talyseon's Full Review: Rome - The Complete Second Season
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
Rome: Season II (MMVI) Created by Bruno Heller
[After being told how many of Antony's army is dead] Posca: Eight thousand! Mark Antony: Oh do cheer up; you're still alive, aren't you? Posca: I do hope so. If this is the afterlife is it extremely disappointing!
Picking up where Season One left off, Gaius Julius Caesar lies dead on the floor of the Senate, and the mad scramble for power has started.
In order to pull off their bloody deed, Lucius Vorenus, Senator (and unofficial bodyguard) had to be dealt with. A simple truth spoken by Servillia's maid did the job, resulting in Niobe's suicide, and Lucius, overcome by greif, cursing his own daughters, and the boy. Now, that curse has taken hold, Nemesis using Erestes the gang leader as her agent of greif. He tells Lucius Vorenus that he has raped and killed his children, and dumped their bodies in the sewers. Erestes' death follows... But the Leader of the Aventine's death does not go unpunished...no, Octavian has the perfect man to take Erestes' place: Lucius Vorenus. He expects him to bring order to the gangs, and stop the warfare in the streets of Rome. Formerly Magistrate of the Aventine, Lucius Vorenius finds himself Capo of the Collegia, the organized underworld.
Meanwhile, Marc Anthony has escaped execution because he is not a man to pause and consider, but to react, and his assassins are politicians, not soldiers. Now, the forces of Rome struggle for power, the Senate and the Republic led defacto by Brutus, and the Caesarean forces behind Anthony.
But the will of Julius Caesar introduces another player: Gaius Octavian of the Julii. Caesar formally adopted the boy as his son and heir in his will, and charged him to give the plebs a hundred sesterces each in his memory from the estate. And Octavian begins to act like the Caesar he is. The only problem is Anthony...he acts like he is the head of the Julii; he is shagging Atia, living in the house, and spending Caesar's money...until Octavius puts an end run around him, borrowing the money, and distributing it. When Anthony tries to strangle him, their ties are broken...and Octavian and his circle of friends retire to Campania. As you can see, little has changed in Rome... it is politics, backstabbing and infidelity as usual.
Season Two continues in the traditions of excellence set by Season One. The production values, costuming, acres of sets, everything continues at the same high level of production. The score is still flawless, and the writing has the same genius.
What has changed; well, most obviously Gaius Octavian takes the family name Caesar, and Max Pirkis is replaced with Simon Woods, to simulate his transition to manhood. Lucius Vorenius deprived of Niobe and his children takes a very dark turn, first as the new Son of Hades leader of the Roman criminal Collegia, and later, as a more respectable, but no less relentless, soldier. Gone is the naïve belief in Roman ideals; he still lives by them, loyalty, duty, discipline, but he no longer is of the opinion the rest of the world does, or should.
Also changed is Titus Pullo. As Lucius' second, he does a lot of the leg work. He understands how the underground works, how face must be saved, etc. And as Lucius dances with the Euminydes, relentlessly enforcing his will on the Collegia, it is Titus who has to be the rational one, the mediator, the tempering influence.
But the real change is in the women; this season, they shine.
Atia is still a scheming manipulative sociopath, but here, she sees what her blind devotion to Marc Anthony is costing her. When Octavian and he have it out over who is the head of the Julii, she sides with her lover. When her son determines he needs Anthony, it is she who brokers the peace between them. And when he has to be drawn into a political alliance; it is she who first suggests marriage.
The cruel blows dealt her by fate, circumstance, her son, her lover, and enemies deepen Atia. She learns that she does not always get what she wants. She even begins to question if the prizes she has sought are worth the prices paid.
Octavia, such a shy mouse in the first season, has grown as a person, alas, she has also grown jaded. Once tortured by her mother's callous disregard and constant self-centered self aggrandizement, now, Octavia takes it in stride, and instead enjoys the process of pointing out the flaws in her plans, beliefs, and morals. Not that Octavia's morals are that exemplary; from smoking pot with Jocasta, to a torrid affair with the sweet but unsuitable Agrippa, Octavia takes revolution, attempted murder, forced marriage, and infidelity in stride.
Gaia, the slave Madame of the Aventine Collegia finally shows her true colours. We already knew she was strong, passionate, and fearless. Now we see she is ruthless as well. What she wants, she goes after, and Proserpine welcome whomever gets in her way.
Vorena Major and Vorena Minor. The daughters of Lucius. They come home to find their mother dead, their father insane, are cursed to Hades by their sire, and then captured by his old enemy, Erestes, and made to suffer as punishment for his sins. It was not an easy life, being a Roman woman. But they are as Roman as their father, as strong, and as stubborn. Vorena Major holds her feelings inside, and learns to play the role she is dealt. Vorena Minor is said to have a glare like Medusa on the rag, one that can quell hardened criminals.
Servillia did not grow this season; she only deepened her character from before; but that is not a bad thing; she is a tough old Roman matron; with an iron spine, ice in her veins, and fire in her heart. Her final scene is one that no one will ever forget, least of all Atia..
We finally meet Livia Drusillia, the woman destined to become Empress of the Empire. One of the most effective rulers of Rome, she is one of my favorite villains of all time. It is true, what they say, men grow up, and marry their mothers...
And Cleopatra. Her name is a byword for seduction. Here, her prey was not Julius Caesar, but Marc Anthony. Her hedonism, a tool of control, destroyed them both. But she died as she lived; every inch a Queen. Too bad she was not a better ruler.
For all their posturing an bloody battles, the men of Rome are shaped by their women. If they are weapons, it is because a woman wants revenge. A little simplistic, perhaps, but still with a ring of truth.
Rome combines the worst traits of humanity, ambition, lust, greed, vengence, spite, treachery and pride and weaves them into a compelling human drama. Embroidering the tale are some of the finest sentiments of the human spirit, love, valor, duty, loyalty. The tale works because it combines accurate historical fact with realistic embellishment. There is a tendancy to veiw historical figures as larger than life paragons of virtue. Instead, Rome shows her children to be very human creatures, driven by the dark side more than guided by higher values. And that makes her great.
Potissimus Ludio Ludius
Kevin McKidd ... Lucius Vorenus (Partial Nudity) Ray Stevenson ... Titus Pullo (Full Frontal Nudity) Polly Walker ... Atia of the Julii (Partial Nudity) Kerry Condon ... Octavia of the Julii (Partial Nudity James Purefoy ... Mark Antony (Partial Nudity this season) Ian McNeice ... Newsreader (No Nudity; praise be!) Coral Amiga ... Vorena the Elder Lindsay Duncan ... Servilia of the Junii (Best Exit Scene Ever) Lidia Biondi ... Merula Tobias Menzies ... Marcus Junius Brutus (Full Frontal Nudity) Nicholas Woodeson ... Posca Indira Varma ... Niobe David Bamber ... Marcus Tullius Cicero Chiara Mastalli ... Eirene (Partial Nudity) Manfredi Aliquo ... Castor Suzanne Bertish ... Eleni Lee Boardman ... Timon Esther Hall ... Lyde Anna Fausta Primiano ... Vorena the Younger Michael Nardone ... Mascius Allen Leech ... Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (Partial Nudity) Guy Henry ... Cassius Anna Francolini ... Clarissa Camilla Rutherford ... Jocasta Simon Woods ... Gaius Octavian Caesar (Memorable butt shot) Zuleikha Robinson ... Gaia (Full Nudity) Alex Wyndham ... Gaius Maecenas Daniel Cerqueira ... Memmio Alessio Cuna ... Lucius Lorcan Cranitch ... Erastes Fulmen Nigel Lindsay ... Levi Valery Usai ... Vorena the Younger Lyndsey Marshal ... Cleopatra (Partial Nudity) Simone De Marinis ... Atia's Slave Kathryn Hunter ... Charmian Clive Riche ... Tyro Rafi Gavron ... Duro (Partial Nudity) Ronan Vibert ... Lepidus Max Baldry ... Caesarion Alice Henley ... Livia Drusilla (Full, and impressive, Nudity)
The second season of HBOBBC series ROME takes place in 44 BC eight years after the period covered in the first season. The show continues to revolve a...More at Family Video
The second season of HBO/BBC series ROME takes place in 44 BC, eight years after the period covered in the first season. The show continues to revolve...More at Meijer
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