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WHEN IN "ROME"
October 14, 2005
I'll tell you, TV shows airing Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on HBO have it easy. After all, thanks to "The Sopranos" and "Six Feet Under" and "Deadwood," I'm practically conditioned to just flip on over to the pay-cable net at that time. The only other legitimate option seems to be ABC's "Desperate Housewives," a series I continue to find overrated and not worth the commitment. As a result, whatever is currently serving as HBO's Sunday anchor show needs not be a masterpiece for me to keep watching. It only needs to be good.
"Rome," HBO's high-priced tale of the power struggles that shaped the Roman Empire, meets that criteria … but just barely. If it was elsewhere on the proverbial dial, I'd probably end up not watching. But in that plum Sunday night slot, it proves worth your time, if only as filler until Tony and his mob buddies return.
The great HBO drama that "Rome" most compares to, however, is "Deadwood," David Milch's brilliant western. Both are gritty looks at eras gone by that blend fact with fiction and stand real historical figures alongside completely imagined characters. Both use language as a primary storytelling tool, twisting and turning it into a type of spoken poetry.
That said, "Rome" can't hold a candle to Al Swearengen and company, but it does offer its own share of amusements, most notably the stories of Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson), two Roman soldiers who continue to find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Even Julius Caesar himself declares that the gods must have plans for these two when they survive a ghastly shipwreck, only to accidentally stumble upon Pompey Magnus, exiled leader of the Roman Senate who ended up on Caesar's bad side and promptly fled the capital city.
The series excels whenever it shows us Lucius' attempts at a normal life, all while his country is in political turmoil, his army thwarts his chances at peace, and his wife keeps secret a child she had with another while Lucius was off in battle. Pullo is much less needy -- an eat-drink-and-be-merry fellow who can't be bothered with maintaining a low profile when he inadvertently stumbles upon a wagon full of Pompey's gold. Lucius and Titus represent the faceless of Rome - those whose lives are forfeit to those in power, to the gods, to anyone above them on society's totem pole. And when "Rome" tells their stories, it's at its best.
Things grind to a halt, however, when the show focuses on the top of that totem pole and the power struggles of the day. The political machinations of the various senators and seductresses, all who want their own little piece of the empire, grow repetitive and confusing. "Rome"'s first six episodes take great pains to detail the falling out between Caesar and Pompey and the inevitable battle that must be fought between their supporters. The reasoning behind each man's motivation is vague at best, and, in recent episodes, Pompey is first said to be backed in a corner but somehow later gets the upper hand on Caesar's army. Later on, Pompey is virtually suicidal, ready to throw in the towel, but in the next scene he's making plans to recruit new fighters in Egypt. Huh?
When the moment finally arrives and all hopes for a truce are lost, I expect an epic clash that could have been ripped from "Braveheart" or "Gladiator." Instead the show wimps out, giving us only a moment or two of close-up, stutter-framed action that doesn't begin to show the vicious nature of Roman-era warfare. Later on, we hear Pompey describe how Caesar outmaneuvered him, and all I can think is that it sure would have been nice to have actually seen it.
"Rome" was just renewed for a second season, so the show's writing team has time to pull the parts of the show that are working into stronger focus. The acting is solid throughout, and the ancient city should be able to provide more than enough drama to make Rome a place worth visiting every Sunday at 9. If the writers can't do it and the show grows even less interesting, I suppose I could always flip on over to ABC and the "Housewives." But I'd really rather not.
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