I was a big fan of the re imagining of Battlestar Galactica, and when it was announced years ago that a prequel series was in the works I was very excited. When Caprica first came out I got 5 episodes in, and was asked by my family to wait so we could watch it together. They never watched it and I only finished the series now. Like many science fiction show that lasted only one season it had great potential and was canceled before its time, however I’m not surprised the show was canceled. It’s potential was squandered.
Caprica tells the tale of the 12 colonies of humanity and the political and social struggles that gave rise to the cylons that would eventually destroy them. Caprica explores three major storylines; the corporate intrigue of Daniel Graystone’s company, the dynamics of the the Tauron mob the Ha’la’tha, and the conflict brought about by fundamentalist monotheists terrorists. Fifty eighty years before the Fall of the twelve colonies, Zoe Graystone is working on creating a true artificial intelligence a virtual avatar modeled in her own image. She is a monotheist and plans to run away from her family to Gemenon with boyfriend, her best friend and the AI. On her journey a Zoe’s boyfriend turns out to be a suicide bomber and kills Zoe. Amongst the other victims are Shannon and Tamara Adama. This brings together the Joseph Adama, and Daniel Graystone. Graystone is working on the Cylon prototype when he discovers Zoe’s AI.
There’s are several connecting plot lines that join these three major components. It’s Caprica’s greatest strength and greatest weakness. The diverse plots have enough intrigue and suspense that most viewers can find something to enjoy. It weakness is that often the three main plots branch apart so radically that one episode is like watching three small separate shows. This can be confusing episode to episode. Though it addresses many of the themes of Battlestar Galactica, as well if not better that BSG, it lacks a unifying force to tie everything together. (Specifically fighter pilots shooting it out with battlebots in space.) Scifi deals with wacky concepts that are often highly imaginative and can be hard to grasp. They can be made more palatable when fun or adventurous. Caprica isn’t fun. To say its gritty would be inaccurate. Its grimy. Every character is compromised and has blood on their hands or a skeleton in their closet. There is no single hero.There is no one you want to really root for. Sure Daniel Graystone and his wife Amanda are “nice” people, but Daniel is a corrupt CEO willing to steal, accept murder, and extort his friends to keep his power. Amanda suffers from severe personality shift going from strong and self possessed, to suicidal, and back again. Sam and Joseph Adama’s brotherly relationship is nice to see, but that doesn’t change the fact that one is a crooked lawyer actively involved in bribing judges and getting murderers off, and the other is mob hit-man. Even the heroine, Zoe’s AI, is an angry rebellious teenager with total moral self righteousness. This would be fine for an average teenager, except she shoulders responsibilities that have large consequences on the 12 colonies. She even murders a man who was in love with her, without facing the consequences. Maybe this was intentional. The writers could have been portraying the world of Caprica, as a Sodom and Gomorrah style fallen land deserving of divine retribution in the form of the Cylons. I’m not saying Eliot Ness needed to be a character type in the program, but when the headliner’s actions put them into villain territory and their sole motivation is greed its off putting. When the Graystones become involved in stopping a terrorist attack you want them them by then its too late in the season. That’s not to say Caprica isn’t compelling. The mish mash of gangster, corporate espionage, and religious terrorists creates a unique world. Though the “heroic” characters, are all fairly dark, ironically a bright spot in caprica is the “villain” Clarice Willow. Clarice is a wonderful bad guy. She is the leader of the several terrorist cells of the Soldiers of the One. A true believer in her brand of religious extremism, her fanaticism becomes a full blown messiah complex.
When viewed on its own Caprica falls flat, but when paired with the rest of the body of work in the BSG universe, it does a wonderful job explaining the creation of Cylons, their intelligence, and their faith. There are numerous winks to established continuity. A hardcore Battlestar Galactica fan will enjoy the series.
On a Scale of 1 to Epic (Epic = 10): 
