First review of Unvanquished, more DVD clips & some new spoilers

The first review of the mid-season premiere comes from York Dispatch and is pretty positive on the whole, with the exception of one particular storyline. Here is a snippet (spoilers):

You'll learn exactly what happened to Amanda, Zoe and Sister Clarice, who narrowly avoided a car-bombing orchestrated by a rival terror cell, and you'll see how Daniel plans to take his company back. As narrative momentum goes, there's just enough red meat here.

The episode is also a visual showcase, proving conclusively that you don't need to set your science-fiction series in outer space to conjure some striking images. The dazzling neons and art-deco skyscrapers of Caprica City (capital of the planet Caprica) are as impressive as they've ever been, but "Unvanquished" also takes us to the planet Gemenon, the spiritual hub of this particular universe. Though its computer-generated cathedrals and moonscapes are glaringly artificial, they're no less pretty for it. (...)

Even with its blemishes, "Caprica" is bold, uncompromising storytelling, and it's the only show of its kind on TV. If you're a devoted fan counting down the hours to Tuesday's premiere, you'll be sated. If you've never seen an episode, don't start here. -- York Dispatch

If you need to catch up, Syfy will air the first nine episodes on Tuesday, starting with the pilot at 10 am. "Unvanquished" airs at 10 pm, after a Stargate Universe block.

Note: Stargate didn't do very well in the ratings this week. It held the 18-49 demo from the season one finale (0.5), but hit a series low in total viewers (1.175 million). To compare the numbers to those pulled in by Warehouse 13 in the same slot last week, go to the Mediaweek forums.

Back to Caprica. Three new clips from the season 1.0 DVD surfaced today. One is an interview with Ron Moore and VFX supervisor Gary Hutzel about the effects that went into the creation of the first Cylon. The clip is at io9.com.

The second clip is at IGN.com. In it, Ron Moore talks about the STO, Zoe's original plan for the avatar, and what we can expect to see in the second half of the season.

The third clip is about the cast and how they landed their roles on the show. You can watch it at TV.com. The clip has interviews with David Eick, Eric Stoltz, Paula Malcomson, Polly Walker, Alessandra Torresani, Sasha Roiz, Esai Morales, Jane Espenson and Ron Moore.

TV Guide has a short synopsis of the next episode:

Clarice visits Gemenon to pitch a terrorist attack to the STO leadership, while Daniel has a meeting with the Ha'La'Tha, where he seeks support for creating a virtual afterlife.

And last but not least, The Caprican has a new article about Graystone that sheds some light on his situation in episode 1x10. Which is now only four days away.

Details on 1x02 Rebirth and 1x03 The Reins of a Waterfall

SyFy has released the synopses of the next two episodes, Rebirth and The Reins of a Waterfall. For even more details about tonight's episode, you can check out the review over at If Magazine.

Rebirth airs tonight at 9/8c.

SyFy will also show a rerun of the Caprica Pilot at 7.

And just a reminder that Dollhouse, the other Frankenstein show in Caprica's extended family, says its final goodbye at 8/7c on Fox.

From the release (spoilers follow):

REBIRTH

Air Date: January 29, 2010
Written By: Michael Angeli
Directed By: Jonas Pate

Zoe (Alessandra Torresani) struggles with being trapped in the robot while grief and pressure mount on the Adamas and the Graystones. Joseph (Esai Morales) makes a decision that drives him to confront Daniel (Eric Stoltz), and Amanda (Paula Malcomson) makes a shocking public confession.

Synopsis:

In the wake of the MagLev bombing that killed his daughter, Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) plunges himself into work. He tries to figure out why he can only create a single intelligent robot, not understanding that the answer lies within the fact that part of his daughter survived the explosion and is closer to him than he could imagine. Consumed with grief, Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson) is obsessed with discovering who her daughter really was, and slowly begins piecing together the details of Zoe’s life.

Zoe (Alessandra Torresani), trapped in the robot body, turns to her friend Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) for help. At the same time, Headmistress Clarice Willow (Polly Walker) – a secret member of the shadowy “Soldiers of the One” terrorist group – is also focused on Lacy, putting the girl under pressure from all sides.

In the episode’s culmination, at a memorial service for the victims of the train disaster, Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) confronts Daniel about the loss of his own daughter. Before they can come to an understanding, they are interrupted by a stunning public announcement from Amanda Graystone, who has become convinced that her daughter Zoe was to blame for the terrorist action.

THE REINS OF A WATERFALL

Air Date: February 5, 2010
Written By: Michael Angeli
Directed By: Ronald D. Moore

After Amanda’s (Paula Malcomson) public confession of Zoe’s (Alessandra Torresani) terrorist involvement, those closest to Zoe must face mounting pressures.

Synopsis:

Following Amanda’s (Paula Malcomson) public revelation that their daughter was responsible for the MagLev tragedy, the Graystones must face the wrath of angry Capricans. For Daniel (Eric Stoltz) this includes a confrontation with Sam (Sasha Roiz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) in which Joseph demands that Daniel reunite him with his daughter’s avatar — the essence of his daughter Tamara (Genevieve Buechner), living on in virtual space. Daniel also realizes he can’t deal with his grief in private — this is all going to play out on a public stage.

At the same time, Zoe Graystone (Alessandra Torresani) adjusts to living life in a robot. She hopes her friend Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) will help her escape to another planet — neighboring Gemenon. Lacy is concerned, however, that she is rousing the suspicions of headmistress (and STO leader) Clarice Willow (Polly Walker). While in V-World, the girls meet a frightened Tamara Adama who doesn’t understand what she is or how she came to be here.

At the Global Defense Department, Agents Duram (Brian Markinson) and Youngblood escalate their efforts to track down the terrorist group responsible for the bombing.

Caprica gets a positive review from Variety

Variety's Brian Lowry has posted a very positive review of the Caprica pilot. Here are a few snippets:

At first blush, the idea of a "Battlestar Galactica" prequel provoked skepticism of the "Why not leave well enough alone?" variety. Yet through its first four hours (including a two-hour premiere), "Caprica" exhibits more than enough promise to justify the mission, tracing the birth of the Cylons a half-century before the events of the earlier series while again weaving in powerful and resonant themes -- including religious intolerance and what truly makes us human. Although uneven in places, a quality cast and cliff-hanging episodic twists establish "Caprica" as an heir that shouldn't disappoint "BG" geeks.

The original "Galactica" was particularly adept at incorporating such flourishes and exploring concepts that compelled the audience to confront and contemplate their own reality -- particularly pertaining to terrorism's use as a tactic -- and series creators Ronald Moore and Remi Aubuchon again tackle those kinds of big ideas to push sci-fi boundaries in intellectually provocative ways.

For all that, the new show will doubtless be most enticing to fans of the old one, for whom every beat will carry echoes of the war to come. Whether that will limit the program's commercial appeal to a subset of "Galactica's" modest fleet of loyalists remains to be seen, but if this prequel can maintain the quality of its initial salvo, that will likely motivate at least those viewers to beseech whatever gods they pray to that "Caprica" be blessed with a prolonged stay in this place called Earth.

New Caprica pilot review

A new review of the two-hour Caprica pilot popped up over at the Televisionary Blog.

Here are a few snippets:

Like Battlestar Galactica before it, Caprica explores the themes of free will, identity, and what it means to be truly human. Using both Zoe and Daniel's experiments, the writers create a rubric for understanding the building blocks of creation, of humanity, of artificial intelligence. Through their actions, the audience sees the birth of a new race and how that very creation spells the end for the human race as we know it.

Caprica is very much a different series than Battlestar Galactica. Unlike BSG, which took place in the dark recesses of space, Caprica is much more grounded. There are no Viper dog fights, no Battlestars jumping to coordinates. It's set in a world that's very much like ours, with characters that are hauntingly similar to you or me. The design work is absolutely breathtaking, with modern sets daringly juxtaposed to vintage suits. Both Joseph and Daniel wear clothing that would be right at home in the confines of AMC's Mad Men, with beautifully tailored suits and fedoras, while the Greystones' home is all sleek, clean lines, glass and steel, and robot attendants.

Likewise, Caprica feels much more grounded in reality as well, promising more a drama about the "extraordinary" than a just strict space opera. Personally, I think it's a narrative approach that works; by placing the plot in a more "real" setting (literally grounding it on a planet), the dramatic uses of technology sound out more as surprising and innovative than they would in a full-blown sci-fi action piece.

Caprica review - The Futon Critic

Brian Ford Sullivan has reviewed the Caprica pilot, which will be released on DVD next month. For the full article, visit The Futon Critic.

Here is what he says about what does and doesn't work:

What doesn't work: The first 15 minutes or so are something of a challenge - a weird mix of teen angst, hedonism and virtual reality - that the uninitiated will likely find either incomprehensible (you don't quite understand what you're seeing at first) or frustrating (tuning in to find out the origin of the Cylons and finding 15 minutes of The WB-era teen drama), making it a rocky start to say the least. And for those ultimately who just want answers here to solve the remaining questions in the current show - prepare to be disappointed. Sure there's plenty of geekasms to be had - the eight-sided paper, Pyramid, "So Say We All," the first "Centurion" (complete with voice from the '70s series), etc. - but there's nothing here that really informs what's happened on "Galactica" thus far. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just that for better or worse "Caprica" is very much its own entity.

What does: The good news is though once established, the world of "Caprica" has the potential to be just as compelling, interesting and multi-faceted as its "sequel" - minus of course the cool shit blowing up in space. In just 92 minutes, "Caprica" manages to dish out a surprisingly dense, but not too overwhelming, array of plot threads - the government's investigation into the attack (spearheaded by Brian Markinson's Durham); the teens' school with potentially sinister ties (run by Polly Walker's Sister Clarice Willow); Daniel's business foibles; Joseph's obligations to the Tauran mob; and whatever the STO and Zoe are ultimately up to. And that's on top of yet another fascinating window into the Colonists battle between monotheism and polytheism not to mention a surprising look at the demographics of the time (Capricans are the elite while Taurans, dubbed "dirt eaters," are the despised colony) as well as the inevitable showdown between Daniel and Joseph over what they're doing.