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The Creature Cases
When there’s mysteries to solve and zoology to learn, special agents Sam Snow and Kit Casey are on the case!
Ashur is dead.
After his life as a Roman slave, gladiator and traitor of allies, the prideful Ashur receives rightful retribution: He’s killed on Mount Vesuvius and finds himself in the underworld. Ashur’s story must be over, right?
Wrong—the Fates have woven an alternate thread.
Rather than moping about in the underworld, Ashur gets to experience a version of life that doesn’t lead to his violent demise on Vesuvius. Ashur reawakens in the land of the living where he can “embrace a life that might have been.”
In this new life, Ashur is the one who killed Spartacus—an act that earned him wealth, his own gladiator school and favor with influential Roman leader, Crassus. But even though Ashur is now the leader (or Dominus) of his old master’s house in the city of Capua, he’s still…well…second class.
The Fates (the three goddesses from Classic mythology that do indeed determine the fates of people) may have erased Ashur’s death, but they didn’t erase his humble beginnings as a slave and foreigner. And the fact that Ashur stabbed Spartacus in the back (literally) doesn’t help his case for popularity either. The elite men and women in Capua scoff at Ashur.
Prideful as ever, Ashur intends to gain the respect and notoriety he thinks he deserves. And just like in his gladiator days, Ashur has a strategy to win.
Despite political uneasiness, Ashur seeks favor in the political arena by ingratiating himself with Senator Gabinus—even though the senator’s wife Cossutia hates Ashur. And to gain popularity in the gladiator arena, Ashur makes a controversial decision. Although he and his gladiator trainer, Korris, have prepared many men for the gruesome contests, Ashur makes an unexpected selection for his next champion.
Fighting for the House of Ashur’s honor will be Achillia—a woman.
STARZ hit paydirt in the early 2010s with its sword-and-sandal series, Spartacus, loosely based on the famous rebel gladiator. In the original series, as you might’ve guessed, Ashur serves as a prime antagonist before STARZ killed him off. But just like the Fates, it seems, STARZ thought better of its decision—and it needed an excuse to show Roman levels of skin and blood. Thus the spinoff series Spartacus: House of Ashur.
In the new series, Ashur’s social status improves, but the show’s content certainly doesn’t.
Seemingly, STARZ’s fake-blood budget was quite high, as gruesome gore is common in every episode, and almost every violent act causes blood to pour or spew from macabre wounds. Faces are smashed by war hammers, people’s necks are sliced open and a man gets decapitated. And if you hoped the camerawork leaves at least some of the gore to viewers’ imagination, I have some bad news—it usually doesn’t.
In a particularly disturbing scene, two men physically attack a woman and nearly rape her. The scene features full-frontal male nudity, and the woman barely escapes their attack by tearing one man’s genitals off with her bare hands. (All of this is shown in full detail.) There is also a scene in which decaying bodies from Spartacus’ rebellion hang on crosses.
Almost as commonplace as violence are explicit sexual scenes. Viewers see full-frontal nudity of both men and women, and sexual interactions are shown in detail with critical parts on brazen display. Physical unions take place between heterosexual couples, same-sex couples and at least one instance of a threesome. All these scenes leave very little to the imagination.
Profanity is incredibly common, too, including frequent uses of the f- and s-word, along with some uses of the c-word. Additionally, there are discussions about fate and the worship of Roman gods.
While the characters’ fates are different in Spartacus: House of Ashur, the show’s graphic gore, explicit sexual scenes and harsh profanity ensure the show remains twisted as ever.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Ashur wants to prove himself to Capua’s elite, and he believes a win in the gladiator arena will bring him the favor he desires.
A man gets decapitated, and his head falls to the ground as blood spews. A man is branded with hot metal. In a gladiator fight, people get covered with blood, and a man falls into fire. A spear skewers a man’s body. Two men engage in a fist fight. In another fight, a man gets thrown to the ground. Ashur murders one of his gladiators by stabbing him in the neck and face with a shattered vase. Blood spills from the victim’s wounds, and his mangled face is visible. During two separate gladiatorial contests, a large amount of blood splatters from the victims’ faces after being struck. In other fights, men get nearly sliced in half. Someone slices a man’s throat, and blood pours from the wound. There is a reference to crucifixion. Viewers see a pile of dead, bloody gladiators. Men threaten to kill a woman and physically fight her.
Verbal sexual references and innuendos are common throughout the episode, and viewers are exposed to full-frontal nudity of both men and women. It’s implied that Ashur regularly has group sex with two of his female servants, only one of whom he seems to have a romantic relationship with. To show her approval of a gladiator fight, a woman uncovers her breasts in an arena full of people. A shirtless man wakes up between two completely unclothed women. It’s implied the two women just had intercourse with the man. When the man stands, his full backside is visible as are the women’s entire bodies. A man and woman bathe together. Later, they passionately kiss and have a graphic sexual encounter in which both parties’ backsides are visible, as is the woman’s chest. When the gladiators practice their fighting, they typically wear minimal clothing.
Characters use harsh profanity including 53 uses of the f-word, 10 uses of the s-word, a handful of uses of the c-word, and various uses of “p-ss” and “a–.” We also hear some obscene terms referencing various body parts.
A scene takes place in the underworld. Ashur is surrounded by human skeletons, and a woman holds a dead infant. The woman implies that the Fates are the reason Ashur gets another chance at life. Characters discuss the Roman gods and their power. Someone exclaims, “Gods bless us!”
Characters drink wine. There is a scene in which Ashur and Korris “shop” for a new slave.
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