Did You Watch Rome Season One?
Warning: SPOILERS ahead
I just binged the HBO series Rome for the second time, and the drama of the last scene of the last episode finally hit me.
Lucius Vorenus just found out that his wife Niobe was unfaithful and that the child he thought was his daughter’s son is his wife’s by another man. He is enraged. He shouts at his wife, “Where is your son?” She cowers, backs up, and says, “I thought you were dead.” He grabs a knife and stares at it. She backs up onto the balcony. We see the knife again. She presses up against the railing, then leans over backward and falls to her death. Then the camera focuses on her son (maybe 3 years old), scared and confused.
Watching that episode for the second time, I saw layers of drama and motivation that I had missed before.
Niobe doesn’t kill herself just to avoid physical pain. Rather, she does so to save her son, hoping that Lucius in his grief will cherish her son.
In addition, she loves Lucius. She knows that if he kills her in rage, he will be wracked with guilt and regret. Killing herself, she spares him that agony.
Such depth of character and complexity of drama is remarkable in a TV series. This is what you might expect in a great play or novel.
