Who was bloodied but clearly far from beaten. James Purefoy as Antony in a single scene practically stole the show tonight - as he has in the three previous episodes of Rome's second season on HBO.
And there was plenty of competition. The closing scene, in which Vorenus with Pullo's help finds his children brought tears to my eyes. It also was one of the best in the series - something I can keep saying just about every week.
And Atia, who escaped her poisoning by Servilia, had a powerful scene directing Timon to torture Servilia. There was lots of torture in this episode - those noble Romans had a taste for it.
And before I could let my breath out, the hour was over. The writing and acting and everything about Rome is so good, so powerful, that the months two millennia ago seem to fly by like seconds on the screen...
3-minute podcast of this review
related blog post: Memo to Olbermann: Are You Going after Rome?
Rome - The Complete First Season
Rome: Music From the HBO Series
my latest novel: The Plot to Save Socrates
I, Claudius 1977 BBC-HBO series
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11 comments:
no way. original Octavian fit the role perfectly. the new guy, while trying to imitate him, was unconvincing and wooden in comparison. towards the end he even 'forgot' to imitate the voice inflection right.. the guy playing Marc Anthony stealing the show? he is a good actor but he has no presence like many other ones, of even lesser roles. granted he had marginal screen time in this episode.. the replacement of the Octavian actor REALLY ruined the show for me.. i gather the show's artistic merit had to give way to some salary negotiations etc, as is usually the case.. what a shame..
well, lurking lizard, we'll just have to disagree - on both accounts (i thought Simon Woods was excellent and Purefoy after battle even better) ... but thanks for coming by, and do keep commenting...
I think you will find that your opinion will be in the minority Paul.
The new Octavian totally sucked, what happened to Max? Bring him back, please!!!!
Differences of opinion are what make the world go 'round, and tv viewing exciting. I thought Max Pirkis was superb - and so good, that Simon Woods was in effect playing Max's version of Octavian - but I still very much enjoyed Simon Woods' performance.
I don't buy LL's assertion about alterior motives for the new Octavian. Some time had passed with O. fighting Anthony, and a transition to a more mature O. was needed.
What gives with Timon? Is he suddently struck with pangs of conscience (I'm not an animal) or is he worried about torturing an honestiore (as Jonathan Stamp explains)? You'd think Atia could find a true sadist rather than a Jew.
Was Atia afraid as Servilia suggests and is she now?
Good questions, Abe - and thanks for the comment. I agree that Timon's motivations, and his whole family situation is unclear - and even seems a bit shoehorned into this story.
About Atia: I think she is a bit less certain of herself than Servilia - who has the fanatic's calm assurance. In contrast, Atia is more pragmatic, and seems to look at the different options for best strategy - which would have the effect of making her a little less certain of her choices.
Dear Paul,
NO way in Gaia's green earth is Simon better than Max Pirkis. Max was cunning, cruel, sweet, classy, and just an all around good actor, not to mention very good looking. Simon's performance of Octavian was weak at best. Also the familiarity of not having max took away from any good performance simon might have had. It was a huge distraction for me. I tried hard to tell myself that they needed an older Octavian, but O. was 20 when he defated Mark Antony (who is being a righetous pig in my opinion at this time), and Max is 19. So, there would have been no trouble with Max staying on, if it weren't for stupid things like difference of opinion and money issues. I hate when shows do that, they don't want to shell out the cash or change anything, yet its the fans who get screwed in the end. Can anyone say Bewitched?
I will agree about James Purfoy.
Although, Polly, the woman who plays Atia is by far the best character and the most interesting to watch. Seconded only by the woman who plays Servillia, and maybe Cleopatra.
Thanks for the post, Jason - we agree on everything - including, especially, the women - with the exception of Octavian. Well, hey, 5 out of 6 or whatever isn't bad...
I like the new Octavian but still have a problem connecting him to the younger version. How much time is supposed to have elapsed between when we last saw the younger Octavian and now see his older self? 2 or 3 years? He seems to have "changed" and aged more dramatically than one would expect in real life. I look at the new Octavian's face and see little resemblance to the boy he was only "a short time ago".
I agree, that is a problem.
But for me, the strength of the action and Woods' acting carry me along, and I only miss Pirkis as Octavian a little know... (ah, I guess my allegiances to acting are not very strong...)
Good to have your comment.
Simon Woods is very handsome.
having seen him in pride and prejudice, its hard to be confortable with the coldness of his performance.
That is who Octavian was. He was cold, not particularly amiable and rather awkward. Simon portrayed him very very well, and made me want to watch more of Rome just so i could see more of him.
there's something about simon...
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