From Star Wars to Star Trek to Terminator to now Battlestar Galactica – prequels seem to be one of the favorite tools of scifi writers of late. Of course, with the way they ended BSG, they would have had to make any sequels unlike any science fiction we’ve seen before with the men and women of the fleet mixing with ancient humanity – so perhaps a prequel was in order in this case.
I think they’re doing a pretty good job writing this series and the only question is whether the audience will stick with a show whose battles are much more personal than a viper versus a raider.
BSG/Caprica is, of course, a critique on our society in the here and now. If the audience sticks with it, I think the writers have a good message to share in an exciting way. But, it easily could go the way of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles because many fans don’t want to think too much.
So, we shall see. But as long as it is around, I will be watching.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am a big BSG fan, so I was excited to hear a “prequel” of BSG was coming out. I definitely thought it would be interesting to see how the Cylons came into being. So we are 7 episodes in, watching weekly on SyFy channel, and I give it an “OK,” but reserve judgment to increase or decrease that rating later. To me, the characters aren’t as compelling as in BSG. We do get to see Bill Adama as a young boy, and his father in his prime, but other than that, no other characters that will tie you back to BSG.
I’m definitely going to keep watching, because I am hoping it will improve, but it definitely didn’t draw me in the way BSG did. I couldn’t wait for the next episode of BSG to air. However, this one I TiVo and forget about. I don’t even watch it live because I can wait to skip the commercials.
Rating: 3 / 5
Regretfully, the 45 minutes per week series episode does not allow full satisfaction for the plot to develop as much as, at least, I want. I suppose every TV series that has a continuing theme from week to week has the same or similar problem. Certainly, contemporary “V,” getting ready to resume its season this March is no less frustrating to watch as limited by 45 minutes per week.
That be as it may, this episode of Caprica further ups the ante in the future stakes for the Graystone Company, the Graystone’s, the Adama’s, and the STO (Soldier of the One). The Graystone Company, having decided to focus on the development of the Cylon, the only operating version being the one which has the avatar or consciousness of Zoe Graystone within the MCP (Meta Cognitive Processor), finds that the theft of the MCP involved the incidental murder of two Toran employees who were related by blood to the Toran owner (Dr. Vergis of the Vergis Corporation located on Toran) resulting in a “blood” debt that relatives must satisfy before the dead may move on to everlasting life. Dr. Vergis visits Caprica to let Daniel Graystone know that he will not rest until this “blood” debt is satisfies . . . by the utter ruin of all that Daniel Graystone holds dear. Seems like the prelude to a bloody conflict.
Zoe on the other hand, is engaged in playful flirtation with Philomon, who is making adjustments to the Cylon body she inhabits and it is becoming clear that a romantic interest is thriving between Zoe the Cylon and Philomon, which Zoe seems to see no harm pursuing even thought her body consists of mostly alloy metal.
Joseph Adama continues to be haunted by the knowledge that his daughter, Tamara, or the virtual equivalent of his daughter is trapped in a virtual world and he cannot, at least at the moment, do anything to help her.
Finally, and probably most troubling, is the revelation that the STO, with all its idealism, seems to be the pawn in vast political machinations by a shadowy figure in a confession both who represents a yet even more vague power behind the scenes.
Remarkably, Sister Clarice manages to capture the content of Daniel Graystone’s computer system including all the information regarding the Cylon including Zoe’s Meta Cognitive Processor avatar and all the genius that Zoe possesses. The intention seems to be that the STO use Zoe’s remarkable genius to further the ends of the STO. That the STO’s idealism is being perverted for the ends of power politics is extremely troubling. Zoe’s avatar, and therefore, Zoe’s genius can be loaded into the MCP which still exists on Toran, and then used in a copy of a Cylon robot.
So even though Daniel Graystone has been the direct agent of stealing the MCP to create the first Cylon on Caprica, he is not even aware that Zoe has been pirated and will undoubtedly be placed in untold thousands of MCP which might be used to provide the software to run untold thousands of Toran Cylons.
Thus, the genii is out of the bottle and cannot be put back again. There will be hundreds of thousands of Cylon’s running around spawned from the single Zoe, pirated, hacked and modified for good and evil and multiplied almost endlessly, certainly a prescription for a bloody outcome for someone at an unknown time in the future.
From Star Wars to Star Trek to Terminator to now Battlestar Galactica – prequels seem to be one of the favorite tools of scifi writers of late. Of course, with the way they ended BSG, they would have had to make any sequels unlike any science fiction we’ve seen before with the men and women of the fleet mixing with ancient humanity – so perhaps a prequel was in order in this case.
I think they’re doing a pretty good job writing this series and the only question is whether the audience will stick with a show whose battles are much more personal than a viper versus a raider.
BSG/Caprica is, of course, a critique on our society in the here and now. If the audience sticks with it, I think the writers have a good message to share in an exciting way. But, it easily could go the way of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles because many fans don’t want to think too much.
So, we shall see. But as long as it is around, I will be watching.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am a big BSG fan, so I was excited to hear a “prequel” of BSG was coming out. I definitely thought it would be interesting to see how the Cylons came into being. So we are 7 episodes in, watching weekly on SyFy channel, and I give it an “OK,” but reserve judgment to increase or decrease that rating later. To me, the characters aren’t as compelling as in BSG. We do get to see Bill Adama as a young boy, and his father in his prime, but other than that, no other characters that will tie you back to BSG.
I’m definitely going to keep watching, because I am hoping it will improve, but it definitely didn’t draw me in the way BSG did. I couldn’t wait for the next episode of BSG to air. However, this one I TiVo and forget about. I don’t even watch it live because I can wait to skip the commercials.
Rating: 3 / 5
Regretfully, the 45 minutes per week series episode does not allow full satisfaction for the plot to develop as much as, at least, I want. I suppose every TV series that has a continuing theme from week to week has the same or similar problem. Certainly, contemporary “V,” getting ready to resume its season this March is no less frustrating to watch as limited by 45 minutes per week.
That be as it may, this episode of Caprica further ups the ante in the future stakes for the Graystone Company, the Graystone’s, the Adama’s, and the STO (Soldier of the One). The Graystone Company, having decided to focus on the development of the Cylon, the only operating version being the one which has the avatar or consciousness of Zoe Graystone within the MCP (Meta Cognitive Processor), finds that the theft of the MCP involved the incidental murder of two Toran employees who were related by blood to the Toran owner (Dr. Vergis of the Vergis Corporation located on Toran) resulting in a “blood” debt that relatives must satisfy before the dead may move on to everlasting life. Dr. Vergis visits Caprica to let Daniel Graystone know that he will not rest until this “blood” debt is satisfies . . . by the utter ruin of all that Daniel Graystone holds dear. Seems like the prelude to a bloody conflict.
Zoe on the other hand, is engaged in playful flirtation with Philomon, who is making adjustments to the Cylon body she inhabits and it is becoming clear that a romantic interest is thriving between Zoe the Cylon and Philomon, which Zoe seems to see no harm pursuing even thought her body consists of mostly alloy metal.
Joseph Adama continues to be haunted by the knowledge that his daughter, Tamara, or the virtual equivalent of his daughter is trapped in a virtual world and he cannot, at least at the moment, do anything to help her.
Finally, and probably most troubling, is the revelation that the STO, with all its idealism, seems to be the pawn in vast political machinations by a shadowy figure in a confession both who represents a yet even more vague power behind the scenes.
Remarkably, Sister Clarice manages to capture the content of Daniel Graystone’s computer system including all the information regarding the Cylon including Zoe’s Meta Cognitive Processor avatar and all the genius that Zoe possesses. The intention seems to be that the STO use Zoe’s remarkable genius to further the ends of the STO. That the STO’s idealism is being perverted for the ends of power politics is extremely troubling. Zoe’s avatar, and therefore, Zoe’s genius can be loaded into the MCP which still exists on Toran, and then used in a copy of a Cylon robot.
So even though Daniel Graystone has been the direct agent of stealing the MCP to create the first Cylon on Caprica, he is not even aware that Zoe has been pirated and will undoubtedly be placed in untold thousands of MCP which might be used to provide the software to run untold thousands of Toran Cylons.
Thus, the genii is out of the bottle and cannot be put back again. There will be hundreds of thousands of Cylon’s running around spawned from the single Zoe, pirated, hacked and modified for good and evil and multiplied almost endlessly, certainly a prescription for a bloody outcome for someone at an unknown time in the future.
Rating: 4 / 5