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Caprica: Unvanquished

When Caprica ended its initial run, I was intrigued and excited to see where the story would go next. But this first episode back was rather underwhelming. Instead of building on the momentum of the multiple cliffhangers in the mid-season finale, the writers opted to skip ahead an indeterminate period of time and return to the moody slow-build of the earliest episodes --- doling out lots of reasonably intriguing philosophical ideas, but very little story.

The opening with the terrorist attack during the Seabucs game was actually fairly jaw dropping. I thought it was a seriously bold direction to take the story and was disappointed when it turned out to be a “what if” scenario that Clarice was showing the “high council” on Gemenon. From there, other than the material with Daniel and the brief glimpse of Zoe in V-world, the hour bogged down a bit. I don’t know whether to blame the lateness of the hour when I watched, or the quality of the show right now, but I was struggling to stay awake the last 20 minutes or so.

That said, I really like Daniel turning to the Tauron mob to get his company back. And with the promise of a twisted cure for grief, no less. I love the idea of avatars for deceased loved ones functioning like a drug, and strung out, grief-stricken Daniel is pretty compelling. He’s a bit of a psychotic genius when he’s got himself pulled together, so completely unhinged, nothing-left-to-lose Daniel should be really entertaining to watch. Plus, I think Adama will be much more interesting paired with Daniel and Sam than he was wandering New Cap City.

Speaking of New Cap City, I really liked the short scene with Zoe. Apparently, at this point, she exists solely as an unkillable avatar in V-world (a “deadwalker”), and she’s looking for Tamara. Awesome! Now this has potential. Consider me intrigued.

I didn’t much care for Sister Clarice’s adventures on Gemenon. I like the concepts they are exploring, but so far the story they are building around them isn’t that compelling. I was, however, thrilled to see Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary, Stargate: Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica) as her knife-toting associate!

Less thrilling: Amanda, as Clarice’s secret cabin roomie. I was glad when it seemed like Amanda had succeeded in killing herself. I’ve got nothing against Paula Malcomson, but Amanda has been a real drag in recent episodes, and I wouldn’t miss her at all if she were truly gone. Plus, I really like the effect her absence (combined with losing Zoe again) is having on Daniel.

I was initially surprised that we didn’t get a status update on Zoe’s friend, Lacy, but then I remembered we got a short scene about her becoming part of Barnabas’s cult (or at least playing along with the cult). And it almost completely slipped my mind. Not a good sign.

Final Analysis: Despite some potentially intriguing story threads, ‘Unvanquished’ wasn’t the strongest return for the series and likely won’t do wonders for overall viewership. I’ll stick with it through the end of the season, but I'm thinking I should stop trying to watch late at night. Unless I'm having trouble sleeping.

Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.

2 comments:

  1. Nice review, Jess. I think the problem with this episode was the non-existent pay-offs. They blow up a stadium. Cool! It was a holoband presentation. Fail! They killed off Amanda and Daniel falls apart. Cool! Amanda's not dead at all and is shacked up with Clarice. Fail! And all the STO stuff? Fail.

    I was also disappointed that they didn't build on the momentum of the first half of the season. Episode nine now feels like nothing more than a contrivance. They needed a mid-season cliffhanger... so that's what they gave us... but there was no real pay-off. (Or at least none that we've seen so far).

    Still, here's hoping they have some interesting episodes in store. Next weeks teaser didn't do much for me, however. It's more STO :o(

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  2. Lol why were you guys so eager to see that stadium blow up? I'm glad that turned out to be a sales pitch from Clarice, the metro blowing up in the premiere is the only explosion I really need.

    All I have to report is that the opening credits weirdly grew on me, after thinking it was incredibly lame. I have the music stuck in my head. And also that Daniel is an asshole, though it's refreshing to see a dad in grief who isn't sympathetic anymore.

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