Why I Watch Caprica

It seems that a lot of people who were fans of Battlestar Galactica haven’t given its prequel series much attention, I’ll admit at first I was a little underwhelmed by the prospect but 5 episodes in and I’ve come to realise Caprica is much more than just a history lesson, it’s a compelling piece of drama which could easily be watched as a companion piece to BSG or entirely on its own.

Caprica is has been unfairly touted as a soap opera it’s more like a Greek Tragedy, we all know that the eventual consequences of the characters actions will led to the first Cylon war and all the pain and misery that followed 50 years later but how we get there is oh so very intriguing.

The basic plot is that a busy train is blown up by terrorists, but not just any terrorists rather Soldiers of the One who are a monotheistic group. Yes they believe only one god exists. Sounds familiar? It should because those pesky Cylons had the same belief system. Well that’s what happens when a grieving scientist known as Daniel Graystone decides to go into the Virtual World where his terrorist inclined daughter Zoe spent a lot of her time and accidentally ends up merging her avatar with the first Cylon. Yep, things are kinda crazy in Caprica.

The main story is the two grieving family of Adama (that would be the great William Adama’s father btw) and the Graystones are trying to deal with the lost of families in the bombing, Joseph has lost his daughter and wife and Daniel and Amanda Graystone their daughter. But its more than just grief and drama, we learn a lot about the other colonies, Tauron especially but Gemenon is going to play an important role as well, we also see how technology obsessed the people of Caprica were before the war and how this ultimately could prove to be their downfall.

The characters themselves are full of intrigue, at first I didn’t have a lot of love for the main teenagers Zoe her friend Lacy and Tamara Adama but I have to say they are all pretty badass. Zoe is dead and yet she’s alive as her avatar self and the robot, and its great seeing how the edit the scenes so that they flow seamlessly from Cylon Zoe to Avatar Zoe. Lacy is the best friend trying to fulfil a promise and Tamara well don’t wanna give too much away but after watching There Is Another Sky she is pretty damn badass and clearly has a role to play in the story.

Sam Adama, Joseph’s mafia type brother has got to be the best character in the series, he is fantastic, a loyal Tauron who takes his young nephew Willie under his wing, Sam is intense, funny and also it seems gay which I love because it wasn’t this big deal it just is. Oh and he has a stable relationship!

Sister Clarice Willow is portrayed wonderfully by Polly Walker, she is obviously a supporter of the Solider of One group but how far is she involved and why is she so interested in Lacy?

Also there has been a lot of debate amongst fans about the inconsistencies between the two shows, like isn’t Willie too old to be the Bill Adama we all love? And why did he never mention having a sister before? I personally think that this isn’t the real Bill Adama and that something happens and Joseph ends up having another son. I believe that the writers know what they are doing with this show. I also wonder if its coincidence that Daniel’s PR lady is played by the same actress who played Kat in BSG? Are they meant to be related or just liked the actress? Oh and is Daniel the missing 7th Cylon mentioned in the final series of BSG?? Hmmmm intrigue and conspiracies start to form.

Caprica may not be action packed, there are no explosions in space or dogfights against Cylon Raiders but its slowly building its characters and plot and really what we think we know happened is bound to be turned on its head. Its drama at its finest and I only wished more people would watch it so it gets a fighting chance of a second series.