Caprica - Final Five Episode Review
Jan. 8th, 2011 06:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatBeen playing that game Echo Bazar - Fallen London and it's frustrating, every once and a while I'll get locked out of storylets or doing anything because I don't have enough fate to play.
Not a skill game so much as a marketing game.
Finished watching marathon of the remaining Caprica episodes today. Five in a row. Then discussed at length with Momster, who just called. That's what we do, critically analyze books, films and tv shows for hours over the phone. Also politics and family members. But mostly the former, because its safer. We both agreed - the Graystone family story was the only story thread that worked all the way through and was cohesive, the Adama/Tauron tale didn't work and felt like it was a separate story that had little to do with this one and belonged in an entirely different series - one with more time to develop, and the STO with Clarice Willow and Lacy was didatic, preachy and unambiguous. Not to mention a bit cliche. (How many times have we seen the evil religious terrorist cult tale told now? Seriously, this was handled a lot better by BattleStar Galatica actually.) If Caprica had stuck with just Zoe, Danial, and Amanda - in their pov and the Greek family tragedy, keeping everything else in the periphery - I think the series would have done a lot better. They got too ambitious and tried to do far too much. As a result they lost the audience and story-threads became difficult to follow or lacked coherence.
The thrill ride was the Graystones - who kept me on the edge of my seat, and the wrap-up of their storyline was quite ironic. Everything else...felt a bit cluttered with moments of potential greatness. As a result, the end felt rushed, because too much was going on, too many sub-plots, too much story for such a short space of time.
Still no clue what happened to Tamara - who seemed to disappear completely after about the second or third episode of the last five. Zoe seems to forget about her entirely and is alone in the V world, Tamara disappears. This would have made sense if they allowed Sam to kill her off or something, but no, she just stops being referred to. And it makes no sense. It's almost as if the writers just forgot about her.
Lacy's tale is a bit more interesting. But it also gets dropped in mid-stream, we never see how she becomes the Reverend Mother or what happened to Meg Tilly. Just that she takes control of the robots. And later has assumed control of Genome along with her comrades. Granted follow-through may not have been all that necessary here. We are told more or less all that we need to know about Lacy and her comrades. But I admittedly wondered about Lacy's parents - does she have any? And why she chose to take control of an organization she had serious issues with, in essence becoming what she hated.
Zoe's the only one whose actions do get examined. Although I think her discussion about heaven and hell with Clarice Willow was a gross oversimplification of the Muslim idea of an afterlife.
In some respects - Zoe was most interesting with the Graystone's, because it was clarified that she had no knowledge of the STO stuff that the original Zoe was up to and somewhat protected from it.
Also like her genius parents, she had a bit of a god-complex - thinking at the end of herself as god.
She tells Clarice Willow in Clarice's perfect heaven - that you can't let anyone come here, people can't rape, pillage, and kill then get a nice afterlife. There must be consequences. Otherwise what is the point? A gross simplification of Muslim religious doctrine. Zoe annoites herself God to Clarice, a god who can turn Clarice's perfect apotheosis or afterlife into a hell.
Her ability to create a world, to create life, made her god to that life and world. Power over it.
Humanity creates the one god in its own image - seemed to be the over-arching theme here. But I'm not sure it works - it was over-simplified and a bit didatic, almost allegorical.
Daniel Graystone - the story worked best when it focused on him. Eric Stolz's powerhouse performance as Graystone helped in this regard. The mad scientist, who wants his family and his life back, who can't quite grasp what he has created or the dire consequences down the road. He's not really mad, just not aware. And unlike the religious fanaticism morality play, the science morality play is far less simplified, far more subtle, and far more ambiguous. Graystone's creatures, the cylons, are used to save humans from a catastrophic bomb. Then regaled as heroes, to such a degree that humans start to rely on them in everday life. As police men, garbage collectors, military, butlers. Meanwhile Daniel and Amanda fulfill their promise to the Zoe Avatar - their daughter and created together, with her, a means of providing her with an actual human body.
Zoe has returned to them. She saves their lives when Willow and her goons (husbands) attempt to kill them. As the robot, she does this.
Amanda Graystone - Forgives Daniel and turns against the despicable Clarice, aiding him in the prevention of a terrorist bombing. Their relationship is explored from many angles, but mainly his, not so much hers. Yet she may well be the most well-rounded adult female character in the show.
Clarice Willow is a one-dimensional villain, irreedeemable and despicable by the end. Caprica does to Clarice much the same thing Whedon did to Angel in the comics, they use her as a symbol of everything that's wrong with religion. A thematic device. An allegory. The character slowly disappears. She's mustach twirling and insane. I hated her and wanted her dead. And knew little about her - as to why she got there, or why she sought it. The show never explored her, instead she was a mouthpiece for them to preach about the horrors of religious fanaticism. Oversimplified and poorly constructed. The actress deserved better. I think this series would have worked a lot better if it had chosen not to focus on Clarice so much....pulled back more and stuck to the Graystone's pov, leaving Clarice a supporting not lead character. Again this is something that BattleStar Galatica did a far better job with - both Cain and Six, as well as Dean Stockwell's character are far more complex characters...with layers. You often cared about them, felt sympathy...while Clarice just grated.
Granted they didn't have a lot of time to explore her in more depth...but, I think if they pulled her more to the sidelines, made her less of a major character - it would have worked better.
Josef and Sam Adama - there's a scene back in time between the two brothers that intrigued and surprised me, it comes in the third or fourth episode, I think, where we find out that it was Josef not Sam that took charge, who killed the people torturing his father, and who killed his mother.
And it is Josef that shoots and kills his father, to put him out of his misery. This - I thought was fascinating. And ironic. Just as it is fascinating and ironic that it is Josef and Sam's involvement with Graystone that brings the cylons into fruitation. But the Adama involvement with the Graystone's is summarily dropped...instead we go off on a tangent about Quantrille and his daughter, who manipulates her father into accidentally killing Josef's son Willy, resulting in her father's death at Sam and Josef's hands and her ability to take her father's place. But she comes in at the last minute (one episode before the finale) and has few lines. Also, Daniels' deal with Sam, and the arrangement to take the cylon's to Tauron to fight the Tauron War also gets dropped. I kept waiting for them to tie those two threads back together, but they never are. Also tonally as well as plot wise the Adama tale doesn't fit here. It's the one thread that isn't science-fiction and has little to do with the cylons. Watching it? Felt like jumping to another tv show. Jarring.
As for Willy Adama, up to now, I thought he was a young Bill Adama - so I was shocked when they killed him off...but also didn't care. We never really get to know him nor do we really see why so many people loved him. He's barely in it. It's tragic, sure, but I don't feel it.
I think that storyline should have sat further in the background as well. It took us away from the main thread and central plot. They could have connected the two better. Making the two separate at the end - causes a drastic shift in tone back and forth...so that when flip between the two storylines, you are jarred each round.
I see the dual themes of course - we see both Graystone and Adama taking on the illusion of power, putting someone or something in place that is far more powerful and dangerous. Not realizing they've been manipulated. For Graystone - it's by Zoe, and for Adama it is Ms. Quantrille, his old dead boss's daughter.
Part of the problem could very well be that there just wasn't enough time to tell the tale properly.
The Adama tale needed more time to develop, while the Graystone storyline was fully developed from the start.
Overall - I'd say it was a fun watch. I was certainly entertained and it held my attention. But I can see why it got canceled, and it also felt rushed and cluttered.
While I wholeheartedly recommended the first half of this tale, am somewhat ambivalent about recommending the rest.
Not a skill game so much as a marketing game.
Finished watching marathon of the remaining Caprica episodes today. Five in a row. Then discussed at length with Momster, who just called. That's what we do, critically analyze books, films and tv shows for hours over the phone. Also politics and family members. But mostly the former, because its safer. We both agreed - the Graystone family story was the only story thread that worked all the way through and was cohesive, the Adama/Tauron tale didn't work and felt like it was a separate story that had little to do with this one and belonged in an entirely different series - one with more time to develop, and the STO with Clarice Willow and Lacy was didatic, preachy and unambiguous. Not to mention a bit cliche. (How many times have we seen the evil religious terrorist cult tale told now? Seriously, this was handled a lot better by BattleStar Galatica actually.) If Caprica had stuck with just Zoe, Danial, and Amanda - in their pov and the Greek family tragedy, keeping everything else in the periphery - I think the series would have done a lot better. They got too ambitious and tried to do far too much. As a result they lost the audience and story-threads became difficult to follow or lacked coherence.
The thrill ride was the Graystones - who kept me on the edge of my seat, and the wrap-up of their storyline was quite ironic. Everything else...felt a bit cluttered with moments of potential greatness. As a result, the end felt rushed, because too much was going on, too many sub-plots, too much story for such a short space of time.
Still no clue what happened to Tamara - who seemed to disappear completely after about the second or third episode of the last five. Zoe seems to forget about her entirely and is alone in the V world, Tamara disappears. This would have made sense if they allowed Sam to kill her off or something, but no, she just stops being referred to. And it makes no sense. It's almost as if the writers just forgot about her.
Lacy's tale is a bit more interesting. But it also gets dropped in mid-stream, we never see how she becomes the Reverend Mother or what happened to Meg Tilly. Just that she takes control of the robots. And later has assumed control of Genome along with her comrades. Granted follow-through may not have been all that necessary here. We are told more or less all that we need to know about Lacy and her comrades. But I admittedly wondered about Lacy's parents - does she have any? And why she chose to take control of an organization she had serious issues with, in essence becoming what she hated.
Zoe's the only one whose actions do get examined. Although I think her discussion about heaven and hell with Clarice Willow was a gross oversimplification of the Muslim idea of an afterlife.
In some respects - Zoe was most interesting with the Graystone's, because it was clarified that she had no knowledge of the STO stuff that the original Zoe was up to and somewhat protected from it.
Also like her genius parents, she had a bit of a god-complex - thinking at the end of herself as god.
She tells Clarice Willow in Clarice's perfect heaven - that you can't let anyone come here, people can't rape, pillage, and kill then get a nice afterlife. There must be consequences. Otherwise what is the point? A gross simplification of Muslim religious doctrine. Zoe annoites herself God to Clarice, a god who can turn Clarice's perfect apotheosis or afterlife into a hell.
Her ability to create a world, to create life, made her god to that life and world. Power over it.
Humanity creates the one god in its own image - seemed to be the over-arching theme here. But I'm not sure it works - it was over-simplified and a bit didatic, almost allegorical.
Daniel Graystone - the story worked best when it focused on him. Eric Stolz's powerhouse performance as Graystone helped in this regard. The mad scientist, who wants his family and his life back, who can't quite grasp what he has created or the dire consequences down the road. He's not really mad, just not aware. And unlike the religious fanaticism morality play, the science morality play is far less simplified, far more subtle, and far more ambiguous. Graystone's creatures, the cylons, are used to save humans from a catastrophic bomb. Then regaled as heroes, to such a degree that humans start to rely on them in everday life. As police men, garbage collectors, military, butlers. Meanwhile Daniel and Amanda fulfill their promise to the Zoe Avatar - their daughter and created together, with her, a means of providing her with an actual human body.
Zoe has returned to them. She saves their lives when Willow and her goons (husbands) attempt to kill them. As the robot, she does this.
Amanda Graystone - Forgives Daniel and turns against the despicable Clarice, aiding him in the prevention of a terrorist bombing. Their relationship is explored from many angles, but mainly his, not so much hers. Yet she may well be the most well-rounded adult female character in the show.
Clarice Willow is a one-dimensional villain, irreedeemable and despicable by the end. Caprica does to Clarice much the same thing Whedon did to Angel in the comics, they use her as a symbol of everything that's wrong with religion. A thematic device. An allegory. The character slowly disappears. She's mustach twirling and insane. I hated her and wanted her dead. And knew little about her - as to why she got there, or why she sought it. The show never explored her, instead she was a mouthpiece for them to preach about the horrors of religious fanaticism. Oversimplified and poorly constructed. The actress deserved better. I think this series would have worked a lot better if it had chosen not to focus on Clarice so much....pulled back more and stuck to the Graystone's pov, leaving Clarice a supporting not lead character. Again this is something that BattleStar Galatica did a far better job with - both Cain and Six, as well as Dean Stockwell's character are far more complex characters...with layers. You often cared about them, felt sympathy...while Clarice just grated.
Granted they didn't have a lot of time to explore her in more depth...but, I think if they pulled her more to the sidelines, made her less of a major character - it would have worked better.
Josef and Sam Adama - there's a scene back in time between the two brothers that intrigued and surprised me, it comes in the third or fourth episode, I think, where we find out that it was Josef not Sam that took charge, who killed the people torturing his father, and who killed his mother.
And it is Josef that shoots and kills his father, to put him out of his misery. This - I thought was fascinating. And ironic. Just as it is fascinating and ironic that it is Josef and Sam's involvement with Graystone that brings the cylons into fruitation. But the Adama involvement with the Graystone's is summarily dropped...instead we go off on a tangent about Quantrille and his daughter, who manipulates her father into accidentally killing Josef's son Willy, resulting in her father's death at Sam and Josef's hands and her ability to take her father's place. But she comes in at the last minute (one episode before the finale) and has few lines. Also, Daniels' deal with Sam, and the arrangement to take the cylon's to Tauron to fight the Tauron War also gets dropped. I kept waiting for them to tie those two threads back together, but they never are. Also tonally as well as plot wise the Adama tale doesn't fit here. It's the one thread that isn't science-fiction and has little to do with the cylons. Watching it? Felt like jumping to another tv show. Jarring.
As for Willy Adama, up to now, I thought he was a young Bill Adama - so I was shocked when they killed him off...but also didn't care. We never really get to know him nor do we really see why so many people loved him. He's barely in it. It's tragic, sure, but I don't feel it.
I think that storyline should have sat further in the background as well. It took us away from the main thread and central plot. They could have connected the two better. Making the two separate at the end - causes a drastic shift in tone back and forth...so that when flip between the two storylines, you are jarred each round.
I see the dual themes of course - we see both Graystone and Adama taking on the illusion of power, putting someone or something in place that is far more powerful and dangerous. Not realizing they've been manipulated. For Graystone - it's by Zoe, and for Adama it is Ms. Quantrille, his old dead boss's daughter.
Part of the problem could very well be that there just wasn't enough time to tell the tale properly.
The Adama tale needed more time to develop, while the Graystone storyline was fully developed from the start.
Overall - I'd say it was a fun watch. I was certainly entertained and it held my attention. But I can see why it got canceled, and it also felt rushed and cluttered.
While I wholeheartedly recommended the first half of this tale, am somewhat ambivalent about recommending the rest.
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no subject
Date: 2011-01-16 07:02 am (UTC)but I do wish they had spent a lot more time inside the 'game' with Zoe and Tamara, exploring their characters and what they thought the future would hold for them....
I loved getting to see Zoe's rebirth into the real world.
Lacy taking over made sense to me just because of that one scene where she said it would be stupid to kill a good soldier over one fight, and her superior said that when she was running things, she could run them her way.... Lacy had been a follower of Clarice and of Zoe, and it made sense to me that she would realize that she had power (the robots willingness to follow her) and she was an qualified as anyone else around there to wield that power....
I would have liked to have seen more, but I can understand the writers (who were out of time) feeling that they had said enough.
Basically the show failed to tell the stories I wanted to watch, so I can understand why they lost their audience. But it is too bad, it had potential.