Arrow chases down a drug dealer and asks him about the man in the skull mask.  He dealer claims to not know him.  Arrow returns to headquarters and tells Diggle that no one on the streets seems to know this man.  Felicity has gone to visit Barry, who is in a coma.

Laurel is still taking random pills, and is now investigating Sebastian Blood.  She gets a weird vibe from him, and has found that he was connected to a psych building that was destroyed by a suspicious fire.  He also has ties to Cyrus Gold, the man who killed several officers and almost killed Quentin.

Oliver hosts a party for Sebastian helping his campaign for mayor.  While at the party, a man in a car spewing anti government rhetoric to himself blows up a building.  Reports are that there was a cleaning crew and some bankers working late still inside.  Arrow goes to help and helps the bankers escape the building.

Arrow is cornered by a SWAT team in Laurel’s office with no means of escape. A lady vigilante swoops in and saves Arrow. She has blond hair. Could it be Felicity?

Barton Mathis, a serial killer that Quentin put away, has escaped from prison following the earthquake. He is known as the Dollmaker, as his M.O. is pouring polymer down his victim’s throat, giving her the appearance of a doll. Quentin is told by order of the Lieutenant not to pursue this case, or he will be arrested.

While Arrow helps Quentin investigate the resurgence in Dollmaker murders, Arrow sends Roy to look into the new lady vigilante. Quentin and Arrow trace down the hotel room that Mathis is staying at, but then they get there the room is empty. A phone rings, and the Dollmaker forces Quentin to listen on the phone while he kills a girl.

The only lead Arrow and Felicity can come up with is that the new victim and one of the old victims use the same brand of skin cream. They determine that the Dollmaker is targeting women who shop at a particular boutique. Only four shops carry this particular skin cream, so Felicity volunteers to go to them all in hopes of drawing out the Dollmaker. During the stakeout, Quentin confides in Arrow that every girl he couldn’t save on the Dollmaker’s first killing spree reminded him of Sarah.

Oliver is set to go after one of the men on his list, but when he arrives at the man’s home, he is gone. A disgruntled government employee, Joseph Falk, is taking revenge on the city. His wife was murdered by gang members, and the killers have not been found or prosecuted.

Joseph is kidnapping those that he feels are no good for The Glades, and murdering them live on an internet feed. He kills a local slumlord, as well as the assistant DA. Felicity tried to track the IP address of Joseph’s video, but it kept moving. Oliver was unable to find him in time to save the DA.

Thea discovers that Roy is going to rob a liquor store, and calls him a waste. Roy tries to talk to her, but ends up being kidnapped by Joseph.

The final season of Spartacus: War of the Damned begins January 25^th on Starz.  That’s tonight! We left off last season with Spartacus and his merry band of rebels facing the full might of the Roman legion, which are not against pulling shenanigans.

I was more than happy to sit down with Manu Bennett, who plays the undefeated Gaul and Spartacus BFF, Crixus.  Manu was passionate, assured, and especially candid as he spoke about his former co-star Andy Whitfield and what awaits Crixus in the new season. Generous to a fault, he also shared some spoils of war. (Note: This interview contains spoilers.)

The Flickcast: “Be Here Now” is emblazoned on your shirt.  Can you talk about why the phrase “Be Here Now” is important to you?

Manu Bennett: “Be Here Now” was a tattoo Andy [Whitfield] had on his forearm when he was going through his cancer treatment.  There’s a documentary that’s going to be coming out soon.

Rather than not being in the know about what happened to Andy, this documentary is for people who are really interested in the show and really fell in love with Andy and I know there’s so many people out there who did. I’m sure Andy would have liked everyone to go and watch this documentary to see what cancer can destroy in this life.

The final season of Spartacus: War of the Damned is upon us starting this Friday, January 25^th on Starz. Last season we left off with Spartacus and his merry band of rebels facing the full might of the Roman army, which are as feisty as ever. I was lucky enough to sit down with the ruggedly handsome, chipper, and all around good guy to have in your corner if you happen to come across an army, Liam McIntyre. He shared some insight on the upcoming season.

The Flickcast: What has happened in the time between the ending of Vengeance and the start of this season, War of the Damned with Spartacus’ team?

Liam McIntyre: A lot, they’ve been fighting legions of Romans, so you’ll find everyone in a slightly different place. Spartacus is very much in commander mode, he doesn’t take shit from anybody, pardon.

From last year searching for a way into that leadership role and who he really is in terms of this war that they’ve gone on, he’s now very much that guy.  It’s fun to play and difficult because you can’t just play a commander, because he’s  boring.  It is all [about] the relationships with all of the generals. Each one has a different dynamic with the other and keeps kind of a shifting sands kind of feeling.

For some of us it’s been difficult to continue on with the Starz original series Spartacus after the death of its original star Andy Whitfield. We spent a lot of time with him and got to know him pretty well so when he passed away and a new actor took over the role, we didn’t exactly embrace him or the new show.

Fortunately, Liam McIntyre has proven to be a capable Spartacus and the show has continued on to great success. Now, Starz has let out details regarding when the final chapter of the saga, known as Spartacus: War of the Dammed, is going to premiere.

Here’s the full scoop from the network. We’ve also got a trailer for the new season after the break.

Beverly Hills, CA – November 6, 2012 – Today STARZ announced the premiere date for the final installment of their highly successful Spartacus franchise, “Spartacus: War of the Damned,” which will return on Friday, January 25, 2013 at 9pm ET/PT, exclusively on STARZ.

Even though the Starz series Spartacus seemed to rebound after the death of star Andy Whitfield, for us at least it was never really the same. Now word comes from Starz and the show’s creative team that the upcoming third season of Spartacus, which will be titled War of the Damned, will be the last.

“It was an extremely difficult and emotional decision for my partners and I,” series creator/executive producer Steven S. DeKnight said. “Yet, in the end, the story was best served by rolling all of the remaining action and drama of Spartacus’ journey into one stunningly epic season that will be extremely satisfying for everyone who’s been along for the ride.”

“Spartacus is a landmark series for the network which has enthralled millions of viewers and fans around the world,” Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said. “We are in agreement with our partners in the decision to conclude the story after War of the Damned, as we believe it is the best way to maintain the integrity of the series and secure its legacy.”

Spartacus: Blood and Sand was one of the most interesting and fun to watch shows to appear on TV in a long time. It’s combo ob blood, gore, sex, action and swordplay made it a big hit for Starz and a star of Andy Whitfield.

Sadly, Andy Whitfield was not able to continue with the series and passed away due to his illness. However, as they say in Hollywood: “The show must go on.” And it is with new Spactacus Liam McIntyre who, at first glance, slightly resembles Whitfield and also looks to be a worthy successor to him.

The upcoming second (we don’t count the prequel) season, titled Spartacus: Vengeance, takes place right after the events of the first season of Spartacus and tells the continuing story of the slave revolt and its ramifications throughout Rome. To get you ready for the new season, we’ve got a preview of the first minutes of the premiere episode with an introduction by Spartacus himself. Looks good. We’ll be watching.

Check out the video after the break. Spartacus: Vengeance premieres on Starz on Friday, January 27.

Even though the show just wasn’t the same without Andy Whitfield as Spartacus (although he did make a small cameo) that didn’t stop Spartacus: Gods of the Arena from debuting to impressive numbers last Friday night on Starz. The premiere episode of SGOTA had over 1.1 million viewers for its first run at 10 PM, 66% higher than the original series’ premiere a year ago.

In addition, the show had 1.9 million viewers combined for the 10 PM and 11 PM showings, 77% above the debut of the original series. Yes, that’s a lot of people indeed.

I’m guessing audiences were probably just hungry for more awesome gladiator action and to learn the story of the rise of the House of Batiatus. Even though, if you’ve seen the original series, you know how it all turns out for many of the characters, it was still fun to watch their first appearances and see how it all comes together.

It was especially interesting to see how Batiatus himself (John Hannah) began as quite a different person and how he will evolve into the evil man he is later in the series. In some ways its too bad this series will only be six episodes.

Although, in the end, that’s probably just enough to get us ready for season two of the original series, which is returning next year with a new actor (Liam McIntyre) taking on the role of Spartacus.

Sad news indeed as it seems Spartacus: Blood and Sand star Andy Whitfield won’t be able to return to the show for its second season due to health complications. According to Starz, the network which produces the show, the actor’s doctors have advised him to stop training for season two of the series and seek immediate, aggressive treatment for his illness.

The actor was first diagnosed with treatable Stage 1 non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in early March but had been in remission. He was even at Comic-Con in San Diego where we spoke to him and he seemed perfectly healthy and in good spirits, ready to begin season 2 of the series.

Starz is currently in production on a prequel series called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena which it plans to air in January and then was to begin production on season 2 of the main series following that for a planned return in mid 2011. Obviously, with this news on Whitfield’s condition, things have changed.

As fans of Whitfield and the show we are saddened to hear of his condition, We wish him all the best for a full and speedy recovery.

Click through to read the full press release from Starz.

Make no mistake Spartacus: Blood and Sand is one terrific series. After a slightly rocky start, it has quickly matured and become one of the most popular and successful in premium cable’s history. Obviously, we love it here at The Flickcast and have brought you a whole bunch of coverage to hopefully bring even more fans into the fold.

Helping to achieve that goal will be the series imminent debut on Blu-ray and DVD. Coming from Anchor Bay Entertainment, the four-disk set will include a whole bunch of new features and extras. Some of those include hours of bonus features which take you behind the scenes of the making of the show with interviews and commentaries from the actors and filmmakers, augmented with rare production footage exploring the series’ visual effects, production and costume design.

In addition, the release will feature enhanced digital effects for several of the episodes and as a Blu-ray exclusive, four episodes have been selected as “Directors’ Cut Extended Episodes” and will feature content considered “too risque'” even for cable. Other bonuses include featurettes such as “Gladiator Camp”, “The Hole” and “History Rewritten”, behind-the-scenes footage, audio commentaries, interviews, outtakes and more.

Given all the bonus features and extended episodes it seems like Starz and Anchor Bay are giving this release the attention and care it deserves. If you haven’t had a chance to see Spartacus: Blood and Sand yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up on Blu-ray or DVD. It’s a great show and you’ll be glad you did.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand The Complete First Season arrives on Blu-ray and DVD September 21st. Until then, check out this trailer for the release after the break.

It’s no secret we’re big fans of Spartacus: Blood and Sand around here. We’ve talked about the show extensively and have also worried if it can return given the illness of star Andy Whitfield. Fortunately, reports now say that Whitfield is good to go and will be appearing at Comic-Con this week and then season two of the show. However, that didn’t stop Starz from going ahead with it’s planned prequel series anyway.

As we told you previously, the prequel, which is called Spartacus: God of the Arena, will be a six-part story chronicling the rise of the House of Batiatus and the first gladiator to be champion of Capua now it has a star and two supporting players. Dustin Clare, a virtual unknown in the U.S., but a popular TV actor in his native Australia, has landed the lead. Jaime Murray and Marisa Ramirez are also now set to co-star as well.

Reprising their roles from Spartacus: Blood and Sand are Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), John Hannah (Batiatus), Peter Mensah (Oenomaus) and Manu Bennett (Crixus). Murray will play Gaia, Lucretia’s (Lawless) friend and a Capua social climber. Ramirez will play a beautiful slave girl with complicated relationships. Spartacus himself, Andy Whitfield, will also appear briefly in the prequel, which is slated to begin production in August in New Zealand for a January premiere on Starz.

Then, Whitfield will rejoin Spartacus: Blood and Sand for season two, which is set to begin production later this year. So, look for both of these shows coming soon — but not soon enough.