It's fun to watch and I always found myself looking forward to what happened next, and when it was over, I made sure to put the next (chronological) Season at the top of my Netflix DVD queue.
Many characters such as Batiatus and Ashur are ultimately villains, but I found myself often siding with them as they were always interesting and engaging, and frequently were moving against were worse than them. Along with that, the acting is good, the cinematography is good, the action choreography is solid, the production design is decent, and while the high degree of CGI does show the series' lacking budget (eyes larger than its stomach, so to speak), it is nonetheless highly ambitious if nothing else. It's smartly written, combining numerous effective twists and juggling numerous differently constructed characters, mixing a surprising amount of intellect with the main facets of the Id, primarily hardcore violence with a hefty amount of nudity. Season 1 of Spartacus, called 'Blood and Sand', is largely an outstanding series of television.
