I don’t even know what I want to say about this show. In a way, it’s interesting and engaging. I just feel like so far there’s something missing. That something is most likely suspense. It’s not that it’s not enjoyable to watch; I just don’t find myself as interested in it as I thought I would be. Perhaps it’s because instead of sci-fi action adventure it’s more like a sci-fi drama and I get too much of a Laguna Beach vibe from the teenage characters. The show is about Caprica and the other un-united colonies in the years before the Cylon war and the genocide that led to humanity wandering the universe. In it, we get a closer look at the developing Cylon technology and the culture of the colonies at the time. Caprica itself is stunningly rendered as an austere and serene planet, home of a bustling metropolis. Everything is modern with clean lines and cool colors; the city itself being diverse and busy.
The pilot was intriguing and introduced the characters as mostly members of two families. One is the Graystone family and the other is the Adama family and the two have little in common. Their respective patriarchs are brought together after a terrorist attack on a train that kills their daughters and Adama’s wife. Zoe Graystone (Alessandra Torresani), her boyfriend Ben (Avan Jogia), and her friend Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) were planning on running away to the Gemenon colony where their newfound monotheistic beliefs would be accepted. Lacy backs out last minute and while the train is leaving Caprica city, Ben blows himself and everyone else up. A group supporting monotheistic beliefs called the Soldiers of the One is held responsible for the attack. Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz), a scientist working with robotic technology, meets Joseph Adama (Esai Morales), a lawyer with mob ties, and they bond over their loss. Daniel shares with him that he’s found that his daughter Zoe has made an avatar replica of herself that still exists in a virtual world.
At first Joseph is interested, but when Daniel makes an avatar of his daughter Tamara (Genevieve Buechner), who doesn’t react very well to the situation, he gets understandably creeped out. Daniel gets Joseph to acquire a special chip so that he can store Zoe’s avatar in a robot body, but when Daniel tries, there’s an error and he corrupts the original program. As with a lot of the technology in the show, this isn’t really explained, but Zoe is still in the robot and Tamara is probably somewhere in the virtual world but no one seems sure. Somehow Zoe’s merged with the robot shell, no one knows she’s in there, and her father can’t find the program in the robot. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I found this and a few more technical aspects of the story hard to follow. Anyway, her poor friend Lacy is the only person who she feels that she can go to for help. Zoe tells her what’s happened and that she needs to find the original program. Lacy is also being hounded by a shady teacher at their school named Clarice (Polly Walker), who seems to have ties to the monotheistic cult.
The first episode picks up there and alternates between multiple simultaneous storylines. Daniel is trying to figure out what he did wrong with his Cylon prototype and please his investors. Joseph is attempting to get in touch with Daniel about the avatar he made of Tamara and also teach his young son William (Sina Najafi) about being Tauron. His brother Sam (Sasha Roiz) of dubious character takes William around town and gives him tips on life, being Tauron, and the correct way to get arrested. Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson), Zoe’s mother, is attempting to get to know her daughter whom she realizes she didn’t know very well. A government agent investigating the crash comes to ask her about Ben, but she didn’t even know Zoe had a boyfriend. In the lab, two assistants poke and prod the Zoe-robot. One is in awe and refers to it as ‘her’ and the other is kind of a douche. Lacy is trying to help Zoe and dodge Clarice, who invited her to lunch at her house. Lucy goes and is treated to an awkward meal with Clarice’s family, their ‘Group Marriage’, and her randomly shirtless younger husband. After Zoe gets out of there, Clarice’s family accuses her of trying to seduce the girl. It’s all pretty weird.
In the second half hour, there is talk of a memorial for the victims of the terrorist attack. Amanda wants to go and Daniel, at first saying he’s too busy, eventually decides to go for her. When they first get to the memorial, Amanda says she doesn’t want to say anything and the couple bickers over whether or not to talk to anyone. Joseph catches up with Daniel and while they’re distracted, Amanda is approached by Ben’s mother. She says Ben loved her daughter and gives her some things that belonged to Zoe. When Amanda sees that they’re books about monotheism and a Soldiers of the One pin, she is deeply disturbed and speaks in front of the crowd about her daughters involvement in the attack. She confesses that Zoe had something to do with it and was hiding from her a secret life in which she was a terrorist. Her husband and his body guard escort her to the car for a quick getaway from the angry mob of victims. Meanwhile, Zoe tells Lacy to come see her at her house and she gets to see the robot body and talk about what to do. Zoe expresses sadness and anger that the robot’s design is so bulky and masculine and is upset at being messed with by lab assistants and not being accepted by her mother. After this strange robotic display of teenage angst, the two hug.
Overall, I like the show and will continue to watch it. I do hope the plot picks up a little and it gets easier to understand. There is a lot of detail about the different cultures in the colonies and relations between the different ethnic groups. Theology also seems to be an important theme, as the colonies are predominately followers of a polytheistic religion and there is an uprising of monotheism going on. I don’t mind the lack of action and I find the characters mostly interesting even though I feel like they’re not very relatable. However, I’ve been kind of stumped as to their motivations. As when the Graystone’s decided they weren’t and then were going to attend the memorial and then weren’t then were going to say things, then how Amanda went from wanting to hide to being all crazy yelling about her daughter being a terrorist. I feel perplexed by these inconsistencies and found it hard to tell if they were part of the characters’ development or just careless writing. Hopefully, the technological theory, religious conflict, and character motivations will be clarified as the series progresses. The show has a good foundation and I guess I’ll keep watching to see if it builds on it or not.
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