Caprica

Comicon 2010 Review: Friday

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Sat, 07/31/2010

So I spent all. day. in Ballroom 20. Friday at Comicon was a perfect schedule for me. I was overstuffed with stuff by the time I wandered out. Loved it.

Stargate Universe

While I've only seen two or three episodes of this show, it seems to sport a really strong cast. I'm torn, however. I have a secret fondness for the ones that break the series pattern (Deep Space Nine, for example), but I also have a suspicion of needing to make a show "darker" and "edgier" in order to make it more "relevant." That usually just means that everyone will be grumpy and humorless and have lots of arguments about the Greater Good.

Which can be fine when I'm in the mood, but kind of a downer when I'm not.

Anyways. The panel itself was very entertaining, with Ming-Na putting on a one woman show over on one end and Robert Carlyle and his Scottish accent slouching over on the other. Alaina Huffman and David Blue were also on the panel. (I know it's shallow, but she has very pretty hair.) David got a lot of geek questions. 

They started off with some good questions from the moderator, ones that managed to tease out some details about upcoming episodes (mostly without spoilers) and the actors' experiences. (There's one called "Twin Destinys," commented Robert Carlyle. "I think you can guess what it's about.") Moderation was pretty good across all the panels this year.

I loved that when the question microphone went dead, the moderator went ahead and asked the "what was your favorite scene" question one his own. And good for Alaina Huffman for having an answer right off the bat instead of hemming and hawing about how many there are and ohidunno... 

Best line of the panel was from David Blue, wishing he had more time to play video games, then realizing the producer was standing right there: "I wish I had more time... but I don't want to die." 

New episodes start in September.

Caprica

This is a show I'm looking forward to seeing come back. Unfortunately, new episodes won't start until January, which is disappointing. 

(On a side note, can we stop pretending that it's still Season One when there is more than six months between the end of one batch of episodes and the start of the next. And quit it with the 1.5 crap; it's just a way of getting double money for the DVD sets and you know it.)

James Marsters was there, looking less fried with his natural hair-color. 

Sasha Roiz who plays Sam Adama, Alessandra Torresoni (Zoe), Ronald Moore, and one of the other producers were the other panelists. And Magda Apanowicz (Lacy) popped in after a few minutes. (I'm going to assume she overslept and that explains why her hair was like that. She was a bit Eighties about the ponytail.) It was a good mix of people. 

Everyone had great answers. Marsters in particular came across as very intelligent and talked about his character from a philosophical point of view. I liked the question to Ronald Moore about Caprica and Dallas. Because I'm the sort of person who loves the idea of a science fiction soap opera. It's my Reese's Peanut Butter cup of entertainment.

A lot of the audience questions dwelled on the connections between Caprica and Battlestar Galactica. The most interesting question that came out was the one about whether there would be stories about the six humans who were the original models for the Cylons. (The ones we met in BSG.) Ronald Moore thought it was a good idea but that it was too early to really get into at this point.

On the other hand, I liked that the creators seemed to understand that there was a danger of being "cute" in preloading too many references to Battlestar Galactica. They said that they wanted to be careful about too many in-jokes, but didn't rule it out entirely. To my mind, those first six would be the best place for it, but that's just my two cents.

Moore "firmly" believed that the show was coming back for a second season, which I certainly hope is true. I am very curious to see where they are going to go with this series. Even if Moore did also compare it to Titanic.

Potential t-shirt idea: Bad-Ass Buddhist.

The Big Bang Theory

So we started with Wil Wheaton, who I always liked. (I was so the target audience for Wesley Crusher.) And he suggested a sing-a-long. With the Barenaked Ladies. About whom I know two facts: that there was a band called Barenaked Ladies and that they wrote the theme song to The Big Bang Theory. 

In other words, I had no idea that they had an accordion. Sweet!

Wil Wheaton (I'll never be able to separate those names again; it's like "Rebecca Dew") had good questions for the cast. I liked the response to the question about Leonard being the emotionally center of the show. One of the producers pointed out that he is being torn between Sheldon (who wants to hide from the world) and Penny (who is pulling him out into the world) and how that means he suffers for it.

It was a little disappointing to hear that they didn't think they could do an episode set at Comicon. I get that it's hard to go on location (in the middle of the summer break, no less) but couldn't they fake up a bit of the convention floor? Really? They could set the whole episode in line and run it in real time and still not have to go into a panel or the convention hall. 

And as touched as everyone was the Wil Wheaton talked about how the cast likes each other, it's kind of hard to believe him when he says that it is "rare" to find that. Every. Single. Cast that comes along talks about how they like each other so much and are like family. So are all the shows I see are some kind of exception and everyone on the cop shows are assholes or what? Where are all these unpleasant people hiding that this is such a big deal?

Right. That went the way of being a bit of a complaint. Sorry. I really do like the show. I do.

Bones

Kind of drifted away from Bones. I generally burn out of investigator shows around year two and I never had any patience with the will-they-or-won't-they romance crap. I am as mushy romantic as the next girl who cries at Hallmark ads, but in this case, I'll care when they make up their minds.

That said, Hart Hanson, Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz (insert squealing here) have great chemistry together and were pleasant to watch. 

Joss Whedon

Typical adorable stream-of-consciousness burbling.

Covered Buffy Season 8. Doesn't have much idea on when Cabin in the Woods is being released. Shepard Book graphic novel is coming out this fall, so Ron Glass can finally answer questions at conventions. 

Whedon went to questions almost immediately, which meant that the whole thing hinged on the nice person screening the questions. Have to give them props because there was a nice mix. And only one in there that was of the "Remember the episode where X did Y, what was up with that?" And that one prompted this quote: "Drogan was the guy who couldn't lie and lived in a tree... I don't make this stuff up. That's what happened." Which I loved. (New info for me was that Angel Season Five was modeled after The Godfather.)

The question about Whedon's tendency to user long single-take shots got an interesting answer on how it's a technique that should be used wisely and why. He uses it to ground action in a space and keep people in the moment. In Serenity, it was used to contrast the chaos of the River / Simon / Operative introduction. 

A question on killing characters focused less on "you killed my favorite" and more on "what is it like to tell the actors?" Whedon noted that sometimes it has to do with the business side of things (contracts, actors leaving). Otherwise, he tries to tell them early when he can. Kristine Sutherland (Buffy's mom, for example) knew two years before it happened. 

What We Learned

  • Lloyd wasn't evil until Season Two of Dollhouse, but what a good idea, huh?
  • Someone is totally going to get around to looking into putting Doctor Horrible in Rock Band.
  • Nathan Fillion seems to have a lot of time on his hands.

Best Line (of many)

"We had inadvertently shot an apocalypse."

Entertainment Weekly Present Ladies Who Kick-Ass

Kind of disappointing after the panel last year. Of course, it is hard to top Sigourney Weaver. I really don't have too much to say about this one. There wasn't anything new or exciting from any of the panelist or questions. Jena Malone came across as the most articulate and passionate, which is what I thought Saturday at Sucker Punch as well.

True Blood

Wow. That was a long day.

I have a friend who loves True Blood, so I stuck around to watch this panel. Not knowing who any of the characters were, I mostly just enjoyed the pretty. Anna Paquin also has nice hair - as did all the hunks. Much nicer that what they sport on the show if the footage was any indication. Too much of the slicked back look that's either indicating "product addiction" or "really sweaty."

I think in this case, I'm on Team Werewolf.

There was a description of how the latest over-the-top sex scene was shot. Which included a full body cast of the actress strapped to the actor and some digital trickery. That lead to the question of what were the cast's strangest moments on set. And that lead to me now having the mental image of a "small man" in a sink "doing something intimate" to some intestines. 

What I Learned

  • Celebrities who love True Blood reportedly include Snoop Dogg, Elizabeth Taylor, and Anne Rice. 
  • There are three kinds of "socks." They don't go on the actors' feet.
  • The best trained animal on the set was the deer.
  • Wolves are like actors. Too neurotic.
  • Alan Ball doesn't think the show is about death, in spite of the massive body count.
  • Alan Ball personally roots for things to work out between Bill and Sookie, but doesn't know if it will.
  • Tara will "get a break" towards the end of the season, but it won't last.
  • Alan Ball wants the show to run as long as it can, but doesn't want to have to explain why vampires are aging.
  • Asked what their favorite non-True Blood vampires are, no one said Twilight. And no one said Dracula.
  • Although someone did say "Keifer Sutherland from Lost Boys," so we're good.
  • As a character on television, "Bubba" will be problematic for reasons having to do with Elvis.

Anyways. Like most of the panels, it was enjoyable to watch people who were passionate about what they do talk about what they do. The series itself certainly sounds wild. Perhaps I can find some room in my Netflix que.

Tomorrow: Short post on Green Lantern, Harry Potter, and Sucker Punch.

End of the Line

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Sun, 04/04/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which there are cliffhangers.

What Happened

When the delivery date on his military contract is moved up, Daniel tells Phillomon to wipe the chip and start mass producing the robots. Zoe-A begs Lacy to get her off-world, but Lacy cannot move fast enough, even with Barnabas' help.

Desperate, Zoe-A tells Phillomon the truth and asks for his help. When he sounds an alarm, Zoe-A slams him into a wall and kills him. She breaks out of the lab and drives away, pursued by the military. Plowing through a blockade, Zoe-A flips the van and explodes.

Lacy is horrified when she realizes that Barnabas has used her to plant a bomb detonator on Sister Clarice. (They have been arguing over who is in charge of the STO.) When she balks, he hands Lacy a cell phone and threatens that she must be the one to trigger the device - or he will shoot both her and Keon.

On her way to the airport so that she can fly to Gemanon and report on Barnabas, Clarice has Nestor pull over. She's spotted a woman about to jump off the bridge in front of them.

It is Amanda Graystone, finally giving into her madness and despair.

The Good

  • Fantastic build to the end. Pretty much everything starts coming together.
  • Given the opportunity, Clarice would totally kill Barnabas and eat his liver. How fun.
  • Adama and his daughter. Tamara's decision and the reveal about Evelyn were well done.

The Bad

  • It occurs to me that Keon is barely getting any dialogue. What is up with him. Is he totally on Barnabas' side? Is he having second thoughts? Does Lacy have anything to do with it or is he just tired of blowing things up? Inquiring minds...
  • I pretty much knew Clarice wasn't going to be blown up. Once they started drawing the two stories out in parallel, it was rather obvious that she would spot Amanda at some point and get out of the car. The question is whether she just saw someone jump or whether she recognized Amanda as the jumper.

The Cliche

  • Being asked to do something innocuous that turns out to get people killed. (Lacy.)
  • Cliffhangers for eversione.

What Did I Think?

I fear I'm not quite as engaged with Amanda as some of the others. There is an energy to Zoe and Tamara that is a bit lacking in watching Amanda mope around and fidget.

In my opinion, there needed to be another episode between "Ghost in Machine" and "End of the Line." We had the beginnings of both Amanda and Joseph's descents, but missed the middle bit where they get worse and worse. Adama in particular seems to go from just starting to get hooked on Amp and V-world to being up to his eyeballs to the point that everyone is worried. It would have been better to see him miss William's Ink Day (whatever that is) than to just be told about it in passing.

Same with Amanda. Though we do have her great scenes with Clarice to play off of, I still would have rather seen her stew over Vergis' revelations for a little longer. And seeing Barnabas and Clarice go another round would have been great fun; maybe even work Keon into the mix? As I noticed above, he seems to be getting the short end of the character development stick.

On the flip side, we are clearly shown how incredibly it must suck to be Daniel here. Vergis may think he's trashing Graystone's life, but it's really just the culmination of an entire lifetime of crap decisions. Vergis hasn't had to actually do anything but watch.

And whoever thought to stick Polly Walker and James Marsters in a scene together gets a big hug. Love. Them.

While "End of the Line" doesn't quite hit the high notes, it leaves everyone in a place where I'm really really impatient to find out what happens next.

Ghost in the Machine

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 03/25/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which it is not a game. And don't die.

What Happened

Joseph Adama goes back into New Cap City with the help of the mysterious Emmanuelle. After flailing around for a bit over whether or not to kill the imaginary people, Joe gets up in some guys face and manages to learn that Tamara has made herself at home in V-World, but no one is quite sure where.

Amanda continues to lean on Clarice for emotional support, while Clarice hints around the possibility of Amanda getting her a look at the Zoe Avatar. Vergis knocks on the door and Amanda - for some reason - lets him in. He tells Amanda about his two dead co-workers and how Daniel was responsible. She kicks him out of the house but remains troubled by the implications.

Daniel is determined that Zoe-A is inside the giant killer robot, so he decides to torture her until she talks to him. Zoe-A wasn't feeling the trust with Daddy to start and the emotional abuse does not help with her issues. Daniel finishes up by ordering the giant killer robot to shoot his dog, hoping that Zoe-A will override and put down the gun.

Later, Zoe-A explains to Lacy that she knew Daniel filled the gun with blanks, so she fired. Daniel remains depressed and confused, but not nearly as messed up as Zoe-A. She tells Lacy that if the gun had real bullets in it, she may well have been tempted to kill Daniel with it.

Ah. Family.

The Good

  • I suspect (like TWoP) that Emmanuelle is Evelyn. Sweet.
  • Daniel was pretty clever with the psychological manipulation there.
  • All Daniel's scenes with the robot were fantastic. Great performance from Eric Stoltz.
  • Joe and Sam's talk. He managed to catch his brother completely off guard.
  • And Zoe knew the gun was loaded with blanks. This isn't going to end well.

The Bad

  • Zoe is refusing to talk to Daniel until he shaves off that hideous soul patch.
  • Amanda's flashback to the accident - heavy handed, unnecessary and boring. Not a good followup to last weeks Drama with her and Clarice.
  • Sam's explanation for how he can be a killer. Ugh.

The Cliche

  • Repetitive tasks as an emotional break down mechanism.
  • Druggies as a source of randomish information.
  • "Avoid him" Emmanuelle tells Joe, so naturally Joe is the one who gets picked on.
  • Flashy omni-sexual nightclub hosts who set riddles for the hero. At least Adama doesn't pull the answer out of his butt and impress everyone - though the show cannot convince me that he's really in any danger. And why did they not actually shoot him when he failed? Was he so pathetic that he wasn't even worth killing?

What Did I Think?

Wow. That amped up the tension. And with so little flash and bang. It was mostly psychological between Daniel and Zoe, with just a bit of noise from Adama.

Just a couple beats that rang a bit off for me, the ending of Sam and Joe's conversation in particular. Now, the beginning was great, with Joe obviously throwing Sam completely off-balance with the question of how Sam feels when he kills someone. And I'm loving the irony of the guy who was trying to at least pretend his hands were clean was getting pulled into the mafia "game." Or the emotional pain of suspecting what his daughter is doing to survive.

Sam's whole "I pretend it's not real," however, just seems too obvious and fits too neatly into the episode arc. It's too easy a solution for Joe and too shallow a response from Sam, a character who has always been more interesting than that. I mean, we're obviously meant to be drawing these connections between V-World and the "real" world and the actions taken in each, but something in that answer rang wrong to me.

Imperfections of Memory

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Wed, 03/17/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which Amanda is even more messed up than you thought she was.

What Happened

Joseph Adama tracks down the boy who told him that Tamara was trapped in the matrix and makes Tad take him into New Cap City. Unfortunately, Adama's inability to take V-World seriously gets Tad "killed" and strands Joe without a guide.

In between flirting with Phillomon, Zoe-A continues to insist on being taken to Gemanon, so Lacy insists to Keon that she can too become an STO terrorist. She's so cute that he doesn't point out the obvious: Barnabas is still not helping her until she tells him what's in the box.

Clarice goes to see Amanda Graystone again. She tries to pretend that its about finding the Zoe Avatar, but I suspect its more to do with Amanda's willingness to get drunk and high with her that attracts Clarice. Amanda confides that she's been having visions of her dead brother again. The last time it happened, she wound up in a mental hospital.

Virgis continues harassing Daniel, sure that Graystone needs money. He'll never get the chip to work, he tells Daniel. It wouldn't work for me, it won't work for you.

Realizing that Virgis is telling the truth, Daniel wonders why the chip functioned at all and finally comes to the obvious conclusion: his beloved dead daughter is now a giant killer robot.

The Good

  • I enjoyed Joe Adama's initial reaction to New Cap City. It was so parental and disbelieving - right up to the point where he completely botched things. Man was just not cut out to be a mobster, real or virtual.

The Bad

  • Lacy. Lacy. Lacy. And I like her, I really do. But she is not getting Zoe's giant killer robot butt to Gemanon. I'm sorry. It just isn't happening.

The Cliche

  • Drunken confessions.
  • Dead siblings.
  • Survivor guilt resulting in a trip to the loony bin.

What Did I Think?

They did it again. They spent a whole episode farting around with Amanda and Clarice and Adama and Tad and saved the kicker for the very last second. Argh!

Know Thy Enemy

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 03/11/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which other scary people show up.

What Happened

The head of the Virgis Corporation comes to Caprica, well aware that Daniel stole his chip for his giant killer robotos. He's OK with the industrial espionage, but all Tauron Vengeance Trip about the two dead co-workers. Daniel runs to Adama, who swears that no one knows of their involvement. (Unless they followed Daniel!)

Joseph has become convinced that Tamara is alive as an avatar. So he goes into the matrix to find her, but is hampered by the fact that he can't access the hacked parts of the holo-net. He does not ask Graystone for any more help.

Clarice tries to talk her way into Amanda's confidence so that she can wirelessly hack Graystone's computer. Her hubbies Nestor and Olaf are surprised that it works, but it does. A please Clarice celebrates by getting really really stoned.

Keon takes Lacy to meet Barnabas, bad-ass resistance leader and all. Barnabas refuses to help Lacy unless she tells him what Zoe's package was. Think he's paranoid now? Wait until he finds out about the giant killer robots.

The Good

  • Daniel vs. Joseph, round 3.
  • Zoe & Philloman, her cute little geek.

The Bad

  • I remain skeptical that Lacy really thinks this is going to work. Even if she does get Spike on her side.

The Cliche

  • Barnabas proves how tough and cool he is through self-mutilation.
  • Clarice gets Amanda drunk and just happens to get into the room she needs to be in for her scheme to work.

What Did I Think?

More plot developments. Virgis is a good antagonist for both Adama and Greystone, though I'm not that interested in him as a person. The Big Bad Mobster Man routine just bores me. (Sonny Corinthos called and wants his schtick back.) Barnabas is more appealing because it's James Marsters, but eventually the show will have to generate some movement with the characters it already has instead of introducing new people and hoping they will be more interesting.

Not that the existing characters are dull, but the things they've gotten to do that have had any spark have been a bit spaced out and mostly character-related rather that story-related - giving an impression of slow movement. Building cool characters is nice, doing something cool with them is better.

Gravedancing

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Thu, 02/25/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which Amanda and Daniel are on TV.

What Happened

Sam watches for an opportunity to kill Amanda Greystone, but has to hold back when Duram shows up to search the mansion looking for information on Zoe. That comes up blank, so the cops turn their attention to her school.

Warned by Clarice, Keon clears his locker out just before the place is locked down. Spotting him slinking through the crowd, Lacy again tries to get him to help her get Zoe-A off of Caprica. Keon finally agrees to introduce her to "Barnabas."

Daniel goes on Sarno's talk show, hoping to repair the public relations damage to Greystone Industries. Amanda impulsively joins him and denies that Zoe was "corrupted" by the holo-bands. After admitting that he created an avatar of Zoe, Daniel says that Zoe hated the virtual worlds and felt a lack of a moral anchor - that's what made the STO appealing to her.

Greystone announces that his company will no longer profit from the holobands, winning Sarno's support. After the broadcast, Sam pretends to be a driver and gives Amanda a ride home. Ignoring Joseph's frantic text messages calling off the hit, Sam makes it very clear to Amanda that he's a killer who lost family in the bombing.

Back at Adama's, Sam strings Joe along for a bit, then admits that he let Amanda go.

The Good

  • Sam scaring the crap out of Amanda. That was a tense scene.
  • Grandma Ruth corrupting William. She's kind of scary.

The OMG Cute

  • Zoe and her little geek getting down.

The Bad

  • They are going to give Clarice something to do besides glare at people, right?
  • Daniel Greystone's little fuzz beneath the lip. Shave!

The Cliche

  • Coming to terms over motorcycle repair - Lacy and Keon. Yes, they are cute, but is fixing mechanical objects that much of a bonding experience? Really? Am I just missing out in life?

What Did I Think?

Naturally, Joe chickened out. We knew that was coming. He's not a bad guy. He's not necessarily a good guy, but he's not a bad guy.

Which brings up an interesting point: story-wise, there aren't any bad guys here. We are being invited to see Sam (the assassin) as kind of cool with his cute husband and fatherly way with William. And for all the talk, the only actual terrorist we've seen so far - one who has done anything - was a messed up kid.

There are plenty of realistically flawed characters who are making mistakes. There are characters who have been placed in opposition to each other. There are obvious potential villains, but that's not the same thing.

Watching: Caprica

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Mon, 02/22/2010

Gravedancing

I still don't have much use for Sarno the Talk Show Host, but watching Amanda and Daniel team up was so cute. Married couples on TV so often just exist in order to break up for one reason or another. I love the way they are writing their marriage as strong in spite of the tragedy.

And I'm not the only one scared by Grandma Adama, right?

Reins of a Waterfall

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Fri, 02/12/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which Clarice gets yanked around by a sixteen year old and Adama discovers that having a killer in the family can be convinient.

What Happened

Clarice tries to get Lacy to open up about Zoe's avatar, but Lacy is suspicious of Clarice and refuses to spill. Later, she and Zoe-A meet in cyberspace and try to figure out how to get Zoe-A and her giant killer robot body to Gemanon. While they do that, the pair stumbles over Tamara's avatar and let her out of Daniel's big black box.

Amanda's very public confession of Zoe's guilt has sent Greystone's stock plummeting. He is harassed to go on a talk show and plead for forgiveness, but resists dragging what is left of Zoe's memory through the mud.

Joseph insists that Daniel show him Tamara's avatar again, but when they go into cyberspace, she is gone. Returning home, Joseph talk to his brother Sam, pointing out that Adama lost a wife and daughter in the blast, but Greystone only lost a daughter.

Even the score, he demands.

The Good

Lacy can so tell Clarice is up to no good. I loved her routine of "Can I have...?" as Clarice is desperately trying to bond and gush and share. Lacy is going to turn out to be an interesting character, I think.

And it's always nice to see Peter Wingfield, who was Methos on Highlander, even if he is playing a standard issue Police boss. (I have this theory about actors on Highlander being automatically cool, but I'm pretty sure that's just me.)

The Bad

As much as I do like Lacy, she doesn't really think that she's going to steal a giant killer robot and mail it to another planet? Right?

The Cliche

Ugh. TV Show Host and PR Flack. They had better come up with something more interesting for Daniel's little on-air visit than him breaking down on live television and winning everyone's hearts with how "real" he is.

What Did I Think?

Joseph targeting Amanda is an interesting twist. He doesn't do things by half measures, does he? What I find unique about his character is that they aren't going for the lone voice of goodness in a family of criminals routine with him. Adama is outwardly respectable, but he just as deep as his brother when you get down to it. What he really complains about isn't the immorality of their life - it's that he's not respected enough by their criminal overlords. Guys like that Judge have no qualms about putting him in his poor little peon place and that really burns.

We'll have to see if he's willing to really take out Amanda, or if he's going to get a sudden case of the morals, fuss about for most of the episode, then change his mind at the last second and let her go with a lecture about how that makes him a better person. Either way, I hope it comes down to a real decision, not some convenient plot shrug simply because it's the end of the episode.

Watching: Weekend Adventure

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Mon, 02/08/2010

Caprica - Reins of a Waterfall

Still moving at steady pace and saving the big bang bit for the last seconds. I think that's just how they are going to tell the story. Battlestar Galactica was very space opera - battles and fights. Caprica is more classic science fiction - philosophy, metaphors, and speeches. And it would appear to be aiming for something far more serialized than episodic, which is going to change the story structure immensely.

Crusoe

Via Netflix. I really should have paid more attention to this when it was actually being broadcast. It's very Roar / Lost World / Relic Hunter action adventure, which I must admit is right up my alley. Toss in some humor and a supporting cast headed by Sam Neill and Sean Bean and I'm happy. We'll see how far they can get before the absurdity of trapping him on that island while still bringing in a new guest star each week overwhelms it all.

Rebirth

Submitted by thinkwatchthink on Fri, 02/05/2010

Caprica Episode Review

In which Zoe is a monster

What Happened

Greystone is worried when the demonstration robot is the only one who seems able to use the stolen chip. Unaware of Zoe A's presence, he orders the robot brought to his home lab.

Lacey is invited to have Saturday lunch with Sister Clarice, who lives with her husbands and wives in a loud but pleasant home. Her hottest husband Nestor makes a special effort to be nice to Lacey.

Zoe A calls Lacey from Greystone's lab, asking her to help figure out what has happened. Lacey is stunned to see Zoe A's robot form, but agrees to help.

Joseph Adama's son spends time with his brother Sam. Ordered to do a "job" with William in tow, Sam gets them both arrested when he smashes a shop window to intimidate the owner.

William does not give his father the details of his little field trip.

Joseph becomes worried that Tamara's avatar may be lost and alone in cyberspace and demands that Greystone give him another chance to speak with her. Still upset over what happened to Zoe A, Greystone pretends that he deleted the program.

Amanda Greystone becomes aware that Zoe had a boyfriend, Ben, and laments that she didn't know her own daughter. When Ben's mother gives her a pin in the shape of the STO infinity symbol, Amanda realizes that Zoe might have been involved in the bombing.

At a memorial service for the victims, Amanda impulsively announces that Zoe may have been a terrorist, causing the crowd to rush at her, screaming. Greystone hustles his wife into a car and away from the mob, while Adama looks on.

The Good

Good character development. They have resisted the urge to blow more things up just to see them go boom. We also got to see more of the secondary characters like Sam and Clarice. This really is more of a soap opera set in "space" than an adventure show. I am enjoying the slow build, but then I liked that about Flash Forward as well. And as I said, they are moving fast enough on the bits that matter. I appreciated them not dragging out the part where Amanda goes digging into her daughter's life.

Finally, the switching between Zoe A in her robot form to her in her human form was suprisingly effective. It builds a connection to the character. Although, they are getting a suprising amount of body language out of the CGI robot. There was also some humor with Tweedledee and Tweedledum interacting with Zoe A's robot form. It balanced the angst.

The Bad

The problem with the slow build structure is that the viewer has to have faith that their patience will pay off. Not an issue right now, but we don't want to wait too long before we roll out the big guns.

The Cliche

Lab rats always come in pairs. There's the one who says "Don't touch that" or "Be careful with that explosive device" or "Be nicer to that giant killer robot." And then there's the one that says "What could go wrong" or "I don't believe in curses" or "It's just a machine."

What Did I Think?

Early days yet, but I'm still interested.

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