WormholeRiders News Agency

Tag: BSG

Caprica: Know Thy Enemy

Welcome back Caprica fans!

This episode continued to push plot stories, but it also provided a lighter side; I hope we see more of that.

The episode starts one series’ month prior to current events. At the Vergis Corporation on Tauron, there has been a break-in at the Metacognitive Process Research Lab…and murder. Tomas Vergis (John Pyper-Ferguson, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: TNG) observes the chip is gone and 2 people are now dead.

Back to current series’ time. Tom Vergis shows up at a corporate dinner party Daniel Graystone and Amanda are attending.

Tom wants a meeting. There is an interesting hawk-like sculpture in the background

Back at the house Daniel tells half-truths to Amanda, but Amanda knows he is holding back. For a couple who seem to know each other so well, they knew very little about their daughter, Zoe. Cyrus comes over to discuss Tom’s agenda with Daniel. Blackmail is the obvious conclusion. Cyrus is livid when he finds out that Daniel went to the Ha’la’tha, the Tauron mafia, to rob Vergis. Listening in the lab is U-87/Avatar Zoe who is in disbelief at what she is hearing.

Joseph Adama has purchased his first holoband from “Emptor Electronics” (as in “caveat emptor, let the buyer beware, which is so funny, an underlying warning about his holoband purchase) in an effort to find Tamara in the V-club. He is frustrated that he cannot get into the hacked sites immediately. Daniel walks into Joseph’s apartment, rips the holoband confronts him about the Vergis break-in. Joseph assures him that if Vergis knew about the theft and who did it, he would be dead. Joseph tries to tell him about Heracles and Tamara; Daniel insists they are gone and leaves.

We hear on Caprica television that there has been another bombing by the Soldiers of the One (STO). Clarice wants to know who is doing this. Nestor tells her it is likely Barnabus Greely (James Marsters, Smallwood, Torchwood).

Fun fact: Both James Marsters and John Pyper-Ferguson appeared in the same episode of Lie To Me, “Truth or Consequences.”

Olaf introduces new technology to Clarice called a swipe drive that will allow wireless download of data. Nestor believes with this data, they can crack the Zoe avatar or any dead person. Clarice corrects him and says, “It is the continuation of the soul into eternity.”

She says something at this time that sparked my interest, “…and I’m certain that is what Daniel was talking about.” Two possibilities exist here. She could simply be talking about the interview she saw with Daniel Graystone on the Sarno show. There is another Daniel that Battlestar fans are quite familiar with Daniel the 7th Cylon, created by the final 5 Cylons that took humanoid form, but Cavil was jealous of the relationship his mother (Ellen) had with him and sabotages his genetic code and the Daniel line could not be continued into the BSG storyline. Time will tell.

Clarice initiates a phone call to a vulnerable and grieving Amanda. After hearing the Global Defense Department (GDD) took everything from Zoe’s room, Clarice claims to have some of Zoe’s books and offers to bring them over. Among these books is “Markowitz’s Math.” I wondered if this was a nod to Harry Markowitz? Markowitz chose to apply mathematics to the analysis of the stock market as the topic for his dissertation. Why is this funny, you may ask? I love Easter eggs like this. There is a book just out called “The Quants” by Scott Patterson that describes the people on Wall Street who used mathematics in the stock market and ultimately caused its collapse. Ron Moore likes to make politicial statements.

Joseph and Sam have a talk about what happened at the Vergis Corporation. Joseph is worried that the Guatrau will find out they stole from another Tauron. Sam is confident it cannot be traced back to him.

Tom and Daniel have lunch. Graystone Industries is going to need money and Tom offers 300 million cubits for Daniel’s beloved pyramid team the C-Bucks. I love the different camera angles they use in filming this scene. Cyrus wants Daniel to accept the offer, but Daniel thinks it is a trap.

Philomon, the lab technician who is falling in love with U-87/Avatar Zoe, is trying to find a date on the virtual dating site called Caprica V-Match. I love the details that are given about the young man. He is 5 feet 9 inches tall, an average build, blue eyes. He desires dating females and is age 27, from Qualai, Caprica. In our own world, Qualai in Kurdish translates into the word “castle.” Qualai is also named in BSG, pilot episode Hero, as the town in which William Adama (Willie in Caprica) grows up on Caprica. Philomon is the chief lab technician at Graystone Industries. He has had an impressive education: A BS in applied mathematics from Qualai University; a PhD in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, an master of science in computer sciences (MSCS), a master’s degree in applied physics. His hobbies include applied robotics, quantum mechanics on a nuclear level and astrology. His favorite TV shows are Sarno and reruns of Gemenon monster movies. His favorite website is the Grand Library of Libran.

Poor Philomon has no matches. Out of 12 planets, not one woman is interested in him. No wonder he has fallen in love with a robot! While he is hitting on U-87/Avatar Zoe, Daniel interrupts the intimate moment. Philomon is embarrassed.

Disclaimer: WHR supports each person’s right to believe in a faith of their own choosing or for those who do not believe and their right to choose not to believe and respect them as well. This is delineated by analogy within the single effect of Caprica’s episode “Know Thy Enemy.” WHR is neither comparing nor stating one is “better than the others.” Quite the contrary. Our only editorial purposes is to analyze the religious elements that are represented in the Caprica episode.

At the shipping yards, we meet Barnabus. He is performing what looks like to be some variation of some kind of religious self-flagellation, but instead of whips we associate with Opus Dei from the movie, “The Da Vinci Code”, this is with barbed wire wrapped around his right arm. Flagellation (not applied to self but others) associated with religion goes back to the days of Greece (Dionysus cult) and Egypt (Isis cult). There are sects of the Catholic church in the Philippines and Latin America where self-flagellation is quite common. Also some members of strict monastic orders and, according to Opus Dei’s website, some members practice mild self-flagellation with an instrument that is a cattail whip usually made of knotted cords and is flung over the shoulders repeatedly during private prayer. In Islam, flagellation of others is used in certain cases under Islamic Sharia law (see Rasheed Abou-Alsamh, “Ruling Jolts Even Saudis, from the New York Times article 11/16/2007). While self-harm is forbidden in Islam, some sects of Shi’a Muslims found only in Iran and the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia perform self-flagellation on the Day of Ashura. The practice is frowned upon by Sunnis and other Muslims. Self-flagellation is even used by mystics and religious ecstatics as part of rituals and ceremonies to achieve unusual states of mind.

Clarice visits Apotheosis in the virtual world. The Conclave is supporting Barnabus. Apotheosis tells Clarice that God calls on us to display humility and place our trust in his emissaries. Clarice says Barnabus is just muscle for the Conclave, not an emissary. She pleads for more time to give them something better.

Clarice meets Serge and is perplexed at how to respond to the machine. Clarice tells him that is an awful name (Serge means “servant.”) Funny note: There is someone that exists in this world named “Serge Ribot” according to a directory of names. Could that be Serge the Robot in disguise who managed to find his way to Earth after the destruction of the colonies? Using Amanda’s grief and pain to bond with her, Clarice suggests they share a drink. A drunk Amanda then brings her to Zoe’s room and says they took everything. However, the dragonflies are still on the wall (See my review on Caprica: Rebirth to understand the hidden meaning). Not understanding the implications of what she is doing, the drunk Amanda allows Clarice into the lab to see some pictures that Zoe drew that were not taken because the GDD was not allowed in there.

In the lab, Clarice calls U-87 a “scary thing.” Amanda thinks it a “frakkin ugly monster.” U-87/Avatar Zoe shakes her head, obviously hurt. The wirelesss information-gathering device is planted. Amanda inquires if Zoe shared how much she hated Daniel’s work, but Clarice says no but says that Zoe did say she loved the house, growing up there and planting a garden. U-87/Avatar Zoe is nodding her head as if she remembers doing that. Amanda says it was the other house. Clarice embraces Amanda and Zoe looks worried.

Joseph asks Evelyn to find Heracles, telling her he is a witness for one of his cases. She returns with the details of the young man. Again, the writers do a fabulous job at creating a life for a character in a picture moment: According to his driver’s license, his real name is Tad Thorean, date of birth 6/4/27YR. He attends North Ridge High School. Evelyn admires Joseph’s new tattoo. They share looks of attraction. Perhaps this is the beginning of a future entanglement?

Barnabus meets Lacy Rand via Keon. Although impressed by her intelligence, he declines to help. When Lacy tries to persist at convincing him, Barnabus’ temper erupts. Scary moment for me as a viewer as I was not expecting that. Barnabus tells Keon to stop thinking with his “tarse” and perhaps Keon was feeling guilty about building the bomb Ben used that ultimately killed Zoe, Lacy’s friend. Keon says he did not know Ben was going to use it for that purpose. Barnabus tells Keon to find out what the cargo is.

U-87/Avatar Zoe goes to the computer and creates a virtual character called Rachel who responds to Philomon’s date search. Philomon is thrilled to see there was an inquiry and goes on his virtual date. He notices immediately that Rachel/Zoe looks like Zoe Graystone. Rachel/Zoe covers quickly with a clever reason why she disguises herself to look like the most hated girl in the 12 colonies. Philomon says that for all the bad things they say, Zoe Graystone had principles. Rachel/Zoe is beaming. It was fantastic to see Allesandra get to show off her exuberant and quirky personality. Love is in the air. I hope we get to see a lot more of Rachel/Zoe in the episodes ahead.

Tom Vergis goes on the Sarno show and takes some quips about a friendly rivalry. After the interview, Daniel thinks he knows what Tom is up to.

Back at the Graystone’s house, the view out the window looks familiar (it is the view from Baltar’s house in Battlestar Galactica). It makes me wonder if Baltar at some point in the future winds up buying the Graystone property. Daniel is having nightmares, imagining how the 2 people at the Vergis Corporation died. Daniel decides to refuse to sell the pyramid team to Tom and calls him out on his scheme to get the military contract back. Tom’s scheme is more insidious. “My dream is to tear up your dream.” Vergis forgives him for the stolen property, but the deaths must be repaid according to the Tauron code “blood for blood.” The two people who died were his children and Vergis shows Daniel the tattoo on his arm that represents them.

Daniel’s flashes of his nightmare return. He toasts to Daniel, “Until the debt is paid.” Tom thanks Daniel for the drink and leaves. Amongst the civility, war has just been declared on Daniel Graystone.

Until next week Caprica fans…Looks like an action-packed episode where Joseph enlists Heracle/Tad’s help in finding Tamara. I cannot wait.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments! We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future! Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

PBMom

March 9, 2010
Caprica: There Is Another Sky

Welcome Back Caprica Fans!

Friday’s episode of Caprica was incredibly dense, packed full of information, character development and glimpses of the future. For the Adama family and the Graystone family, they are awakening from their grief states to see that while you will never “get over” the loss of a loved one, you learn to live life differently – life with another sky. For Tamara, another sky for her is finding out what her new role in life is.

As Caprica began, Joseph Adama is at one of the lowest points of depression, sleeping on the couch with the blankets pulled up over his head. Willie is not in school. Sam uses some tough love to wake him up: He has another child who still needs him. Sam pretends that he is taking Willie to school and walks out.

In the V-club, Tamara roams. Byun (actress Eve Harlow, Fringe) takes her to see Vesta (actress Camille Mitchell). Tamara has been told that Vesta can get her home. In a freaky game that resembles a hybrid game of spin the bottle and Russian roulette, the wheel spins. Once it stops, your virtual avatar picks up the virtual gun that stops in front of you. Everyone puts their respective virtual guns to their avatar’s head and pulls the trigger. The virtual gun with the virtual bullet will knock a participant out of the V-club and thus they become the loser.

Vesta tells Tamara to just take off her holoband, but Tamara responds that she cannot. With a quick draw, Vesta shoots Tamara, expecting to see her avatar de-res. Tamara has blood on her avatar’s body, but her wound heals. Vesta says that she is a “sleeper.” A sleeper is supposed to be a myth, someone who fell asleep with their holoband on and cannot wake up, like someone unconscious or in a coma. Her holoband has a time-out feature built into it, but Vesta surmises there must have been a malfunction. She can hack it and do a manual disconnect. There is always a price. Vesta wants Tamara to play a game.

Over at the Adama house, Joseph gets a call that Willie has been out sick for several days now. Joseph inquires exactly how long and is told the middle of last week (a story week for the character). Finding Willie at Sam’s business, there is an awkward moment between the three of them. Joseph tells Willie to come with him; Willie looks to Sam; Joseph sees that look; Sam motions his head to go with his father. Sam reminds Joseph of an old Tauron saying: “You lose something in the desert. Someone else finds it – it belongs to them. Permanent.” Joseph replies that he did not lose his son; Sam counters, “Then what are you doing here?”

Heracles (actor Richard Harmon, Fringe, Riese) takes Tamara’s avatar to a virtual Caprica that is totally lawless. It reminded me of being in a virtual replica of perhaps the video game Grand Theft Auto meets the movie Sin City. A dirigible hovers nearby, fighter planes detaching from it, which sprays bullets in their path on the fire escape. Heracles explains “New Cap City” to Tamara; it has all the new routines, even the one that features the Maglev train blowing up. Her memory is returning: “When MY Maglev train blew up.” If that is true, Heracles wonders how long she has been sleeping. What is the object of the game “New Cap City?” The object of the game IS the object of the game. He reassures her that the game is not real; it, however, feels very real to her.

Back to the Adama house, reality is setting in for Joseph. He finds pictures of his family. The mixture of joyful memories, mixed with pain at remembering those better times, and grief for what he no longer has rises in his face. Esai Morales did a fantastic job displaying this wide range of emotions.

Tamara and Heracles begin to play the game, going after a boss, Chiron (actor A. C. Peterson, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis). Playing tag team, Tamara serves as the distraction, while Heracles uses his device to steal the details of Chiron’s avatar. Back at the hotel, Heracles uses the device to change his avatar to one that looks like Chiron. They are planning a virtual bank heist. In a personal moment, Heracles tells Tamara that the game allows him to be something. Tamara responds that perhaps if he was not in the virtual world playing the game, he could be something out in the real world, too.

Joseph tries to move forward to rebuild his life and takes Willie fishing. As any typical teenager seeking to make life miserable for those with whom he is angry, he gets that point across quite well. Looking on is a group of kids making fun of his Tauron heritage. Fed up, Willie throws a rock at his tormentor and starts punching him.

Cyrus at Graystone Industries tells Daniel he may be ousted from the board because of his decision on world-wide television to give away holoband licensure (60% of the company’s profits). When Daniel asks Cyrus if they have the votes, Cyrus walks away, giving Daniel his answer. Daniel goes home, but cannot sleep. He shares the bad news with Amanda. Amanda reminds him about the circumstances under which he got the job that started everything for them, when she was pregnant with Zoe.

The next morning at the board meeting, Cyrus and Pryah speak up on behalf of Daniel. In what has to be one of the BEST scenes so far in all of the episodes, Daniel seals the fate of humanity of the Twelve Colonies. With U-87/Avatar Zoe at his side, he walks in and declares that holobands are over. Hacked sites are eating up more and more of their market share each quarter and that is where the kids are going because it is free. The next generation will also expect it to be free. They cannot own it forever. Daniel says they can put all their resources into that sinking ship or they can look for the next big thing, the next leap forward that will “change the world.” Oh, Daniel, if you only knew. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. He says, “We either move into the future or die trying to hold on to the past.” I’m yelling at the screen at this point (in my head, of course, so as not to upset my family: Your future is death!”) U-87 is that future. Daniel asks U-87 to “make the circuit. Take a nice look at all…these…fine…folks.” As U-87 starts to make the rounds, not only is the board uneasy as this machine checks them out, but so am I. And the Emmy goes to….”U-87!”

Avatar Zoe pops into frame, just loving making faces at all the board members, just like a 16-year-old would.

Daniel continues to speak: “What is it thinking? Or feeling? THAT is the big leap forward. Beyond artificial intelligence. This is artificial sentience.” He says that he feels like there is a being in U-87, alive, vital and special. There are test results to prove it as well. Avatar Zoe looks so proud of her dad, but happy, I believe, that he acknowledges her existence on some level. “There is a brilliant mind in here.” She is beaming.

A board member asks, “What are the practical applications of something that costs so much.” Daniel replies, “What are the practical applications of creating another race to share our universe? A tireless worker who won’t need to be paid, won’t retire, or get sick. He won’t have rights or objections or complaints. It will do anything and everything we ask of it without question.” He commands U-87 to rip off its arm. At this point I am unsure if this is purposely done this way or if it was something not thought through. U-87 hesitates. He has to repeat the command a few times to U-87 before it happens. Avatar Zoe inside of U-87 does not want to do this. Why did Daniel not pick up on this hesitation? Did he just think the model was new and he had to repeat the command more than once? He said they would do everything without question, but the model was clearly not responding to the initial command. U-87 eventually rips off its arm and for emphasis throws it onto the conference table, a thud that issued the future death warrant on humanity. The move has secured Daniel his spot in Graystone Industries.

Back at the V-club, the virtual bank heist is on with Heracles using Chiron’s avatar. Tamara and Heracles figure out the code and open the vault. Virtual coins go flying in the air. Alarms sound; they’ve been caught. When the guards try to shoot, Tamara throws him to the ground, grips her palms hard and the guards’ avatars disappear. She is not quite sure how she did that. It reminded me a lot of The Matrix.

In my reviews, I have neglected to mention how wonderful the visual effects are in Caprica. The work they are doing on this show is incredible, so incredible that I often take for granted a lot of what I see is not real. I still find great irony that the technology is so advanced in some areas, like the V-club, yet they still have hard-wired phone lines, cars that resemble those in the 1950’s.

Willie and Joseph have a tense moment in the Adama house. Sam knocks on the door. He and Larry sit down with Joseph. What has he been teaching Willie, he asks? Only the things they were taught, Sam replies. Willie needs closure. Sam wants Joseph to perform the Tauron rites.

The Tauron ceremony was very beautiful. It reminded me loosely of sitting shiva after a person of the Jewish faith has been buried. Ideally all of the direct mourners sit shiva in the house of the deceased, for it says, “Where a person lived, there does his spirit continue to dwell.” Thus the presence of the person who has passed away is strongest in his own home. But one may sit shiva in any home. Particularly, a home of one of the direct mourners will be filled with the spirit of the loved one who is now gone. Memories will come easily there, and part of the comfort of the week of shiva is sharing such memories. The Adama household was more festive than shiva, however, so that is where the similarities ended. Performing the Tauron ritual was the ferryman (actor Ian Wallace, Stargate: The Ark of Truth, Sanctuary). Both Joseph and Willie offered up a coin for the passage of the souls of Shannon and Tamara Adama. Sam Adama stands behind the two, his shirt off, showing off the story of his life through his tattoos.

Note: Show Patrol aka Curt Wagner had a wonderful intensive with Jane Espenson who shared in great detail what every tattoo means. Please see Curts fine report by clicking his link above left or Curt’s Show Patrol avatar below:

The ferryman asks them, “Will you let them go? Joseph and Willie both respond yes. “They will live forever in peace and in their hearts.” The marking of this chapter in their life is inked into them; it might even be Joseph’s first tattoo since he is embracing his Tauron roots. A beautiful Tauron song is performed by a character listed as “Tauron Rites Singers” but is actress Patti Allan (Stargate SG-1).

At the V-club, Vesta asks Heracles and Tamara for the device. Tamara is a fast learner. First, Vesta is going to wake her up. Vesta says she has bad news for Tamara – Apparently she died in the Maglev bombing, but no worries, she has plans for Tamara in the virtual world. Tamara pulls out her virtual gun and sprays the place with bullets, making all the avatars, except for Vesta and Heracles, to res-out. Tamara begs Heracles to go to the address listed in the newspaper and get her father and to meet her in New Cap City. She walks over to Vesta. Vesta says, “What ARE you?” An angry Tamara responds, “I’m awake!” and the Vesta avatar leaves the virtual world.

With the Tauron Rites ceremony behind them, the Adama family is moving forward again until a knock at the door pulls Joseph back into the world of grief: Heracles tells him that Tamara is trapped in the V-club. When Joseph starts to question him, Heracles gets scared and runs away, leaving Joseph to know that his daughter’s avatar is somewhere in the virtual world but also knowing it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Back in New Cap City, Tamara has morphed from a frightened school girl into a virtual bad-ass tapped into her Tauron roots.

As she strolled down the street, it reminded me of the commanding presence of the human-like Cylon females (like Caprica Six) that eventually emerge in the remake of Battlestar Galactica: Confident, powerful, fearless.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!

We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future!

Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

PBMom

March 3, 2010
Caprica Review: Gravedancing

Welcome Caprica Fans.

I hope you enjoyed Friday’s episode of Caprica as much as I did. Starting off things with a bang, another bombing occurs which Agent Durham believes is another message from the Soldiers of The One (STO). Agent Durham was able to secure a search warrant for the Athenian Academy, with media in tow, and another for the Graystone’s home.

Back at Sister Clarice’s home, we get a further peek into what a bisexual group marriage looks like. At least on this particular evening, four in the group are waking up together: Clarice and Desiree have a good morning exchange while Nestor and Olaf are greeting each other for the day. Then Desiree moves over as Nestor takes her place, sharing a good morning exchange with each other in the process, and ending with Clarice greeting Nestor and Olaf snuggling with Desiree. Clarice receives an urgent call and rushes from the bed.

Dressed and walking about Caprica City, Clarice bumps into a messenger who tells her on her computer sheet that the school is about to be raided. She dumps the computer sheet in the trash. The students at Athenian Academy who are part of the STO are also notified via computer sheet. Keon, who was Ben Stark’s friend (the suicide bomber in the pilot), is removing dynamite and fuses from his locker.

As Daniel Graystone’s colleagues prepare him for his show appearance on Baxter Sarno’s show. Amanda Graystone is not pleased. She says to Daniel, “I can’t believe you are going out there to dance on her grave like this.” Daniel explains to her that he has to do this because of the actions she took. Amanda says, “We’re not company spokespeople; we’re parents.” Daniel replies, “Actually, no, we’re not.”

Poor Serge! He just wants to help and is treated just like the machine that he is.

Witnessing the scene at the Graystone’s is Sam Adama who watches from his car, a Tauron bull on his dashboard. He waits for his opportunity to kill Amanda Graystone while questioning Joseph’s commitment to this request.

After the raid, Sister Clarice looks like she is about to cry, but as she shrinks into the floor, an unexpected burst of anger appears. Have I said lately what a phenomenal actress Polly Walker is? I loved her in the HBO series “Rome.” How lucky we are to have such talent on a show such as this.

U-87/Avatar Zoe hacks back into the V-club, but is interrupted by Philomon, the kind technician from the episode “Rebirth.” I think Avatar Zoe has a crush on him.

At the Adama residence, Willie Adama and his aunt have a discussion about what he would like to do right now in his life. Willie wants to work at Mr. Graystone’s pyramid team in the locker room, but he did not think his father, Joseph, would approve. My favorite line from the grandmother is: “You think you only get things from friends? You get the BEST things from enemies because they’re scared of you.” Sam Adama continues to observe the Graystone residence. Joseph is growing impatient. Sam tells Joseph the GDD is doing a search of the house. Agent Durham assures Amanda that they will not hurt anything; they just need to search. Amanda asks him, “What is this to you? Did you lose someone on the train?” Agent Durham replies, “I lost everyone on that train.” Lacy Rand meets with Keon. She reminds him that he promised to help her get “something” to Gemenon. Agent Durham tells his boss, Gara Singh, that the parents had cleaned out the home already and the lockers of the kids at school were much too clean. He wants a higher level of clearance to monitor communications because he knows something is there. Back at the lab, Philomon puts on some music during a diagnostic being run on U-87/Avatar Zoe. As he is scanning through the stations, one can hear the music for the original Battlestar Galactica. Nice touch! He finally settles on something appropriate and he tries to teach U-87/Avatar Zoe how to dance. Interesting to see Avatar Zoe dancing in a floating, flirty and sexy way with Philomon and they would cut the camera angle to just U-87 dancing which was quite clumsy. At the end of the song, he walks away. U-87/Avatar Zoe’s red eye follows him. Yes, it is definitely looks like a mutual crush is developing here. Our little girl is growing up. Joseph and Grandma talk. She tells Joseph that Tauron children play jacks with the finger bones of the Tauron children who loose the jacks. Joseph is horrified. But grandma lets out an evil laugh and says, “That was a joke. They were from chicken feet.” The grandmother reminds Joseph that Taurons believe the dead do not really die until their deaths are avenged. She is happy that Joseph is going to “take care of it.” But Joseph looks like he may be having doubts. I have to be honest; the grandmother would be fun to have around on Halloween. Daniel goes on Sarno’s show and it spirals downward. Amanda arrives at the studio to inform Daniel and his colleagues about the GDD raid. However, when she sees Daniel stumbling with his words out on the stage, she goes out there in a moment that reminds me of the movie “Touch” with Skeet Ulrich. She winds up saving the interview. Daniel announces that all holoband licensing will be free from now on and all profits made from holoband sales will be donated to a foundation they will set up to help teens find the right experience and the right values. Cyrus, his colleagues mentions to Pryah, the holobands are 60% of the net of the company. Sam shows up also at the studio and meets a fellow Tauron, an usher. He sees her tattoo and in the language of Tauron, asks for a pass into the studio, which she freely gives him. At home, Joseph and Grandma are watching the Sarno show. She notes that she could kill Amanda with her own hands and sleep well every night. Creepy. She says to Joseph, “Couldn’t you?” After the show is over, Sam introduces himself to Amanda as “Baxter Sarno’s driver” and that he could take her home. She freely goes with him. Lacy asks Keon if he had something in his locker and did he get a warning. He tells her he can’t say. Lacy has to go to Gemenon and take Zoe’s package with her. Keon tells Lacy he could set up a meeting with Barabus. He would decide whether she would get the STO’s help. Lacy thanks him and they have a touching moment. I think love might be blossoming for these two. Amanda admires Sam’s tattoos. She mentions that she is a plastic surgeon (note--they must have changed this at some point because during the pilot and the commentary, they said she was a neurosurgeon). He shares they are cultural, Tauron. Amanda knows the have meanings. They carry on a discussion about them. I always find it fascinating that assassins share so much of themselves to the one they are about to kill. She mentions that they are not going the correct way and Sam says something about traffic. Joseph has been texting Sam and calling others to get in touch with Sam to cancel the hit on Amanda. Sam escalates in scaring Amanda, telling her he lost a sister-in-law and a niece in the bombing. Sam comes home and starts cleaning up. He gives Joseph the details about how he killed Amanda. When Joseph finishes hearing the story, you could see the conflict in his eyes. Sam tells him, however, not to jack him around like that anymore. He noted the 60 text messages that he received from Joseph. Sam did not kill her; he just scared her a bit. Back at the Willow’s, Clarice keeps replaying Sarno’s show, intent on the part where Daniel says he created Zoe’s avatar. You can see the wheels churning in her brain. Daniel and Amanda talk about their appearance on Sarno and Daniel’s public confession that he creator an avatar of Zoe. Daniel downplays it, but does not share that it was Real Zoe’s avatar and that he stole the program to put into a robot. Amanda, however, says, “Yeah, I know how an avatar works, and so do you.” Next week’s episode looks very exciting as we get to know more about Tamara Adama and her journey to get free of the V-club, not realizing she is just an avatar and not a human being anymore. Hope to see you all there! Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments! We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future! Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!" PBMom

February 24, 2010
Caprica Review – Reins of a Waterfall

Welcome Caprica fans.

The title, “Reins of a Waterfall” describes this episode perfectly. The noun “reins” as a means to guide, control, check or restrain. In tarot cards, the waterfall represents emotion and the subconscious. In Chinese symbolism, it represents the feminine. In dream analysis, waterfalls are a symbol of rebirth or can represent a form of baptism or initiation. Since the last episode was “Rebirth”, this episode would typify the guidance of that rebirth, the next step in the journey of creation.

Entering into this episode, we are sampling through Caprica television like a remote control, seeing the cultural aftermath of Dr. Amanda Graystone’s public statement that her daughter Zoe was a terrorist involved with the MagLev bombing and the Soldiers of the One (STO). Dr. Graystone has had to resign her position at the hospital. Lacy Rand’s classmates at the Athenian Academy ostracize her. Daniel Graystone’s company appears on the verge of collapse.

As Daniel lets off steam in the boxing ring, his colleague, Cyrus, pleads with him to hire Pryah (Luciana Carro, “Kat” on Battlestar Galactica) to the open public relations position to counter the negative press. Cyrus wants Daniel to go on television to speak out. Daniel refuses.

As he leaves the gym, Daniel’s driver relinquishes the keys quite quickly to Sam Adama, but Daniel does not realize exactly who he is. Daniel performs a pre-emptive first strike blow, but Sam quickly shows him who is boss in this encounter. Joseph Adama walks up and introduces Daniel to his brother, Sam. Joseph seems to be embracing his Tauron roots whole-heartedly. I have a feeling Daniel will no longer refuse a phone call from Joseph again.

I thought Sam’s statement to Daniel was ironic about his niece, Tamara: “She’s dead because you raised a terrorist and I frakkin’ hate terrorists.” Sam belongs to the mob and likely has inflicted terror into the hearts of many in addition to the routine assassinations he carries out for the Guatrau (the Godfather).

Joseph wants to see Tamara, his daughter, again in the virtual world. Daniel tries to explain the program is gone, but Joseph reminds him that he said Daniel “thought” it was gone. As Daniel walks out of the ally, a single crow or raven flies behind him. Crows are powerful symbols that can be associated as being messengers, and symbols of death, wisdom, communication and the underworld.

In a scene reminiscent of Goodfellas, Willie skips school again to hang out with his Uncle Sam at his off-track betting establishment, bringing food to the men in the back room, including Francis (Christian Tessier, “Duck” from Battlestar Galactica). Sam admonishes Willie, telling him he needs to wait until attendance is taken and THEN he can skip out. To cover his absence, Sam plans to call in and use a made-up Tauron holiday as an excuse because he does not think the school will know any better. While watching scenes with Sam and the future Admiral William Adama, I cannot help but wonder how many lessons he learned from Sam that helped in the salvation of the survivors in the Battlestar Galactica story.

A beaten-up Daniel comes home and rebuffs Serge’s desire to assist him medically. He walks down to his lab. Amanda comes home and they both shocked at each other’s wounds. There is a glaring medical error here in the script. Amanda is a neurosurgeon. Keeping a sterile environment becomes second nature to a physician. She goes over to the wound glue (which is known as Dermabond here on our planet) and applies it to her contaminated finger before applying it to Daniel’s facial wound. The normal procedure in a hospital would be to open a singly-packed cotton swab, apply the medication to the swab, and apply the swab to the wound. Being in the medical field, it was something that I noticed. Amanda apologizes for her public statement. Daniel chuckles that she would do it again if she could which she acknowledges. The range of emotions carried by these phenomenal actors in this scene is astounding. Eric Stoltz and Paula Malcomson are to be applauded. The love that exists between Daniel and Amanda is palpable. Daniel wants to bond her wounds with the glue; Amanda wants to bond in a different sort of way.

All of this is going on in front of U-87/Zoe. U-87/Zoe looks confused and alarmed that her parents think she was part of the bombing. Since this is Avatar Zoe in U-87’s body, I believe this would be news to her as well. Although Real Zoe and Avatar Zoe were in a biofeedback loop at the time of the explosion, electrical impulses and/or feelings were being transmitted, not actual documentation of seeing Ben opening up his jacket with the bomb strapped to Ben’s body, totally unknown to Real Zoe. When her parents start having sex in the lab, the poor soul cannot leave the U-87 body. The writing here gets quite clever as they show U-87/Zoe giving them as much privacy as possible. The robot’s red eye goes from the left mid center to the far left several times to avoid looking at her parents having sex to the right of her.

(more…)

February 8, 2010
OMG! Alessandra Toressani of Caprica on Lopez Tonight!
Hey Caprica Fans!

Lopez Tonight ROCKS and so does the wonderful Caprica team at SyFy!

Below is an interview appearance from Alessandra Toressani on the George Lopez show that includes the extended Caprica preview of this Friday’s fantastic upcoming episode “Reins of a Waterfall”.

Most newsworthy, Lopez Tonight features top notch entertainment talent on an ongoing basis and the appearance of Ms. Toressani is most certainly no exception!

Our fair use news clip illustrates the very beautiful Ms. Alessandra Toressani who portrays Zoe Graystone on SyFy’s Caprica. Both are quality shows no one should ever miss in the opinion of this reporter!

Click images to visit Caprica on SyFy, Alessandra, Team WHR and Kenn on Twitter.
Link
Embed
Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.
Stand by for more Caprica reviews as Team WHR coverage of Caprica continues!

More special reviews, and interviews with cool videos are coming in the future!

See you soon and we are sure you will enjoy episode four of the newly created Caprica series, “Reins of a Waterfall” that airs this Friday on SyFy. It will ROCK.

Enjoy!

Best Regards,

Kenn
February 5, 2010
Caprica: Extended Promo Preview S1x04 – Reins of a Waterfall
Hey Caprica Fans!

Many thanks to the wonderful team at SyFy NBC Universal Comcast! Below is an extended Caprica preview of this Friday’s fantastic upcoming episode “Reins of a Waterfall”.

From a news perspective Caprica reflects many of the problems and challenges in our own troubled world. It is a series no one should miss! Click images to visit NBC, Caprica, Team WHR and Kenn.
Link
Embed
Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.
Stand by for more Caprica reviews as the WHR Caprica Team expands our coverage!

More special reviews and reports with cool videos are coming! See you soon and we are sure you will enjoy episode four of the newly created Caprica series when counting the pilot as two episodes, or episode three if you count the pilot as one episode.

“Reins of a Waterfall” premieres this Friday on SyFy and it will ROCK!

Enjoy!

Best Regards

Kenn
February 3, 2010
Caprica Review – Rebirth

Welcome Caprica and Battlestar Fans!

“Rebirth” was the first new episode of the Caprica series after the pilot. The wait was over finally and has been well worth it!

It has almost been one series month now since the bombings that took the lives of many including Real-Zoe, and two series days since U-87/Zoe last talked to her friend Lacy Rand, which was the ending moment of the pilot episode.

The opening sequence reminded me of the first Mass Effect Xbox 360 game with that red, flashing effect and the splicing in of technology that was shown to the game player in the Prothean beacons, ironic timing since Mass Effect 2: “Fight For the Lost” was a sponsor of tonight’s episode.

Zoe is having a dream—or rather more fitting, a nightmare—with key moments of her robot’s life, her avatar’s life and the real Zoe’s life scrambled in her consciousness.

Editors Note: As is clearly written within the Caprica story-line, the original Battlestar Galactica, and the re-imagined BSG, the people of this “Galaxy of Worlds” believe in many gods. This review focuses on the various aspects of religion. However WHR does NOT favor one belief (or lack thereof) over the other. The discussion herein is for news analysis purposes only. Thank you.

I immediately made the trinity connection (which is later affirmed by Lacy Rand). Trinity in Catholicism is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost). However, they are not three principles of creation but one according to that faith. WHR does not venture into religious discussions, but the analogies within Caprica is appropriate for the purposes of this review. Team WHR supports each persons personal right to believe in a faith of their own choosing or for those whom do not believe, in their right to choose not to believe and respect them as well.

Editors Note: However, this is delineated by analogy within the Single Effect of Caprica episode “Rebirth”.

Each divine person performs the common work according to the unique personal property. In short, within this episode, everyone who glorifies God does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the central mystery of the Catholic faith and of Catholic life. God alone can make it known to us by revealing himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The analogy of the “Incarnation of God’s Son” reveals that God is the eternal Father and that the Son is co-substantial with the Father, which means that, in the Father and with the Father, the Son is one and the same God. The mission of the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in the name of the Son and by the Son “from the Father” reveals that with them, the Spirit is one and the same God. We worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity, without either confusing the persons or dividing the substance. The religions that split off from the Catholic Church during the Protestant reformation still believe in this concept. In Unitarianism, the belief is in one deity/one person; some other religions believe in one deity/two persons, and some believe in the Oneness belief like the Church of Latter Day Saints where God is three separate beings who are one in purpose instead of essence.

In Monotheistic religions like Judaism or the Muslim faith, the belief is in only one deity or one prophet. These beliefs are every bit a personal choice and valid to the believers of these faiths. WHR is not comparing, nor stating one is “better than the others”. Quite the contrary. Our only editorial purpose is to analyze the multiple deities as are represented in the Caprica story.

Aside from the “faith” or lack thereof discussion, I very much enjoyed the inter-cutting of the robot version of Zoe (U-87/Zoe) and Allesandra Torresani, the actress, who plays Zoe (both real Zoe and virtual Zoe). It allows you to sympathize with the robot and the character trapped inside.

U-87/Zoe struggles with her identity. What exactly is she? A poignant moment occurs while U-87/Zoe is being transported in a van and she is entombed. . I felt the anxiety rise up in my own body, wondering if she was also struggling to breathe. Does Avatar Zoe know what it is like to breathe air? Or perhaps the electrical impulses and feelings of breathing air were passed from Real-Zoe to Avatar-Zoe during a biofeedback loop?

Panicking, she struggles to free herself from the bonds that hold her in place. When Phil, the technician who is kind to her, approaches and shows her that he wants to take out the Meta-Cognitive Processor (MCP), she lifts her head to allow him so he can end her nightmare. Back in the lab, technician who treats her like a machine, but to our eye is abusive, sees something is wrong with the plating on the chest and grabs a drill with one hand and her neck with the other. I wonder, “Does she feel pain now?” In fear, U-87/Zoe reacts swiftly and slices part of his finger off. Although I cringed, I secretly thought, “He had that coming to him.” U-87/Zoe reaches up to wipe her face and touches real human blood for the first time, not the virtual blood she saw in the virtual club in the pilot episode.

Daniel Graystone is supposed to be a genius. When confronted with the information that when the MCP is placed inside another identical robot body, they act differently from the original alpha design, becoming “morons” as his colleague describes. My scientific mind would instantly know that the difference between those other robots and the alpha model was the downloadable Zoe avatar. The key must be there. However, it takes Daniel almost half the episode to verbalize these thoughts. That seemed out of place.

Amanda Graystone is still struggling with her daughter’s double life. She leaves a pyramid game and watches old videos of Zoe. Through Agent Durham, she discovers Zoe had a boyfriend named Ben Stark. Visually subtle, after Amanda closes the door, the shadow of Agent Durham is shown with his head down. I believe he feels sympathy for this woman, this mother, as he seems to know more about Zoe’s life than she.

Amanda subsequently seeks Lacy out. Lacy shares that she did not know why Zoe wanted to leave, but that Zoe said they were going to have a new family on Gemenon. The disbelief of Zoe’s secret life grows in Amanda’s mind. Frankly that has to be a tough thing for a mother to hear, that you hate it so much where you are, you want to go live with another family somewhere else. I remember verbalizing this to my own mother, but my life was very different from Zoe’s life.

Meanwhile at the Adama house, Joseph’s thoughts stray at dinner to the empty chair where his daughter previously occupied. He sees her and physically startles when she reaches out and touches him. I had to wonder at that point if there was some sort of permanent mind connection made when he went to visit Tamara in the virtual world.

Polly Walker does a brilliant job at playing creepy Sister Clarice, headmistress of Athena Academy. Accepting Sister Clarice’s invitation, Lacy stops by for lunch. The writers now introduce us to the concept of group marriage. This group marriage appears bisexual as Clarice is married to at least 3 women and 4 husbands that I could count, including Nestor, who flirts with Lacy. Desiree Willow, one of Clarice’s wives, is where she gets her surname.

Another wife, who appears pregnant with perhaps one of her husband’s child, confronts Clarice afterwards about Nestor’s suspicious flirting, but I believe she thinks Clarice is wanting to bring another into their group marriage. I am not certain yet whether the rest of the people in the house are part of the Soldiers of the One (STO). Nestor and Clarice were manipulating Lacy to see if they could get information about Avatar Zoe. Nestor is part of STO; I’m certain of that. Being a true friend, Lacy does not break her promise to Zoe, and remains silent. Clarice appears to have a drug problem in the past. Later on she visits a bar where one can smoke drugs legally and breaks her sobriety.

Back at home, Amanda sees U-87/Zoe for the first time. She remarks it reminds her of a science fiction horror show she watched. Zoe is offended deeply by her reaction. Meanwhile the dog sits right in front of the U-87/Zoe. Dogs always know, don’t they? If a dog can sniff a terminator dressed up like a human, why can’t a dog sniff out a human stuck in a machine? Good dog, Caesar. Amanda wants to go to the memorial. Daniel does not (but later changes his mind).

Amanda goes back to watch videos and sees the infinity pin, the symbol for STO, on Zoe, and is visibly shaken. Daniel tell Amanda he will go to the memorial service. Daniel uses humor to brighten up a emotionally tense moment. He tells her that he promised Serge some time alone with U-87 (Zoe) because he has a little crush, that it is not a pretty thing, but they need some time alone. Hmmmm… Serge crushing on a Cylon? Now that is a “RO”mance I can get behind! Perhaps Serge knows Zoe is in the robot?

I loved the portrayal of Serge (the Graystone’s personal robot). He is programmed to respond, when Daniel scores a basket in pyramid, “The crowd goes frakking wild. They are tearing up the seats. It’s bedlam. They demand another hour of game play, sir.” He can be my cheerleader anytime.

Willie plays hooky from school to spend time with Uncle Sam in Little Tauron (think Little Italy in New York City). As kids, Sam and his brother, Joseph, would try to pick up people, Sam flirting with the guys while Joseph would wind up with the sisters of those guys he did meet. Sexuality is not the controversy in the Caprica universe that it is on Earth. Sam is teaching Willie the ways of gangster life, teaching him tidbits of wisdom. He advises Willie, “If someone tries to make you feel guilty, you figure out what they feel guilty about and you talk about that.” Willie uses this later against his father when confronted about skipping school and being grounded. He says to his father, “It’s hard to be part of a family when there is no family, but you can punish me if you want.” As this is what fuels Joseph’s guilt, it has the desired effect: Joseph stops him, reaches out to him and pulls him in for an embrace. William Adama (eventually to be Admiral Adama in BSG) flashes a triumphant smile.

U-87/Zoe calls Lacy and asks her to come over. While she is waiting, U-87/Zoe tries to sit down on the bed and it collapses and then she moves to curling up into a ball (the fetal position). Along the head of her bed are dragonflies. Dragonflies symbolize many things to many cultures, but in Native American culture, they believe dragonflies are the souls of the dead. In general, however, they represent renewal, positive force and the power of life. It can also symbolize change. Since the cycle of the dragonfly’s life is short, it lives life to the fullest which is a powerful lesson. It echoes Zoe’s last email to her mom, to not live life with regrets.

As I woman, I appreciated this first question to Lacy, “Do I look male to you?” I laughed. Lacy is honest with her, as all good friends should be. U-87/Zoe sounds like she disapproves of what her father did, feeling reassured that he would not be putting any more of her avatars into other robots. Zoe is hurt that her mom called her a monster, but Lacy laughs, “to be fair…” U87/Zoe reaches out her hand and embraces Lacy, the act of the embrace being one of love and acceptance.

Daniel and Amanda arrive at the memorial service. He acts her if she wants to speak at the podium; she is not ready for that. She would like to talk to the other parents from the school; he thinks she probably should not because it will be hard to get her away from this with Amanda winding up being the shoulder to cry on. Amanda is having difficulty remaining detached as Daniel prefers.

She meets Ben’s mom, Natalie Stark, who gives her some of Zoe’s things and tells her how much Ben loved Zoe. Among her possessions was a book entitled, “The Physics of Religion and Spirituality: A Caprican Approach”, and a pin, which Amanda expands out, turning into the infinity pin, the symbol of the STO. Amanda flips out and goes to the podium.

At the memorial service, Joseph finally meets up with Daniel who has been ignoring his calls and home visits. Joseph wants to see Tamara. Daniel tells him that Tamara’s avatar did not just “disappear” when Joseph pulled off the holoband; he left her alone in the dark place by herself. Joseph becomes distraught, but Daniel’s ear is pulled elsewhere as he hears Amanda at the podium: She tells everyone she did not know her daughter, that she led a whole other life that she knew nothing about, and that her daughter was one of the terrorists. U-87/Zoe is watching this on her computer sheet (screen) at home from her room. Amanda apologies to the crowd, but the crowd becomes enraged. She is whisked off in a car.

The first time through watching was an “Oh my God, what did she just do?” The dramatic effect was palpable. After having time to think though after subsequent viewings, I tried to put myself in that position. Certainly when you are in that position, when you have experienced a loss and are grieving, you say things you don’t mean to and you have no recollection of ever saying those things, let alone who showed up to the funeral. Was that really Ben Stark’s mother, or did Agent Durham put those things in motion to help push her over the edge to close his case? I want to believe this is a nice man, but there are no simple characters in writer Ronald Moore’s universe.

Would I go up there and admit to everyone that my daughter was one of the terrorists? I would not. Most people would not. When they are confronted with that sort of news, we tend to bunker down because of the repercussions that will ultimately ensue.

Caprica Rebirth did make for a wonderful dramatic climax leading up to yet the next wonderful, new episode on Friday, February 5, 2010. Be sure to tune in to SyFy, Space, or Sky One to see the Caprica saga in your region!

Click my avatar below to visit me on Twitter for more in depth discussions about Caprica!

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!

We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future!

Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story.

I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

PBMom

February 2, 2010
Caprica: Introducing Zoe Graystone
Welcome all Battlestar and Caprica fans!

In the third-part of our Caprica character analysis series, we are going to focus on the very lovely Ms. Alessandra Torresani. Alessandra plays the teenage genius, Zoe Graystone, on Syfy’s new series, Caprica, airing Friday night, January 22 (check local listings for times)!

For her fans, Alessandra has graced us with her presence on Twitter as @BambolaBambina. Alessandra even has her own website. Click the image to the right to visit the very lovely Ms. Torresani at her official site!

Alessandra and Magda Apanowicz recently made an appearance at the PaleyFest (Paley Center for Media) with executive producers David Eick, Jane Espenson and Ronald D. Moore discussed Caprica as a stand-alone show that has only subtle connections to “Battlestar Galactica”. The ladies talked about how they earned their roles on Caprica and a little about their characters.
Link
Embed
Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.
When Caprica opens on the unedited pilot DVD, Zoe is in the V-Club at a balcony looking down on a young woman about to watch the virtual sacrifice of a virgin. We discover that this person looks exactly like Zoe. The V-Zoe cannot handle what she is seeing and she disappears. Zoe tells her boyfriend, Ben, and other friend, Lacy, that she is probably reverting back to her last copy because she was upset. Ben, her boyfriend, tells her that V-Zoe is going to be perfect because Zoe is perfect. Ah, heavy sigh! True love.

This genius young woman has created a virtual copy of herself and is trying to make her not only the sum total of information that exists in the real world of the real Zoe, but she is also trying to teach her about humans and about feelings and to give her experiences. At first these experiences are at the V-Club, but just before the real Zoe dies, she is working on a biofeedback loop with her V-Zoe counterpart so that V-Zoe can experience what she is feeling on the outside world.

Ben, Lacy and Zoe have a plan to move to Gemenon. Later we find out that Ben introduced Zoe to The One True God (i.e., Soldiers of the One), and subsequently convinced Lacy to join them in their new religious path.

Zoe gets caught with a holoband at the Athenian Academy and her parents are called, Daniel and Amanda Graystone.

Amanda immediately grounds her; Daniel is softer on her. Zoe makes snide comments about her father’s dirty science. Zoe and Amanda spar some more where Amanda reminds Zoe that she should be grateful for what she has been given; Zoe reminds Amanda that she married into “money” (which I take to mean Amanda came from a poor family and married into the wealthy Graystone family). Amanda slaps her. Zoe says to her, “You will regret that for the rest of your life”, and storms off.

This scene could be replayed in millions of homes around the world. I recall saying much worse things to my mother growing up (and her to me).

Zoe goes to her room, where despite being told she could not use her holoband, she does, and goes to have a talk with V-Zoe. V-Zoe asks if people are really like that. Zoe responds that some people are, but that is going to change and V-Zoe is going to be a part of that.

It sounds like Zoe might have been putting V-Zoe into the position of becoming a voice to recruit other teens and anyone else who will listen about the One True God. But I’m sure the plan of the Soldiers of the One with regards to the virtual Zoe will be developed as the season develops.

Once at school, Zoe, Ben and Lacy split and head to the “Lev”, which is the Skytrain in Vancouver. I will not spoil what happens next for those who haven’t seen it. The train, however, blows up, claiming the lives of Zoe Graystone, her boyfriend, Ben, and Shannon and Tamara Adams (Adama). Scared, Lacy bailed out at the last minute which ultimately saved her life.

With the suggestion of an adult in the picture (no spoilers), Lacy tries to get access to Zoe’s holoband so she can go visit V-Zoe to let her know Zoe died. But V-Zoe knows already Zoe is dead. We see a bloody V-Zoe and Lacy questions why this has happened. V-Zoe thinks that it happened because of a biofeedback loop that was ongoing at the time Zoe died. V-Zoe is scared, not knowing what is now going to happen to her program. Lacy grabs her and hugs her. When she pulls back, V-Zoe’s wounds are healed.

That is a powerful statement. The intense love of a friend was able to heal a virtual character on her way to becoming real, a digital-age Pinocchio. The real-life power of a hug is undisputed. A well-placed hug can defuse strong emotions, bridge differences, and remind us that we are alive and valuable. Hugs offered to people in crisis gives them something to hold on to during a moment of extreme instability. Hugs can also alleviate personal pain and isolation in non-crisis circumstances. They serve as a symbol of validation and acceptance.

Daniel comes home to find Lacy in Zoe’s room. Curious as to why, he goes in there after she departs to find a holoband and the pad that has the symbols to get in there. He just cannot crack the code…yet.

Time passes and Daniel does crack the code. He spots V-Zoe and follows her, but is electric shocked when he tries to open the door with the infinity symbol on it.

Amanda is paid a visit by an investigator. He shows her a message Zoe tried to send to her right before the train blew up. Amanda is shaken to hear about this, knowing Zoe was doing things that neither she nor Daniel was aware.

Lacy comes back over, but Daniel is waiting for her. He demands to know what is going on. Lacy takes him into the V-Club and finally to V-Zoe. At first Daniel dismisses her as a non-entity, talking to Lacy about V-Zoe as if she weren’t even there. After spending some time in there, he discovers that she was more than just a copy of her.

Possibly because he was feeling guilty for not being the best father she could have had, and wanting a second chance to do things right, and just for the simple acts of being able to touch and hold her again, he decides he has to find a way to bring V-Zoe from that world into the real world. He asks V-Zoe if he can hug her. She consents and they hug, but Daniel pulls out a flash drive to upload V-Zoe’s code. Lacy is denied access to his house at that point, telling Serge, his guard robot, to revoke her clearance.

Part of me, however, thinks Daniel is also thinking about his business and needs this to work to get that military contract. Either way, both acts are that of a selfish man.

Daniel eventually meets up with Joseph Adams (Adama). They go back to Daniel’s place and Serge takes William, Joseph’s son, off to the game room. He brings Joseph into the virtual world, apparently his first trip ever, to meet his virtual daughter. The two have a discussion about what a soul is. Daniel requires Joseph’s help in obtaining the technology to do this and promises he will create Joseph’s daughter, Tamara, for him. Daniel is quite persuasive and he agrees.

Lacy has a discussion with an adult she discovers also believes in the One Truth God. She tells Lacy how important this V-Zoe is to them.

Daniel visits V-Zoe and V-Zoe is nervous about the download that is about to happen. She isn’t sure she wants to be on Caprica. She tells Daniel some things that are difficult for him to hear. She shares that she hasn’t felt like Caprica City has been her home for a long time. V-Zoe says Zoe was on the train headed to Gemenon because she had found God. Daniel tries to stifle the conversation for now, and that they would talk about it later. V-Zoe says that he never wanted to listen and that Daniel and Amanda’s arrogance was killing Zoe, that THAT was how they lost her, not because of her death.

Because of Joseph’s help, he now has the meta-processing chip from the rival company (see previous character introductions).

The body into which V-Zoe is downloaded appears as if it is going to work, but then it collapses. He hears, “System Error. Data Loss. Irrecoverable Error.” He tries to go back to the virtual chamber, but V-Zoe is not there. Once again, he has to feel that horrible feeling that his daughter truly is dead, but this time for real (or so he thinks). He has not lost entirely. At least his company has now won. The chip he stole along with Zoe’s programming code allows him to create the effective killing machine that not only seals the deal on the government contract but seals the deal on the future of their society.

Who is going to be tuning in to Caprica? Give me a “So Say We All!”

Thanks to Kenn for video embedding. Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!

We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future!

Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

PBMom
January 21, 2010
Caprica: Introducing Joseph Adama
Hi Caprica Fans,

The amazingly talented Esai Morales was brought in for the role of Joseph Adama, the father to the son that will ultimately save the remnants of their society and move them to a new home in another universe. I thought this was great casting. I have loved this actor since he was on NYPD Blue, but most recently his role as Major Beck in the show Jericho showed off his dramatic qualities. But Edward James Olmos (who plays William Adama, Esai’s character Joseph’s son) and Esai Morales have worked together before and the father-son relationships have come full circle:

The digital video below is from the Paley Center for Media panel appearance of Edward James Olmos where he discusses the complexity of Joseph Adama’s character in Caprica:
Link
Embed
Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.
Joseph Adama is introduced in the pilot as Joseph Adams. We find out through the pilot that he was an orphan from the Tauron civil war and grew up in an orphanage on Caprica. We do not know why the name was changed as of yet. Perhaps it is echoing our ancestors in their trips through Ellis Island, many changed their names for a variety of reasons. Many people had their names changed by an official or even a ship’s officer. No rules existed for changing a name. There were lots of ways to do it. For example, names could be simplified. A name with lots of syllables could be shortened. Names with lots of letters combined in unusual ways could be changed. Names could be “Americanized.”

The Japanese name Tamio might become the more American-sounding “Tommy.” My maiden name, Clark, was not my ancestors’ name. The story handed down through my family had something to do with a brother who was a deserter in the Polish army and my grandfather did not want to be associated with that brother, so when he came through Ellis Island, he willingly changed our family name. How much of that is true and how much is legend I no longer know. For Joseph Adama, I believe he changed it willingly.

From what we can see, Joseph appears to be a loving father and husband. They live in a modest home. Joseph is a lawyer. His relationship with his son, William, is strained (when William tells him they’ve never spent time together).

Much of Joseph we already know from Battlestar Galactica. Romo Lampkin on BSG tells us that Joseph was a teacher/professor and Lampkin was one of his students. Romo carries the book, “Law and Mind: The Psychology of Legal Practice” around with him (The Son Also Rises). We also know Joseph writes another book called “Trial Tactics and Strategies” (Crossroads, Part 1). Joseph is still alive when his grandson, Lee Adama, is growing up (Apollo). In BSG, season 1, episode 10 (The Hand of God), we find out more things about Joseph: There is a lighter that Joseph uses in court cases that was given to him by Joseph’s wife, Shannon, while he was in law school. Commander Adama (William Adama, Joseph’s son) tells his son Lee before he goes into battle that he never lost a court case as long as he had the lighter with him. He passes this on to Lee before Lee goes into a pivotal battle with the Cylons. He tells Lee that Joseph was a better father to him than he (Commander Adama) was to his son Lee. Lee is also given the name of his middle name of his grandfather, Leland Joseph Adama when he is born. We also know that Lee visits Joseph Adama later on very frequently, often reading his law books in his study. He always wondered how Joseph could defend the worst of humanity (The Son Also Rises).

A poignant comment also made to Lee Adama by Romo Lampkin about his grandfather, Joseph was that he “sought to understand the motivations that cause people to cheat, why people reward their enemies, go to war, and why people build machines to correct their flaws and shortcomings (The Son Also Rises).

We learn during Lay Down Your Burdens, Part 1 of BSG, that Joseph would break pencils before going into the courtroom to “break preconceptions” and to “work with what you had.”

As the pilot continues, we find out that Joseph has a brother Sam (spoiler alert: It is rumored on the internet that Sam is gay). Joseph’s family is linked to an organized crime family on Tauron. Perhaps this is another reason why Joseph changed the family name, to distance himself from links to organized crime.

He and Daniel Graystone develop a relationship over their losses. When Daniel says there is a chance to see his daughter again in the virtual world, he is at first intrigued by the idea and steals some technology for Daniel to make this happen. To do this, he has to ask the godfather, or the Guatrau of the Ha’la’tha, to help and in return, Joseph has to deliver a message to a political foe, Minister Chambers, who in turns basically tells them to go to hell. Later Minister Chambers is assassinated by Joseph’s brother, Sam, for the Guatrau.

When Joseph enters and sees his daughter, Tamara, tormented that she cannot hear her heartbeat, he immediately stops the virtual program and claims what Daniel doing to be an abomination. He goes home and shares with his son William that their real family name is Adama, and it is a strong and proud name to have, something his wife, Shannon, always wanted for them: To embrace their Tauron heritage.

I will be interested to see where the relationship between Joseph and Daniel goes. Will they become adversaries in a courtroom? Some sneak peeks Syfy has going tend to suggest that Joseph starts seeing his wife and daughter everywhere; he goes back to Daniel to explain that to him.

Thanks to Kenn for video embedding. Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!

We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future!

Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

PBMom
January 19, 2010
Caprica’s Daniel Graystone – The Future of Humanity Begins with His Choice
Hi Caprica Fans,

We continue our Caprica News Series with individual actor and character analysis starting the superbly talented Mr. Eric Stoltz!

Eric won the role as Daniel Graystone. Eric Stoltz has a long history in the acting community, Grey’s Anatomy among his most recent roles.

In this Paley Center for Media video, he shares an interesting story about how he came upon the script of Caprica and subsequently the role in Caprica.
Link
Embed
Copy and paste this HTML code into your webpage to embed.
In the pilot, we are introduced to Daniel Graystone, an owner of a technology business in Caprica City. Apparently, this company created the holobands (holographic wireless Internet). In listening to the commentary on the DVD pilot, which airs on Syfy on January 22 (check your local listings for times), the holobands have many applications. One application which was cut from the pilot had to do with medicine, being able to perform surgery on a patient from another room. We are very close to this technology, being able to perform robot-assisted surgeries for hysterectomies, cholecystectomies, prostate, etc., where the surgeon never touches you. These surgeries have led to quicker recovery times. We also find out that the first licenses of these holobands were given to the pornographic industry.

Teenagers always find ways to do what teenagers do. In this universe, the teenagers created a subculture in the virtual world called V-clubs (virtual clubs) where they go to have sex, kill people, have ritual sacrifices of virgins, etc. It is a world where teens can do anything they want without consequence (for example, no pregnancies, no sexually-transmitted diseases, no true dying). There is a specialized code that allows a user to hack into the club. It is in this club where his daughter, Zoe, creates a virtual copy of herself.

Daniel Graystone loves his wife, Dr. Amanda Graystone. He has a beautiful home next to the water that eerily looks like Vancouver, British Columbia. Being the genius owner of a major technology heavy-hitter, his home is wired with the best of everything. The Graystones live a privileged life.

I live in a community here in Texas that has many wealthy homes. I laughingly refer to myself as living in the poverty section of The Woodlands as we bought 18 years ago when the prices were still below $100,000 when others were ‘higher priced”.

I had a conversation with a police officer once who said that the people who cause trouble here were not so much the regular kids or the kids in the outer communities that attend the schools in The Woodlands; it was always the more wealthy kids. He speculated that this was because their parents gave them all things material, but were not present much in their life to give guidance, love, discipline, and especially discipline. Many are CEOs of corporations or politicians or sports stars. When I think of Zoe Graystone, I think of the kids from my area !

Things aren’t going so well for Daniel Graystone’s company. They are trying to build a robot for a military application, but the reaction times are slow and inaccurate. Failure could mean disaster.

Daniel and Amanda do not know of their daughter Zoe’s secret life, niether does her best friend Lacy Rand. She has been introduced to a group of individuals who call themselves The Soliders of the One (the One True God). In this part of the universe, they worship many gods similar to our ancient Rome and Greece mythologies.

Without posting spoilers of what exactly happens, Zoe dies. Daniel is torn apart by his grief. He eventually discovers the Zoe of the virtual world. At first he believes she is just a copy until he looks deeper. He discovers that his daughter was further along in computer science genius than he was. Through his grief, he develops a friendship with Joseph Adams (Adama), a lawyer whose wife and daughter were also killed in the same event. He creates a virtual copy of Joseph’s daughter, Tamara.

However, Tamara was not introduced into the virtual world as Zoe was created and Tamara’s model freaks out, feeling no heartbeat. For Daniel’s love of his daughter, wanting to hold her again, he asks Joseph to help him get a chip that a rival company is creating. Joseph has connections and can do this. The chip is a cybernetic life-form node (known to us later in BSG as a Cylon).

Daniel attempts to download Zoe’s virtual avatar into the military robot with mixed results. The robot performed spectacularly and he won the military contract which his company was seeking; however, his virtual daughter has died…or has she? Stay tuned.

Please feel free to share this article with your friends, co-workers and or family and leave your comments!

We look forward to you visiting our dedicated review and analysis web site here in the future!

Or as many of our readers and visitors often do, visit WHR on Twitter, or visit me on Twitter by clicking the text links or images avatars in this news story. I and TeamWHR look forward to Seeing You on The Other Side!“

PBMom
January 18, 2010

error: Content is protected !!