"Rome" episode 6 "Philippi"

[alexandral]

Notes on "Rome" episode 6 "Philippi". I liked it very much because I do like "Rome" and it can't do anything wrong for me at the moment, but I had some uneasy and confused feelings about involvement of Pullo and Vorenus into the murder of Cicero and other murders. Historical inaccuracies don’t matter much for me, and even the fact that Vorenus and Pullo are the weapons of the execution of hundreds of innocent citizens do not worry me that much too. This is their job. Though I was expecting Pullo to disagree with the assignment to murder Cicero, especially in the bit where he was nailing Cicero’s hands to the door.

The main thing I am not sure about is the “peaches” scene when Pullo murders Cicero. I don’t know, but Pullo seemed to look quite uncaring what Cicero’s feelings were at that moment and hesitating unnecessarily. And what worries me even more that asking to pick the peaches for his wife from the guy whom you are about to murder is somehow a silly (and quite a cruel) thing to do. And I do not like to see Pullo cruel or silly. ;(

I liked Cicero in this scene, though. He was full of dignity. I thought that may be Cicero's death is in parallel with the death of Brutus in Philippi and the "Philippi" in the title refers to the both of them. A cruel death as an acceptance of their fate.



But a very good thing is that Pullo is totally impervious to Gaia’s charms and sees her through!! I knew this!!!!!!!!!YAY!!! And I have made my mind about Gaia – I DO NOT LIKE HER! She is very bad news and a great stirrer of trouble. And she is trying to cause trouble between everyone.



Even the latest rift between Vorenus and his daughter about the make-up is all Gaia’s doing. Though Vorenus keeps being clueless in how to behave himself with his daughter, smack his head!!!! And the older Vorena’s suitor seems to be very very creepy. And obviously he is working for Memmio.

But I still believe that the differences between Vorenus and his daughter will be resolved, and it was so wonderful to see the younger kids happy at the countryside picnic. And the way Vorenus goes around carrying little Lucius and being very protective of him is so heart-warming! And how little Lucius carries the elephant that Vorenus mended everywhere around with him!

The picnic:




And how sad it was to hear Pullo saying that he doesn’t know where his is coming or going and that the only thing he knows and likes is violence. Very poignant scene, very difficult one because at the same time it is a scene where we see Vorenus and Pullo talking to each other, being that great unit of friends. And among all this, if I understood Pullo correctly, he wants to go and do his own thing. He is not satisfied with being “the second man in Aventive” anymore. I absolutely don’t blame him, but this doesn't mean that I am happy that the boys will go their separate ways.

As a side point, I am not sure what to think about Vorenus’ attempt to make the collegia an honest place. How will it all go? With the enemies like Memmio? From the blood money?

But all this said, it is fabulous to see Pullo and Vorenus together and Vorenus “full of purpose” as Pullo said:








Two picspams of the day

Agrippa and Octavia My little shippy heart is so happy!! This is where I use up my daily allowance of exclamation marks! And I am so warmed up to Maecenas too because though he knows everything about Agrippa and Octavia, he is not saying anything to Octavian. But Agrippa!!! Agrippa is definitely my favourite historucal figure. His gandfather was a slave (is this true?) and his name is written upon the Pantheone for the many generations to see. And I don't want to think about the consequences of Agrippa's and Octavia's love, at all.






































Brutus breaks Alexandra’s heart. It is not a spoiler as this episode is named Philippi I guess











EEE! I have blurted this all out! Now I can go and read everyone's posts! And also I should go home and catch up on some sleep!!

Comments

[bzoppa.livejournal.com]

Love the face of Agrippa on #7. He's such a little boy.

I'll say this ep didn't do much for me. I'm glad that Agrippa and Octavia got at least one ep's worth of sex.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

I actually kind of like the peaches scene – I don’t think Pullo is being callous or unfeeling (after all, unlike all the other guys sent to kill the senators, Pullo only takes some peaches - after he asks for them politely – as opposed to looting the man’s house, raping his daughter – poor Jocasta! – etc.) And I think that some of this comes out in his conversation with Eirene later on, because look, he’s a hired killer again, even though his boss is Octavian now, and not Erastes Fulmen, and so he thinks back to a time when he was a killer on more honorable terms in the ranks fo the Thirteenth :P

And I find the scene in Cicero’s garden just quite wonderful actually – the Republic dies like this, quietly, in a sunlit garden, and the killing at Philippi is really just the aftermath.

And absolutely, yes to this idea that Pullo wants something more than to just be remembered as the "Number Two Man" - I think again his conversation with Eirene is telling where he thinks he might be a centurion or a legate if he rejoined the legions. I did love her saying she was "preglant" by the way :P

I loved the picnic too – it was so wonderfully … strange. “Oh, I’m off to kill someone, let’s have a picnic.”

As for Agrippa, his family came from the equestrian rank and were quite wealthy, but no, I don’t think his grandfather was a slave. They were sort of middle-to-lower-class country folk (think of Vorenus as he might have been as magistrate.)

P.S. Your package came yesterday (and I've put it to some use - icons in my latest post!) Although I am having a lot of difficulty figuring out how to do certain things - it's very complicated! - so I might be bugging you for advice. You are such a sweetie-pie! Thank you SO much (and for your extremely clear instructions!)

[herself_nyc]

Pullo asking for peaches made me laugh. I too thought about it--there was something very civilized in how he gave Cicero time to compose himself, and displayed respect, I thought, in asking for the peaches rather than just taking them afterwards. And didn't he give Cicero some time to sort of pull himself together while he was picking the peaches?

He could've just burst in, run the major domo through, and lopped Cicero's head off. As an assassination, I thought Pullo did it with kindness and sensitivity.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am very behind on Rome (am still in the middle of first season!) but the caps were lovely. I am a bit odded-out by Octavia/Agrippa because in RL he married her niece much later so it's a bit pre-incest, if that makes sense :)

[baleanoptera.livejournal.com]

Huzzah for the Agrippa/octavia scenes! (and huzzah for such gorgeous caps!) I love how she is the one kissing him. And how she comes in quite breathless to say goodbye to her brother. Oh yes, because it's just her brother she is saying goodbye to. Hee. ;D

Brutus breaks Alexandra’s heart.

He broke mine as well actually. When he cut of his armour and walked towards the soldiers, and then died in an echo of Caesar? I very nearly sobbed! I'm going to miss him.

[jenandhughlove.livejournal.com]

I love Brutus in this episode, and i was so sad at the end. Anyway, good caps of Mark Antony, Octavian and Octavia too! :) p.s could i miss Cicero? I'm even more sad now!

[elspethsheir.livejournal.com]

Brutus broke my heart too. I had trouble with Pullo and the peaches too (http://elspethsheir.livejournal.com/113700.html#cutid1).

Still not sure how I feel about that.

But Brutus! *weeps*

[trufflehog.livejournal.com]

yay! thank you very much for the picspam...and i love it when people post about episodes. stirs up more conversation ;)

i'm still on the fence about pullo and the peach scene. all i know is that it was painfully uncomfortable, especially for cicero, and because of that i think it worked. cicero was lovely. he was also one of my favorite characters...this series won't be the same without him for me :/
same with brutus. oh, i did NOT like cassius when he was first introduced. i thought he was scheming and dangerous. but watching brutus clutch his body, on cassius' birthday...it was intense! poor poor brutus.
two of the best characters are gone. damn. its still such a damn shame to think about.

as for agrippa/octavia. thank you!!!! our little rome-watching group has agreed that agrippa is a little, uh, wishy-washy as a character. especially in a series where most of the characters are morally ambiguous and so complex...it really does feel like he's straight out of a g-rated disney adaptation of the hobbit. that being said....i cannot resist the doomed, adorable -thing- between him and octavia. they'll never last, but damn, while they do i'm gonna milk it for all its worth XD

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

I get what they knew what they were getting at with the peaches scene but it just felt overdone to me - it was enough to have the picnic. I just felt bludgeoned to death with their attempt to contrast how all of these important people die while others just get on with ordinary things.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I think this was the weakest episode this season, and I'm not quite sure why. I found Cicero's death very moving, though the stuff about the peaches kind of creeped me out. I think maybe it was the battle scenes that bothered me. They seemed small and "thin," and they reminded me too much that I was watching a TV show. Still, even Rome's weakest is miles above most shows' best.