On Spartacus: House of Ashur...
Y'all it's coming in a few days... December 5th!
(hoping the greenband trailer gets this out of content review)
That first show meant A LOT to me. Showrunner/creator Steven S. DeKnight has been fighting for his life(!) on the twit app against the usual trolls, bots, bigots, and small people... And that in and of itself says A LOT to me, about the importance of impact in that sleazy, fun, broadly theatric, bloody, violent, emotional, explicit tale of UNIFIED RESISTANCE. That last is what captured me... And DeKnight "gets it". It was done with intention...Syrians, Thracians, Celts, Romans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Numidians all working TOGETHER....and one of the first well-written textual male queer romances I remember in pop culture... (where they finally outlive/survive/subvert the dead gay trope).
The diversity and power in that portrayal of intercultural cooperation and found family, against the rich enslavers, flew over many people's heads. And wow, the sensitivity in the portrayal of recovery and love post-SA trauma (though, I think he could have done a better job on that for the men):
Andy Whitfield (another one who should be here, sharing his talent) put his entire soul in his portrayal, before his untimely passing... And I ALWAYS have a soft spot for epic sword tales from childhood... (I STILL listen to that Conan The Barbarian track when I'm deep in a WIP). So, despite the lack of budget and awareness, if you can, SUPPORT THIS SHOW. It really feels like they aren't giving it the promotional budget it earned from Spartacus' successful run (and if I'm being honest, the first BIG successful series on STARZ; it put them on the map!). And sadly... I think I know why. The promo THEY ARE releasing recently are leaning heavily away from a pivotal plot-point *cough* (the gladiator star, this time Achilla👇🏾)
In favor of genre heavy-hitters like Lucy Lawless, in a recently released scene giving the premise of the alt-universe.
So, HEADS UP!! This drops soon!! Don't let it fall under your radar.