Caprica: Know They Enemy (s1e6)
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Simon in Television
At this point, I think it’s redundant to talk about how many plot lines Caprica has up in the air all at once. It’s doing an admirable juggling job, but at some point the novelty of volume wears off. That’s why juggling acts always open with the rubber balls but end the show with just three flaming chainsaws — ultimately it’s not the quantity of what you’re working with, it’s the quality.
By and large, the quality is a mixed bag. Instead of going through a summary, I’m just going to make a point by asking all the questions I now have about this show. Mystery seems to be the major fuel Caprica is running on. Spoilers after the jump.
- Does robot love count as real love?
- Why would you meet with someone from an online dating service for an online date? Doesn’t that just seem lazy?
- Where the hell is Tamara?
- What exactly would be the consequences if Zoe revealed herself?
- What about Zoebot makes her Cylon so special? If she can enter virtual worlds does that mean she can be duplicated? Stolen?
- Meaning, does that mean Zoebot, although fused with her body, is actually not trapped after all?
- What the hell is the actual purpose of the STO? They are classified as terrorists and bomb cybercafes? All we know is they are vaguely religious, but what do they stand for? What are they protesting? What exactly does monotheism have against Caprican life? Despite it’s fractious and vague parties and plans, we really know absolutely nothing about the show’s main antagonists.
- We finally meet Barnabas, and he lives in the warehouse of a shipping yard? Like, not even in a building, just outside it like some sort of skidrow hobo who flays himself DaVinci code style for religion? That seems wf just for the sake of it no?
- Is Sister Clarice like a crackhead? Why? Why does that even matter? What does that have to do with her role in the grand scheme of things?
- Who gets drunk with their dead daughters principle in the middle of the day? Isn’t Amanda Greystone a former doctor? She doesn’t have any other responsibilities now that she’s quit her day job? No charities or whatever? Didn’t she just start a foundation to funnel millions of dollars from holobands to good causes?
- Why is Virgis so rich compared to Greystone? What exactly has he created that is nearly as ubiquitous as holobands and as lucrative as military contracts? Greystone should be one of the richest dudes in the galaxy and he’s going to bat an eye at the price of a professional sports team? Paul Allen didn’t found Microsoft and the Portland Trailblazers are basically an ant colony for him. To Bill Gates, whom I kind of equate Greystone to, a sports team would be like nothing — where’s the logic there?
- Is it just me, or is Cyrus a little bitch?
- Why is Daniel so shook up about the prospect his theft might have involved a double murder? Isn’t he building KILLER ROBOTS FOR THE ARMY? Does he feel bad if he’s successful and his robots end up killing hundreds of thousands of people in a war?
- If the STS is so anti-technology, how do they have the resources to develop a refrigerator magnet that is advanced enough to decrypt and download data from a government network, not tripping any alerts and doing it completely wirelessly without notice? Also, their holy grail is a computerized replica of the human soul in avatar form. That doesn’t seem anti-technology at all, so why blow up holobands and levitating trains?
- What the hell is Lacey trying to do? What’s she going to do, drop a giant robot off on some planet then hope it doesn’t cause a scene?
- Ditto for Zoebot herself?
- What’s Barnabas’ role?
- What kind of secretary hits on her boss while admiring the tattoo he just got to remember his dead wife by? Can you say insubordination?
- William’s entire appearance this episode was to open a door and look pissed, then close it two seconds later. Does he get paid for that?
Basically, there are lots of questions, and they get more complicated every week, and I’m tired of writing about how complicated and ambitious this show is week after week because nothing really ever happens except maybe one or two minor revelations of information that really only serve to cause more questions.
I.E. Oh, so that’s Barnabs. What a second, who the hell is this guy? What’s he doing? What does he want? Why is he crazy? Who does he work for?
etc. etc. etc.
I’m getting some whiffs of BSG-ego from the writers with all these different threads. All I can say is, although I praised the potential for this show last week, the truth is if the writers don’t have half-thought out end games for all these stories, it’s going to be the saddest television of the year, by far.
Fingers. Crossed.
