Spartacus Boss Answers Burning Questions: Who’s Really Dead? What’s Up for Season 3?

How did the Agron and Nasir relationship come about? Will you continue it in Season 3?
DeKnight: You’ll definitely see them in the new season. Because there was so much going on this season, you only got a hint of their relationship, which ultimately worked out to my favor. They had such great, charming onscreen chemistry. They were just adorable together. Agron, who’s just a big “I want to kill everyone in my path” [person] suddenly becomes a puppy dog around Nasir. It gave us a chance to do something we hadn’t had an opportunity to do with our same-sex couples in the past and actually show the relationsip from the beginning and develop it slowly. We did have many discussions early on about a same-sex couple. Should we do something different and make it two women? But Rob Tapert and I, in a stunning male turnaround, both of us felt like it was kind of easy and pandering. I’m not opposed to showing a same-sex relationship between two women, that is something we may explore in the next season. But it seemed like in this time in our society, it was an easy way out. We didn’t want to take the easy way out.

How did it come about that you decided Agron and Nasir would swap clothes?
DeKnight: I wish I could take credit for that brilliant idea. That was something actually thrown out by the wardrobe department for that episode, and I thought it was a great addition… the thing I loved about that is we never call attention to it because it’s not actually in the script. It just happens, and the audience picks up on it, which is great.