In the season two premiere, Oenomeous/Doctore was asked what he will do now if not join the rebels and he uttered the line: “There is but one place for an animal without honor”, thus hinting to the most gruesome place from season one. This episode opens with a flashback of Oenomeous in the Pits, a fighting underworld lacking the space, glory and honour of the arena. There, he is singled out and bought by Batiatus Senior who made his appearance in the half season between “Blood and Sand” and “Vengeance”; a welcomed addition as the scene provides further character development and sets in the central theme of this episode.

The rebels are on the move with Spartacus putting aside his lust for revenge by looking at the greater picture; freedom for all slaves and death to the Roman oppressors. In their dual quest of finding Naevia and releasing the slaves, the ex-gladiators stumble upon a villa which they raid and pillage. Crixus’s presence is ever threatening by assuming a cold and calculated demeanour in an interrogation scene. We have watched him lashing like a wild animal in more than a dozen episodes and we know what he is capable of, so this side of him merely masquerades the storm to come. Meanwhile, the new freed house-slaves begin to question their freedom believing they have traded a life of luxury for one of constant dread. One even tries to slay Spartacus only to be forgiven, and afterwards trained to take arms side-by-side with the warriors. Even Mira, Spartacus’ concubine, seems uncertain about her relationship with Spartacus and her place in this new enforced reality.

Back in Capua the scenes alternate between the verbal power struggles of the nobles and the past and present of Oenomeous. Lucretia seems to have taken control of her sanity but with a constant bitterness that sips through her speech and actions. She is viewed by the commons as a symbol of survival and perhaps good fortune since she endured through the massacre from the uprising of the slaves. Attaining the role of a blessed one, she shares similar connotations to that of a priestess, offering her blessing to the people in the market, a gesture loathed by Ilithya but at the same time needed by Glaber to gain more support.

In the flash-back scenes we learn that Oenomeous, albeit a talented young warrior, kept failing to achieve greatness because of a lack of purpose. He eventually finds that purpose through the guidance of Batiatus Senior by fighting for the honour of his master’s House. That much we could have speculated from the previous half season but only now it becomes apparent that for Oenomeous being a gladiator was a virtue in itself and thus he was content in that position. Since that relationship has been severed, in his eyes he has nothing else to live for so he willingly battles foe after foe in the Pits in a slow and brutal suicide. Throughout the episode there is a hooded figure that silently observes both Lucretia and Oenomeous. The absence of one of the major characters from the previous episode gave the revelation of the hooded figure’s identity an anticlimactic ending when he saved Oenomeous from certain death and later presented him to Lucretia and Gaius Glaber. Yet it still counts as a fantastic cliff-hanger that leaves a passionate viewer with a sense of urgency.

Overall this episode had a slow pace that dealt more with character conflict and prevalent issues rather with the action. Of course the elements that made the show famous are still existent but by now they have become a second nature. The interchanging of scenes between the numerous story-lines was done in a beautiful way, for me personally and for the first time, to appreciate the effort behind the art direction. Even the few (compared to other episodes) fighting scenes seemed better with more clarity allowing the viewer to get a grip of who stabs who and with what.

But the points go to the plot and narrative. The fitting title of the episode put matters into perspective. While some characters are literally and figuratively moving forward, others seem stuck in the past. Oenomeous, with nothing left to live for, goes back to the place where he was "born" in order to die; Lucretia embracing her new position where is loved by the people, clearly contrasting hers and her husband’s past efforts for a similar achievement; the house-slaves, waking up after a life-time of slavery, realizing that they know nothing except humiliation and pain; Mira in a similar position, engaging with Spartacus in a conversation about love, a topic that has not been discussed much in the entirety of the show. Like the previous seasons, the overall development and twists are placed in subtle blocks of story-telling, giving the show a nice and steady build up for things to come.