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