Domina Review: Secrets (Season 1 Episode 4)

Domina Season 1 Episode 4, “Secrets,” is a perfect example of both why this show is so much fun to watch (Livia’s elaborate and unrepentant scheming) and often deeply annoying at the same time (literally anything to do with Julia, Marcellus, or the days of the lives of the younger Roman elite.)

Most of us are aware that this isn’t the most historically accurate story of Rome ever made, so we’re really all just here for the soapy machinations of greedy and powerful people. Is it likely that Livia managed to manipulate major political rifts between her husband and his friends just to secure her own position?

Probably not, but it sure is a blast to pretend that she did.

The hour picks up with Livia’s miscarriage — a son, unfortunately, and an event so difficult and violent to her body that it means she’ll never be able to have any more children. This is, of course, a devastating blow to Gaius’ future prospects, as he is as obsessed with the idea of his own legacy as he is with holding power. 

Livia, aware that her grasp on her husband and her position in Rome is tenuous at best in the wake of this news, goes on the offensive, declaring that she must do the right thing and divorce Gaius, so that he can have the sons he so desperately wants. As soon as she’s able to stand unaided she’s packing up her stuff, insisting that their marriage is over, and fleeing the city entirely. 

Of course, she has no intention of leaving her husband — or, more importantly, allowing him to leave her. She subsequently orchestrates an elaborate plot that involves manipulating his BFF and general muscle Agrippa (still looking fine!) into open revolt, revealing Gaius’ plans to marry his daughter from his first marriage to his sister’s son (infuriating several people who assumed they’d get a chance at her hand), and refusing to help him solve these problems of her own creation. 

It works brilliantly, with everything coming together in such a way that should make anyone watching sad that Livia herself cannot simply be Empress of Rome in her own right.

Gaius’ ability to maintain his hold on power is largely due to her, and her astute political acumen solves all sorts of problems without flinching. She’s pretty amazing, both in terms of her understanding of people, and of Roman politics.

Of course, according to Livia, all this plotting is for the ultimate good of Rome because elevating Gaius to godlike status will somehow help her return power to the Senate someday the way her father would have wanted.

Yes, this is an elaborate and self-serving plan that sees her and Gaius remain in power until his death, at which time her son Drusus — who isn’t even her firstborn — will somehow take over long enough to give it back to an institution he’s never even seen in action before.

Sure, Livia. That sounds plausible. I’m sure this has nothing to do with your own desire to punish your enemies or anything.

One of the more intriguing aspects of all this is the way that Livia’s grand plan completely skips over her eldest son Tiberius, a hot mess of a boy who clearly has the sort of dark, crazy tendencies that will come to mark the reigns of his descendants Nero and Caligula. No one seems to like Tiberius, and the boy seems well aware of it, in a way that I’d assume meant dire things on a show like American Horror Story.

Here, it’s enough to know that (history spoiler alert), he is the one who will follow Octavian’s rule, though how Domina will ultimately make him Emperor when even Livia appears repulsed by him is anyone’s guess.

Elsewhere, “Secrets'” focus on the petty jealousies and rivalries between the group of elite Roman teens who are the kids of all these major players.

Gaius, Scribonia, and Octavia all want Julia to marry Marcellus, Gaius’ nephew and Octavia’s son in order to consolidate power within the family. Marcellus wants to marry Julia for the perks that come from being Gaius’ de facto heir, but he’s also sort of mainly interested in men, particularly a slave he brought back from Spain.

For her part, Julia wants to run away with Marcellus’s BFF whose name I can’t even remember, but whose lower-class status makes him unsuitable for the daughter of the Emperor. Unfortunately, as a character, Julia feels like little more than a cipher so far, which makes it hard to root for her or even truly care about what happens to her.

In short: It’s a love triangle that’s all very confusing and irritating, primarily because there isn’t one likable thing about any of these kids, and that’s before you throw in Livia’s sons, who are both unlikeable and potentially dangerous. (The offhand way that Tiberius tells his brother he tried to kill Marcellus while they were all on campaign together? Y I K E S.)

If this is the future of Rome, the empire is truly doomed. 

Stray Thoughts and Observations

• I find Scribonia deeply annoying as a person, yet am somehow also extremely fascinated by her character. Sure, her vendetta toward Livia is shallow and based on the most obvious of rivalries, but that’s not what makes her interesting. No, it’s moments like the quiet conversation with her daughter where she acknowledges that Roman women — at least rich, well-connected ones — can have anything they want except freedom that makes me sure there are hidden depths there. Maybe getting divorced was a good thing for her in the end?
• My inability to keep many of these non-descript dark-haired men who are not Gaius straight is a problem, show. It’s making me wish my screeners had subtitles.
• I hope that we at some point get some inkling about what’s going on with Antigone. She’s become less than a background character at this point, and though I suppose she has to be having some sort of relationship with Tycho, she’s basically just…there to do Livia’s bidding.

What did you think of this episode of Domina? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Domina airs Sundays at 10/9c on Epix.

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