Interview: What Does “Spartacus” Co-Creator Steven DeKnight Think He’s Doing?

Warning: This interview refers to major spoilers from the last several episodes of Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

You can't say we weren't warned: in the promotion for the new Starz show Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the actors and creators all stressed that this was unlike anything else on television — that it would be sexier, with both female and male nudity, and also much more violent.

We knew about the sexy part right from the beginning. But two weeks ago, we got another reminder of just how violent the show is when Barca, a gay gladiator, was unceremoniously killed after a misunderstanding with the unforgiving Batiatus.

This last week, in response, Barca's partner Pietros, took his own life.

The two plots twists, which we wrote about here, have been the subject of much debate on the site. 

But we wanted to know exactly what the producers of the show were thinking, so we called up co-creator Steven DeKnight, who is also the show's executive producer and head writer. DeKnight has also worked on, and written for, Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, and Angel.

The interview took place last week, before the episode in which Pietros kills himself had aired.

AfterElton.com: Many of our readers have been big fans of the show, but there's been something of a mini-riot since the death of Barca. It’s going to get worse this week when Pietros kills himself.
Steven DeKnight: You know, for the past year — it was a year ago when we came up with how that storyline would conclude — there was a saying in the room, whenever anything bad happened, we'd always say, "Poor Pietros." Talk about one innocent character. "Poor Pietros."

Steven DeKnight

AE: What would you say to people who are concerned or upset about these two deaths?
SD: The things about this show, and the way I approached it, people who are straight, people who are gay, people of different race, it doesn't matter. Everybody is treated pretty much the same. Within the world, there's no reaction to the fact that Barca's gay, that Pietros is gay. They're just another person, and that's something I'm very proud of about the show, and that's something that will always be a part of this show.

It doesn't matter what race you are, it doesn't matter what gender, it doesn't matter what sexual orientation. In this word you're just another person.

That comes with a certain danger to all the characters because I look at all these characters as just characters. None of that criteria matters. Quite frankly, every character on this show, as you can tell, has a target on their back. A lot of people die on this show. Anybody that knows even a little bit about the history of Spartacus and the rebellion knows that things did not end happily. Everybody at some point is under the danger of dying.

I also come from the Joss Whedon world, and as anybody who's ever followed any of his shows knows, God help a character if they start to look like they're going to be happy.

AE: This idea that it's "all about the characters" is the response we usually get when a gay character dies, which, frankly, is quite often. I can name you twenty examples from the last ten years where a show introduces a gay character only to kill him off. I hear what you're saying about the integrity of the world and the characters, but in the real world, gay characters are rarely the lead, which means they're more likely to be the temporary love interest or secondary supporting character who gets killed off. So you end up with this cliché of all these gay characters dying in order to bolster the dramatic journey of the usually-straight main character. From the point of view of the gay viewer, it feels like, "Oh, here we go again." Were you aware of this greater context, especially in the genre shows, that the gay guy often gets killed? Were you concerned?
SD: Of course, we're aware of it. You're always concerned, not only of the perception of your show, but what your influence is on society. But ultimately, everything has to come back to your story, and especially in Season One, we kill incredible amounts of people — gay, straight, women, children. I am an equal opportunity murderer on the show. The story ultimately will come first.

AE: Well, tell me this, are there more major gay characters either in this season or next season?
SD: Yes. Each season will have major gay characters, major and minor. Next season especially.

Moving forward, I always want that to be an element of this world. And I want to continue making an element of this world where people might have problems with these characters, but their sexual orientation is never the problem. It's always their actions, their attitude, what they do, and I will have gay characters that are villains, and I will have gay characters who are heroes, and in between.

AE: You said in a major way next season. Can you give me a hint of who that character is?
SD: I really can't. It would give too much away.

AE: I had to try. But I think there's a clue there with your villain comment.
SD: [laughs]

Next Page! The eye-popping nudity that even Spartacus had to edit.