Monday, January 31, 2011

Episode # 1 The invention of toasters

Scott:

Do you ever wonder if the person who invented a toaster did it because he missed the touch of a daughter killed by terrorists form the planet Tauron?  Apparently the creators of Caprica do.  Personally, I think it's because he was tired of putting bread on a stick and holding it over the stove, but who knows?

This episode was not great.  The two fathers--Daniel Graystone and Joseph Adama, who lost family members in the terrorist attack on a train both make questionable decisions in order to download what's left of their daughters into a Cybernet Lifeform Node or Cylon (don't ask, because I don't know either).  After seeing a version of his daughter in some kind of holodeck, Adama decides she isn't real and wants no part of Graystone's goal to cheat death.  He tells his son, the great Bill Adama, they need to let go of the people they lost and move on.  I guess we're supposed to fear Graystone now, and root for Adama. Frankly, I don't care.  I just want my bread to be warmer, and crustier.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Episode #1: More science please

Jeremy:
I'll start this by saying that we're going to try to review the discontinued series 'Caprica' in an armchair setting (hence coasters). We'll try to capture our feelings as we watch the episodes.

For a show about science fiction based on a show made famous in science fiction the first episode of Caprica lacks anything but passing remarks about other planets, tattooed off-world gangsters, and a holographic facebook. Aside from the gratuitous nudity, in fact, nothing else about this episode seems geared towards it's target audience: lonely men. Let me temper this last point so as not to anger other nerds - let's see more robots. A few other things about this episode bother me as well: 1) monotheists do not necessarily blow up all trains, and 2) physicians don't get nice offices. These assumptions border on the violent . . . which is ironic as this is something else this episode lacks.
That said, this episode definitely develops a theology which justifies a lot of what the cylons say later. A counterpoint to this is, of course: 'who cares'. To conclude: as is true in life, this episode shows how one daughter's love can directly power the killing power of autonomous robots.