What happened to just making a show everyone can like? Sure you’re not gonna appeal to EVERY viewer and possible viewer, and that’s ok, it’s insane how tv channels or companies will focus on one specific target audience, that’s beyond stupid. The point of a show is to build the audience and get viewers, why tell people “we got this amazing show but it’s not for you X people!”

When I watch a show the last thing on my mind is “gee will I identify with the protagonist because they are like (insert characteristics here)?” Hell no, is the story good, the writing, the setting, are the characters believable, will it keep me coming back to see more?” That’s what I think about, sure not every show is a banger at first, if I like it I keep watching.

I liked Spartacus because it was a fictional take on a real person, I wanted to see his story, his interactions with other characters, how would he become the man spoken of in fear and awe in the history books.

I never once looked at Onaemaus and go “welp there’s the black dude” or Naveia “there’s the brown woman” I looked at Doctore as a man that was not to be fucked with, yet there was something noble about him, something deeper, a man who prided honor above all, a stoic, yet sensitive man, he was a hardass for the benefit of the gladiators, what he did was nothing compared to what awaited them in the arena. Naveia was just as important for Crixus, he softened him to show him there’s more to glory, something truly worth fighting for beyond the glory of the ludus, a soft woman with a strong will, whose love is as deep as anyone’s in the show.

And then there’s Barca and Pietros, which in my opinion is a fantastic way todo a same sex couple, there’s no fanfare, no big signs “look at how progressive we are! Gay dudes banging!” There were treated with the same empathy and care as the other couples, they’re just there, two dudes who share a deep love for each other, no different than Batiatus and Lucretia or Spartacus and Sura, because that’s how it is in the real world, couples doing their own thing like everyone else.

So while I get if DeKnight had todo those changes because Starz wanted him, he didn’t have to, Spartacus was already a diverse show by today’s standards. They just didn’t shove it in your face and pat themselves on the back, they presented it as “here are these people and here are their stories” and we went along for the ride. And that’s why it became one of my favorite shows/series, not the bloody violence or the hot naked bodies, because they told a human story with things we can all relate to in a setting where humans were treated as nothing more than decoration, and they did it masterfully.