ATIAAAAAAAA

[bedlamsbard]

Oh my god. I think that was a single perfect hour of television. Oh my god. I don't know if I've ever cried so much over a single episode in my life. I feel like I've just run a marathon.

Also, I think this was the first episode of Rome where they ever used the term "imperator." Oh my god. *weeps some more* Oh, Antony. I did not expect to care that much about Antony and Cleopatra! Oh my god. I may have to go back to the library tomorrow and take out S1. I can just watch the whole series on repeat throughout the school year.

I still want to be Atia when I grow up.

Comments

[scy]

I know, right?

*SIGHS*

I should do a rewatch of Rome soon.

[bedlamsbard]

Crying, so much crying! So much weeping for this show, omg.

I mean, when classics professors admit it is a beautiful, beautiful piece of television, you know you got something made. Oh, Rome. Totally starting over again from S1 tomorrow.

[scy]

I know. Atia starts out in one place, and people just assume that she is the villain of the piece, when in actuality NOTHING is that simple. *flaily hands*

And yes, Rome did so much GOOD STUFF that it's incredible. And it gets richer on each rewatch. *nods firmly*

[bedlamsbard]

I love Atia. I love Atia SO MUCH, she is so amazing, and just -- omg. Atia. (I will admit that S2 Octavian creeps me the hell out, though, but I loved that very brief moment of humor in the finale!)

That is -- THAT IS HOW YOU MAKE REALLY EXCELLENT TELEVISION. *flails* It's funny, though, because I watched S1 in five days, and S2 took me two months.

[scy]

Oh yeah, Octavian? You just shiver because his priorities and goals are huge, and frightening in their scope. I mean, Atia wanted him to be able to take care of himself, and he can do that, but the result is not what she hoped for.

Yeah, s2, you want to draw it out.

[bedlamsbard]

I still can't figure out whether or not the change in actors worked for me, but OMG THE DEATH OF THE REPUBLIC OMG. *flails* Man, I wish we had one more season. I wish we had two more episodes to make it the same length as season one! Oh, man. (They really did get better at the showing/telling problem they had in S1 in S2. I mean, it's still there, but it's much less clunky.)

I did not have the emotional energy to watch three episodes a night.

Alas, S1 is currently out of the library! I don't know how to cope! Also, this is not one of those cases where I can cope by watching Gladiator or Spartacus: Blood and Sand, because just...no.

[scy]

I know, the lack of more canon is maddening to me too. *twitches* The change in actors is curious, and I am unsure at times whether it is brilliant or simply workable. I think that for me, it works because of the shift in the character, if you figure that Octavian is shedding his skin in a way - and just rewrite the change that way.

No, Gladiator and Spartacus aren't comparable. Not to Rome. They are good for certain moods, but not when you've been watching Rome.

[bedlamsbard]

Just TWO MORE EPISODES. Just two more! Oh, man. The sheer weight of story that isn't being told hangs over the series.

Man, I wish we could have seen more Octavian! I had a lot of trouble emotionally resonating with him in the second season; he's a lot less understandable, like a whole new character in some ways. I mean, Simon Woods is a good actor, definitely, but Max Pirkis made the first impression and he had a lot more time to get his hooks in. With S2 Octavian...it's much harder to see where he's coming from, and takes a lot more work to do so, which isn't true for most of the other characters.

*fans self* Huh. For all intents and purposes, as far as I can recall, Atia is the last one standing from that first...generation, I suppose. Caesar's dead, Antony's dead, all that generation. She's the only one left.

[scy]

I KNOW. It is just way too short. *WANTS*

Yeah, he is like a new character, and he isn't a child - or cannot be mistaken for one so often - which was part of why Octavian in the first season was so fascinating. Because he looks one way, and yet there are all these things going on under the surface. Simon Woods just has a different air to him, and he is much more alien - like he is playing at social niceties way more, and not just in a way that is understandable, given who he is and his plans, but obviously. Without subterfuge, and at times it was a bit curious.

Atia is a survivor, above all other things that people say about her, she is the person who will outlive them and their taunts and petty struggles. Because, she has something else in mind, and she will get what she wants (nearly always) and is never somebody to be dismissed, even when she isn't the one on top. *g*

[bedlamsbard]

*flails* I...need to go find a good book. I do not have time to read said book, I am dealing with the Roman Republic of 200 BC in my class, but I will MAKE TIME.

GAIUS OCTAVIAN CAESAR IS THE LAST CYLON. *cough* Max Pirkis was -- much more human. Octavian was...not so much. He had moments, but, hmm, it seemed like there was some kind of rapport missing? With Max Pirkis -- hmm, there's that moment in 2x01 at the will reading, and you can just see his brain going tick-tick-tick as he works out his plans and how to get his mother to do what he wants, and Simon Woods is much more of a steamroller. (Also, Livia is just creepy as all hell.)

I love Atia. So impressive. So amazing. Such an awesome character, one of the best on the show, and the show was full of awesome characters. I liked Octavia much more than I thought I would, too! Which, again, very impressive.

[scy]

I am trying to restrain myself from going to the used bookstore and um, well, wallowing, and/or pawing the Classics and History sections of the store. *WIDE EYES*

Uh huh, that's exactly it. He really does seem to be thinking 'okay, emotions are useless, except when they're not, so I will just ROLL RIGHT OVER THE OPPOSITION'.

Yes, Octavia turned out way more interesting than she first appeared, which was yet another thing the show did so well. :) First impressions are NEVER what reality is...and that can change at ANY moment.

[bedlamsbard]

I foresee that I will be spending a lot of time in the DG section of the library tomorrow.

He is so bad at pretending to have emotions! I would have loved to see a few clips of his time in Campania hanging out with Agrippa, it would have been awesome. *sighs dramatically* Or to see how he managed to hook up with Agrippa and Maecenus.

*flails some more* And I hated Antony the first season, so much, and the second season, omg, I cried buckets.

(Funny story: I watched most of S1 with my dad, and right after that we were watching Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, in which Ciaran Hinds plays a designer of women's lingerie. I called my dad over, and said, "Who is this?" and he went, "It's Caesar!")

[scy]

He would do better with cue cards. *g* Because there are all these GAPS where most people would respond -or know that they are expected to. OH MY YES. To get glimpses of that stuff? *LONGS* MMM.

Yes, first season, Antony was very unlikeable, and then in the second, when it all comes crashing down, it is so utterly wrenching.

HEEE. Nice!

[bedlamsbard]

Max Pirkis Octavian at least put in an effort to try and vaguely resemble being a normal human being, even though his facial expressions were something along the lines of, "People are weird and this is a waste of energy, but it pleases my mother, so I will do it anyway. Also people will not suspect me of being insane." Simon Woods Octavian...not so much. I mean, he has moments where he actually has emotions, and they're great! But he's much harder to understand, and it takes that extra effort to do so.

I would have loved to see another ep beween 2x08 and 2x09, because the Antony and Cleopatra bit would come out of the blue if it wasn't one of the most well-known pieces of history in, well, history, and that's such a long time jump. It works because it's so well-known, but -- gah, TWO MORE EPISODES.

Hmm. Maybe The Tudors, although I'm not particularly thrilled by the first episode.

[scy]

*nods* Simon Woods' Octavian seems to have almost completely given up on even appearing human - which is certainly useful, but it also doesn't put anybody at ease. Which, given what he does in s2 makes sense - bulldozing over everyone. Even so, he would have been able to win more people over more quickly and perhaps with less force if he'd been able to fake being charming and human more of the time.

I watched the Tudors, well, the first season, but it did not grab me the way Rome did.

[bedlamsbard]

He has his moments, especially early on -- when he's made consul, I think, and he does the sweet doe-eyes innocent child thing -- but once he gets real power it sort of falls by the wayside as being far too much effort for not enough gain. I would have liked to see more interaction with Octavia, as well. *sighs* S1 had a really interesting dynamic.

An ep and a half in, the Tudors seems to be more about the Pretty than the Pretty Yet Absolutely Terrifying When You Start Thinking About It. *sighs*

[aella_irene]

Try 'I Claudius' on youtube? It was the BBC's big Rome production, with Derek Jacobi as Claudius. People won awards for it!

Also, while it has 2 seasons, they are very short compared to American ones, so you can finish it before you get Rome S1 out!