They put more obvious money into it than the others with a few nice vistas of Nero's building projects and an entirely pointless gladiatorial bout. This episode would seem to be the signature one of the series.
He goes so overboard trying to rebuild Rome that he convinces himself he's a god. In fact, that's the beginning of his madness. He's shown to be desperate to help and willing to use his own houses to help. Nero is vindicated of the accusations of fiddling while Rome burned. That said, this does take a more nuanced view of Nero than a lot of other fictional takes. And Sheen goes for it putting all his crazy on display. But be honest, who'd want to see a subtle and restrained Nero? The man embodied excess in all its forms. If you're looking for a subtle and restrained performance, then this isn't your day. They got Martin Sheen for Nero, probably the best actor in this and just before his career really took off.
It is also the perfect opportunity for an actor to ham it up. It's been done to death and it would be nice to see them give a different take on the man, but as it goes it is a fun story. This episode follows the whole 'Nero was nuts' theory. Essentially the most interesting scene in the movie comes in the beginning and it's never explained or alluded to later. Unless you consider 'he's nuts' to be an answer. Why was he out trolling around the city in that getup? Why did he start a fight? Why was he laughing maniacally while getting beat up? These are all questions that you should be asking yourself after seeing this clip, and they'll never be answered. The only problem is that it never shows up again later.
Then one of the men pulls his hood off and it's Nero himself (identified by text), in a really cheap looking wig. It's a lowlife part of Rome with a bunch of people walking around and a street corner musician making fun of the emperor. This episode starts with a bang, obviously intentionally.
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