BATTLESTAR GALACTICA to Z NATION; has Syfy sacrificed quality for cheap fun and notoriety?

Has it really been five years since Syfy's superb Battlestar Galactica remake ended? Since then, the network's fumbled with lame attempts to find anything close to equaling BSG's quality (even attempting two prequels few cared about), so their best shows are now pap like Defiance and Helix. And don't get me started on Dominion! It's one of the rare shows I had to turn off before the first ad break. Oh, and don't try and claim Lost Girl, Being Human, Continuum and Bitten are Syfy shows that buck the trend, because they're actually imports from Canada and therefore don't count. Maybe things will improve when sci-fi miniseries Ascension and their 12 Monkeys adaptation debut, although the latter's released a trailer that looks as underwhelming as feared...

Aborted Reviews: 'Being Human': S1-3, 'Caprica': 1.14 - "Blowback", 'Dexter': S4 & 'Dollhouse': S2

I write a lot of stuff I never actually post here, usually because I proof-read and don't think it's good enough. It's true! I keep all my writing on a Word document that's currently 113 pages long, mostly consisting of hazy ideas for polls, talking points, random media-related articles, some research, etc.

Sometimes there are reviews (often of TV box-sets) that I struggle to find time to write from start to finish, so end up tinkering with them over a period of weeks, sometimes months -- mostly on afternoons when there are no reviews to write for shows I watched the evening before. Unfortunately, this means that these reviews can reach a moment in time where their "moment" has passed. Or, simply, I've become bored working on them, and they remain forever unfinished. Recently I've become frustrated with this fact, and increasingly aware that such reviews are destined to sit on my laptop forever, slowly turning into relics of my own mind. So, to hell with it, why not just publish what I have, in whatever state they're in?

And that's what we have here. A handful of TV reviews (mostly aborted or unfinished box-set appraisals) of Being Human, Dexter and Dollhouse, with a latter episode of Caprica thrown in for good measure. Obviously, these aren't finished (some are just "set up" really), but I think they're of sufficient quality to be posted. I hope. I don't think I'll ever find the time and proclivity to finish them, so hope you enjoy reading what I did manage to cobble together. Maybe this will embarrass me to finish what I started more often, or not start to begin with!

But that Firefly box-set review really IS coming. Honestly. Note its absence here. Trust me...

DVD Review: BEING HUMAN – Complete Series 1-3; kitchen sink supernaturalism

It's a peculiar premise that shouldn't work as well as it does: a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost share a house together. It's the kind of concept that could be taken in different directions, tonally, but Being Human goes for character-based drama with a gentle sitcom undertone, punctuated by moments of startling horror. It's a sweet confection that should delight most people drawn to Being Human, although the show's let down by several problems underpinning its mythology.

Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is a 115-year-old vampire who led a hedonistic lifestyle with his diminutive "recruiter" Herrick (Jason Watkins) over the 20th-century, before deciding to abstain from human blood, get an inconspicuous job as a hospital porter, and live with his werewolf friend George (Russell Tovey.) The two pals move into a pink semi-detached house in Bristol, later becoming aware they're sharing it with Annie (Lenora Crichlow), their landlord's dead fiancée, and a unique support group is formed as the trio attempt to "be human" without arousing suspicion from friends and neighbours.

The premise is actually quite flawed, as the idea of overcoming your nature to fit in with mankind only works in the case of a vampire going through withdrawal symptoms -- which act as a drug addiction allegory, natch. After all, George is perfectly human for 353 days of the year, while Annie has little choice but to accept she can't be seen by normal people to achieve "social acceptance". But still, the interaction of the three characters living under one roof is the focus of the series, and fortunately the actors have an engaging rapport. Mitchell is the mandatory brooder who struggles to turn his back on his debauched past, particularly with Herrick on every corner trying to coax him back into the fold; George is the intellectual, emotional, socially-awkward guy who's tormented by his werewolf curse; and Annie's the insecure, ditzy, and impulsive one trying to understand her situation as a spirit.

Series 1 deals with storylines that are most pertinent to the show's themes and intent, as each one neatly highlights the major issues and concerns the lead characters have. Mitchell exists in a state of constant temptation from the vampires beyond the sanctuary of his new abode; George starts having a relationship with a headstrong nurse called Nina (Sinead Keenan), while trying to keep her ignorant of his hairy affliction; and Annie starts to piece together the circumstances of her death and, after realizing her fiancé murderer her, decides to exact justice from beyond the grave so she can "move on" to the next life. Each storyline cuts to the core concerns of the characters and their struggles with their very natures, and it's a synergy that Being Human never quite manages to top in later years.

By Series 2, there's more confidence in Being Human's ability to deliver compelling drama and horror, so some of the humour takes a backseat. Instead, the mythology of the show widens to encompass the presence of an organization headed up by a Dr Jaggatt and a former-priest called Kemp (Donald Sumpter) who are aware "supernaturals" exist and intend to eradicate them. Added to that, Mitchell turns preacher in trying to get the city's vampires to join him in blood abstinence; George and Nina's relationship disintegrates in the wake of George passing on his lycanthropy to her (a thin AIDS allegory), which thus pushes George into a hasty rebound with a single mother; and Annie tries to find a purpose now that she's chosen to remain earthbound.

It's a strong series, but perhaps one that alienated fans who were attracted to Being Human because of its lead character's interactions and veins of comedy. The trio tend to get lost in their own situations too much, while there's a clear sense of desperation about how to deal with Annie (who's even given a corporeal body for awhile, almost out of desperation over the constraints of a character most people can't see.) But there's enough imagination and self-belief to keep you watching, together with some genuinely gripping sequences – like the moment when George loses track of time and starts to transform into a werewolf in the middle of a primary school. A genuinely tense and visually superb sequence of mounting horror and uncertainty.

Finally, Series 3 offers minor reinvention. Mitchell, George and Nina move to Barry Island in South Wales to escape the previous year's events and, after renting a former B&B called Honolulu Heights, Mitchell manages to rescue Annie from the purgatory she was banished to the year before. From there the show takes a more inward-looking approach to its drama -- as secrets, lies and lost memories play a part in tearing the four friends apart. Guest stars play a more active role than ever, often headlining largely standalone episodes that are scheduled to break up the year's deeper story. We meet a middle-aged vampire trapped in a teenager's body, a party girl turned into a zombie, George's milquetoast father, and new semi-regulars are introduced in haggard werewolf McNair (Robson Green) and his sheltered son Tom (Michael Socha), before the return of an amnesiac Herrick lends the whole series an unpredictable edge when he becomes their lodger in the attic.

DVD Review: DEXTER: Complete Series 4 (2009)

After the misfiring third season, Dexter needed to deliver a convincing comeback in its fourth year, and found the answer to its prayers in esteemed actor John Lithgow. The series went back to its roots of having Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) contend with another serial-killer on his patch; namely The Trinity Killer (Lithgow), a fiend who's escaped detection for three decades, but has returned to Miami to end his clandestine killing spree.

Retired FBI Agent Lundy (Keith Carradine) has become a self-made Inspector Abberline to his very own Jack The Ripper, determined to catch Trinity while colleagues/friends treat his theories as bunkum. Meanwhile, new father Dexter struggles to find balance between his parental responsibilities and entrenched need to slaughter criminals. The twist to this particular tale is that Dexter comes to realize he has much to learn from Trinity; a wiser, more experienced killer, having apparently perfected the art of hiding in plain sight...

The common weakness of Dexter is that most subplots unrelated to its eponymous anti-hero play like dispensable off cuts from a formulaic cop show, and that continued to be the case here. Fortunately, season 4 finds a compelling way to involve Dexter in Trinity's life for an extensive period of time, and does a great job slowly unraveling the psychosis at the heart of season 4's villain. It has the backbone of an unraveling mystery, which takes the sting out of the more tedious subplots.

Lithgow uses his pallid features and piercing blue eyes to unnerving effect, acting a portent of what Dexter's life could become, yet he's still able to evoke sympathy when the root of his problem is eventually revealed. It's a performance that buoys the entire season, even when various leaks burst through the hull, bagging Lithgow a deserved Emmy award. More importantly, he provides Hall with someone of comparable skill to bounce off, and the season takes full advantage of these two heavyweights. A visual tableau at the tail-end of "Hello, Dexter Morgan" paints the two actors as boxers squaring up to each other in the ring. To continue the allegory: season 4 may have its weak rounds, but it ends with a chilling knockout punch.

TV Review: 'CAPRICA' 1.14 – "Blowback"

"Blowback" kicked off the final five episodes in glorious style, delivering panache and forward momentum with the key stories: Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) discovered the Guatrau have been smuggling some of his Cylons off-world to fight in the Tauron civil war, so persuaded its leader to stop this illegality with the promise of quicker results with his life-changing resurrection program "Grace"; Lacey (Magda Apanowicz) was sent to Gemenon aboard an STO vessel with other young recruits, only to find herself embroiled in a violent hijacking by a group of polytheists; police Captain Duram (Brian Markinson) was pressured by his boss Gara Singh (Peter Wingfield) into revealing who his informant is working undercover at Sister Clarice's (Polly Walker) abode; and Clarice herself finally got her hands on Zoe's infinity broach, which contains a backup of the martyr's avatar software, which she hopes will form the basis of an STO "afterlife".

For once, there wasn't a single storyline that bored me here, which was a huge relief after a mid-season run of duds, which felt responsible for Syfy yanking the show off-air and deciding to cancel it. Maybe they should have waited a few weeks? Everything was very neatly handled and very entertaining, with Lacey's storyline being particularly gripping as the poor girl was forced to fight for her life before the hijackers executed her fellow "heathens" and ejected their bodies out of an airlock. The twist that the entire situation was a staged test of loyalty managed to fool me, despite being a common trick, and I enjoyed the final moments when Lacey realized those who failed the test were blithely executed by an armed Cylon. The penny seemed to drop for Lacey that she's joined a religious cult that are actually as crazy as the fake polytheists.

Blu-ray Review: DOLLHOUSE - The Complete Second Season (2009)

Joss Whedon's Dollhouse was given a last-minute reprieve by Fox after its low-rated debut season in 2008, but after being transferred to the "graveyard slot" of Friday nights, the network announced its cancellation barely four episodes into its sophomore run. Fortunately, the axe fell early enough for Whedon's team to condense their potential five-year plan into the remaining half-dozen episodes. This resulted in a rip-roaring season that, while unsurprisingly hectic and devil may care in attitude, birthed so many interesting ideas and surprises that the loyal fan-base were given a satisfactory conclusion and several of the year's most exciting hours of sci-fi drama last year...

To recap the premise, Dollhouse concerns a secret organization that has pioneered mind-altering technology, enabling them to erase and implant memories into human brains. They currently use this technology to create "dolls"; willing volunteers who sign away periods of their life for financial recompense, allowing their bodies to become the shell for various personalities that a client demands. The dolls can become the world's greatest midwife, hiking companion, prostitute, soldier, secretary, pop star, or any other occupation desired. More controversially, dolls can be given the personality and memories of actual people, living or dead (provided they've had their minds copied and stored for future use). The very idea throws up an abundance of existential questions and ideas, most of which Dollhouse explores throughout its two seasons: from "sleepers" who don't even know they're dolls, sent out into the real world to keep tabs on people trying to expose the Dollhouse, to questions of mortality if one could continually inherit a host body and transfer your consciousness to a new one when age or health becomes an issue.

"Echo" (Eliza Dushku) is our heroine, a feisty volunteer for the program's Los Angeles facility, run by the authoritarian Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams), who has the unique ability to retain her memories of past experiences and personalities after the obligatory "treatment" (mind erasure) that followers every assignment. In season 2, Echo's ability will prove instrumental if they're to destroy the Dollhouse from the inside-out, with the help of Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett), a former FBI Agent who attempted to rescue Echo in season 1, but is now a double-agent working for the enemy, and Echo's former "handler" Boyd (Harry Lennix), a fatherly figure who's questioned the morality of the Dollhouse from the very start.

Syfy burn 'Caprica' this January

This new is days old now, but I thought it was worth mentioning here. Maybe a few people have yet to hear. Syfy have confirmed plans to "burn off" the remaining 5 episodes of axed sci-fi drama Caprica, with a back-to-back marathon on Tuesday 4 January 2011 @6/5c.

Good news for fans who don't intend to buy the DVD to see the ending, and for those who want to record Syfy's five-hour marathon and watch them at their leisure. I'll most likely be amongst the latter, perhaps writing capsule reviews of the remaining hours for a final wrap-up post. I hope the writers give us resolution, or at least don't let it end on a cliffhanger that'll never be answered. That said, there's a chance in-development prequel Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome will be able to fill the gaps in Caprica's story.

'CAPRICA' 1.13 - "False Labor"

Despite the news Syfy have cancelled Caprica, I've decided to continue reviewing its remaining episodes, albeit in a more abridged fashion. It's become clear that my reviews, much like the show, has dropped in popularity since Caprica came back from hiatus, so it makes sense not to bust a gut trying to write something that's only of narrow interest...

"False Labor" was all about struggle, and introduced an interesting new angle with Sam (Sacha Roiz) getting into the gun-smuggling trade, intending to pass weapons to soldiers fighting a Tauron civil war that echoes a conflict he fought in alongside brother Joseph (Esai Morales). Sam's off-world smuggling drew the attention of a Tauron gangster, who wasn't happy about a competitor on his turf, so threatened Sam's life as a warning. Nevertheless, Sam chose a fight for his new business, by taking control of a Cylon and using it to slaughter his rivals during a shootout at a swanky bar. The likelihood a percentage of Graystone's mass-produced Cylons will be siphoned to Tauron by Sam, giving soldiers an advantage over their enemy, is an intriguing puzzle piece in the show's intention to explain how Cylons became such a menace.

It was also entertaining to watch Daniel (Eric Stoltz) struggle to replicate Zoe's avatar code, trialing different versions of his wife Amanda (Paula Malcolmson) in an attempt to elicit a spark of sentience that's key to producing a convincing copy of a human being. Of course, the science here is incredibly far-fetched (I don't see how linking an avatar to the entirety of someone's online history would enable them to remember memories of events they weren't present for), but the basic idea is still fun to see unfold. Even if the subplot relied too heavily on the trick of having a surprising scene play out, with the audience unaware they're watching a simulation. It worked once, but I was too on guard for it to work that second time.

The real Amanda was still trying to ingratiate herself into Clarice's (Polly Walker) large family, who haven't exactly welcomed her with open arms, but eventually made a connection with the household's pregnant matriarch (by making up a sob story about her own troubled maternity) to aide her acceptance.

This episode felt a lot better to me, if only because the raison d'être of Caprica (explain the rise of the Cylons) was a bigger part of the episode and appears to have found a way to get more Cylons involved on the show. And there were compelling moments with Daniel's attempts to replicate his daughter's genius, as you can sense his desperation to achieve his goal and cheat death through technology. The scene on a building ledge between Joseph and Daniel also crackled, reminding you of earlier episodes when the Graystone and Adama patriarchs clashed. But I'm still bored by Amanda, who only became interesting when she started having visions before the hiatus, so why haven't they returned to that yet?

It was still a rather slow and measured hour, but that has been Caprica's tone for most of the season, and isn't likely to change. The upside is there's some fine acting (Stoltz confessing his many crimes to avatar-Amanda was a highlight) and fascinating ideas floating around. It's just a shame Caprica's individual positives haven't coalesced into something substantially appealing.

WRITER: Michael Taylor
DIRECTOR: John Dahl
TRANSMISSION: 26 October 2010, Syfy, 9/8c

'Caprica' cancelled!

When Syfy announced the development of Battlestar Galactica prequel Blood & Chrome last week, fans expected the worst for the existing spin-off Caprica. These fears have proven well-founded; Syfy have cancelled the low-rated sci-fi drama, which will be unceremoniously removed from their schedule next week.

Syfy's statement:

"The remaining first run episodes of Caprica -- airing Tuesdays at 10/9c -- will be removed from the schedule as of next Tuesday, November 2. These final five episodes of the season will be re-scheduled to air at a time to be announced time in the first quarter of 2011, and will conclude the run of the series."

Mark Stern, Syfy's EVP of Original Programming:

"We appreciate all the support that fans have shown for Caprica and are very proud of the producers, cast, writers and the rest of the amazing team that has been committed to this fine series. Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, Caprica has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season."

What do you make of this unsurprising news? I can't say I'm too upset, but it's a shame Caprica didn't find its feet. I wasn't so dismissive of the series compared to some (many people actively hated it), but I definitely agree it totally lost momentum after returning from hiatus. They had the chance to take stock of what was going wrong and fix it, but they didn't manage to.

Caprica's soap-opera elements just didn't appeal to BSG's audience, who preferred the epic adventuring, politics, philosophy, and thrilling action that BSG brought to the smallscreen. It also had more dynamic and appealing characters than Caprica's mix of gangsters, billionaires, teenagers, and terrorists.

Why do you think Caprica failed? And will next year's Blood & Chrome, set during the First Cylon War, have more success?

'CAPRICA' 1.12 - "Things We Lock Away"

The best episode since Caprica returned from hiatus, sure, but it's still flopping about like a dying fish in the majority of its storylines. This week's subplot with Lacey (Magda Apanowicz) held prisoner in Clarice's (Polly Walker) attic and drugged didn't offer us much, beyond letting Lacey know Clarice wants Zoe's avatar program and for her to attend STO training...

Elsewhere, the storyline inside V-world, with Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) being viciously attacked by followers of "Death Walker" of Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) inside a New Cap City coliseum, because Tamara knows Zoe was the bomber who killed her in the real world, could have been better. It was an incongruous jump to have Zoe suddenly in that bizarre situation, and the scenes were dragged out for longer than they deserved -- perhaps as a way to keep people hooked with the promise of intermittent scenes where Zoe brandishes a sword?

I was also confused by the addition of "Head-Zoe"; a vision avatar-Zoe can see who guides her through the ordeal and makes her believe in herself as a separate entity to original-Zoe. An avatar of a dead genius schoolgirl, trapped inside a virtual world, projecting a mental vision of herself to dispense words of wisdom? Can it get more convoluted? Caprica needs to find some easy-to-grasp simplicity.

The best storyline belonged to Daniel (Eric Stoltz), who won back control of his company from Vergis (John Pyper-Ferguson) when the blackmailed board members voted him back in as CEO. Daniel, aware that Joseph (Esai Morales) also now intends to have Vergis killed before he leaves Caprica, as a way to ensure he never again poses a problem, was stuck in a moral quandary. He's done terrible things in the name of business, but draws the line at killing a rival, so offered Vergis the chance to join forces and channel their wealth and influence into destroying Tauron gangsters the Ha'la'tha. But it was a deal that Vergis, himself a Tauron, couldn’t accept. Instead, he forced Daniel to stab him to death in his front room, fulfilling a cultural need to choose the circumstances of his own death.

Finally, Amanda (Paula Malcomsen) searched Clarice's cabin for evidence of her being a terrorist leader, but found nothing, only to be ordered by her handler to infiltrate Clarice's actual home. I just hope we get back to the idea of Amanda being a prophet soon, because I'm not in the least bit interested in watching her snoop around Clarice's home for the cops.

Overall, my interest in Caprica is sapped after a dozen episodes, almost to the point I'm ready to give up on it. Since it came back, it's moved away from everything I enjoyed about the earlier season. I'm still interested in Daniel's arc (even if the situation with Vergis felt like it had more to give us), but it's very difficult to keep faith that the writers know what they're doing with anything else. The show feels all over the place. Even the prospect of Tamara and Zoe as partnering "Death Walkers" in the virtual world doesn't excite me, as it might have done six episodes ago.

A glint of hope was the intriguing flashback that showed Zoe drew Cylons as a child, years before her father designed them. Did Daniel's subconscious just soak up her artwork, as he suggested, or are the Graystone's being guided down a path to create sentient robots by an outside force? If so, this points to the emergence of BSG's so-called Angels, which is fun. But, if you've seen BSG, you'll already know what their deal is (for the most part), so I'm not sure where the mystery is. Hopefully Caprica is going to explain the "Angels" in a manner that will effect how we perceive BSG. I just hope they do a good job, without revising BSG's mytharc in a way that spoils that show.

WRITER: Drew Z. Greenberg
DIRECTOR: Tim Hunter
GUEST CAST: Magda Apanowicz, John Pyper-Ferguson & Genevieve Buechner
TRANSMISSION: 19 November 2010 -– Syfy, 9/8c

'CAPRICA' 1.11 – "Retribution"

It's so frustrating, but Caprica has hit a quagmire since it came back from extended hiatus. It seems to be making all the wrong decisions right now; not least putting the emphasis on Sister Clarice (Polly Walker) in these first two episodes back, when the terrorism angle to Caprica is one of its least enjoyable components. I'm officially bored with 9/11 fears being reflected in entertainment now. On the plus side, "Unvanquished" and "Retribution" have made me realize just how much Zoe's storyline was keeping this show's heartbeat steady. The writers desperately need to get back to her story.

This week, Daniel (Eric Stoltz) has allied himself with Tauron gangsters Joseph (Esai Morales) and Sam (Sasha Roiz), who are helping him get his company back from Vergis by blackmailing the board members of his business into giving him their vote for a return. His only loyal employee, Cyrus (Hiro Kanagawa), has also returned the remnants of the broken U-87 Cylon his dead daughter's avatar was inhabiting until recently. Having Daniel interact with Joseph directly is a good move, and watching him flush away his humanity to regain his career (one colleague he pressures ends up committing suicide) is dramatic, and yet... just another layer of bleakness in a show that's becoming intolerably depressing.

The bigger focus of the story was on Clarice, who became the target of an assassination attempt at a Caprica interplanetary airport, masterminded by her STO rival Barnabus (James Marsters), which acolyte Lacey (Magda Apanowicz) and her bombers failed to pull off. This triggers a turf war between Clarice (who has the blessing of STO figurehead "Mother" to control Caprica's terrorist cells) and the ousted Barnabus, which leads to him being caught and killed with a bomb as Lacey is kidnapped by Clarice.

Simultaneously, Amanda (Paula Malcomsen) begins to realize that her friend Clarice is a terrorist leader when she's informed of the compelling evidence against her by a detective building a case against Clarice. She now looks likely to become his confidential informant, providing intelligence on Clarice's movements so the authorities can eliminate the monotheist cult that recruits suicide bombers.

In not so much what happens in Caprica that's a problem, rather how it goes about telling the story. It's becoming a suffocating sci-fi show, with nothing to balance out the dark storylines, and clogged up with plot and characters whose motivations and purpose have become difficult to remember. You need to be able to hold each of Caprica's storylines in the palm of your hand, but most are slipping through my fingers now. Of primary concern: I'm losing the thread with the Soldiers Of One cult, and why they believe bombing innocent people will somehow convert people to their cause. Who wants to join a monad religion that doesn't preach their beliefs reasonably, but primarily kills non-believers? Why is monotheism not tolerated by society? If the idea is that Clarice's followers are fundamentalist zealots that have bastardized monotheism to their own ends, then this needs to be made clearer.

I can't summon the enthusiasm to write about "Retribution" any more, but feel free to add your own thoughts below. I know Caprica wasn't to everyone's taste when it debuted earlier this year, but it really seems to be struggling now. Knowing they've had months to rethink and adjust things, with the benefit of knowing the audience's doubts and concerns first-hand, means there's really no excuse for this state of affairs. Maybe, as many suspect, there just isn't enough to Caprica's raison d'etre (let's reveal how the Cylons were created) to fuel a television show, and this should have been a six-part miniseries?

WRITERS: Patrick Massett & John Zinman
DIRECTOR: Jonas Pate
GUEST CAST: Hiro Kanagawa, Panou, Winston Rekart, Ryan Robbins & Zak Santiago
TRANSMISSION: 12 October 2010 – Syfy, 9/8c

'CAPRICA' 1.10 - "Unvanquished"

Today over at Obsessed With Film, I review the mid-season premiere of CAPRICA, Syfy's Battlestar Galactica prequel, brought to you by the designers of skintight trousers.

"Syfy's prequel to the venerated Battlestar Galactica remake was always going to face an uphill struggle. The notion of a prequel usually denotes there's been a narrative conclusion to a better storyline, so now the makers are trying to turn back-story into a narrative of its own. Sometimes prequels work, but usually they fail. Caprica failed to inherit the majority of BSG's audience when it debuted earlier this year; possibly because there's more family drama than military action, maybe because it feels less epic in scope, or perhaps because none of Caprica's characters are de facto heroes. And while that brings uncertainty and darkness to bear, you have to wonder if that's what audiences want to watch right now. There was ambiguity in BSG, too, but we started that show with a simple humans/good versus robots/evil premise, before things started to get complicated." Continue reading...

'Caprica' returns early, 5 October

Syfy have reversed their unpopular decision to delay the second half of Caprica's first season until January 2011, and will now resume the show starting Tuesday 5 October @10pm. Great news, even if it does mean my schedule is getting to unmanageable levels because of this! The full press release is below:

NEW YORK - September 9, 2010 - The highly anticipated return of Syfy's critically-acclaimed series Caprica will come even sooner than anticipated. The second half of season one will now premiere on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 10:00PM ET/PT, the channel announced today. Fans will no longer have to wait until January to watch the series exciting kick-off, as the citizens of Caprica deal with the chaotic aftermath of the mid-season finale's harrowing events.

The second half of season one will transport us from stunningly vivid, twisted Virtual realities to the fascinating outer worlds of the 12 Colonies. Along the way, revolutionary tensions rise, family power shifts and our characters grapple with the physical and emotional consequences of their questionable decisions. As the season races towards its stunning conclusion, each episode lays the groundwork for the inevitable (and brutal) clash between the new Cylon race and its human creators.

"Though we initially announced the January return of Caprica, we still had hopes of finding a way to get the series back on the air sooner," said Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Original Programming, Syfy and Co-Head of Content for Universal Cable Productions. "We've been able to successfully re-work our schedule, and are thrilled to bring the show back during what is traditionally Syfy's most-watched time of the year. The outcome should also please fans who expressed their wishes for a shorter mid-season hiatus."

Caprica stars Eric Stoltz (Daniel Graystone), Paula Malcomson (Amanda Graystone), Esai Morales (Joseph Adama), Polly Walker (Sister Clarice Willow), Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone), Magda Apanowicz (Lacy) and Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama).

Caprica will immediately follow new episodes of Stargate Universe (Tuesdays @ 9PM).

The third season premiere of Sanctuary will now launch in its former timeslot on Friday, October 15 at 10:00PM ET/PT immediately following Friday Night Smackdown on Syfy at 8:00PM ET/PT.

Produced by Universal Cable Productions, Caprica is a prequel to the award-winning series Battlestar Galactica, and is executive produced by Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Jonas Pate serves as co-executive producer and director.

TRAILER: Caprica Season 1.5

I had mixed feelings about Caprica, but ultimately I think it showed great potential amidst the missteps and awkward uses of character. I also found it hard to dismiss the feeling Caprica's story is crippled because it's heading towards an ending the majorit of its fanbase (Battlestar Galactica fans) know already. To counteract that, the journey needs to be compelling in its own right, and there were admittedly enough moments that achieved that.

Anyway, Syfy have released an extensive teaser for the remainder of season 1 (see above), which unfortunately won't air until January 2011. I think it's too early to be trying to whip the fans into a frenzy, but I guess this trailer makes it clear the show is becoming more action-packed and exciting. I'm actually very surprised by how far the story appears to be developing, if this trailer isn't cleverly misleading us. It almost makes me wonder if Caprica has enough story for a second season and beyond. But, as of right now, this trailer succeeds in making me pine for the show to return, and hopefully blow us away with a more focused and unpredictable feel.

Caprica continues, January 2011

Syfy have announced that the second-half of Caprica's first season won't be on the airwaves until January 2011. A promotional trailer for season 1.5 is expected to be shown at the San Diego Comic-Con on 23 July, released on the web a week later.

What do you make of this news? It's certainly a very long wait for fans. Will such a lengthy hiatus (after airing just 9 episodes, to mixed reviews), be a stumbling block Caprica won't recover from? Will the extra time ensure the producers improve the show's formula, so it'll come back stronger? And with such a wait, why not just call January's return season 2?

CAPRICA 1.9 - "End Of The Line"

WRITER: Michael Taylor
DIRECTOR: Roxann Dawson
GUEST CAST: James Marsters, Polly Walker, Scott Porter, John Pyper-Ferguson, Alex Arsenault, Leah Gibson, Jill Teed, Hiro Kanagawa, Genevieve Buechner, James Pizzinato, Liam Sproule, Teryl Rothery, Johnson Gray & Zak Santiago

[SPOILERS] A lot happened in Caprica's mid-season finale (more than the past four episodes combined) and it delivered a real buzz in its final moments, leaving you excited about where the show's headed when it returns in October. But at the same time it felt rather forced and at odds with the measured pace that's been the show's style. It was as if the producers decided to throw three episodes worth of developments into one episode, almost out of desperation.

We may as well just tick off the big developments: Joseph (Esai Morales), now a sofa-bound holoband addict, managed to locate Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) in New Cap City, only to watch as she (faked) her own death and "de-rezed" him from the game; Amanda (Paula Malcomson) sank into depression, pushed into a suicide bid when it became clear Daniel (Eric Stoltz) had indeed stole the MCP chip from rival Vergis (John Pyper-Ferguson); lab assistant Philo (Alex Arsenault) was ordered to destroy what makes the Zoe-Cylon's chip unique, forcing Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) to reveal her presence within the robot body to him, and go on the run in a stolen vehicle; Daniel decided to sell the C-Bucks team to Vergis to save his business from financial ruin, and was later told the military want their agreed 100,000 Cylon soldiers ready by next week; and Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) was given a crate to transport Zoe-Cylon safely to Gemenon by Barnabus (James Marsters), in exchange for planting a bomb in his STO rival Sister Clarice's (Polly Walker) car.

Again written by Michael Taylor, "End Of The Line" certainly contained plenty of moments I wasn't expecting (such as Zoe accidentally killing her boyfriend Philo during her escape), but some of the developments didn't feel worth the two-month buildup (like Tamara giving her father a reason to end his search for her), while others just felt confusing (like Daniel deciding to erase the unique elements of the MCP chip, which is undoubtedly the only thing that's made that otherwise useless chip work!) I'm still scratching my head over that latter development, and wondering why Daniel didn't threaten Zoe-Cylon with what's effectively death as one of the trials during "Ghosts In The Machine".

Elsewhere, Barnabus became a touch more interesting as a fanatical terrorist who's prepared to kill other higherups like Sister Clarice in order to remain top dog, but my patience is stretching thin with Amanda's character because the writers have saddled her with playing a drunk prone to hallucinations. I guess there's potential in the idea that Sister Clarice considers Amanda to be a prophet of sorts -- here avoiding a fiery demise at the hand of Barnabus when she was distracted by seeing Amanda jump off a bridge -- so maybe it'll help if Amanda is introduced to the STO's teachings and is told she's perhaps an instrument of the One True God.

And what of Joseph? Considering the fact Caprica was pitched as this big warring family drama, the Adamas have been a big disappointment so far. Graystone vs. Vergis has felt like a more plausible and interesting threat than the early Adama/Graystone skirmishes ever were, Joseph's been stuck wandering around V-world for weeks recently, and his search concluded in a rather offhand way here. And the little twist that Joseph's sexy virtual guide, Emmanuelle (Leah Gibson) was his besotted secretary Evelyn (Teryl Rothery) all along -- who had likely talked Tamara into faking her suicide so she could get Joseph all to herself in the real-world, likewise passed by with no sense of impact.

Overall, Caprica definitely some work to do. It's certainly more entertaining now than it was in the first month on-air, and has even pulled off a few genuinely thrilling episodes along the way, but it's not quite as good as it thinks it is yet. There are too many characters or subplots that aren't interesting or feel tired (Amanda's visions, Sister Clarice, the STO), so most of the heavy lifting's being done by Daniel's corporate feud and Zoe's existential nightmare. The promise of a very exciting and interesting storyline with the "immortal" Tamara in V-world also hasn't come about yet, although there's still time for that to take shape.

Asides

• The character of Sister Clarice hasn't worked, the producers have even admitted they're having problems with her storyline, so it was a missed opportunity to not kill her off in the bomb. Then again, she's part of those expensive opening credits, so the actress must be under contract, so they'll have to do something with her.


• This episode was directed by Roxann Dawson, best known for playing B'Elanna Torres in Star Trek: Voyager, who's now a fairly prolific TV director after getting her behind-the-camera break on Trek. In fact, her recent career echoes that of Voyager co-star Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), who is havily involved filming Chuck. Dawson did a good job with a large-scale episode here.


• Maybe it's just me, but everytime I see an action sequence in Caprica I keep thinking it's been shoehorned in at the behest of Syfy because of early complaints the show is boring. The car chase sequence with Zoe-Cylon and two Hunter-Killers from The Terminator (weren't they?) was returned to so often (as part of a pointless flashforward device) that it irritated me.


• Is Tamara pronounced "Tam-ra" or "Tam-ar-a"? Is one American, one English? I've always said the latter. "You say Tamra, I say Tamara... let's call the whole thing off."

30 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM

CAPRICA 1.8 - "Ghosts In The Machine"

WRITER: Michael Taylor
DIRECTOR: Wayne Rose
GUEST CAST: Polly Walker, John Pyper-Ferguson, Leah Gibson & Jesse Haddock

[SPOILERS] "Ghosts In The Machine" was two-thirds good, one-third tiresome. It once again explored the series' raison d'etre of two fathers trying to locate their dead daughters, whose spirits are both trapped in technological prisons. Trouble is, while Daniel's (Eric Stoltz) storyline has been getting better of late, Joseph's (Esai Morales) has been getting worse...

Daniel is now convinced Zoe's (Alessandra Torresani) avatar is inhabiting his Cylon automaton, thus explaining its curious behaviour and responsiveness. Unfortunately, Zoe has no intention of letting on he's correct in that assumption, even when he puts her through a series of tests; laborious assembling and disassembling a weapon, standing motionless inside a circle of flames (knowing Zoe has a childhood fear of fire), and -- in the episode's standout sequence -- demanding she shoot the family dog dead. Each scene was interesting and riveting for its own reasons (the dog incident undoubtedly the big talking point when the dust settled), and the storyline ultimately did a good job of cementing exactly why Zoe doesn't want her father to know she's "survived" death in digital form. That has been one of Caprica's sticking points for me, but I think this episode did a much better job of clarifying why a girl like Zoe would prefer to keep her existence a secret.

I wish I could be similarly upbeat about Joseph's adventures in the virtual world, but "New Cap City" is becoming a drag, not helped by the fact Joseph's so clueless and inept in this digital realm, while the continuous shots of blimps and pointless explosions is already beginning to outstay its welcome. I think my main problem is that I'm not sure how to treat Joseph as a character yet -- one minute it looks like he's the ruthless patriarch of a gangster dynasty trying to go straight yet ordering a hit on Amanda (Paula Malcomson), the next he's a sidekick in a virtual game, being led around by guide Emmanuelle (Leah Gibson) as he's apparently lost his killer instinct (even in a place where "death" isn't even real.) Thankfully, Joseph appeared to grow some cajones in the final moments, slaughtering a nightclub's patrons in an effort to track down his daughter, which at least bodes well for the future.

Overall, this penultimate episode before the mid-season finale was rescued by the excellent Daniel/Zoe sequences, which were fascinating and a brilliant mind game for Stoltz and Toressani to play with. It's funny, I started watching Caprica and feeling that there was more intrigue and vitality to the Adama's, but now I'm more invested in the Graystone's business problems and family issues. There's just more angles to those characters. That said, the recent idea that Amanda's having visions of her dead brother (she visited the spot where his car crashed and saw him drive past in ghostly form), is something I don't feel particularly attached to just yet.

Asides

-- There was another sly reference to where the Cylon race is headed, with Daniel promising Zoe he'll "find a way to make you a more human body." He won't, of course.

-- As a fan of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it's always nice to see alumnus Ronald D. Moore give one of his fellow DS9 staffers a job -- in this case, Michael Taylor, who wrote one of my favourite ever sci-fi TV episodes "The Visitor". I still say that Battlestar Galactica (and by extension Caprica) is essentially a mix of three old shows: the original BSG (the premise, the lore), Deep Space Nine (the spirituality) and Space: Above & Beyond (the aesthetic, military angle).

-- Judging from those "Tamara-flower" symbols everywhere, I daresay she's become a messianic figure in V-world since we last saw her, or at the very least the leader of a cult.

23 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM

CAPRICA 1.7 - "The Imperfections Of Memory"

WRITER: Matthew B. Roberts
DIRECTOR: Wayne Rose
GUEST CAST: Polly Walker, Magda Apanowicz, Alex Arsenault, Richard Harmon, Panou & John Pyper-Ferguson

[SPOILERS] I was reminded of something in this episode: while the Soldiers Of The One are perceived as a monotheistic religious cult of crazies, we know from Battlestar Galactica that there is a "One True God" who's been manipulating events, which means their beliefs are correct. Consequently, maybe it's possible that Amanda's (Paula Malcomsen) hallucinations of her brother Darius, who died in a car accident, should indeed be interpreted as divine guidance? They feel similar to the visions experienced by BSG characters like Roslin and Baltar. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that Amanda's maiden name is Roslin, too...

"The Imperfections Of Memory" was one of those episode where we got some decent nuggets of information and a few worthwhile developments, but the impetus behind the episode still felt a little lacking. I didn't dislike this hour, but it did feel quite padded and, at times, appeared to shoehorn in some action for the sake of it. To briefly recap: Amanda confided in Sister Clarice (Polly Walker) that she spent two years in a nuthouse following her brother's death in a car crash; Joseph (Esai Morales) tracked down Heracles (Richard Harmon) and forced him to accompany him to the virtual New Cap City to find his daughter's avatar, only for Heracles to "die" in the program (which means he can no longer return there); Daniel (Eric Stoltz) learned that his rival Vergis (John Pyper-Ferguson) believes the MCP chip he stole is defective, but knowing it's not intrigued Daniel as to why it's working in his Cylon; Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) has decided to become a sworn member of the STO, to force Barnabus to help her transport Zoe's (Alessandra Torresani) robot body "cargo" to Gemenon; and Zoe herself had a second date with lab rat Philo (Alex Arsenault) in V-World, later manipulating him into believing the Cylon robot he's working on needs real world stimuli to grow.

What became clearer, thankfully, is that Sister Clarice believes Zoe and Amanda are essentially "prophets" of the One True God, and there's already talk of the V-World being retrofitted to enable a type of "resurrection" for their followers. This is something Zoe clearly believes could happen during her chat with Philo (hey, she's living proof!), and it's interesting to chew on this stuff knowing what occurs in the chronological sequel BSG -- where "skinjob" Cylons are indeed able to "resurrect" into new bodies after death (by transmitting their consciousness), and have the ability to conjure mindscapes that are essentially imagination as virtual reality. It was fun to see the beginnings of those intrinsic elements of future Cylon society alluded to here.

Everything else was only of mild interest to me, and it felt strange that the episode included a few superfluous moments of effects-fuelled action (various aerial attacks in the oddly deserted New Cap City, an old-style Viper flight sim crash sequence), which felt like the show was throwing bones to elements of the audience annoyed that Caprica doesn't have the action backdrop of BSG.

Overall, this felt like a pretty average installment to me, but one that contained a few juicy morsels. I wasn't that excited by the climax, where Daniel has apparently guessed that Zoe is inhabiting the Cylon, although I guess I should have been. I suppose I'm just suspicious it's not going to lead anywhere yet, because Zoe obvious won't respond to put his mind at ease (or she would have already), so it'll probably just be left with Daniel having a strong suspicion.

Asides

-- The way New Cap City resembles an early-'00s video-game is actually kind of clever, as you can't criticize the occasionally shaky visuals because the whole environment is supposed to be "fake" and using modified code. It also amused me that Zoe criticized the realism of what, to our eyes, is a stunning technological achievement.

-- What's happened to those cops investigating the MAGLEV bombing? They haven't been seen in awhile.

-- I've been meaning to mention this, but I absolutely love the visuals of Caprica's opening titles -- especially that first camera swoop down into Daniel's lab, which itself feels like a spoiler because we see Cylons being mass-produced there already.

-- Further to my opening theory that Amanda's maiden name is Roslin, there's also the fact that Laura Roslin's father and sisters were also killed in a car crash that had a major effect on her. Storytelling coincidence, or does the One True God have a thing about steering people's destinies by killing their loved-ones in vehicular accidents?

-- One of the skinjob Cylons we never got to actually see in BSG, because Cavil "boxed" him, was the Daniel model. I'm ready to bet -- yes, this early on -- that the Daniel model looks like Daniel Graystone.

16 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM

CAPRICA 1.6 - "Know Thy Enemy"

WRITERS: Patrick Masset & John Zinman (story by Patrick Masset, John Zinman & Matthew Roberts)
DIRECTOR: Michael Nankin
GUEST CAST: James Marsters, Polly Walker, Brian Markinson, Alex Arsenault, Julius Chapple & Hiro Kanagawa

[SPOILERS] A comedown after last week's gem, but "Know Thy Enemy" developed each storyline enough to make it a valued effort, particularly if you've found the Soldiers Of One plot annoyingly vague so far. There aren't many weeks left before Caprica goes on hiatus, and I sensed this episode was laying foundations for the mid-season finale...

It's been mentioned that Caprica loves duality, so it was great to see that theme continue with the arrival of a business adversary for Daniel (Eric Stoltz): Tauron rival Tomas Vergis (John Pyper-Ferguson), the man he stole a chip from to build his latest Cylon. Vergis has finally noticed this theft and plans to avenge Daniel's underhandedness by ruining his life and business. What makes this interesting is that we should be on Vergis' side, as Daniel's indeed guilty of larceny and had Joseph (Esai Morales) steal the "MCP chip" using men who killed two innocent lab technicians in the process. Daniel feels terrible guilt over those deaths, which were never part of his plan, and after discussing the matter with Joseph it becomes clear that the Adama's are just as afraid of what might happen if the Vergis robbery and murders get traced to them. I got the impression that inter-Tauron offenses are severely frowned upon.

Sister Clarice (Polly Walker) became more interesting away from her legal polgyamy, too. Here she gained access to the Graystone residence by offering a vulnerable and tipsy Amanda (Paula Malcomson) a shoulder to cry on as Zoe's compassionate teacher, before talking her way into Daniel's underground lab so she could surreptitiously use a "swipe drive" to copy computer data. Clarice is still searching for the virtual avatar of Zoe for her STO superiors, apparently intending to use this technology to create a tangible afterlife for their followers, unaware that "Zoe" resides inside the Cylon she notices standing in Daniel's lab. I have to ask, though: doesn't creating an artificial afterlife go completely against the faith involved in a religious salvation after death?

The weakest subplot was Zoe's (Alessandra Torresani), who notices that her robot form's on-hand technician Philomon (Alex Arsenault) is having zero luck on a dating website. So, while he's busy elsewhere, Zoe used his computer terminal to send him a message posing as "Rachel" and arranging a date in a virtual club. The writers coped with the problem that Rachel looks identical to a spectacle-wearing Zoe Graystone (the dead daughter of Philomon's employer) by mentioning that Rachel has intended her avatar to look that way, which I'm willing to go with -- a little grudgingly.

Really though, if you were on a virtual date with someone, wouldn't you want to see the real person, if only out of fear they're an obese old man? Maybe not? Either way, I hope Philomon questions Rachel's real appearance soon, or at least gets worried when Rachel never wants to see him in the real-world. As for the overall storyline -- well, I guess it adds another thread to Caprica's tapestry (relationship comedy) and lets Toressani wear different attire, but I still find it too weird that Philomon would have "feelings" for that Cylon hardware in the real world. Then again, I saw a documentary where a man had fallen in love with his car and had regular intercourse with the exhaust pipe. "It happened before, it'll happen again..."

Keon (Liam Sproule) also took Lacey (Magda Apanowicz) to see STO's near-mythical leader Barnabus (James Marsters), who it's revealed is something of a religious fundamentalist when it comes to following the One True God, as we meet him wrapping his right arm tightly with barbed wire (oddly more shocking than the silhouette of the act being made to look like he was shooting drugs.) Interestingly, Barnabus is against helping Lacey transport Zoe's unspecified shipment to Gemenon, brusquely dismissing her and refusing to help, before chastising Keon for wasting his time. I'm sure he'll relent and agree to help Lacey, as otherwise there's no story, but I'm still at a loss to predict what the real Zoe planned to do on Gemenon.

I enjoyed "Know Thy Enemy" for punching through the opacity of the STO movement and giving us something to latch onto about Sister Clarice and her own agenda. It was also fantastic to get another villain in the tranquil guise of Vergis, brilliantly played by John Pyper-Ferguson, whose insistence he'll destroy Daniel's life over a demure tête-à-tête ranked as one of Caprica's best moments yet. There was also a good reminder that Joseph's going to find it hard to locate his daughter in V-World, as simply purchasing a Holoband and going online doesn't grant you access to the hacked realms the kids inhabit. He'll have to find himself a young computer whiz to help, it would seem.

Overall, I've had my issues with this show since it started, but the variety of storylines and complexity of its characters are beginning to rival the excellent production design, and things are beginning to get more interesting now. I'm growing more excited about what the next episode will bring, which is exactly how it should be.

9 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM

CAPRICA 1.5 - "There Is Another Sky"

WRITER: Kath Lingenfelter
DIRECTOR: Michael Nankin
GUEST CAST: Luciana Carro, Karen Elizabeth Austin, Camille Mitchell, Hiro Kanagawa, Genevieve Buechner, Julius Chapple, Richard Harmon, AC Peterson, Eve Harlow, Travis Turner, Graham Chabot & Thomas Saunders

[SPOILERS] Caprica's most enjoyable episode yet owed a debt to all forms of virtual reality science-fiction, but it's understandable that The Matrix will dominate most people's thoughts. "There Is Another Sky" sure benefited from tackling the show's interactive "V-World"; it's fresh territory to explore, visually exciting and just made for a refreshing change of setting and pace. The plot's structure also worked better by limiting screentime for the Graystone's and focusing instead on the Adama's...

This was primarily an overdue adventure for Tamara (Genevieve Buechner), who's trapped in the virtual reality "V-World" -- unaware she's just a digital phantom of a teenage girl killed in the MAGLEV bombing. In this episode, Tamara sought help to escape her digital prison from some mobsters led by a woman called Vesta (Camille Mitchell), who was dismissive of Tamara's story at first, but came to realize the opportunities she represents when a gunshot to her stomach failed to "de-rez" her back to reality and healed within minutes.

Tamara was thus partnered with a young gamer called Heracles (Richard Harmon), who hates his real-world existence, and proceeded to give her a guided tour of the "game" she's inadvertently playing: "New Cap City"; a noir version of Caprica City that feels like a hybrid of Grand Theft Auto and Dick Tracy. Heracles intends to become the first person to ever win the program, by stealing money from the current best player, a white-suited kingpin known as Chiro. To do this, Tamara's unique regenerative ability are employed to distract Chiro and his bodyguards at a club, while Heracles furtively downloaded the mob boss' avatar so he could later gain access to his personal bank and rob its vault.

It was all great fun, as it sounds. The retro-futurism was a joy, but it's also a compelling idea to have Tamara be such a powerful entity within the virtual world, already flexing her digital muscles to heal wounds and eliminate enemy software programs. It could perhaps slip into Matrix tropes too obviously, but for now it's just a great idea to have a dead girl find a level of importance and control in a fake world that she could only dream of in reality. Given her family's Tauron background as gangsters, there's also something rather satisfying about the prospect of Tamara Adama becoming the V-World's leading mobster. Thinking ahead, I wonder if Zoe has comparable abilities when she downloads herself into the V-World (logically, she should), and if she'll become Tamara's nemesis once she realizes Zoe's responsible for her bodily demise?

In the real-world, Joseph (Esai Morales) and Willie (Sina Najafi) went fishing as a way to connect, now that Joseph's been made aware of his son's grief turning to truancy and violent behaviour. This meant Joseph had to embrace his Tauron culture (which is something he's been reluctant to do) and let his wife and daughter find peace by participating in a ritual alongside his son.

Daniel (Eric Stoltz) didn't get too much screentime this week, but his headline scene was a memorable turning point for the series. Facing the ignominy of being ditched by his own company by his Board Of Directors, for publicly refusing to accept Holoband-related revenues, Daniel inspires everyone to follow his vision of the company's future: Cylons as sentient manservants. Using Zoe as a demonstration model, as she's the only robot that has an unnerving aura of intelligence (for reasons unknown to him), Daniel's impassioned speech about this next phase in Graystone Industries is successful enough to let him keep his position. So, the stage is set for Daniel to mass-manufacture Cylon slaves, although I assume he'll first have to find a way to duplicate the Zoe model's inimitable behaviour patterns?

I enjoyed "There Is Another Sky" a great deal. I particular like the duality that's coming to the fore between Zoe and Tamara. Zoe's the digital avatar of a dead religious activist from a privileged background, who's found a way to exist in the real world inside a robot; Tamara's the digital avatar of a dead girl from a criminal background, who's can exist in a virtual world. Both present a radical leap forward in their respective hardware/software existences, and will assumedly continue to grow more important, before converging. Well, that's my prediction. I wouldn't be surprised if a subclass of Cylon slaves are eventually created by Daniel, only for the Soldiers Of One to find a way for their teenage followers to download themselves into these Cylon bodies via the V-World, with Tamara as a kind of virtual facilitator/gatekeeper in league with Zoe. But would Tamara be persuaded to help the people who killed her, or would she need to be tricked? Oh, I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

Overall, this episode came as blessed relief for me. I still have some concerns with Caprica as a series, but I got a stronger sense of direction and purpose with this episode. Plus, it was a more entertaining balance between pure sci-fi adventure and human drama. Seeing Joseph become aware his daughter's still "alive" in V-World, after Tamara got word to him through the offline Heracles, was also a provocative way to end things. I'm just not 100% sure why Heracles didn't hang around to explain more and instead ran off scared by Joseph's reaction to this news, as it felt more like a way to keep the story going than a genuine human response.

2 MARCH 2010: SKY1 (HD), 9PM

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

CAPRICA 1.3 – "Reins Of A Waterfall"

WRITER: Michael Angeli
DIRECTOR: Ronald D. Moore
GUEST CAST: Polly Walker, Sasha Roiz, Luciana Carro, Philip Granger, Avan Jogia, Hiro Kanagawa, Elfina Luk, Lee Tichon, Dale Wolfe & Genevieve Buechner

[SPOILERS] I can't deny Caprica's doing an excellent job creating its universe (or filling in the gaps of ideas mentioned over four seasons of Battlestar Galactica, at least), so right now my strongest reaction is just basking in the world of Caprica. I think my main problem with the show itself is that it's difficult to know who you're supposed to care about...

Daniel (Eric Stoltz) and Amanda (Paula Macolmsen) Graystone may be sympathetic because they've lost a child, but they're also overprivileged and not particularly likeable; their daughter Zoe's (Alessandra Torresani) a rather sulky, angst-ridden teenager who mixed with religious extremists; and in this episode we make the shocking discovery that Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) is actually a ruthless gangster, and not really the "idealistic lawyer from a troubled family background" I thought he's be. So, I'm actually beginning to feel more atatched to Lacy's (Magda Apanowicz) story -- she may be embroiled with the "Soldiers Of The One" (STO), but she's essentially an innocent schoolgirl being pulled in two directions...

This episode dealt with the fallout to last week's climax, where Amanda inadvisably announced to the world on live Tv that her daughter was responsible for the train explosion that killed so many people, so now the Graystone's have become public hate figures –- stock shares are falling in their company, they're being glassed at public gatherings, anti-Graystone demonstrations are being held, and Caprica's number one talk show host, Braxton Samo (Patton Oswalt), is taking cheap-shots at Daniel on late-night TV. Most troublingly, seemingly demure Joseph and his brother Sam (Sasha Roiz) intercept Daniel at a fleapit gym, lead him down a back alley and viciously assault him, with Joseph demanding he get to see the avatar of his dead daughter Tamara (Genevieve Buechner) again...

There was a loose theme of people not quite being what we thought they were this week, too. Obviously Joseph's taken on a much darker persona (man, I bet Daniel regrets ever extended the hand of friendship to that guy!), his criminal brother Sam's actually in a relationship with a man, and Lacy proves to be a more capable person than the wallflower she appears to be -- when she overwhelms a male friend and enlists his help in secretly getting Zoe's robot form to Gemenon. More predictably, Sister Clarice (Polly Walker) is clearly up to no good, as we see her taking orders from a man with a disguised voice, and it's made clear her superiors knew about Zoe's breakthrough "avatar" and are convinced it must still exist. Right now, it seems obvious the STO and the virtual Zoe have a shared destiny in somehow turning Cylons into sentient, monotheistic beings... that will, of course, start a vicious war with mankind. I'm predicting (yes, this early) that they're intended to be the foot soldiers of a religious revolution, but the STO will get more than they bargained for.

As usual, the performances here were strong -- I'm particularly enjoying Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomsen and Sasha Roiz so far -– and Caprica is definitely coming across as an adult, sophisticated series that's done a great job setting up so many characters and situations in such little time. I'm just not totally convinced there's much point seeing the minutiae of how the Cylons came to be (as a BSG fan), no matter how well-crafted the tale may be. And, while the characters are rounded and intriguing to me on an intellectual level, they're not congenial enough for me to really care about... yet.

This episode did make me side more with the Graystone's, but only because it's going to be very tough to sympathize with the Adama clan now -- as this episode ended with Joseph asking Sam to murder Daniel's wife because he's angry he didn't lose as many family members in the bombing! It's possible to turn criminals into compelling anti-heroes on television (see: The Sopranos), but... Joseph ordering a hit on a grieving mother to even a score? I guess it has my attention, but I'm hoping Joseph reneges on his order next week, because that's perhaps going too far.

Overall, "Reins Of A Waterfall" was another perfectly enjoyable and interesting slice of sci-fi drama. I'm intrigued by why human-Zoe wanted to take her avatar to Gemenon, I'm glad there's a way for robot-Zoe to meet Lacy in the Holoband world again, and I'm interested to see what will happen to Tamara Adama now she's been discovered in the Holo-world by Zoe and Lacy, who let her loose into the wider virtual world to survive alone. Basically, there's enough going on to keep me around for more, but I still think Caprica has some wrinkles it needs to iron out before I'll find myself willing and able to get behind the situations being presented.

5 FEBRUARY 2010: SYFY, 9/8c

Newsbite: Brit gets True Blood; Human Target drops; Merlin on Syfy; Caprica ratings

A brief roundup of some recent TV news stories that have my interest. Brit Morgan (who was fantastic on The Middleman) has joined the cast of True Blood as Debbie Pelt, which sounds like perfect casting to me. Morgan was overlooked on The Middleman, but I always thought she was by far the most natural performer on that short lived series. Incidentally, I know The Middleman only appealed to a niche audience, but it's a shame a British broadcaster never bought it. It would be a fun show for FiveUSA or the Sci-Fi Channel to air, don't you think?

Human Target fell in the Wednesday night ratings by 23% (7.8 million) to finish third in its 8pm hour, possibly because it didn't have the benefit of an American Idol lead-in this week. But I have to wonder, is the fact the show can be illegally downloaded after its Canadian premiere (two days before) having some affect, too? It's the kind of show impatient geeks are likely to target (pun intended, actually.)

Also, Syfy have acquired the second series of Merlin and will start broadcasting episodes from April. The first series ran on NBC last summer (the first British import to get a primetime US network airing in decades), but critical response was mixed and ratings low. Anyway, Syfy feels like a better home for this fantasy series, and Merlin's second year is a remarkable improvement over the iffy first, so I recommend it to any Americans who have yet to see it. And those who disliked the first series, too. Just keep in mind that the first episode isn't likely to change any negative opinions you have, so give it a few weeks to bed in.

Finally, the second episode of Caprica only managed to attract 1.4 million viewers to Syfy last Friday -- down 200,000 from the pilot, where the poor performance was blamed on the fact the premiere had been available on DVD/download beforehand and was competing with a Hope For Haiti telethon. So, is there just no appetite for Caprica? Is this a Stargate Universe-type situation, where fans of the fictional universe don't care about a show that's trying something different in the same "sandbox", and potential new fans feel it's not worth giving a try because of the assumed BSG "baggage"? Who knows. Maybe positive word of mouth will buoy Caprica's ratings, as it's getting good reviews.