CAPRICA 1.4 - "Gravedancing"

WRITER: Jane Espenson (story by Michael Angeli & Jane Espenson)
DIRECTOR: Michael Watkins
GUEST CAST: Scott Porter, Patton Oswalt, Kendall Cross, Peter Wingfield, Alex Arsenault & Luciana Carro

[SPOILERS] I'm still not catching the undertow of why I should love Caprica, despite its impressive production design and strong acting. "Gravedancing" was the first episode written by showrunner Jane Espenson (although she's now stepped down from that position), and there wasn't very much progression of any storyline. It's still early days, and I rarely dismiss anything this premature, but so far the show's a handsomely-mounted universe that's yet to give us a reason for why we should care. I'm sympathetic but not particularly fond of the Graystone family's predicament, the Adama's are just nasty gangsters, and none of the supporting characters appear all that likeable, either...

In "Gravedancing", Daniel (Eric Stoltz) goes on the talk show "Back Talk" hosted by Baxter Sarno (Patton Oswalt) as a PR exercise, briefed to win back confidence in his firm's Holoband technology and earn public sympathy after his wife Amanda (Paula Malcomson) blamed the train bombing on their daughter Zoe (Alessandra Torresani). Daniel's not sure if he should tow the line with carefully worded statements about how Zoe was a "troubled" girl, but the initially frosty interview came good after Amanda made an impromptu appearance and the Graystone's started to speak from the heart as a normal couple. In the end, Daniel makes the surprising decision to forgo all Holoband and V-world licensing (effectively losing 60% of his company's revenue), and use that money to help teenagers who may be in a similar mindset to his daughter (i.e. angst-ridden and easily manipulated by religious cults like the Soldiers Of The One.)

Prowling around in the background was Sam (Sasha Roiz), under orders from brother Joseph (Esai Morales) to kill Amanda as a way to "even things up" between the two families, and later posing as a chauffeur to drive Amanda home to do the deed. As expected, Joseph's impetuous decision to order a hit on Amanda didn't last long, and he was soon trying to get in touch with Sam to call off the assassination. Fortunately, as Joseph stressed over the fact his brother was incommunicado, it was revealed that Sam did receive Joseph's messages and obeyed them by just scaring Amanda and unsettling his fickle brother in the process.

Elsewhere, the police managed to get access to the Athena Academy to search for evidence the school's a recruiting ground for the STO -- following another bomb's detonation in the city. Fortunately for teacher Sister Clarice (Polly Walker), she managed to get her young terrorists to hide their bombmaking equipment from the authorities after a tip-off about the raid. The cops also found a loophole to let them snoop around the Graystone's residence and take Zoe's belongings into evidence. Meanwhile, Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) met with a young STO recruit called Keon -- who may be able to help her transport Zoe's Cylon body to Gemenon, with the help of a man called Barnabus.

Zoe herself didn't get much screentime, beyond a rather peculiar scene where a technician called Philomon (Alex Arsenault) made her Cylon-self perform a "diagnostic dance", which they both seemed to enjoy. I can understand Zoe finding Philomon's attentions flattering, but the inference that Philomon finds this hulking Cylon "attractive" isn't very convincing or tasteful. It's such an ungainly and ugly robotic that it's difficult to believe anyone could see past the metal and see the sweet "soul" underneath, sorry to say.

So, the plot was prodded along in a few respects, but there was nothing much to "Gracedancing" to placate anyone who feels Caprica's off to a slow start. I understand it's a different show to the flashier Battlestar Galactica, but that's not really my problem. It's just difficult to feel invested in anything or anyone on Caprica, and a lot of that's down to the fact this feels like a story that doesn't needs to be told. Hopefully the show can start to weave some more interesting strands into the show, or it will start to become more interesting when Zoe's taken to Gemenon and the STO's interest in Zoe's avatar is explained more. There's still a lot of potential behind the show, which definitely has a quality to keep your interest during each episode, but it's just missing a spark of excitement right now.

19 FEBRUARY 2010: SYFY, 9/8c