Thoughts re Spartacus: Vengeance ep 7, “Sacrament”

*EDIT* Er, I mean “Sacramentum”. *facepalm* /EDIT

Warning: Spoilers!

• Do I wish there had been more Nagron? Of course! But that homecoming Nagron kiss was adorable — if this becomes a tradition with their characters, I’m all for it! I also was highly amused by Nasir being lifted up into the air by that other German guy. I liked how readily Nasir accepted the Germans, immediately mingling into the crowd, even hugging these complete strangers! And then there was his remark to Agron of how the Germans were lifting everyone’s spirits, a sweet little compliment to his beloved ….

• They did a great job making a it a credible worry on the part of Spartacus, Crixus, and Lucius that Agron might try to take over, while also demonstrating that Agron was loyal to Spartacus. I had a sense, during the conversations where Agron was carving the meat and in the wood, that Agron, who I think looks up to Spartacus like Sparty is an elder brother, was hurt and depressed that Sparty was acting so pissy towards him (though I can’t blame Sparty, especially since Aggy got carried away and careless, lost in his happiness of having more people like him around.) I think, for him, Agron was demonstrating remarkable restraint and patience, especially in the woods — he could have gotten really defensive, even started fighting, but mostly let the insinuations roll off him like water on a duck’s back and just became determined to prove himself (and his people). I’m proud of him! (I don’t really think his Germans are any less barbaric/uncouth than the Gauls, though, LOL!)
  
  I think a key thing for us to know would be whether they would have tackled a second ship, if Sparty had known about the one full of Gauls. I don’t think it would have been practical for them to do so (imagine trying to lead two massive groups like that instead of just one), in which case, why was Spartacus so upset that Agron chose a shipful of his own people? If they could only choose one, why *shouldn’t* Agron have chosen to help his people? Yes, Agron was showing favoritism and arguably being regionalist, and he was being petty about it, but wouldn’t saying he *had* to chose the Gauls over the Germans be just as regionalist? Isn’t it probably also true that he saved the Germans because he’s homesick and misses having people who truly understand him, and that he understands back, around?

• Re: The complaints that the German was hard to understand. Were they speaking Modern German? I would have thought Old German, which *shouldn’t* really be all that intelligible, unless you’re an expert in ancient languages! XD

• I loved that it was Agron that noticed Naevia needed help. Mopey Crixus was even closer, spatially speaking, but wallowing in his own grouchyness so much he missed her cry of fear. I really hope that Crixus understands that Agron was actively trying to save her, not just tussling with Seddulus coincidentally right after. (I wouldn’t put it past Crixus to convince himself the two events had nothing to do with one another.) And I hope, by the look on Crixus’ face as the Germans all pledged themselves to Spartacus (nice parallel with Seppius’ guys pledging themselves to Gaius, btw), that he finally understands that, while Agron is sometimes willful or disobedient, in the end IS 100% loyal to Spartacus, and *not* trying to take over.

• I had wondered at first why Nasir wasn’t leaping to Agron’s defence when Seddulus was trying to strangle him in the first place, but in watching the background carefully as I could (I don’t have high-def, alas) as I re-watched the scene like a dozen times, I think he wasn’t there yet, didn’t see *that* part of the fight, and was only able to get close enough when *Crixus* was fighting the guy.
  
  I loved Nasir’s hiss as he leapt into the fray! (Is he a vampire, or a naga maybe?? XD) I kinda wish it had been him who had saved Agron from Seddulus. I understand *why* it needed to be Spartacus (so that the Germans would be impressed and want to follow him), but couldn’t they have had Nasir at least stand over Agron, and *then* have Spartacus kill the guy? pout*

Now on to non-Nagron-y thoughts.

• I find it puzzling that Illythia wouldn’t still be in mourning garb. Roman women were expected to wear it for a *year* after the death of a parent; wouldn’t the lack of it cast doubt upon Glaber’s insistence that they mourned the death of her father, and therefore cast doubt on everything else he said?

• I like the parallel of Lucretia’s worry regarding Illythia’s loyalty to her and Spartacus’ worry about Agron’s loyalty to him. Thing is, I’m wondering if Lucretia is really as loyal back to Illythia as she seems. She might just take Illythia’s kid and kill Illythia herself once the kid is born.

• I’m glad to see Naevia take Crixus’ lesson about there being other places to strike your opponent to heart, when she stabbed Seddulus in the gut. (Too bad it didn’t do anything, huh? XD Man, people on this are show are tough! Ashur carves the skin off his own arm, and then moves it around like there’s no pain, Nasir is up and walking after just being down for about two days with a serious wound … I tell you what, I had massive surgery that was about the same severity as his wound, and that kept me pretty immobile for about four weeks!!)

• I’m a bit annoyed at the woman added to the refrigerator — IE, a female character (the prostitute who was crucified) introduced and killed for the sole purpose of advancing the story of a male character (Gannicus). Come on, DeKnight, you “grew up” in the House of Whedon; you should know better than that. She would have been better as a recurring character who later died exclusively to demonstrate the risks a slave took in rising up against masters, not as a means for Gannicus to decide to stand up against Glaber (AND, arguably, Lucretia — I will say that I thought it was cool how he did things his own way rather than as if in league with Lucretia). I think Gannicus is a strong enough character that it would have been believable for him to have acted as he did *without* the death of the prostitute as impetus. Or, conversely, it would have been more acceptable if it had been a *group* of slaves that he’d befriended, consisting of both sexes, that was crucified, if they really wanted to give him a personal stake. But that’s really my only really big gripe of the ep (or even the season so far, at least that I can think of at the moment).