Spartacus: War of the Damned - The Complete Third Season (2013)

The rebellion is in full swing. Spartacus (Liam McIntyre) and his rebels – including the mighty warriors Crixus (Manu Bennett) and Gannicus (Dustin Clare) – are winning the day over the Roman armies sent to squash them. Despite their victories, they've fought a largely nomadic war and won the day on strength and determination alone. However, Spartacus and his men decide that, to see victory through, they must establish a secure, defendable, and sufficiently large base of operations out of which they may wage a fuller, more aggressive war. Meanwhile, Rome's military and financial resources have dwindled following defeat after defeat at the hands of the rebels. Those shrinking financial reserves leave the Senate no choice but to entrust the fate of the Empire in the hands of Marcus Licinius Crassus (Simon Merrells), a wealthy Roman whose financial backing is rewarded with the opportunity to lead the Roman armies against Spartacus and his rebels. At the same time, a young, upstart Roman named Julius Caesar (Todd Lasance) is brought into the fold and tasked with infiltrating the rebel ranks and wreaking havoc from within.

Spartacus has always been one-half drama and one-half spectacle. War of the Damned is no different. Both parts play in harmony, though not always equal harmony; the sex and violence always feel like the dominant force, but not necessarily to the detriment of the program. War of the Damned, then, plays exactly as fans expect and demand, bringing the story to a conclusion through the prism of its spectacle and the occasional, always welcome, and even expected major twist or revelation or happening that redefines the show in some way in almost every hour. War of the Damned, however, doesn't so much rely on ever-new dramatic dynamics – despite some new characters – but rather the evolution of old ways through the inclusion of new faces and the updating of old challenges. In that regard, it's simple storytelling and effective dramatic unfolding of the universe by way of introducing new wrinkles into old, comfortable clothes. War of the Damned plays out just as it should and, basically, as expected, both in a historical context as well as within the series' established parameters. Fans will praise the seamless continuation and mourn the inevitable conclusion, both the conclusion to the story and the conclusion to the series. And one cannot ask for much more of a satisfying end to a rather short-lived but fan-favorite program.

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