Caprica, SyFy, Airs Fridays 9pm EST/8pm CST
Synopsis: Zoe’s avatar struggles to adapt to her Cylon body – Daniel still believes the avatar to Cylon transfer was unsuccessful – and Lacy visits Sister Clarice (and her wives and husbands) at home. An emotional Amanda Graystone tells everyone gathered at a memorial that Zoe may have been responsible for the train bombing.
Review: It was great to see more of Amanda Graystone in this episode, not because she’s a particularly interesting character (at least not yet), but through her, the grief that you might have expected Zoe’s parents to feel immediately following the death of their only daughter in the pilot episode, was finally present. It’s a minor gripe, but I was bothered by the Graystones’ almost complete lack of anguish. In any other sci-fi show this could have been easily ignored but according to co-creator David Eick, Caprica is supposed to be character driven and with no precedent for this behavior (because it was the first episode) their stoicism (and all of the sex they were having) just seemed odd.
Amanda has, however, made a complete 180 (which may actually be too drastic of a shift) and – overcome with emotion – reveals Zoe’s affiliation with the Soldiers of the One – a group of radical monotheists. This outburst will inevitably generate a lot of anti-Graystone sentiment in Caprica and I’m curious to see how this impacts Amanda and Daniel’s relationship and Daniel’s work on the Cylons; he was, after all, commissioned to build them by the army and any terrorist ties may jeopardize the contract.
I suppose (in addition to all of that sex) Daniel dealt with the loss of his daughter by creating Cylon Zoe and in this episode he continues to devote himself to his work. He seems to be a cold, detached man; he’s one part Bill Gates, one part Dr. Frankenstein. There is also something villainous about him, though, I’m pretty sure he isn’t supposed to be entirely contemptible. I always enjoyed how complex the characters on Battlestar Galactica were – villains could be charismatic and the morality of the heroes was, at times, questionable – and if enigmatic Daniel Graystone is any indicator, the same will be true of Caprica.
Although Daniel is certainly amusing, Sister Clarice’s systematic manipulation of unassuming Lacy was once again the most compelling storyline. The headmistress invites Lacy over to her house for lunch and we’re given a little more insight into what monotheism looks like in this world – evidently polygamy is involved. Sister Clarice’s motivations are slowly but enjoyably being parceled out to us and trying to figure out who she really is and how she will, undoubtedly, trick Lacy into bringing Zoe’s avatar to her is, at the moment, enough to keep me engaged.
The Adamas, who I personally like more than the Graystones, were unfortunately short-shrifted in this episode – there was a very inconsequential subplot in which Will spends some time with his gangster uncle, Sam. Hopefully next week, the Adamas will play a more prominent role because, right now, their inclusion in the show just feels like a way of connecting Caprica’s timeline to BSG’s.
Related Topics: Battlestar Galactica
