Rome

My wife and I started watching the second season of Rome last night. Caesar is dead, lying in his own pool of blood in the Senate, with the post-tyrannicide political machinations swirling about the city. The series is told in the main from the view point of two soldiers in Caesar's army, where they are befallen, in turn, by tragedy and triumph. They can't seem to escape the history that threatens to engulf them.

It's got to be one of the most gripping series on TV. HBO has mastered the short-run series, with other shows like, The wire, Sopranos, Deadwood, and Six Feet Under. By giving this series a predetermined shelf life, it has allowed for sharper writing and story-telling. This, and the high production values, are making season two the last. It's not like an episode of mainstay television, where you'll find mass appeal duds like Everybody Loves Raymond, Home Improvement, and many other shows where they eventually jump the shark.

I'll miss it when I'm done watching this series. Hail Caesar!