Caprica - End of Line, S01E09

The mid-season finale of Caprica gave a really good go of giving me storyline and character development to get interested in and care about, but I'm still not sure if it is too late. I think it will have to wait until I hear that the season is resuming from hiatus, and if I want to find out what happens next at that point, or if I don't, well, I will have my answer.

What was good is that things started to go somewhere. We had goals and we had end-dates and we had consequences of those goals were not met by those end-dates. Up until now, anything being planned or hoped for by our leads did not seem remotely time sensitive, or particularly important. However, I still didn't feel a strong enough connection with all of the characters to care about their pain.

As the episode ended, setting up cliff-hangers for almost all the characters, classical music which was religious and hopeful in nature played in contrast to mass chaos. Cylon-Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) had killed Philomon (Alex Arsenault) and escaped from the lab; experiencing mass visions of the most traumatic events that happened to her this season, she drove a van into a military barricade. Dramatic, although we know the character will survive, but this is the first incident in which a Cylon killed a man, and it is quite fitting that it was the man she loved and who loved her, but betrayed her.

Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) realized that she had trusted the wrong soldier of the one as she blew up Clarice (Polly Walker)'s car. I was a little disappointed that we already have seen that Clarice was not in the car, as it might have been nice to have some doubts there, but I am glad that Polly Walker is still on the show as I enjoy her performance very much. It would not be the same, however, if Amanda (Paula Malcomson) died, since their dynamic is so terrific. We do not know whether her swan dive off the bridge cost her her life, or simply drove her completely insane. But maybe that's what Daniel (Eric Stoltz) will do in the second half of the season - create an Avatar of his wife.

I am only going to mention the plot of Joseph (Esai Morales) and Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) to say "Are you kidding me?" Joseph spent the entire damn season in V-world looking for his daughter to have her fake-commit-suicide and than kill his avatar so he could never go back. What was the point of that? What a waste of time.

So I wonder what will happen next, but I'm still not sure I know what I want to have happen. And if I don't have a clue what I want from the show, why should I care about it? Despite wanting answers, I'm not sure I need to watch the show anymore to find them out - a quick check on wikipedia will give me the answers and take up far less of my time. But, what about you? Are you desperate for the return?

Caprica - The Ghost in the Machine, S01E08

I continue not to be particularly impressed with Caprica. I just can't seem to be brought to care what happens to any of the characters. It's not that it's badly done, it's just that there is almost no reason. If it weren't for the fact that next week will be a mid-season finale, I might just stop watching altogether.

It's not that it is poorly acted. I really liked the scenes between Daniel (Eric Stoltz) and Zoe (Alessandra Torresani). Daniel monologuing while forcing robot Zoe to repeat the same action over and over and over again in the hopes of having her falter, having her give him some proof, some indication that she is within the robot. But she did not give in. And that was fine, but it just meant that nothing interesting happened.

In their final scene together, he gave her a gun and told her to shoot the family dog. She did, but it turned out the gun was filled with blanks. Of course, she would have known that, and it's hard to imagine that the man who designed the robot would note have been aware of it either. But it took all the tension out of the scene and the choice when it was discovered.

Otherwise, Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) keeps putzing around in V-world searching for his daughter. If not for the scene with Sam (Sasha Roiz) the entire thing would have been a wash, and even that was annoying because when Sam heart-feltedly told Joseph how he kills people, by considering them targets, not men, by pretending it's a game, not life, he was helping Joseph figure out how to pull the trigger in a world which is a game. I mean, honestly, what a loser that he can't shoot a fake guy with a fake gun to save his own skin so that he can save his daughter.

I just really want something to happen next week, to make my commitment to this show have some value. Do you think it has value, or did you give up watching long ago?

Caprica - The Imperfections of Memory, S01E07

The Imperfections of Memory...nice title. I often with that the imperfections of my memory could transform Caprica into the show I want it to be.

I can't even say for sure why I continue to watch the show - perhaps in the hopes that Peter Wingfield will have another cameo? It certainly lacks the qualities which bring one back again and again. I seem to realize that Caprica's been on, so I watch it, and then I think that it did not meet the expectations I had for it.

I still think that part of the reason it is not meeting my expectations is that it is not giving me any. I have no idea where the plot is going. I am not sure what religious beliefs I am supposed to be questioning or considering, and I am equally unsure about what sort of social commentary is being made, or how it is relevant to me.

I do enjoy Polly Walker as Sister Clarice, though how anyone who does not know her can recognize her as a member of the cloth, I cannot tell - her clothes and hair have nothing singular about them. And Paula Malcomson's Amanda Greystone is becoming more interesting, as she risks going insane for a second time due to grief. But what is the point of her being crazy? What will that achieve?

I need motivation, I need a goal. I need to want something to happen in the next episode, and I don't even care if Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) finds his daughter in V-world. If you watch, please tell me why!

Caprica - Know Thy Enemy, S01E06

And I am back to feeling "meh" about Caprica. Last week, it was doing well, things felt important and like they were time-sensitive, but this week just did not keep up that pressure.

I did love Clarice (Polly Walker) and Amanda (Paula Malcomson)'s scene together. The drinking, Clarice's nervousness, and Amanda's grief, all melded together to create a scene where something was happening (Clarice was stealing computer files) and characters were developing. The rest of the episode did not create these effects.

Verges (John Pyper-Ferguson) finally came on the scene as Daniel (Eric Stoltz)'s enemy and rival, threatening to destroy everything Daniel loves until he has had vengeance in the death of the men killed to steal the technology Daniel now has. Grand, that's all Daniel needs, another enemy and another problem. Couldn't we establish one premise for the show? It's almost too confusing to figure out who's going to screw who, how, and when. Plus, why is Daniel having bloody nightmares? He wasn't there when those men die.

And the religious stuff continues to be tricky, with Barnabus (James Marsters) being a masochist and continuing to blow up buildings with no apparent plan, and Clarice believing that the avatar is a way for the soul to continue forever if there is enough information. I suppose this is what happened with the final 5, but it just seems a little weird.

Well, as I said, I am frustrated with the show. I want a little more structure! I want to know hat I want to have happen because right now, I really don't care. What about you?

Caprica - There is Another Sky, S01E05

Although I was not as big a fan of this episode as I was of the last one, it address some interesting issues in our own culture through the Caprican culture. The episode did not go as far as I might want it to, but hopefully that will happen in upcoming episodes.

The holoband is similar to the internet. More and more people are using it, especially young people, and they are using more and more illegal methods because they want to experience so many things for free. Like us, their younger generation has a sense of entitlement that far exceeds the possibilities the world has to offer.

While Daniel Greystone (Eric Stoltz) may have pulled the rug out from under the illegal aspects of the program by ceasing to profit from the holoband technology, giving it to them for free certainly will not stop the entitlement issues.

We also got the usual pointed comment about being able to be someone, to accomplish something in a virtual world having no real baring on real life. Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) was quite right when she told her new friend that perhaps he would be able to be someone, to accomplish something in the real world if he were not so immersed in the virtual one. How many people have incredibly powerful WoW characters, but have nothing of value to speak of once their computers are turned off?

I also have to wonder how close any modern scientists are to creating artificial intelligence, let alone artificial sentience, given how many times we've been warned that we will end up being weaker than the creatures we create. To create sentience, artificial or otherwise, and to expect unquestioning obedience while giving no rights...well, it's no wonder that the Cylons revolted. Zoe (Alessandra Torresani)'s Avatar so closely resembled the real person, how could she accept such subservience so easily? And how must she have felt to have to tear her own arm off at her father's command? It may not have hurt physically, but Zoe clearly has enough of a mind to be affected.

And why is it that two of the most interesting characters, Zoe and Tamara, were killed within the first hour of the series?

But, while all those technological questions are thought provoking, nothing is more concerning to me that the choices that the writers of Caprica are making in regards to William Adama (Sina Najafi) and his father (Esai Morales). At some point, I am going to have to go back and discover if there was ever any sort of a reference to Bill's uncle in BSG. Hard to believe that a man like that could be easily forgotten. And what about the glorification of Joseph Adama? Does he become a better lawyer and a moral man to be proud of as the show develops?

I suppose you can dismiss it all with a "Bill Adama got hurt during the Cylon war and it changed him so much he forgot his childhood. But you'd think they would have been a little more careful with everything.

What did you think?

Caprica - Gravedancing, S01E04

Although I still think that the opening credits are too cheesy for a show that is related to Battlestar Galactica (and I wonder when/if Caprica will ever earn the right to be know for itself and not just in the shadow of its future), I actually really liked this episode.

I'm still uncertain about the premise. Where is Caprica trying to go? What social commentary are they trying to make? It still feels unstructured, and while that worked for BSG, where the goal was unclear, but certainly survival in the face of constant danger the driving force, we are supposed to be in a world that is Rome during the fall. The structure should be there, fractured and unstable, but there.

Still, we are moving forward with the idea of the Soldiers of the One being terrorists who are trying to corrupt the children. And what does that make Clarice (Polly Walker)? She seems to care so much about everything, but does she care about the children, or are they just a means to an end? And what is that end?

And regardless of what anyone might think about the idea of a group marriage and how it might function, I think that 4 people in a bed that size cannot be comfortable.

On the other hand, I think that the Daniel (Eric Stoltz) and Amanda (Paula Malcomson) Greystone are the perfect couple. Okay, so they messed up with their daughter, but not as badly as they think. Zoey (Alessandra Torresani) never intended for that train to blow up. But the strength of their relationship through the most trying of circumstances shows a deep bond based in real love, and that is not something we often get to see on screen. Happy couples, sometimes, couples destroyed by disaster, frequently, but not perfectly matched people legitimately making it work against the odds.

Their appearance on international TV together brought forth another social comment. On Caprica, they removed the profit from drugs, making it a far safer pass time. Now the Greystones intend to do the same with the haulo band. Will that work? If we removed the profit from things, would that actually make them safer? I mean, certainly, if drugs were available and free, that would take a lot of power away from the mafia, but I don't know that that would make things any safer. I would expect them to fight the loss of profit, and that might end up being even more dangerous.

My final thought, though, are for the Adamas. Between Joseph (Esai Morales) fighting his conscious about whether or not Amanda should die, Sam (Sasha Roiz) allowing him to deal with the turmoil, certain that he couldn't go through with it, and Grandma Adama who is clearly insane, how poor William is going to grow up to be Bill Adama, I don't know.

And was it just me, or did Grandma seem normal until now, when she's chopping up chicken, talking about wringing people's necks and saying that you get the best things from your enemies because they are scared of you. I would not want to meet her in a dark alley.

So it seems to me like Caprica may be improving? What do you think?

Caprica - Reins of a Waterfall, S01E03

I figured out what it was that I really didn't like about the opening of Caprica. It's that it reminds me rather of Warehouse 13 or Sanctuary than of BSG, Stargate, or Eureka. Which means it reminds me of shows that, while they are entertaining, lack sophistication and unity.

So, as every episode of Caprica begins, I am preparing for something of lesser quality, and though lowering my expectations might be helpful considering how far from the mark I feel that Caprica has been so far, it does not fill me with the sense that the show will get better. A hope that I cling to. I have watched the first seasons of both Warehouse 13 and Sanctuary; I may watch the second seasons at some point, but if I don't, I will not consider it any great loss. And, at the moment, I feel like it would not be such a great loss if I stopped watching Caprica.

There is just something bizarre about Willie Adama, who will later be Bill Adama, skipping school and drinking beer at 12 with his gay, hired-killer uncle, while his lawyer father (in whose footsteps Apollo apparently followed when he gave up the military) bribes judges and issues statements along the lines of "Balance is important. He lost his daughter. I lost my daughter, and my wife." Not to mention that that isn't the cheesiest line.

The writers threw us in the middle of a mess of plotlines which they themselves have not entangled. Who was Joseph Adams (Esai Morales) before he became Joseph Adama? What was his relationship with the mafia like when his daughter and wife were still alive? Would he ever have considered murder the right step? I'm not sure, because I have no idea what he was like before that bomb went off.

I also have no idea what is going on with Sister Clarice (Polly Walker). What is she after in all of this, and is she a danger to poor Lacy (Magda Apanowicz)? And what is Avatar Zoe (Alessandra Torresani)'s purpose? At least I'm interested in finding these things out, though I wish things were a little more clear.

I simply continue to feel like the show is directionless. It goes off on a variety of tangents as seem to suit it, but the method to this madness is not apparent. I have no desire to watch hours of television that will get me nowhere. Where is this going?

Again, I ask, are you hooked? And why? What makes you watch Caprica still?

Caprica - Rebirth, S01E02

My commitment to watch Caprica continues to be based in my affections for its predecessor rather than anything the new show has done. That said, I did watch all 10 episodes of Stargate Universe that have already aired for the same reason.

The biggest problem I have with Caprica is that it feels directionless to me. Where is it going? What is it going to do? What sort of journey am I on? I cannot guess as to what sort of experience watching the show will bring me, and therefore can't guess if it is worth my time.

The opening sequence certainly is not worth my time. It's SO cheesy, with Joseph Adama/Adams (Esai Morales) kneeling before a family grave, and little William looking on...It just ends up being so contrived. It also really gives no hints about what we're getting ourselves into.

Then we get into the religious and moral questions being brought up. Clarice Willow (Polly Walker) is in a group marriage, which was not something that I recall having been common in Ancient Rome or Greece, so I'm interested to see where that's coming from, or going, or what the point of it is. And there was no ignoring that comment that Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) made about Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) being a trinity. Human Zoe was God, Avatar Zoe is her daughter, and the robot is the dove? If you say so.

At least the episode ended with the kind of turmoil that is leading somewhere. When Amanda Greystone (Paula Malcomson) announced that her daughter was probably the terrorist who bombed the train, well there is not way that isn't going to result in major repercussions for the family and their companies. But what does that really mean?

I need more, I want more. Give me something to sink my teeth into, which makes me excited and interested in Caprica for Caprica itself, and not because of Battlestar Galactica.

Are you craving this too, or is there something I'm missing that has won you over?

Caprica - Pilot, S01E01

The import and impact of any science fiction series comes from the way it reflects the problems in our own society and forces us to think about them from different perspectives. Battlestar Galactica did this time and again, earning it great praise. Now, the hope is to do the same thing with Caprica.

Instead of being confronted with desperate people trying to make choices for survival, Caprica brings us a world that we can relate to more easily. These people have not lost their homes and everything they have ever known; they are not in danger of imminent death. Like us, their society has reached the point of decadence where self-destruction is all but inevitable. Did the Romans realize the trouble their empire was in? Do we?

And yet, the is not the focus of the new show, not the decadence or the destructive choices, not exactly anyway. Instead, religion is the issue of the day. Whereas in BSG, monotheists and polytheists were divided between Cylons and Humans, in Caprica, we learn that monotheism is being embraced by humans, some of whom are using the extreme measures of terrorism to get their point across. But unlike in BSG when the humans took up suicide bombing in their fight against the Cylons (taking humans with them, too), Caprica's suicide bombing did not make me feel that maybe there is a time and a place for that sort of action, or at least understand that way of thinking.

I did not like the little punk who blew up the train, and was quite annoyed with him for killing several characters with potential.

I want to like Caprica, and I will continue to watch it, but the premiere just happened too fast. We did not get enough of a sense of the characters before the bomb went off and changed all their lives. Who were these people who died? Did Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) ever had a good relationship with her parents, or is it only in her death that they begin to regret the distance? I'm not sure what the writers wanted us to think.

Again, comparing the show to BSG, I have the equal impression in this premiere that the writers don't know where exactly they are headed. Unfortunately, while that worked and made sense for a bunch of humans fleeing across the galaxy, it does not on a planet with established everything. I wanted to have a sense of the order that had once been and was beginning to fall into disorder, as the lack of the need to survive brings out more bizarre needs and urges.

Finally, the biggest problem for me is that I have no one to relate to. There are grown adults, with flourishing careers and young children, and there are confused teenagers. I am a confused adult, unsure of what career to follow, with the difficulties of finding a mate, rather than keeping that relationship alive.

So, Caprica is off to a rocky start, at least in my mind. Did it meet your expectations? Are you satisfied? Do you see a path that will take this show somewhere wonderful? Let me know!