Caprica (1 Viewer)

[joshEH]

Yes, it was only about a month later (around three weeks, in fact), according to interviews with Ronald Moore and David Eick.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

The series has promise. The pilot was intriguing but the second episode has two issues:

1) Lady Graystone - am I the only one getting a Tarzan and Jane vibe with that name? - finding the infinity symbol at the memorial service and then jumping up to the mic to lay blame for it at her daughter's feet

2) the use of the girl in the Cylon scenes - obviously the cost comes into play here but am not digging the continued use of the Six/Baltar dynamic for the robot/girl.

 

[mattCR]

Except in this case the girl IS the Cylon. The girl is the AI program that has now been downloaded into the Cylon body and controls it. So that bit to me seems to be a key point of what's going on with the cylons.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I get that. Just don't approve of using the actress as the visual representation. BSG did it to death. An aesthetic issue.

 

[Josh Dial]

I don't think the flashing between the Cylon and Zoe is anything remotely like Balter and his head Six (or Six and her head Baltar), if that is what you are referring to.

I actually think it's quite interesting, as it allows us to see emotion when we need to, while also being able to force the viewers to a distance when needed. It also makes for some neat scenes, like Zoe hugging Lacy and showing Zoe in flesh and blood, and Lacy hugging Zoe and showing the U-87. I thought it was clever.

Also, the opening credits were slick as frak. The show looked amazing in HD.

The show is off to a good start--I can't wait to see where it will go, story-wise. I've said it before, but I have a feeling Caprica will go places Dollhouse only dreamed of (and ultimately failed).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by joshEH

Yes, it was only about a month later (around three weeks, in fact), according to interviews with Ronald Moore and David Eick.

That's for the correction guys, I was trying to take everything in and that just slipped by me. I knew it was "one" something, and storywise a month definitely makes more sense than a year.

Originally Posted by Lou Sytsma

1) Lady Graystone - am I the only one getting a Tarzan and Jane vibe with that name? - finding the infinity symbol at the memorial service and then jumping up to the mic to lay blame for it at her daughter's feet

She's the least defined main character so far. Daniel Graystone is the amoral genius who will use anyone and anything, especially toward getting what he wants most. Joseph Adama is the deeply moral lawyer who finds it increasingly unbearable to use anyone and anything to further his boss's aims. She is... a doctor.

It doesn't help that I spent the first two thirds of the pilot under the false impression that she was Zoe's stepmother, not birth mother. Her storyline offers the greatest possibility to grab at our heart strings, since she was the mother of the victim. There are moments, like Zoe's final message on the train, the hint at the depth of feeling mother and daughter shared. Daniel is too possessive to have those moments, and Joseph Adama is too reserved. I hope Paula Malcomson and the writers have what it takes to explore a mother getting to know her child only after she has lost her. Cynthia Stevenson set the bar very high on "Dead Like Me".

Originally Posted by Josh Dial

I don't think the flashing between the Cylon and Zoe is anything remotely like Balter and his head Six (or Six and her head Baltar), if that is what you are referring to.

I actually think it's quite interesting, as it allows us to see emotion when we need to, while also being able to force the viewers to a distance when needed. It also makes for some neat scenes, like Zoe hugging Lacy and showing Zoe in flesh and blood, and Lacy hugging Zoe and showing the U-87. I thought it was clever.

I agree with Lou that it owes a large debt to the use of subjective perspective that BSG mastered with Head Six and Baltar over its run; the editing rhythm is identical. However, I think the device works on a number of different levels. First, it sidesteps the biggest problem from the pilot, which is that a teenage girl's voice in a giant Cylon body is utterly riddiculous. Second, it allows us to continue connecting Zoe's avatar to Zoe. By seeing the Cylon with Zoe's copy in it as Zoe, we continue to relate to the avatar as Zoe. It's too early in the show to risk dehumanizing something that, strictly speaking, isn't human. Third, it allows us to relate to the Zoe avatar as a character. That would be impossible as the centurion, since the Cylons were designed for the original BSG series specifically tonot be relatable. Finally, it maintains continuity with Alessandra Torresani. The early episodes are a chance for the cast of a new show to get comfortable with their characters. If the role were voiceover only until they get the Zoe avatar into a more appropriate body, Torresani, would be stuck feeling out her character far too late into the shows run. She already has the most difficult role on the show,

The only thing I find problematic is the vast size different between the fairly diminutive Torresani and the hulking centurion. The shots don't line up, because the different is simply to large to successfully fudge.

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

the editing rhythm is identical.

I guess we'll just have to disagree on this point I don't think the editing between Zoe/Cylon and Baltar/Head Six share anything. The camera moves, the music (there isn't a "what the frak?" percussive piano theme analogue), the framing, it's all different. The Baltar stuff usually (99% of the time) began with him alone, which is to say no Head Six. He would then talk to someone or himself, at which point Six would spring in and the scene would continue. Sometimes, we would get reaction shows with no Six in the frame, but that was mostly early on where they were playing up Baltar's lunacy and the way the crew responded to him.

I don't think I ever recall a 360-shot of Baltar where Six would be in and out as the camera rotated, nor any shots where someone would walk across the frame (or the camera would pan behind someone) and Six would be there one minute and vanish the next (or vice versa).

Maybe I'm just not getting what you mean by rhythm, but I see the two as completely different tools, unrelated in both style and substance. I don't even think it's a case of subjective perspective, because anytime we are viewing the world from Zoe's POV, she clearly sees a Cylon body--the same goes for Lacy.

Getting back to the episode itself, I thought it was a nice surprise to see the Uncle as a major character. I had figured he would be on the periphery at best--someone Joseph would share a scene with now-and-then, or a tool used to reference the criminal skeletons in the Adama closet. It makes me wonder, where is the Admiral going to get his personality? The military (which we won't see, of course), his father, or his uncle?

 

[Lou Sytsma]

We will have to agree to disagree Josh. Adam pointed out the size issue between the girl and the Centurion leading to jarring jumps in shot angles. Also with BSG this visual device was used to visualize for the audience what a character was seeing. In Caprica the girl is only being seen by the audience.

For myself, it is not needed. Her voice does that job. Cost is the reason for doing it. Adam's points about keeping the actress in the audience's mind are valid but artistically it detracts and distracts rather than enhances.

I suspect Zoe will be back in the VR world before long and this issue will become moot.

 

[Parker Clack]

I watched the first couple of episodes and found I really liked it.

I hate to admit it but I never watched BSG when it aired and I am thinking of getting the series on DVD. I find it a bit confusing on what to order so I was wondering what you would recommend. Get the complete box set (I hate the huge box it comes in) or get the series one season at a time.

I am also confused on the titles of the discs. This is what I have found.

Season 1
Season 2
Season 2.5
Season 3
Season 4
Season 4.5

Is this the complete series and why the .5 for seasons 2 and 4? Was there a season 5?

Thanks for any info.

I will be watching Caprica.

Parker

 

[nolesrule]

That's all you'll need.... and The Plan, though I haven't watched it yet.

And seasons 2 and 4 were split releases. The seasons were split by lengthy mid-season breaks when originally airing.

Parker, if you are interested in buying the DVDs (as opposed to Blu-ray), I am trying to sell mine to help fund the purchase of the Blu-ray complete set. I don't own 4.5, but I have the other DVD sets.


As for Caprica, I've found it interesting so far.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Parker Clack

Get the complete box set (I hate the huge box it comes in) or get the series one season at a time.

According to TV Shows On DVD, there's a re-release of the Blu-ray and DVD series sets coming on April 6 that has smaller packaging, includes The Plan and has a cheaper MSRP. I'd wait for that and if you gotta see BSG now, rent the discs now until the re-release comes out.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Battlestar-Galactica-The-Complete-Series/13278

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Parker Clack

Is this the complete series and why the .5 for seasons 2 and 4? Was there a season 5?

There was no season 5. Seasons 2 and 4 were split up on DVD for seperated reasons (marketing tool for the former, writers' strike for the latter). Your order is correct, though. My only suggestion is to have the next season on hand as you start to close in on any given season's finale.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by nolesrule

That's all you'll need.... and The Plan, though I haven't watched it yet.

I haven't either. And everyone I know who's seen it says it's horrible and cheapens the series, so I don't think I ever will,

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt

I haven't either. And everyone I know who's seen it says it's horrible and cheapens the series, so I don't think I ever will,

It ain't that great but I don't know if it cheapens the series.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Parker Clack

I am also confused on the titles of the discs. This is what I have found.

Season 1
Season 2
Season 2.5
Season 3
Season 4
Season 4.5

Is this the complete series and why the .5 for seasons 2 and 4? Was there a season 5?

There was a mini-series, four seasons, one TV movie and one direct-to-DVD movie. The original mini-series is included as the first disc of the Season One DVD set. The TV movie, Razor, is included as the first disc of the Season 4.0 set. Razor takes place in the middle of season two, but it reveals information that would spoil season three, which I think is why its on the Season 4.0 set instead of one of the season two sets.

Both season two and season four aired as split seasons: June through September 2005 for 2.0, January to March 2006 for 2.5. April to June 2008 for 4.0, and January to March 2009 for 4.5. The first and third seasons aired as one continuous run, which explains why they were released on DVD as complete seasons.

That just leaves the direct-to-DVD movie, which was conceived after the series finale was shot and simply retells certain events from the Cylon perspective. Not essential.

 

[Josh Dial]

Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt


I haven't either. And everyone I know who's seen it says it's horrible and cheapens the series, so I don't think I ever will,

I enjoyed it. It certainly wasn't horrible (there were actually a few great parts), and fleshed out a few of the characters a tad more (Simon, for example).

 

[Bryan X]

I had never watched BSG until about two weeks ago when I picked up the first season on blu-ray on a whim. I love it. I'm just about done with the first season and looking forward to season two. Although I have to wait until April until it is out on blu-ray. I almost gave up on it after the first part of the mini-series. The second half of the mini-series was better and by the first weekly episode, I was really into it. I thought about getting the entire box set on blu-ray but the packaging seemed lackluster. So I'm just waiting and getting the single seasons as they come out.

Is it safe to watch "The Plan" after season 2 but before season 3? From what I can tell (while trying to avoid spoilers), The Plan strictly deals with the events of seasons 1 and 2. Is this correct?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about Caprica. I want to start watching it now, but don't want to ruin any big surprises that I haven't come across yet in BSG. Decisions, decisions.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Bryan X

Is it safe to watch "The Plan" after season 2 but before season 3? From what I can tell (while trying to avoid spoilers), The Plan strictly deals with the events of seasons 1 and 2. Is this correct?

Do NOT watch The Plan before watching the entire series. While it takes place in S1 and S2, there's other big spoilers that are revealed later on in the series.

 

[Bryan X]

Thanks for the heads up Travis.

 

[Robert A. Willis Jr.]

The use of Zoe's human voice is the same as having people speaking one language and then seamlessly speaking English. Its been used for decades in the movies, etc.

Having Zoe's character embedded in the cylon body is very logical (I think) after all she is a believer in one god and in BSG the Cylons were believers in one god. I think I see where this is going.

This episode was better than the pilot. If they keep it up, we have a winner.