Caprica - Season 1.5 (Canadian Airing Thread) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thought I'd start a thread for those in the frigid north and those of us on the border states who are lucky enough to catch the remainder of Caprica's first and only season, which Syfy has decided to postpone until sometime next year. That way the original thread can be kept clean of spoilers for those waiting for Syfy.


I thought "Blowback" was a pretty good episode, even though I saw all of the twists coming a mile away. My favorite character right now is Lacy Rand, the fresh faced teenager who is perennially underestimated. She has shown an intense willingness to get things done, but unlike most of the characters on this show she has not lost her moral center. The detective who has figured that his boss is STO is also growing on me. I like the way Daniel's experiments in "resurrecting" Amanda reveal so much about him, and how he's grappling with the compromises he's made to bring him to this point. I also like the way the various iterations were framed identically to Amanda's return scene, so we weren't sure if it was really her or if he'd finally nailed the program. Still forever building, though, with very little pay off. Kind of weird seeing the WASPy quarterback on "Hellcats" as a begrudging STO recruit here.

 

[David Norman]

Have I mentioned lately that I hate you!

OK, probably not, but just in case I'll being beaming really evil thoughts your way during the upcoming winter season. I hope 20 feet of snow drops on you with 40mph winds along with those -30 degree temps.



Not only can't I watch the episodes, NOW I have to know there is a thread out there that I'll either have to read and spoil things or NOT READ and torture my fragile soul because I know it's here. ARGHHH! At least have the decency to stop the post with an announcement about how really lousy the episodes are and nobody should ever have to be subjected to them to begin with.

 

[mattCR]

Well, if it helps, we know the series ends in a major cliffhanger that will never be resolved.

 

[David Norman]

Hands over Ears, MMMMMMM! Eyes closed --- LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!!!!!


I'm not reading -- really, I'm not.



Must resist. Resistance is Futile (damn wrong series).

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I know how you feel, David. The past couple of eps were great then we find out it gets canceled and now we find out the Canadians get to watch it. Quite a bitch unless we find more nefarious means to watch the eps.


I would never endorse that, BTW.

Not only can't I watch the episodes, NOW I have to know there is a thread out there that I'll either have to read and spoil things or NOT READ and torture my fragile soul because I know it's here. ARGHHH! At least have the decency to stop the post with an announcement about how really lousy the episodes are and nobody should ever have to be subjected to them to begin with.

 

[mattCR]

"DirtEaters" is a pretty interesting episode. But it's hard to understand how we humanize the Adama family by having their roots be farmers who commit suicide as a sign of their solidarity with the past... asking kids to get the stuff for you.. BRUTAL


I can't really decide what direction this really goes. On one hand, the storyline is moving but it still moves very slow. I really didn't grasp how dumb the STO was in seeing Zoey and the "Avenging Angels" in New Caprica city and not understanding what it meant.


Edit:


I also can't figure out what the storyline is with this having the Greysons get back together to go chase after Zoey. It seemed out of the blue. Is it really her, or is this another one of his constructions just more viable? I can't figure that part out at all, it seems very odd for her to "come home" now, only to plunge into the V world to chase Zoey..


You also got the feeling that even on Space, the ratings must be sucking because the commercials are really poor (1-800 "order now" items? Really?) Felt like this is up there also 2AM type programming.

 

[mattCR]

OK, after "The Heavens Shall Rise" this week, I realize why this show absolutely got canned. Someone had to see the episodes coming. Dirt Eaters, while having great backstory, should have been very early on in the story. And "The Heavens Shall Rise" is easily the most hackneyed, crap story I could have imagined.


The concept that Greystone had a way around the system, and now suddenly doesn't, is SUPER annoying. It makes almost no sense at all... what makes matters worse is that now all of the sudden, Clarice who is a computer nothing now has a surprising understanding of the Zoey Greystone program (even if she has the code, she doesn't necessarily know how to implemenent) but in this show, she 100% does. Her method is kind of crazy.

I do like the Cult of Avenging Angels storyline, and the shirts -are- cool, but that seems to be a D or E plotline.
I think that's the problem here, too many ideas all at once, and none of them can rise above the fold.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

While I've had problems with all of the episodes, the last two episodes did a good job of refocusing the show on the macroplot. All of the characters feel like the characters from the pilot, and that makes the show a much more interesting one to watch. They've dropped Amanda's insanity and refocused her character on the relationships she maintains with Daniel and the variations of Zoe. Daniel is a man on a mission. Joseph and Sam are finally focused on something of personal import to themselves. And it looks like we might get some pay-off on the V-World story, since the Avenging Angels are by far the most interesting part of the show.


If they'd cut out a good deal of the crap in between the early episodes and now, the show probably would have had a chance. Like you said, the backstory with Sam and Joseph needed to be rolled out much earlier in the series. The reason it wasn't is that it makes many of their storylines even less credible than they already were. Having Amanda figure out the truth about Clarice shortly after her daughter's death, and being a mole from square one would have given her character a purpose that was badly lacking in the first half of the season.


What I loved about this episode was Lacy's storyline, and the implications it has. The master chip for the U-87 Cylons was completely wiped, and yet the robots obey Zoe's friend Lacy above all others. More importantly, Lacy is the one character that has been decent through the whole series. She's done not nice things, but always for selfless reasons or because she had no other choice. Her sense of morality remains intact, and she has the bravery to stand up for her beliefs. If God has chosen anyone among them, it's Lacy. And I would trust her to lead my faith over any of the other STO, including the Holy Mother, that we've seen so far.

 

[mattCR]

I Just thought those two were out of order; Dirt Eaters may have worked in the first few episodes to give us backstory, here it seemed out of place.



That having been said, "Here there be Dragons" is without a doubt, the best episode of the series. Lacy Rand makes the moves that could put here at the head of the STO in an almost hark back to a Dune like takeover. The fury rises as the Adamas move to take out the mob boss. And even the V world storyline made sense and tied directly back to the real world, ending in the work toward skin jobs. This was a complete "tie it together" episode and in every way it worked. Great action, fast pace, storylines that kept you involved. Even the cinematography was really good; the color scheme for the V world was imaginative and a real contrast to the real world.


This is the kind of episode I thought Caprica would have a lot of. Just too bad it didn't happen until the fate of the show was sealed.

 

[mattCR]

"Apotheosis" was a fitting, beautiful, strong episode to end with. This was easily the strongest episode of the series, and it completely wrapped it up - which is far different from what we were previewed "Oh, it ends on a cliffhanger" It does, of sorts.. but it's a cliffhanger that it had to end on for any other series that we have seen to work.


The special effects work at the Colosseum felt cheap, but the storytelling did not. There was actual tension, a strong line of story. The only part that I really didn't care for - though it was obvious when it started - was the abrupt wrap of the Lacy Rand story, it felt as though, given time there should have been far more exposition on how she made that transition.

Nevertheless, this was the best episode of Caprica for the entire series, and did a great deal to redeem the entire concept.

 

[Phil Kim]

I agree with mattCR. While the pacing was a bit rushed, it was a griping and satisfying season (and series) finale. I was very surprised by the prologue, which wrapped up nearly everything in few minutes. It's as if Ron Moore knew the series had no chance of being picked up for season 2 (too elaborate to have been made at the last minute). I am guessing he planned Blood and Chrome (a story about Bill Adama during the Cylon war) as the sequel to Caprica from the get go.


My only real complaint is the fate of Clarice, whom I find to be very annoying. I would've liked to see more severe punishment instead of playing very large hand in wars leading up to Battlestar Galactica.

 

[mike caronia]

Just did a marathon of the 'final five' episodes and have to say I loved them.

I was getting confused on Joseph's son, thinking...no way...a skin job. But then the ending tied it together. Thank Gods!! ha


Agreed about Clarice...she should have received a terrible fate.


Kudos to Eric Stoltz and Esai Morales for participating in an offbeat show to begin with.

The acting in this show always brought it up another level.


If the show had stuck to the Graystone and Adama storylines a little more tightly, and left the STO mythology aside, I think more people would have come along for the ride.

But still really upset that this show didn't find an audience among real Science Fiction fans.

And the fact that SyFy made us Americans need the help of our Canadian friends to see these episodes..

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I agree. The epilogue didn't feel like a preview of a second season. It felt like the setup for a whole new series. The exciting thing is that we're likely to get a whole new series, with the two hour pilot for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome. While the focus and purpose of that show will obviously be different, I would like to see some elements from Caprica factor in. It would be neat to see the skinjob Zoe as a crew member aboard the Galactica, for instance, and to see Lacy as essentially the pope of the monotheistic faith. It would also be interesting to find out what happened to the Tamara Avatar, abandoned to her castle by the Zoe avatar.

Originally Posted by mattCR

"Apotheosis" was a fitting, beautiful, strong episode to end with. This was easily the strongest episode of the series, and it completely wrapped it up - which is far different from what we were previewed "Oh, it ends on a cliffhanger" It does, of sorts.. but it's a cliffhanger that it had to end on for any other series that we have seen to work.


The special effects work at the Colosseum felt cheap, but the storytelling did not. There was actual tension, a strong line of story. The only part that I really didn't care for - though it was obvious when it started - was the abrupt wrap of the Lacy Rand story, it felt as though, given time there should have been far more exposition on how she made that transition.

Nevertheless, this was the best episode of Caprica for the entire series, and did a great deal to redeem the entire concept.

Nailed in on all counts. "Apotheosis" is the justification for everything that came before it. If, at the break, you'd have told me that this one season show would provide a satisfying setup for everything that was to come, I wouldn't have believed you. It'd be an interesting "what if" to see how different the show would have turned out if the writers had been given this complete episode to work toward. The last four or five episodes have been excellent TV, but the episodes preceding them meandered terribly to no great effect. Only Lacy Rand's storyline played out satisfactorily from beginning to end with no unnecessary detours. I didn't really need more exposition for her story, because it was clearly implied that Lacy used her control over the Cylons to initiate a coup. What I would liked that have see is what she did with all of that power. Instead of having Amanda go crazy, for instance, they could have had her working as a mole for the police from the beginning. An elaborate dance between two woman essentially trying to seduce one another for opposing reasons would have been far more interesting.


At the end of the day, I liked where the show chose to begin, and I liked how the show chose to end. If the in between had been more solid, I think the show would have had a real shot at a second season.

Originally Posted by Phil Kim

My only real complaint is the fate of Clarice, whom I find to be very annoying. I would've liked to see more severe punishment instead of playing very large hand in wars leading up to Battlestar Galactica.

It makes a certain amount of sense, though. Clarice is a survivor, and like all the most intolerable survivors she always seems to land on her feet. It surprised me not a little that she would be among those plotting the downfall of humanity.

Originally Posted by mike caronia [url=caprica-season-1-5-canadian-airing-thread#post_3758121]

Just did a marathon of the 'final five' episodes and have to say I loved them.

I was getting confused on Joseph's son, thinking...no way...a skin job. But then the ending tied it together. Thank Gods!! ha

This is one of those things I'm on the fence about. The quick scene at the end helps rectify the timeline issues (ie. was Adama really that old in BSG? Did the first Cylon War really happen that quickly?) and explains why the Will Adama we've been following since the beginning had brown eyes but the Will Adama of BSG had blue eyes. On the other hand, it feels like a cheat to have our one substantial link to BSG basically invalidated. Granted, his character wasn't as developed as I would have liked since they apparently didn't know what to do with him. But there was something to be said for having him experience this journey with us from an unobtrusive vantage point. I do wonder how far into the series they decided that the series's William Adama wouldn't be our William Adama. I can't imagine it having been from the beginning.

Originally Posted by mike caronia

If the show had stuck to the Graystone and Adama storylines a little more tightly, and left the STO mythology aside, I think more people would have come along for the ride. But still really upset that this show didn't find an audience among real Science Fiction fans.

And the fact that SyFy made us Americans need the help of our Canadian friends to see these episodes..

I enjoyed the STO stuff, I just didn't like the way it was executed. Much of the stuff involving Clarice was tedious because it was weird for the sake of being weird. If Clarice's screen time had been limited to her scenes with Lacy and Amanda, I think it would have kept things more focused and moved the story along better.