Five episodes in, I can’t help but notice that every episode of Caprica starts with a recap of all the plot points that will be addressed in the upcoming hour. This is important to note, because I think the show realizes without these little summaries, people would quite easily lose track of what’s going on.

Let me reiterate: these recaps are not of what has been going on in the show as a whole. The show has SO MUCH SHIT going on, that it takes nearly 2 minutes just to recap which of the many, many, many plot points we are going to dive into in this particular episode.

Some might hate this, some might love it. Me? I applaud the effort, despite being somewhat skeptical of the result.

More thoughts (with spoilers) after the jump.

Fresh on the heels of last week’s spontaneous bombshell that Greystone Inc. is going to jettison it’s primary resource stream — holobands — in favour of a charitable trust fund, it’s no surprise Daniel’s board members are eager to dump him just as fast.

We finally find out where all this is going this week, as Daniel basically redirects his company from the holoband business headfirst into becoming Cylon Inc., painting the sentient robots as a world changing invention (the viewer knowledge of how prescient he is makes the scenes all the more interesting).

Adding to that emotional tone is the visual of Zoebot jumping between her human self and Cylon body as Daniel asks her to rip her arm off in front of the board. Throughout BSG, although they were clearly intelligent I don’t think viewers were ever led to think of the Toaster-type Cylons as anything remotely approaching human. The idea that they might have all been emoting individuals with personalities frankly puts an interesting spin on BSG canon, but I suppose that remains to be seen.

Most of this episode is spent on the Adama’s though, who have been going through tough times of their own. Joseph is still not over the loss of his wife and daughter, which clearly has affected his role as a father to Bill. As we’ve seen in recent episodes, Willie has been spending more time with Sam as a result, seeking the attention and paternal guidance he’s not getting from home. This comes to a boil this episode as Joseph finally attempts to get his act together only to find out Willie has zero intention of respecting or obeying him anymore — he’s lost his authority as a father, and it’s not going to return easily.

Meanwhile, Avatar-Tamara is running around virtual world trying desperately to get out. She enlists the help of some pseudo-hacker online badasses who vaguely remind me of Will Wheaton’s World of Warcraft clan from The Guild. But less funny.

This is only exacerbated by the fact they then enlist Tamara to help them complete a quest in “New Cap City,” a virtual and lawless replica of Caprica that seems part Grand Theft Auto, part Everquest and part Blade Runner. The deal is, if Tamara helps them steal some gold or something, they will help her “wake up,” and get out of v-world.

This whole storyline seemed kind of silly to me, up to the point where after completing her task Tamara is told nobody can wake her up — her virtual compadres have done some research and, surprise! — they inform Tamara she’s dead, listed among the victims of the maglev train bombing.

Tamara takes the news surprisingly well and basically goes all Neo-in-the-Matrix on their asses. In virtual world, where everyone wakes up when they die (essentially, it’s a game where you only get one life), she is a goddess since she has no physical body to wake up to.

By being a program herself, she clearly has some sort of super powers in coded  v-world and basically ends the episode by sending a dude to find her father IRL, informing him she’s going to be waiting for him in New Cap City, all badass in high heels, popping dudes with her semi-automatic handguns and shit. Whaaaat?

Meanwhile, the kid she sends (who reminds me of what Justin Beiber may be in 10 years) happens to relay his message to Joseph…. oooohh, about 30 seconds after he has some Tauran funeral to finally say goodbye to his dead family for closure. He literally has to say “Goodbye Tamara,” as part of the ceremony. Great pacing since you know that Tamara is going to be in touch any. second. now.

I’m not going to lie, I had no idea Caprica was going to delve so deeply into this MMORPG, what-is-a-human type of existential stuff. I suppose part of me assumed that the reason for a BSG prequel spinoff was going to be simply to explain all the backstory for BSG.

What I’m slowly realizing though is that Caprica is really trying to be a completely different show, just using some BSG lore for interesting pillars of storytelling. I mean, despite all this Cylon business, really that was only what? Five whole minutes of this episode. It’s not fully there yet, but once I make that disconnect I think I’m going to appreciate this show even more than I currently do, accepting it as a separate entity.

Some people are calling this one of the better shows on tv. I don’t think it’s quite there yet, but it certainly has the ambition and potential to be. If you’re willing to sit through the build up for what might be a great, great blossoming, then now is certainly the time to hope on this train.

Week three of Caprica grounds us a little more in the strengths of this fledging show. After some Days of Our Lives level melodrama stretched multiple plot points a bit thin last episode, “Gravedancing” really does a good job of refocusing on a few stories and really giving them room to breath.

As usual, spoilers after the jump!

Starting off with a bang, we get a reminder that terrorism and those perpetrating it are still active characters in Caprica’s end game. Moreover, we discover 1) multiple marriage couples all sleep together slumberpartystyle in one bed 2) Sister Clarice gets tips from someone with insider knowledge of government and police strategies. I’m not sure frankly which one of these two revelations is more interesting to me.

The five-o raid the kids’ high school searching for more Soldiers of the One clues, but are foiled when Clarice gets her warning about the raid and passes it on to her students just in time to clear out their lockers of any incriminating evidence.

In this case, that evidence would appear to be a single tube of fake looking dynamite and several small pieces of plastic in Keon’s locker. Personally, if I found those items in a teens locker I would think “trouble maker” more than “international terrorist,” but we’ll let the show’s prop department slide on that one.

Still, we learn a bit more about Keon as well in this episode as he reveals he is a little more entrenched in STO than we might have realized, knowing a higher up named Barnabus who has final say in the cell. Still, Keon seems hesitant to help Lacey, perhaps wanting to shield her from getting to deep over her head into an organization he himself seems unsure of being party to. It’s clear him and Lacey are developing a relationship however, between bonding over lost friends and fixing broken dirt bikes. Also, being pinned to the ground by a girl tends to get a guy’s attention, but maybe that’s just me.

For the A-story this week, we get back to what makes Caprica a Ronald D. Moore show, and these characters by Jane Espenson so relatable: nuance.

Unraveling the awkward homicidal turn of Joseph Adama last week, we see Adama reacting to his impulsive decisions exactly as viewers did and would expect; with uncertainty and guilt. Watching brother Sam (who increasingly is becoming my favourite character on the show) stalk Amanda Greystone, Joseph is constantly on edge the whole episode, repeating with faux-bravado to his brother several times that he still wants the hit done rather unconvincingly. Naturally, he fools nobody and in the end caves and urgently tells Sam at the last possible minute not to do it.

“I knew you couldn’t go through with it,” says Sam after playing mind games with his frazzled brother. “A Caprican in a Tauran’s body”. Although this turn was fully expected, it still served to solidify the morals of a character we knew but hadn’t really seen. At this point, there is no doubt that Joseph is where his son, future Admiral Adama, gets his moral compass.

As for the Greystone’s themselves, I thoroughly enjoyed both their roles this week. Appearing on a late night talk show to do damage control after Amanda’s public meltdown, Daniel spends much of the episode being coached for an interview in order to spin the angle positively for his corporate interests. In the end however, the Greystone’s realize there is more to life than protecting the reputation of their holobands — which apparently represent sixty per cent of Daniel’s net profits.

Despite the Greystone’s spending much of the episode fretting about coming off as emotionless, in the end the empathy they are painted with has just the right tinge of doubt. After all, the pair go on the show and, instead of really defending Zoe or holobands, instead decide to play the good samaritan card. Thinking out loud, the idea of giving up all profits on holobands and funnelling them into a charity seems righteous, but also dangerously spontaneously and ill-thought out.

“You’re saying this now,” says interviewer Baxter Sarno, “but will you be saying this on Monday?”

“You can hold me to this, Caprica,” replies Daniel with a grin.

After weeks of being hated, and finding out perhaps their daughter might have hated them too, was this simply an attempt by the Greystone’s to buy some love? This is further questioned when the pair cuddle in bed essentially praising themselves. I have a feeling this decision is going to haunt them big time, perhaps as soon as Daniel has to face his business partners.

No cliffhanger ending tonight, only the subtle sounds of gears being turned and characters being pushed gently forward. Just the way this show excels.

• Grandma Adama: badass or scary psycho? Both?
• Daniel reveals his creation of Avatar Zoe for the first time, and it’s in public. Ramifications to come, surely
• Zoeboy has some Lady and the Tramp moments with her lab tech. I can see how she might find it charming, but if she remembered she’s a giant robot, perhaps she’d find his affection a little… uh, messed up?

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.

For many shows, the second episode after the pilot is usually the best indicator of what to expect on a weekly basis. Subscribing to that philosophy, I believe fans of Battlestar Galactica are really, really going to like Caprica.

Faux intimacy via cinema-vérité? Check. Original (and catchy) BSG vernacular, BSG universe continuity, attention to character and setting minutiae, no fear of tackling heavy issues, octagonal paper products? Check, check, check, check annnnnd check. The Ronald D. Moore cylon saga doesn’t miss a step during the jump to prequel form and sci-fi fans from any planet will surely feel right at home.

Instead of recapping, I’m just going to share my thoughts about the episode. I don’t think anyone is going to come to this blog to catch up on missing episodes. Really, we all know you’re here to see me make a fool of myself. On that note:

**** SPOILERS AHEAD ****

• I understand the humanizing of Zoe/cylon is necessary to make her an empathetic character. The cross-shots where the CGI robot is sliced with her allegorical avatar are simple but effective, but it certainly leaves me to wonder about cylon evolution. From BSG we know that the metallic type of cylons are generally silent and… well, robotic. If the original cylon was essentially a human trapped in a robot body, with emotions and all, then where does that diverge into the two types of toasters we are accustomed to? I assume the show will explain this in due time, but certainly this is one of the mysteries I was kind of stuck on.
• Still, I am thoroughly interested in what the hell original Zoe and Ben were trying to do. Why does avatar Zoe exist? What is she going to do once people find out she’s inside the cylon, and what good is it telling your 15 year old school girl friend? Are her parents going to accept her? Will her parents ever find out?
• The Greystone’s also have a (non-sentient?) robot who essentially acts as a housekeeper, and the concept of a robot army is realistic in the realm of the Caprica timeline. Does that make you wonder why robots aren’t more prevalent in everyday society? Fixing cars, doing construction, helping small children cross streets? Moreover, shouldn’t robots be even more prevalent by the time we get to the BSG era? Ok, I’m going to stop picking on cross-series continuity issues about the universe now. Non-sequiter apologies!
• I must admit although the strange pseudo-mormon family that cultist/teacher Sister Clarice invites Lacey to visit was confusing, the scene basically guaranteed I’d enjoy the episode by having Scott Porter play boy-toy Nestor. Any show that employs Friday Night Light’s alum is totally cool with me. Also, this episode did little to expand on this Sister Clarice and her motivations or character. All we know is she’s up to… something. And that she seems to like illicit drugs that can be bought from under the counter of a bar. Nobody ever looks under the counter!
• It’s interesting watching Little Admiral Adama and wondering if he’s ever going to cry, smash a toy boat then drool all over himself if anything really sad happens.
• Why is Little Tauren full of Asian people? Can you tell they shot this show in Vancouver?
• The entire storyline where the Greystone’s finally realize that their daughter was probably a terrorist who blew up a local subway full of innocent people is pretty hard hitting stuff from the show’s writers. Caprica is billed as “the beginning of the end of humanity,” but three hours in I’m still not completely sure what the series’ main thematic tones will be. Like BSG, which delved deeply into theology and the ethics/politics of war, Caprica clearly seems to be reaching deeper than discussing Asimov’s robotic laws. The final scene was pure BSG melodrama (wouldn’t a crowd be sympathetic to someone who just learned her daughter was a terrorist?) but I understand angry mobs are better TV. Moreover, the revelation was still effective in prodding the larger narrative along. I’m definitely curious where things are headed in that over lying arc. I also thought the show did a good job in exploring the ramifications of teen suicide, where parents wonder how well they did (or really did not) even know their child.
• Rebirth is definitely an appropriate name for this episode, referring naturally to Virtua-Zoe but also to the wonderful BSG world that many of us have loved and cherished. This was a great hour of television that gets the juices (and multiple twisty story lines going), and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I’ll be following Caprica every week throwing these random talking points up here, so… somebody, please join me, or I’m just going to seem really sad.
• Bonus point: if Zoe eventually ends up being an angel, I’m going to murder someone.