When viewers last saw Ashur (Nick E. Tarabay), former slave, gladiator and mercurial strong arm to the highest bidder, he was beheaded on Mount Vesuvius. But Starz brings him back to life for “Spartacus: House of Ashur,” premiering Friday and sending his story in a surprising and violent new direction.
In this fantastical reimagining, Ashur meets Lucretia (Lucy Lawless), the dead wife of ludus owner (also dead) Quintis Batiatus (John Hannah) in the Underworld and she commands him to return, fully restored (and no longer limping) to the land of the living. In short order, he finds himself strutting around as the new owner of the ludus in the Roman city of Capua, where he was once enslaved.
Longtime “Spartacus” fans know that Ashur’s leg was injured while in battle by his fellow gladiator, Crixus (Manu Bennett) years before. Deemed unable to continue fighting in the arena, he soon became a confidant and fixer for Batiatis. However, the shame and humiliation of losing his chance to be a victorious gladiator gnawed away at his already low self-esteem. A cunning and vengeful Ashur longed for money and status and to finally be accepted into the Roman upper class. In “House of Ashur,” he finally has that chance.
Chance is the operative word here since the Spartacus-led slave/gladiator insurrection against the Romans (“Spartacus: Vengeance” and “Spartacus: War of the Damned”) emptied the ludus. Having secured Crassus (Simon Merrells) as a patron, Ashur owns the business but must find new slaves and somehow raise the house to its former glory. Because he was a gladiator, Ashur knows what the fighters have to go through to become winners and can command them to be the best they can be. Soon, he has his slaves. On another visit to town, he spies a strong woman warrior of African origin (Tenika Davis) on the block. He names her Achillia. Could she be his new “Spartacus?”
Look for a new cast of fighters, slave women and society figures including Simon Arblaster (Proculus), Evander Brown (Ephesius) Dan Hamill (Celadus), Jordi Webber (Tarchon), Jamaica Vaughan (Hilara), Ivana Baquero (Messia), India Shaw-Smith (Viridia), Claudia Black (Cossutia), Graham McTavish as Korris, the new trainer, taking up where Oenomaus (Peter Mensah) left off, and Jackson Gallagher as Julius Caesar.
While the “Spartacus” cast has changed over the seasons, starting after Season 1 with the untimely death of Andy Whitfield, the first and arguably the most charismatic Spartacus, only Tarabay has been present in all three seasons and the prequel. At times, he demonstrated the deep level of evil Ashur could sink to; other times, he provided humorous comic relief. Over the years, Tarabay has continually delivered Ashur’s lines with dry wit, menacing anger or even self-pity. He’s changed his hair to fit the times, once wearing a goatee secured by a string.
In ‘House of Ashur,’ he finally gets to do the monologues once reserved for Batiatis but somehow like a great orator (or Broadway star playing to the house) rather than the on-point, bratty yelling that Hannah used to great effect. As Dominus, Ashur can voice his experience or his opinion both good and bad. Tarabay plays him as if he is a shadow that has come into the light.
Also coming out strong is Davis as Achillia, enslaved but willing to be a gladiatrix if it means freedom. Kudos to her for taking on a slightly paradoxical role, one of a Black woman perhaps temporarily enslaved in medieval Rome yet a slave nonetheless. Described by her fellow slaves as Nubian, her people would have lived in Nubia in Egypt during Roman times.
In making Achillia a woman who is scarred both physically and emotionally, creator, showrunner/executive producer Steven S. DeKnight and his writers have fleshed out a character who could have just been a plot stunt into one that is a welcome addition to the storytelling.
Black’s slow-burning portrayal of Cossutia, a woman married to Gabinius, one of the wealthy, snooty benefactors (Andrew McFarlane) with whom Ashur curries favor, reveals she is far more evil than her husband. And yes, there’s just a bit of romance, could Ashur have a heart after all? Well, maybe but that’s in between pillaging, blood and loads of hookups. Some things don’t change.
“Spartacus: House of Ashur” premieres Friday on Starz.
