Rome II ep 6

You are a ferocious little cunt...with a pen

No, not him, Octavian. And certainly not the writers.

"Making a list and checking it twice..."

We begin in Greece with Brutus in a good mood, then it's off to Gaul and The List.

Did you notice Anthony and Atia are wearing the wardrobe from "Gladiator"?

So maybe tonight we'll get an episode based around the events of this troubled time in Roman history.

The List! The List!...but no, who do they hand it to but Don Dee.

Yes, my favorite fictional characters are plunged, yet again, into the middle of events. The writers are not up to the task, as their created events integrate uncomfortably with the historical ones.

Case in point: of course the writers have Tweedle Dumb (of all people) pay a little visit on Cicero. Are not he and Don Dee the center of all events? Must they not always be there when major events take place. Is it not the only way we poor viewers could possibly relate to history, but by having so called ordinary everyday psychopaths stand in for us.

Gad, they go on a Picnic. Yes dear, I'm off to murder one of Roman's leading citizen...Let's make a day of it!

You gotta hand it to that Cicero.

Dumb stupid writing, and the show is filled with it. Silly domestic squabbling. Tweedle Dee and Dumb act like robots, their actions not really making a lot of sense.

And for the Most Unbelievable Moment™ Cicero's messenger LOOSES a message, a message he has sworn his life to deliver, because he runs into...wait for it...Tweedle Dee...and doesn't NOTICE it's gone.

Blah blah blah...

More domestic stuff, this time with the rich folk...then something about Zionists....and awww, Tweedle Dumb is Army SIck.

We end with the Battle of Philippi (which begins with one of the great crimes of filmmaking, the reversed shot. As the camera pans over a line of soldiers, it is clear the flag in the background is blowing backwards).

"If you need to urinate, now would be the time"

Vast vistas of computer generated legions, then five minutes of Braveheart.

The Death of Brutus, and Octavian's "reluctance" to enter the battlefield are handled nicely though (I thought the soldiers surrounding Brutus would not do him in, but would just make sure he did the deed himself).

Next week, there will be much lamentations.