So Say Me Earl: Some Thoughts on Caprica

The 2003 reboot of Battlestar Galactica  was a dynamite show, chock full of intense action sequences and hard-hitting drama--a story not just about the survival of humanity, but about whether or not our species even deserves to survive. 

So I was initially excited to watch Caprica, the 2010 prequel series set several decades before the events of its parent show. And yet, I didn't watch the series until a couple of years after its original broadcast, and even then I watched only the first 10 (of 19) episodes. My interest waned, though, and I gave up on the show. 

But over the last couple of weekends, I re-watched those first 10 episodes and the nine I'd never seen before. I think the world has changed sufficiently to somehow make Caprica a better show than it might have been; its themes of religious fanaticism and the potential threats posed by artificial intelligence seem much more timely now. 

The Plan

Caprica is the story of two families: the Graystones, native to the planet Caprica--the dominant culture of the Twelve Colonies that make up the human family--and the Adamas, Tauron immigrants to Caprica. The Graystones are filthy rich, and their patriarch, Daniel Graystone (Eric Stolz) is a roboticist and pioneer of incredibly immersive virtual reality technology. The Adama family is more middle class; Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) is a lawyer with Tauron mob ties. 

Trouble unfolds early in the show's pilot; Zoe, the Graystone's only child, has gotten mixed up with religious fanatics who believe in a pseudo-Abrahamic god, whereas the vast majority of Colonial citizens are pantheists. Zoe and her boyfriend get on a monorail; what Zoe doesn't know is that her boyfriend is wearing a bomb. It explodes, killing dozens, including Zoe, but also Joseph Adama's wife and daughter. The Graystones are left childless, and Joseph is left alone with his young son--though he is supported by his brother and mother-in-law. 

Daniel Graystone and Joseph Adama strike up an uneasy friendship when they connect at a briefing for families of the victims. But that friendship breaks down when Caprican police suspect, correctly, that Zoe was involved with the train bombing. 

How does all this lead to apocalypse to befall the Twelve Colonies some 58 years after the events of this show? Well, it turns out that Zoe is perhaps even smarter than her father; she created a virtual version of herself before her death, and that version of Zoe lives on in the virtual space created by her father. Daniel Graystone discovers this, initially writes her off as just a really good software simulation of his daughter (and he may be right); Joseph Adama finds out, and, moreover, convinces Graystone to create a similar avatar of his dead daughter, Tamara. 

Over the course of the show's run, the Graystones and Adamas pursue their own goals--mainly to bring their daughters into the real world by placing their avatars into robots, allowing them to live in the real world rather than a virtual reality. (Or at least that was the original plan--Tamara's story is explored only in fits and starts and is left unresolved by the end of the series.)

Meanwhile, the Caprican police are trying to track down the monotheistic terrorists as Joseph Adama gets pulled deeper and deeper into the underworld he's tried to avoid and the Graystones struggle to hold on to their business in the wake of the scandal created by Zoe. Complicating manners, the monotheists learn of the avatar technology and see it as a means to create a guaranteed afterlife for members of the faith. And they're planning their biggest attack yet--to blow up a sports stadium and kill thousands in the name of their one true god, punishing the pantheists for their blasphemy. 

The Graystones manage to thwart the plot by taking control of a bunch of several "Cybernetic Life-Form Nodes," AKA Cylons--the robots Daniel Graystone has been building for the Caprican government. The Cylons save the day, Zoe Graystone turns the monotheists' virtual heaven into a virtual hell, and the people of the Twelve Colonies embrace the Cylons as their new robot servants take over all the menial tasks that no one on the Twelve Worlds wants. Zoe gets reborn into an advanced robot body, one that appears fully human, reuniting the Graystones in the real world. 

But the cult of monotheists hasn't given up. As the series closes, they have a new congregation--one made up of not only humans, but Cylons. And thus the stage is set for the Cylon uprising that nearly exterminates the human species during the events of Battlestar Galactica. 

The Outcome
I enjoyed Caprica. It's not trying to be a clone of its parent show, and while the plot may meander and lose its way more than once over the course of its 19 episodes, the story raises important questions about faith, being, and the ethical lines we cross in the pursuit of our dreams. Moreover, despite being cancelled, the show ends on a reasonably satisfying note rather than a frustrating cliffhanger. The creators had more stories to tell had they gotten more seasons, but the ending they wound up with dovetails nicely into the Galactica reboot. 

So Say Me Earl. 

Cylons Three

 

A Cylon Points the Way

 

Betrayer of Humanity

Another former citizen of the Twelve Colonies, but this time a nefarious one. 
 

Ragtag Fugitive Fleet Leader

For once, a small human figure turns out well. I'm happy with the skin texture, the hair, the costume colours, etc. Huzzah! 
 

Command Centurion

Sean bought me some miniatures for a birthday that was a couple of years ago now, including this fearsome Cylon warrior. Just to be different, I painted him gold to make him one of the rare Command Centurions you used to see on the original Battlestar Galactica. 
 

Music Made the Shows Go Round

In my estimation, anyway. 

A Small Selection of Singles

Apropos of nothing, on the way home from work today I considered what might be my single favourite works by my favourite musicians. Here are a few selections:

ABBA: "Waterloo"
A-Ha: "The Sun Always Shines on TV"
Marc Almond: "Tears Run Rings"
Louis Armstrong: "We Have All the Time in the World"
Asia: "Heat of the Moment"
The Association: "Windy"
The B-52s: "Deadbeat Club"
Barenaked Ladies: "I'll Be That Girl"
John Barry: "007 Takes the Lektor"
The Beatles: "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"
Pat Benetar: "Shadows of the Night"
The Box: "Closer Together"
David Bowie: "Heroes"
Sarah Brightman: "Eden"
Kate Bush: "Love and Anger"
Johnny Cash: "Ring of Fire"
Collective Soul: "Gel"
Chemical Brothers: "Galvanize"
Nat 'King' Cole: "Unforgettable"
Alice Cooper: "Hello Hooray"
Crash Test Dummies: "Superman's Song"
Daft Punk: "End of Line"
Bob Dylan: "Lay Lady Lay"
Elastica: "Connection"
Fleetwood Mac: "You Make Loving Fun"
Foreigner: "Say You Will"
The Four Tops: "Standing in the Shadows of Love"
Garbage: "I'm Only Happy When it Rains"
Jerry Goldsmith: "Leaving Drydock"
Lou Gramm: "Midnight Blue"
Amy Grant: "Lead Me On"
George Harrison: "What is Life"
James Horner: "Genesis Countdown"
The Ink Spots: "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire"
Billy Joel: "Downeaster Alexa"
Elton John: "Love Lies Bleeding"
Tom Jones: "Sex Bomb"
Chantal Kreviazuk: "Before You"
Greg Lake: "I Believe in Father Christmas"
John Lennon: "Imagine"
Madonna: "Ray of Light"
Paul McCartney: "Live and Let Die"
Bear McCreary: "The Shape of Things to Come"
Stevie Nicks: "Stand Back"
No Doubt: "Hella Good"
Pet Shop Boys: "Where the Streets Have No Name"
Elvis Presley: "Burning Love"
Queen: "One Vision"
REO Speedwagon: "Roll with the Changes"
Marty Robbins: "Ribbon of Darkness"
The Rolling Stones: "Ruby Tuesday"
Roxy Music: "More Than This"
Lalo Schifrin: "Mission: Impossible"
Spoons: "Nova Heart"
Bruce Springsteen: "Brilliant Disguise"
Ringo Starr: "Photograph"
Strange Advance: "Love Becomes Electric"
Talking Heads: "Once in a Lifetime"
Pete Townshend: "Let My Love Open the Door"
U2: "God Part 2"
Vangelis: "Heaven and Hell"
Wang Chung: "To Live and Die in L.A."
John Williams: "The Big Rescue"
The Who: "Baba O'Reilly"
Yes: "Love Will Find a Way"
Neil Young: "Philadelphia"

Battlestar Galactica in the 25th Century

After watching a few episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century this week, it struck me that the show shared a lot of commonalities with the contemporaneous Battlestar Galactica: creators, behind-the scenes personnel, ship models, sound effects. Buck Rogers outlasted Battlestar by a few months, but Glen A. Larson must have seen that Buck Rogers would soon follow suit. I wonder if he ever considered a fun series finale for Buck and a belated farewell for Battlestar Galactica; he could have had the Galactica finally reach Earth in the last episode of Buck Rogers. How cool would that have been, to see Gil Gerard and Lorne Greene team up to beat the Cylons back from post-holocaust, 25th-century Earth?

Space Mutiny Mystery

Space Mutiny, the movie mocked late in the eighth season of Mystery Science Theatre 3000, provided ample fodder for Mike and the Bots to mock. It's one of the series' best episodes, one I enjoy revisiting from time to time.

And yet there's one thing about the show that's bugged me for years. Space Mutiny features many stock shots of the Battlestar Galactica from the 1970s television series of the same name. In Space Mutiny, the Galactica footage is meant to portray the exterior of the starship upon which the titular mutiny occurs.

And yet not once do Mike or the robots deliver a riff to draw attention to this very obvious use of stock footage. Their failure to mention the Galactica's dissonant presence is a distraction throughout the whole episode: audiences are left wondering "Where's the Battlestar Galactica gag? It's gotta be coming soon."

These things bug me. Was it some kind of complex licensing issue? Could the writers simply not think of a funny gag? Argh!

Caprican't

From the little information I've been able to glean online, it appears as though Universal is not going to release Caprica, the prequel to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica, on Blu-Ray in North America. They're releasing it in France, but rather than purchase the show from overseas, I've decided to pick up the first and only season on iTunes. While I've purchased music and computer games online, this will be the first time I order filmed entertainment on line, and it's quite a psychological hurdle to leap.

I treasure books and film more than I do music or games, much as I love the latter pair. Games in particular are ephemeral, and I have only to look at the many CD-ROMs I've thrown out over the years to see the drawbacks of physical media. Valve's Steam service has served me reliably so far, effortlessly moving my purchases from one computer to another. So far I've experienced no hiccups with the music I've purchased from iTunes, either.

And yet I regret being left with only one option to buy this critically-acclaimed show. If prior experience is any guide, I probably won't wind up losing my purchase to the ether, but there's still a degree of comfort to be had in holding a box of discs in my hands and displaying them on a shelf.

And then of course there are the download times...despite recently upgrading to Shaw's fastest service, it's taking about an hour per episode to download the entire show. It makes me wonder if I'm being throttled.

Of course this conundrum is the epitome of the so-called First World Problem; my grandparents would have marvelled at such instant gratification. Heck, I marvel at it myself; I still remember the pre-VCR era, when the only way to watch a favourite TV episode or movie was to hope you caught it being broadcast. How quickly things have changed!

Bear McCreary: An Appreciation

I really wish I knew more about music, simply so that I could put into words how much I love the work of Bear McCreary, who composes for the 21st century version of Battlestar Galactica.

Consider the piece from the season two episode "Prelude to War." It makes my pulse race. All I can do is try to describe what I'm hearing...

Violins, or some kind of stringed instruments, played at incredible speed, a short motif, over and over. Thumping percussion, an ominous undercurrent, a dreadful drumbeat. Rising tempo from a different kind of stringed instrument, almost insane. Heavy, heavy drums - like something you'd see in the original King Kong, played by some Polynesian with a barrel chest and massive arms.

Then quiet for a moment, drums fading, strings coming back, but softer...an undercurrent of tension ever-present...then BAM! Back again.

Oh, I wish I knew what to write. It's just magnificent. This is the sort of thing I'd give to people on a blank CD, so they could listen without all the baggage of the music being associated with a television show, much less SF TV. It really is that good.

Revising a Pseudo-Classic: The New Battlestar Galactica

The original Battlestar Galactica was a show with many faults, including uneven acting, gaping plot holes, and laughable science.

But the show had its merits, too, chiefly its premise, a science-fiction take on the old story of the Jewish Exodus, with a liberal dose of Erich Von Daniken's screwy "Ancient Astronauts" pop-mythology of the seventies. A thriving civilization is betrayed and ambushed by a terrifying enemy, and the devastated survivors are left with no choice but to flee, led by a visionary prophet (Adama) to some far-off promised land (Earth).

Having just re-watched the entire original series on DVD, I am more aware than ever of the grand potential of the show, a potential that never came close to being realized. There certainly were a number of good episodes, notably the original three-part pilot (much better than the whittled-down movie version most of us probably remember), "The Living Legend," in which the Galactica encounters another Battlestar, "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero," "War of the Gods," and the final episode, "The Hand of God."

The friendship between pilots Apollo (Richard Hatch), Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), and Boomer (Herb Jefferson, Jr.) is nicely developed, and I've been forced to reevaluate Dirk Benedict's skills; he clearly has a lot of charisma, great comic timing, and a better emotional range than I once gave him credit for. Herb Jefferson deserves a lot of credit, too; his Boomer is eminently likeable, and believable as a no-nonsense, if somewhat resigned, Viper pilot. Richard Hatch is a little wooden at times, but he certainly portrays Apollo's love for Serena and Boxey convincingly, and the depth of his grief (after the loss of his younger brother, and later Serena) is well-acted.

But while the show's creators were working hard to develop a larger mythology for Battlestar Galactica, their efforts were undercut by far too many "planet of the week" episodes, in which either Apollo or Starbuck crashed on some lost colony or other, which usually had a Wild West or medieval theme, almost certainly to make use of existing Universal sets and props. Episodes such as "The Young Lords," "The Magnificent Warriors," "Fire in Space," and "Greetings from Earth" are either ridiculous or mind-numbingly dull, and have done much to diminish this series' reputation. Maren Jensen's overwrought turn as Athena doesn't help, nor does the obnoxious robot dog, Muffit II. And the short-lived but disastrous follow-up series, Galactica 1980, with its flying motorcycles and tired "fish out of water" jokes, seemed certain to completely destroy any hope of redemption for the series.

The new version of Battlestar Galactica, then, comes as a pleasant surprise. While by no means perfect, it is certainly intriguing, and well worth a look for anyone who enjoyed Space: Above and Beyond, whose storytelling ethos it seems to most closely resemble.

In this retelling of the myth, the Cylons were not created by lizard-like aliens, but humans themselves, and some forty years before the events of the series, the Cylons turned on their human creators. (Obviously the Colonials hadn't been exposed to Earth fiction that could have warned them of this possibility, such as Demon Seed, Colossus, or the aforementioned Space: Above and Beyond.) The humans won the war, the Cylons retreated, and an uneasy peace was born. But as the series opens, the Cylons launch a sneak attack, using electronic counter-measures to disable almost all of the Colonial defences and lay waste to the twelve worlds of humanity. Even worse, there's a new model of Cylon, indistinguishable from human beings, and possessing incredible depths of passion and righteous anger. One of these Cylons, played by Edmontonian beauty Tricia Helfer, dupes one of the Colonies' leading scientists, Dr. Gaius Baltar, into handing over access to vital defence facilities. This time, Baltar isn't a diabolical traitor, but a selfish and arrogant fool, one so wrapped up in his own genius that he forgets his obligations to his fellow humans. Whether he'll grow up at some point in the series is an open question.

Of course, there's one ship that survives the initial assault: the Galactica, an old, worn-out hulk that's immune to the ECM weapons because her ancient technology isn't sophisticated enough to be vulnerable to such attacks. While the ship is full of computers, they aren't networked, and information is relayed from deck to deck by old-style telephone headsets and computer printouts. Very retro, and quite cool.

As the colonies burn - an event that is chillingly portrayed, and quite believable - the Galactica retreats to a human weapons depot, having no ammunition because of her imminent decommission. Meanwhile, human survivors are fleeing in whatever ships they can find, some with FTL drive, some without, which leads to a heartbreaking - and shocking - decision by the new Colonial President, formerly the Minister of Education, a woman so far down the line of succession she could never have dreamed of wielding such power.

In the original series, military authority was infallible, and the civilian Council of the Twelve was filled with buffoons. Thankfully, this time around there's a bit more balance; the civilian President and Commander Adama each have very difficult decisions to make, and they make them pragmatically. By the show's end, it's clear that while these two characters may butt heads, they share mutual respect, something quite lacking in the original show.

The new Apollo is pretty dry, but the new Starbuck - this time a woman - is delightful. Boomer, too, is a woman this time around, one with a shocking secret that promises to provide plenty of dramatic tension if the miniseries is turned into an ongoing series.

I also liked the focus on "lower decks" characters, the maintenance crews who make the hotshot antics of the pilots possible.

The special effects are as excellent as one expects these days, and the re-imagined starships are quite ingenious, particularly the living Cylon raiders. The FTL effect is pretty nifty, and the landing bays need to retract before the ship jumps, giving the Viper pilots plenty of incentive to get aboard before the train leaves the station, as it were.


In the final analysis, this new incarnation of Battlestar Galactica has as much or more potential as the original, and thus far much more of that potential has been realized. I hope that the show is picked up - it promises to be more entertaining, at least, than the current Star Trek series, Enterprise.

Much more.