I was very curious how the series would try and 'reboot' itself after just one season. Although Spartacus: Gods of the Arena does a decent job of continuing the myth of the series, but there is just absolutely no getting around the loss of Andy Whitfield whose presence is sorely missing here. With Season 1, the role of Spartacus, we had an emotional arc to get us through the season as he first tries to reunite with his wife and then later avenge her death. We get none of that here as newcomer Dustin Clare takes on the role of Gannicus. He is definitely billed as the 'star' of this mini-series, but in actuality, he is not.

The bulk of this 6 episode prequel falls into the hands of John Hannah as Batiatus to carry the series. He's a good character in moderation. But having an annoying twit like Batiatus in almost every scene becomes a bit much. I liked the idea of the mini-series basically telling the origin story of everything we came to know in Season 1 and that meant that the bulk of the actors from Season 1 are seen here, including Lucy Lawless, Peter Mensah, Nick E. Tarabay, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Antonio Te Maioha and Manu Bennett as well as newcomer Jaime Murray who seems to be in EVERYTHING these days. I've lost track of all the shows she has popped up on. Off the top of my head, Dexter, Warehouse 13 and The Finder.

Overall, I think the series did a good job. Worth a Rent for sure. At least they got the 'blood' right in this one. Looks like they actually used practical shots instead of relying on that CGI crap. 4 Stars out of 5.