Metal Reviews

"Bond, James Bond. With the right to KKKHHEEEEIIIILLLLLL!"

I'm not sure whether I liked the first season better than the second. The second was definitely more rushed, due both to them covering a larger chunk of history and the fact that there were only 10 episodes instead of 12, but starting with episode 6, the show hit fire in a way that season 1 only did with episodes 4-5 and 11-12 (Pharsalus was also amazing, but its in the middle somewhere). The second season did have some weaknesses, however: The Timon subplot that got interesting towards the end but then went absoloutely nowhere, and the whole Vorena the Elder storyline was pretty boring until the shit hit the fan in episode 8 (McKidd's best acting by far in that scene.. "KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!" And nothing beats episode 11 from season 1 (The Spoils; the one with the gladiator fight at the end), which, as far as I'm concerned, is the best hour of television I've ever seen.

I too thought Polly Walker did a fantastic job in the triumph scene (which is no surprise; she's done a great job throughout both seasons, as have nearly all the actors on the show). Firstly, that scene with her and Livia.. I was just smiling all the way through that. They did that perfectly. And then during the triumph, just watching her eyes as she sees Marc Antony's body passing by, realizing that getting what she's always wanted has cost her too much, and that it wasn't worth it at all. Whats this alternate interepretation you were talking about?

And my poor boys.. Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo are two of the greatest fictional characters ever. Really, I love them both, and McKidd and Stevenson have both done amazing jobs. Although the way Vorenus got injured and the one month later thing was kind of lame, I was emotionally touched at the end and started to tear up, which really doesn't happen too much with me and television/movies. Same goes for Antony; what an amazing job the writers and Purefoy did with him.

I mainly agree with your comments. I thought season 1 was better than 2, but only a little better. You did well to mention the gladiator fight...that was awesome. And how about the way they handled Caesar's death? I loved the way they let Hinds (Caesar) and Menzies (Brutus) handle that scene with their terrific eye acting. Season 2 had some great moments as well-David Bamber as Cicero really stood out---loved the scenes in the senate between him and Octavian. I really enjoyed season 2, episode 5 "Heroes of the Republic" for all that terrific political intriguing and Atia's brilliant entrance into Antony's camp on the horse with the fur coat...oh my!

I didn't like the episode before the series finale; I thought it was too rushed and showed too much unnecessary sex, but that was about the only misstep I felt.

As for the the alternate finale interpretation: I originally described Atia as miserable in triumph, but after participating in discussions on the HBO boards I think she is far from broken and defeated like Servilia intended with her curse. The cost of creating her son and losing Antony was great indeed, but Atia is a survivor, and it is shame we don't get to see make Livia's life hellish in the future.

The acting in the show really stood out to me, particularly from the main characters. As an American I'm simply not used to an ensemble cast so summarily brilliant, most shows in this country are lucky to have one cast member with the skills of these Brits. Purefoy and Walker have great shots at nominations but---as awesome as McKidd and Stevenson were, I don't think they shots at getting nominated-that's usually reserved for the flashier roles, I'm afraid.

The good news is all the 4 lead actors of Rome: Purefoy, Walker, McKidd, and Stevenson have shows in the works which they are at least co-staring, and I'd literally watch Walker or McKidd in anything.

Children of Men - Good action/thriller. I'm glad they didn't push the political silliness as far as V for Vendetta or whatnot did. Not super great, but worth watching.

I agree with you that Caesar's death was handled very well. Besides the brilliant eye acting (people bitched about the no "et tu, brute?" but it would have been out of place) I loved how they handled the conspiracy; how all the Liberators were unprepared and took some time to get their shit together.

Kind of agree with you about episode 9; a bit too much sex (though the Octavian/Livia sex scene was hilarious, especially when she started talking about eggs afterwards). I also thought the whole "Memmio escaping" to be the weakest thing to ever happen in the show. Still, I thought it was very well done; especially the parts with Vorenus, Posca and Atia. Oh, and Heroes of the Republic does rule. "Step away from my chair!" Fuck yeah.

I'm not sure I can take that interpretation of the triumph. Sure, Atia will still fight Livia, and find some meaning in that and intends to live, but I think her eyes in the triumph scene signify that a large part of her is dead.

One thing I noticed on second viewing which I didn't upon first is that Octavian is basically humouring Pullo at the end by pretending to believe that he killed Caesarion. Very subtle acting, but he has a quick little smile when Pullo says that his head rotted and he had to throw it away, and then at the end of the scene: Not a "victory is mine!" smile, but rather a "okay, Pullo, just make sure you keep him in line." Good job on Simon Wood's part.

And yes, we can hope that some actors will get nominated (you're probably right in assuming that McKidd and Stevenson won't, do they deserve it). Walker was nominated for season 1, so she's a possibility, and Purefoy could definitely pull it off; just look at his final scene!

I just watched the Rome finale tonight, and I'm sad. Man, what an amazing series. I literally think it's the best piece of television I've ever watched. Has it gotten a bad review anywhere? I'm sure some historical elitists hate it, but they don't matter. I have read nothing but glowing praise about this series, and I think it's very justified. An outstanding series.

Pullo and Vorenus are, indeed, some of the best characters ever created. I assumed one or both would perish at the end, but the way it did end didn't bother me. Vorenus with his daughter most definitely was a touching moment, I teared up a bit. Very well done.

I liked both seasons equally, for different reasons. Season one was more of an action-drama, while season two was more of a drama throughout the whole season. They did skip forward a lot in the series, but I don't think it interferred with the storyline; they skipped forward to the important parts. Some parts fell a bit flat, because they just weren't fleshed out enough, but nothing really struck me as bad.

Anyway, amazing series. I'll be buying this season the day it comes out on DVD.

Rome is pretty much the best show I have ever seen. Saw both seasons and cant decide which was better. While the end of the series is sad, it was done so well that I dont think a third season could have kept up the quality. Just to fill the gap I am looking forward to seeing The Tudors on Showtime. I hope it is even close to as good. It probably wont be though.

Wow, everyone seems to dig Rome. Oh what have I missed. Gotta see it through sometime.

Yes, I almost never watch series, but the OTT praise Rome has received makes me interested to say the least.

Btw, I haven't watched a film worth mentioning in a long time

I don't think they could do a season 3 with the same characters. They'd have to jump forward to the Nero period, or Caligula. After Octavian ruled, there was peace for a long time, like 200 years or something. That's not good for TV. Haha. I think Caligula would be pretty killer, but they'd have to establish all new characters. I'm not sure if people would embrace that.


You can watch the first two episodes online right now at sho.com. I've been meaning to watch them. I can't expect this to be as good as Rome. Hoping for that is setting yourself up for disappointment! Haha. I just hope it's entertaining, although it seems that it won't focus much on secondary characters. We'll see...

Well, they could do I, Claudius stuff (Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius)... but then, why not just watch I, Claudius, the excellent mini-series? Or they could do the year of the four Emperors in 69, but all the characters would be dead. Or they could skip ahead about 250 years to the third century crisis which would be cool. But, with these characters, if they wanted a third season, they missed their chance; the best thing to do would have been to have one season end at philippi and the other at Actium.

Yeah, there's potential for another season, but it won't happen. Sadly.

I watched Fight Club recently, far better than I thought it was going to be, as this sort of thing is usually overated in the extreme. Anyone else noticed that Meat Loaf's trousers fall down at one point

Watched The Tudors Sunday Night to try and help replace Rome. It doesnt replace Rome but I can def see myself getting into this show. Very good acting and god writing for the first episode. It also seems that this show has a lot of fucking in it. So thats a plus. I wont have a real opinion until I watch the first few episodes. I wont watch them online either, even though you can. I will give it the true chance to suck me in on the HDTV at home. Also has anyone checked out "The Whitest Kids You Know" on FUSE. They seem to be somewhat known. They are fucking hysterical. There is a bunch of their shit on YOUTUBE and they have an album out which is pretty funny too.

the history/latin student in myself is obliged to correct you: caesar spoke in greek in all probability so 'et tu, brute' would turn in it's greek equivalent, whatever that may be, i never signed up for greek classes. As for the rest of the show, episode 8 is the last i've seen, but reading your posts kinda blown the whole story for me

Eh, I tried watching the Tudors too. I'm not into it at all. Maybe someday...but the first episode didn't have the same effect on me that Rome's first episode had. It's hard to beat the hook of Rome's priemere---having a total MILF prancing around nude in front of her son, and then having said MILF bathed in blood from an animal sacrifice.

Sorry Fingon! We should have been more careful. I got a lot of the show's first season spoiled for me...but I think it's still worth watching even with some of the story blown because the acting is so good.

very true, besides, i already knew the plot of the general storyline and i could watch every Rome episode three times without it being less good.

I totally agree. The opener was not even close to Rome's opener, but I think at the least it earned a watching of the next episode. Historically, the story gets pretty interesting.