One of my most anticipated summer TV shows of 2024 was Those About to Die, and so when I woke up on release date to see a Colosseum of mixed reviews, I was worried. But I'm happy to say that if you were excited for the show too, you should watch it, because it's worth your time.
Those About to Die is an ancient Roman historical epic set in 79BC, and it's set amongst the gladiatorial and racing communities of Rome. We see how the slaves and gladiators, debtors and gamblers and politicians and emperor's family all jostle to use the fights for their own ends, in the center of the busy empire.
People don't seem to like this show. On Rotten Tomatoes the show is fluctuating between 50% and 60% in both the critics' score and audience score, meaning that roughly as many people aren't enjoying it as are. Notably, it has a "rotten" ranking as a result. But honestly? After seeing two episodes, I'm enjoying the show a lot more than it seems other people are, and I'd recommend it. Hear me out:
A faster-paced new TV show
Most of what I end up watching when covering TV at What to Watch is prestige TV shows, the kind you get from Apple TV Plus, Prime Video and frequently even Netflix now. These are dramas with incredibly slow pacing that often focus on a single, or a small group, of main characters.
There's nothing wrong with prestige dramas but you need to be in a certain mood for them, so you can sit down and focus. When a streaming service focuses solely on this kind of show (I'm looking at you, Apple!), you can get a little tired of the plodding pacing.
Those About to Die is nothing like that, and I was frankly startled by how quick-paced it is. Watching it, you're quickly jumping between different characters, locations and aspects of Roman society — you're never waiting for a scene to end so you can get onto the next beat.
Some have suggested that this results in the characters being quite thin, as you're barely with them before jumping onto the next, but it's no different from something like Game of Thrones which did exactly the same.
Some fun and varied action
You've almost definitely seen "action" shows that have pretty basic action. A few gunfights here and there, maybe a car chase or two, the odd fist fight and that's it. I could count more Netflix series like that, than I have fingers on both hands.
Those About to Die's action has been quite different, and as I've said I'm only two episodes in: each setpiece feels imaginative and different, with limitations that the characters have to incorporate into their combat and also ways to show characters.
For some light spoilers, the Nubian slave Kwame is given a gladiatorial tryout in the second episode in which he's given weapons unfamiliar to him and a tether that keeps him close to his opponent.
Initially, he struggles with these new tools and the bindings that limit his movement, and he gets easily trumped by his opponent — but then he works out some new strategies to gain the upper hand. We learn that Kwame is a quick learner when it comes to combat, and we get to see a fight with more creative flair than a simple sword fight between two fighters.
I wouldn't be surprised if series director Roland Emmerich had a hand in this aspect of it. After all, this is a director who cut his teeth on well-known disaster action movies like Independence Day, The Day after Tomorrow and 2012, so he knows how to show us some spectacle.
A cast of interesting characters
As I've already mentioned, people haven't been too impressed by Those About to Die's characters, but I can't say I agree. The script isn't always amazing, with some laughably on-the-nose dialogue at times, but you can't fault the way it characterizes its players.
All of the main characters have easy-to-understand motivations set up by the end of the first episode: I know Tenax wants to break tradition by starting his own racing faction, Titus and Domitian want to secure succession as the new emperor in spite of each other, Elia and his brothers want to become master horse breeders (though in different ways) and Cala, Kwame and the rest of their family just want to get back to Nubia.
I struggle to relate to characters that don't have both a goal and a plan in which to get it (whether or not it's a good one), and all of Those About to Die's characters have intentions that ring true to me. And for all of them, I want them to succeed, because I "get" them (even though not all the characters will be able to get what they want!).
Something that helps is the casting, with lots of newcomers (or actors I haven't seen much before) filling out junior roles. I've particularly liked the snarling Jojo Macari as Domitian, as you can never tell if he's really competent or a total idiot, as well as Gonçalo Almeida as the idealistic youngster Elia and Moe Hashim as the reluctant gladiator Kwame.
A few issues
Those About to Die isn't the perfect TV show, and it has a few major issues. Its use of green screen for normal dramatic scenes is noticeable and pretty obvious, especially in the egregious port scenes which look pretty awful. Oddly, though, the shots which require more CGI like the Circus Maximus races look a lot better.
The script careens between smart writing and terrible dialogue, and the same could be said for the performances. Plus the plot never has the intrigue that other series like Game of Thrones, Lost or Kingdom do, with most mysteries being solved within the episode they're presented.
But despite this, I'm finding Those About to Die a really enjoyable breath of fresh air compared to everything else that's come out for the last few months. If I have to see another slow prestige drama, generic crime thriller or sci-fi series that seems to have been written by a robot, I might go crazy. This Roman action drama might prove to be the first new series in months that I'll actually finish!
