Caprica - MAJOR SPOILERS

[Afiriel]

Originally Posted by Edsel_PK

I've always liked fedoras...I even own a couple. Whether its Indiana Jones, or gangster chic...LOL

Oh, don't get me wrong - I like them too; far more dashing than the derby. I'm just not used to seeing so many of them!

Originally Posted by RobRoy

Like the Tauron mourning gloves. I tend to like such subtle nuances.

I do, also, the tattoos being another example, with Sam explaining to Willie that the merchant could read his entire life through them.

Originally Posted by Edsel_PK

It was the War, I asume, that caused the Colonies to ally, and that was not an overnight process. Something needs to drive the show forward and bring in the other 11 colonies, so we can see just how the Colonial universe really functions.

Originally Posted by RobRoy

I'm uncertain, but I would think you're right. In which case I would like to see more inter-Colonial divides and anger so that we get the full force of the racial issues. Obviously, they will never go away completely, but it would be good to get that sense so that we see them ebb when the outside threat appears.

These are such interesting ideas. BSG did make it clear that it was the Cylon War that brought the colonies together, with the Articles of Colonization being authored some time after the war started.

But really, from what we do have, it just seems like Caprica, majorly blessed, against all the rest of them. The Taurons are treated pretty much exactly here as were the Sagittarons during BSG, and I'll throw in the Aerilons, too, given that episode with Baltar reverting to original accent, explaining the ways in which it was imperative for him to change in order to become successful on Caprica. The Geminons had the religious card to play, perhaps allowing them a bit of length on the leash. We just had little snippets.

Wondering about the how and why, I have to ask how widespread was the use of the robotic servents? Why is it the problem of all twelve worlds, when Caprica seems to be the major source of abuse? Sure, it will come from the military use, but if the colonies aren't united, how do their military powers interact? Are they constantly fighting little interplanetary skirmishes? And Greystone's company just sells Cylons to everybody?

Regardless, it's a major pleasure to have an opportunity to watch another colony's culture unfold in some detail. I think the Taurons will act for all the rest, though I wouldn't mind hours and hours introducing them all.

Given what we have seen, I don't much blame the Taurons for their "mafioso" bent, and consider the Guatro on target, spending money to educate a lawyer to deal with the power that is the current Caprica.

Also interesting to watch the various influences on young Willie; though remarkably self-contained even as a child, he seems to be less impressed by his father, the lawyer, than he is by his uncle, the assassin. Our impression of Josef, from the Admiral, is far different than what we are seeing here. (So of course I wish for the impossible, a one-on-one scene between Mr. Olmos and Mr. Morales. )

Willie's grandmother tries, unsuccessfully, to root him in Tauran ways, but he is already Caprican, preferring burgers. The adult with whom we are familiar seems only to have retained that remarkably strong sense of family. He doesn't equate his father's work with efforts to drag his family by their bootstraps into the power and wealth that is Caprica. Really, Josef's story isn't so much different from Baltar's. I would say that the older William just focuses on the seediness of Josef's clientele, but maybe I am taking that more from Romo.

I'm ready to watch more.

[EDSEL_PK]

Hypothetically, the STO terrorists could spark conflict between Caprica and Geminon --where they presumably have a foothold. That might create a need for the Centurions, and fuel their production and (rushed) introuduction into service.

With their shaky programming, they would become troublesome, and soon start straining at the leash. Ta-daaaaa!!!! An insurrection in the making.

Also, we should note that Capricans don't like their neighbors, anyway. They detest their Tauron minority. They have no qualms about stealing tech from the Virgons. And I'm sure they'll go ape crazy when they find out the Geminons are harboring the STO.

If I'm understanding it correctly, the STO terrorists are more than zealots. They have planted the seeds of what will ultimately spark the Cylon War. More so than the tin cans themselves.

[Afiriel]

Originally Posted by EDSEL_PK

Hypothetically, the STO terrorists could spark conflict between Caprica and Geminon --where they presumably have a foothold. That might create a need for the Centurions, and fuel their production and (rushed) introuduction into service.

With their shaky programming, they would become troublesome, and soon start straining at the leash. Ta-daaaaa!!!! An insurrection in the making.

Also, we should note that Capricans don't like their neighbors, anyway. They detest their Tauron minority. They have no qualms about stealing tech from the Virgons. And I'm sure they'll go ape crazy when they find out the Geminons are harboring the STO.

If I'm understanding it correctly, the STO terrorists are more than zealots. They have planted the seeds of what will ultimately spark the Cylon War. More so than the tin cans themselves.

I think you are right on the money, here, Edsel. Quoting it all for appreciation of the thought process, with thanks because I surely need help figuring it. (Sorry to be so late; caught in Oly-fever.)

After Friday-Night-Knives, I don't much blame Willie for preferring burgers to Tauron cooking. Perhaps Yusif takes after his Dad, which makes me appreciate Romo all the more.

Clearly, I think we are talking parents versus children. Up to bat for the parents, we have Amanda grabbing the order into her own hands and delivering a nicely placed single, allowing Daniel to come to bat for his long and quite catchable fly, more like a heedless poker bet, ceding the farm to the public of the Jay Leno avatar (exquisitely acted with that Mynor Dollhouse remembrance).

Initiating what I would expect to be the inevitably resulting board meeting. Honestly, Daniel is so stupid or the show so far out of real-life baselines to believe the farm is his to give away? Some calculation in his heart-felt?

Meanwhile, I think these kids are going to do whatever they want to do. Any rules they once had have been wiped clean by lack of parental awareness or understanding. Daniel perhaps provided the tools, the Caprican lifestyle created their unfulfilled needs. Lacy will deliver something to Geminon, not sure what, with mother-figure Clarice as the unmistakable loose-cannon, taking the heat.

My own generation did the same. Nothing changed, except Nixon got on that helicopter. I'd like to think my vision is very short and limited.

Despite the name of the show, neither all the kids nor all the parents are Caprican. See, again, I am unsuccessfully trying to circle how truly dark this show is. I am mired in it, and lagging behind; I will catch up, but a lot to consider.

Daniel makes my heart ache, my insides twist, and my head pound, as he lies and lies and lies. He lies to everyone, to the press, his peers and coworkers, his family, the creations of his intellect, himself. If I knew for sure that he was brilliant, that he didn't steal everything, I would consider him proper clay for fashioning number 1, not number 7. He comes so close to understanding that he needs to pass the baton, and so far from accepting.

Reaching for a lighter note, we have the TOS theme as we switch channels.

Editing: Oh, I just read this, and see someone on the brink, just like Daniel. It is definitely a story on its own, without the need of piecework into some kind of BSG quilt. It's just that I have extra pieces if I don't do that.

[RobRoy]

I watched the latest episode, but didn’t think too highly of it. I was waiting to see what anyone else thought, but as no one has directly commented on it, I figured I’d put my thoughts down.

The show in general has great premise, but it’s starting to feel like the red-headed step-child: unloved, burdensome, beaten and neglected. Are there any likable adult characters? So far it has been the angsty teenagers who seem to have the best grasp on moral integrity, loyalty, friendship, etc. I had thought that Yusif/Joseph Adama might be someone we would latch onto, even with his bribing of Caprican judges. Yet this latest episode has shown him to be just one more adult who is frakking up the entire system.

Perhaps there is some greater plot line that will emerge, with Joseph and Daniel at opposites ends of the spectrum, working against each other. It seems like the show creators are pushing the characters in that direction, but it all feels so forced at this point, with nothing really to show for it.

My advice: get a move on! Otherwise, we’re in danger of seeing a science fiction “Dallas”, and I have little interest in “Who Shot Greystone?” story lines

[EDSEL_PK]

Joseph was seen as a mob lawyer who tried to walk the razor's edge and maintain a sense of ethics. But then we see him stumble big-time when he told Sam to 'balance out' the situation with Amanda Graystone.

Daniel was seen as the cold amoral scientist who didn't give a frak about anything or anyone outside of his own little bubble. But then we saw him pull his company out of the of the VR business.

In that respect, they have been written as complex characters and intrigue me. But I'd like to see the story arcs shortened a bit, and more emphasis on the adults. The younguns are stealing the show.

What is Lacey trying to get to Geminon? Well, Zoe wanted to go there. Is Lacey trying to smuggle the Zoenator -- robot body and all -- to Geminon? Or has Zoe DL'd her consciousness -- a copy, perhaps -- and wants it to be transported off-world?

It seems Zoe is starting to crush on the lab worker who has been working on the Cylon prototype. Maybe not full-on romance, but she obviously is starting to like the guy. That will spark a major problem. Maybe she will inadvertantly reveal her sentience to him, or he'll find out she's trying to get to Geminon...Either way, he's likely to get offed in the process, and Zoe will suddenly be known as the 'Sentient Cylon'.