the oversight, is a nice little montage of them:

So, who would make your list of favorite characters?  Which ones on my list shouldnt be there?  let me know in the comments!

POLT