We’re up to the third episode of Vengeance, and we now have a clearer picture of what this follow-up series looks like.

Spartacus and friends are travelling south, pillaging Roman villas and freeing the slaves they find along the way, all in search of Crixus’ lost love Naevia, herself sold into slavery. While Crixus initially seemed like your garden-variety thug in the early episodes of Blood & Sand, that series spent a lot of time developing his feelings towards Naevia, and the budding, forbidden romance that blossomed between them has helped to humanise Crixus to the point where we can see past the bluster and glimpse the man underneath, all of which helps us as an audience to invest in this quest to find his woman, who – after all – is only one slave among millions.

Luckily for Crixus, he has one of the show’s best and most inspiring speeches to offer up to the crowd of rebels and to the audience. It’s a particularly rousing moment – reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator – and it’s credit to Manu Bennett that he completely sells it, and arguably presents the most defining moment yet in Crixus transformation from blinkered lunk-head to genuine hero.

But, there are others among the rebels who feel otherwise, and eventually – after a mercifully short-lived deception regarding the “death” of Naevia – Agron and a group of other dissenters decide to make for Vesuvius and a good vantage point for raiding Napoli rather than risk their lives at the mines. Without them, it’s up to Spartacus, Crixus, Mira and recently freed Syrian Nasir to infiltrate one of the Rome’s dreaded mines to free Naevia.

The assault on the mine is tense and exciting, and demonstrates how far the scope of the show has expanded. The CGI aerial shots of the mine are surprisingly impressive, and the set, along with its many down-trodden extras trudging through the muck, really convey the grim hell of the mines. After a season stuck primarily in the ludus, it’s nice to see the show spreading its wings and exploring interesting new settings.

Meanwhile, back at the Ludus, Ilithya is growing impatient with her husband, the distracted Roman legatus Glaber, who is more preoccupied with catching Spartacus ahead of younger, better positioned rival Seppius than in satisfying the needs of his vacuous wife.

Of more interest though, is watching sneaky Syrian Ashur continuing his transformation into full-blown, boo-hiss pantomime villain. Nick Tarabay gives a great turn as the deceitful snake Ashur, and relishes every scene with commendable gusto.

Ashur spends this week torturing former slave master Oenomaus, hoping he’ll reveal the location of the rebels. When violence fails, he turns to a piece of knowledge that recalls events from prequel series Gods of the Arena. Given that Oenomaus now knows that his wife was unfaithful to him with his best friend Gannicus, it seems inevitable that we will soon see the return of Dustin Clare’s handsome and cocksure gladiator to complete the cast.

Speaking of returning cast, it seems that widowed former domina Lucretia is not quite the broken, mindless woman we were led to believe when she was first found to be alive. Lucretia was always devious, but here she seems to be playing the long game, using partner in crime Ashur to convince the people of Capua that she is a prophet, with a direct line to the Gods. What her end-game is remains to be seen, but we know what Lucretia is capable of, so it’s unlikely to end well for those who have wronged her…

Spartacus: Vengeance has now reached the point where the set-up is done, and with the exception of Gannicus, all of the pieces are now on the board.

The expanded scope of the show is so far serving it well, breathing new life into fight sequences and proving that the production team can work with more than just a few fixed locations. But it’s the inspiring, punch-the-air moments like Crixus’ speech and the set-pieces like the breathless assault on the mines that we watch this show for, and so far, Vengeance has not disappointed.

Aired at 10pm on Monday 13th February 2012 on Sky1.

> Buy the Spartacus: Blood and Sand DVD boxset on Amazon.

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