HAS THERE EVER BEEN A MAN SUCH AS CRIXUS?

Well, has there? I know, this is not a question that dangles from the lips of our fellow TQB populace. Some of you may be ahead of this curve, many others probably asking themselves: "Who the hell is Crixus?" For those of you not in the know, Crixus is a main protagonist in the new Staarz series, "Spartacus, Blood and Sand".

Anyway, a local Olney legend and fellow TV afficionado mentioned to me several weeks ago that "Spartacus" was the latest "cant miss" cable series. By way of background, I still watch the reruns of HBO's "Rome" and will, of course, catch Russell Crowe and "Gladiator" any time, day or night. Friends and I still whisper "Thirteen" and shake each other's forearms in greeting a la Rome's "Titus Pullo".

My interest sparked, I sat down about 10 days ago and began my foray into "Spartacus, Blood and Sand".

From the outset, lets be clear about a few things. This does not look like an expensive production. Unlike "Rome", which had literally thousands of extras and an abundance of sets and scene locations, Spartacus has but maybe four or five basic sets. Thats it. The special effects are a little corny (similar to the film "300")and no one is going to be looking at an Emmy for costume design, trust me. The men essentially are divided into two categories - the slaves/gladiators, who wear only a small leather loin cloth and the Romans who are either in a halloween type soldier costume or a tye dyed sheet that looks like a toga and belt. The women wear almost nothing - and that goes for the slaves and their masters. Note here that Lucy Lawless of "Xena" fame appears regularly with full "boobish" - very impressive, even by super hero standards.

The storylines themselves are not unfamiliar - revenge, jealousy, power, rage, to name a few. What is unique, however, is the consistent complexity of all the main characters, including the aforementioned Lucy Lawless as well as Battiatus, Spartacus, and, of course, my main man, Crixus. Each of the main characters are complicated folks - not one, withthe exception of Asher, the "Battiatus bookie", feels at all similar or cliche like. The acting is nothing short of terrific. With the lack of effects and visual support, the series would fail miserably absent the great cast.

Every episode is flushed with "in your face" sexual scenes. This includes a lot of full frontal male shots (I looked away), graphic sexual encounters and more great looking women than a sunny Saturday in South Beach.

For those of us looking for some testosterone pumping violence, trust me when I tell you that Spartacus serves it up - buffet style. This is blood lust to the nth degree.

All told, it took me about a week to watch the entire 13 episode series. I simply could not rest until seeing it to the end, apologies to my children and dogs. The series begins introducing us to Spartacus and the others; it climbs in rancor, tension and violence from one episode to the other. The season ends with a tidal wave of bone chilling violence, deception, dishonesty that eventually washes you away - literally in a sea of red.

My advice to you is simple. Get the kids to bed. Pluck up a lusty bottle of anejo, saddle up in a favorite chair, sit back and enjoy. By episode 3, I am quite sure that you too will be asking yourself and anyone else who will listen: Has there ever been a man such as Crixus?