Caprica: Reins Of A Waterfall (s1e03)
Posted on 07. Feb, 2010 by Simon in Television
The third episode of Caprica revealed even more of the twisted web it will weave. It does so efficiently, spreading bread crumbs and widening the scope of last weeks events. Lost amid the shuffle however is any sort of further character development or nuance, both key qualities that separate this show (and its predecessor) from the chaff. Also, no scenes of people hugging robots? Booooooo.
More after the jump. And of course: spoilers ahead!
This week starts out with the Greystone’s dealing with the ramifications of Amanda’s impulsive decision last week, outing her daughter as a terrorist during a rally for victims of terrorism. As a result, Amanda is forced to quit her job as a doctor, Daniel gets beat up by the Adama brothers and Greystone Inc. sees its stock plummet after people find out their roomba was invented by somebody who’s daughter grew up to be a suicide bomber. I still don’t find the level of public outrage about this plot line sensical (would you throw a bottle at the Unibombers mom?) but I’ll continue to give the show some time to get it legs.
The Adama’s meanwhile seem to collectively be delving deeper into their Goodfella genetics. “Once you start in a direction, it’s best to just keep going,” Sam advises young Bill. I believe in storytelling that’s called ‘foreshadowing‘ as the kid seems to increasingly be hanging out with his Tauren gangster ilk and skipping school to learn the ropes from his tatted out uncle.
This whole episode kind of flipped the table actually, making Sam seem downright paternal at times, cooking dinner for William and housesitting with his gay partner. This of course is in stark contrast with Joseph, who after realizing Tamara’s avatar is gone forever, decides beating Daniel Greystone up in an alley just isn’t retribution enough. “Greystone lost his daughter, but I lost my daughter and my wife,” he explains to Sam. “Let’s even it up”.
I can see how a traumatic loss can affect logical people to make completely irrational decisions. Frankly, the whole episode seemed to focus on the power of emotions to overcome logic, be it spinning a PR angle, doing something for the memory of a friend, believing in your religious zeal or… uh, asking for somebody’s wife to be murdered.
Even with that caveat however, this episode was disjointed, and I’m not entirely sure it was in the way the show intended. The irrational (emotional?) paths our cast of characters is taking seem not just to be crazy, but often constantly in a state of flux.
Why for example are the Greystone’s so willing to admit Zoe is a terrorist? I can understand Amanda jumping to that conclusion after being handed an infinity broach at that rally, but after some reflection, why aren’t they curious about who the hell this Boyfriend Bomber Ben is and his role in their daughter’s decisions? Was she manipulated by love? Misguided?
As for ZoeBot, she has somehow managed to hack her way back onto the grid, finding her way back to their sim hangout club and plotting to continue original Zoe’s plan from the grave. Unexpectedly however, Zoe and Lacey run into Tamara’s avatar online. Why was Tamara just sitting in the dark while the first voices she’s heard in ages walked around her? I don’t know. How is Tamara’s dress so clean? Why doesn’t Serge notice the giant robot sneaking around the house when the Greystone’s are out? Don’t ask.
I won’t even go into the push about the greater story arc, where we are introduced to a mystery boss by Sister Clarice, who managed to be successful at nothing this week but being super, super creepy. Zoe’s reference to herself as a “trinity” last week was harped on again here, where Clarice espouses her belief in Zoe’s programming being an apotheosis.
Summing up the episode, basically, we are left with a steep frack load of difficult questions after a relatively gentle slope last week. Of all the character, only Lacey seemed even mildly confused about what decisions to make and why — when she wasn’t busy tackling boys twice her age and fake pinning them down in public places, that is.
Hopefully the show provides some more texture as the weeks roll on, focusing more on building the universe and developing characters we care about. Otherwise, I forsee people starting to look away if the melodrama gets poured on too thick too unexplainably fast — kind of like a Cylon/Teenage-Girl trying desperately to look away from its parents fracking right in front of it.
Jef
Feb 7th, 2010
I’m almost caught up finally on BSG, so I’ll be spamming your Caprica recaps in no time! (As you did with the Lost joint, I skipped to end of the post to avoid possible spoilage.)