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| Sunday, January 31, 2010 01:01 PM |
| On the Viewer - Caprica (Episode 2 - "Rebirth") |
 by Fëanor |
Warning: spoilers ahoy.
I'm not sure if I really enjoy this show, but it's definitely interesting. It turns out the chip with Zoe's avatar on it, when plugged into a particular robot body, makes a smart combat machine, but plug her chip into any other body, and the resulting robot is stupid and useless. That specific combination of chip and body seems to have bonded in a special way. Graystone seems more interested in replicating this effect and getting a whole army of smart robots so he can hold onto his big military contract, than he's interested in trying to figure out if some part of his daughter is somehow still alive. I really can't get a feel for him as a character. Sometimes he really seems human and vulnerable and sympathetic, and other times he just seems absolutely inhuman and awful.
Meanwhile, the Zoe-bot sees itself as three different people at once: Zoe herself, Zoe's avatar, and a robot. Lacy recognizes this as the trinity - the three-in-one. Woah. That's deep. The show creators have taken the interesting step of sometimes showing Zoe-bot as she truly is - a hulking proto-Cylon - and sometimes showing her as she imagines herself to be - a pretty, petite young woman. This is particularly unsettling during the sequences when her father is staring at her, trying to figure out how to make the other robots work like her, or when her mother is calling her a monstrous thing. One of Graystone's techs seems to sense that there's something more to this robot; he speaks to it like it's a living thing, and even thinks of it as female. Another tech is frustrated by this and insists on treating the Zoe-bot like a brainless hunk of metal. This doesn't work out well for him. Good luck with that finger, buddy!
Meanwhile, the relationship between Lacy and her teacher is getting closer and creepier. Sister Willow invites Lacy over her house for lunch and we discover she's in a group marriage which involves a whole gang of husbands, sons, daughters, and wives. She's a space Mormon! It's not a happy family, though; there's lots of tension, swirling around Willow. Also, one of the hunky young men comes onto Lacy, something that flatters her a great deal. Meanwhile, turns out Willow is also an opium junkie. She's got secrets upon secrets upon secrets!
And there are plenty of other subplots beyond all those! The younger Adama gets introduced to his uncle's criminal lifestyle, and learns to use guilt as a weapon against his father in a particularly creepy sequence. And Mrs. Graystone discovers she really knew nothing about her daughter at all, and makes the awful decision to reveal what she's learned about her, and what she suspects about her, at a memorial for the victims of the train bombing. Gah!
During the show, they kept advertising that there was plenty of extra Caprica material to explore online. I couldn't help but wonder why they went to the trouble of making all that extra stuff. I really can't imagine this show will be around for too much longer. I find it complex and interesting, but also disturbing and unsettling. It has the seriousness and thoughtfulness of Battlestar Galactica without any of the action and epic battle sequences and sex that I suspect was a large part of why that show was as popular as it was. I expect Caprica will be canceled very soon.
But you never know. Maybe I'm being unfairly pessimistic. Regardless, I'll stick with the show for now and see where it goes. |
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