Scott: Episode 2

I’ve got an idea for the worst drinking game ever, every time someone smiles during a Caprica episode you drink. Not only would you never get to drink, but you would realize how painfully depressing this show is.

What constitutes a life? Is a toaster that feels a toaster? Can it be compelled to simply toast bread, or should it be allowed use it’s heating powers to heat other things. Is this a question of what fulfillment really is? These are the questions this episode poses.

Episode #2: Memorials and Parenting

Jeremy:

Thanks to the tardiness of the previous post the fans have been pre-baiting their breath for this definitive analysis of the second episode. While a late post has lead to a loss in regularity it has brought a fresh perspective from someone very regular. That’s right, Steve is full of shit. Or as they say on Caprica: 'shrat'. I don’t have any particular criticism of his remarks but it does seem like a good time to introduce animosity into the conversation. Peristaltically, in the vernacular, onwards and outwards…

Things in this episode I have learned so far: poor people are angry, Taurons go to Tauron-school, monotheists wear dresses and are polyamorous, and aliens from planets without flowers become criminals. This episode features the struggle of a girl trapped within a cylon body. Interestingly, the father (ignorant of this fact) chooses to work on the cylon thereby freeing her instead of going to the memorial of his daughter. This juxtaposition is only really interesting when one looks at it from a parenting position: repression and betrayal beget development. Take that freud.
At this point in the episode another interesting subplot is developing. The apparently monotheistic teacher seems to be seducing a student with one of her husbands. However, she is confronted by her family members and does what any reasonable high school teacher would do - falls off the wagon. To be fair, there's not much apparent wagon to start with.
What this episode does get across is that parenting isn't easy, the best parenting needs to be internalized into the child. Specifically, within a robot.

Episode 1: Frak the Greystones

Steve

To round out our blogging sortie we have included the services of one who has not seen the critically acknowledged: Battlestar Galactica- of course since this is a prequel, that should work out just fine.  I will, however, have to ignore numerous inside references made for the benefit of all the Battlestar fans, and start working really hard to care about these characters I can only assume have a much more interesting role later on.

For now I must take this for what it is: a decently written sci-fi show with pretty good budget and just the right amount of glaring plot holes.  As with any futuristic space-ish show, a suspension of disbelief is absolutely critical to allow for any enjoyment.

The world of Caprica takes place on the planet Caprica, which is convenient for those of us bad with places and names.  We have some racial tensions between the people of Caprica and those of the 1950's Italian gangster planet Tauron, a self-made technology magnate trying to get his piece of the military industrial complex by building an army of kill-bots, a secret hedonistic virtual world for teenagers and other miscreants, and a terrorist attack perpetrated by some clearly dangerous monotheists.  Rounding it all out we have a virtual representation of a person, or an avatar, that manages to live on after the person it was based on has died.

This show has some potential, so long as it doesn't try to hard to answer the 'what is a soul' question it opened up by putting Zoey into a computer chip.  I have a feeling whatever they try to say about that will be stupid, kinda like Star Trek: The Motion Picture having a satellite crash into God and teach us things.  Stick with what you know: thinly veiled social commentary, cool gadgets, explosions, and saying frak instead of fuck.