Caprica pilot debut was visually stunning
If you have not seen the Caprica pilot yet, stop reading now. There are spoilers galore below and I want to talk about this prequal series to BSG and what it will mean to the fans of the show.
First of all, lets get some things right out in the open. The acting and cinematography were top notch. Eric Stolz is Eric Stolz after all. When you add that big of a name to a show it’s going to do well just with his talent. Esai Morales is no slouch either. As the pilot began I thought he was being a bit stoic with the death of his daughter and wife but that’s exactly what his character was supposed to do. He did it so well it was eerie to watch. Paula Malcomson rounds out the top three. If you don’t know her it’s only because you never watched Deadwood, which must mean you who Sweragin is, and I pity you for it. Suffice to say Malcomson has proved her talents in the past and is a great addition to the cast. The only other actor of significant note that I saw was mother of Caesar in HBO’s Rome. Polly Walker, who was fantastic in Rome, looks to be playing another villain as one of the leaders of a monotheistic religious movement.
The casting of Caprica was done well and the filming is also superb. Clearly SyFy knows that BSG was a monster hit and spared no expense in making Caprica, at least so far. And they would be right in doing so. If even a half the BSG fans come on to watch Caprica then it’ll be a big success for SyFy. Ahh, gone are the days of Tremors the series and I for one rejoice.
But the premiere of Caprica wasn’t all rosy for me. In the first two hours we learn where the cylons got their monotheistic beliefs from. We learn where they get their consciousness from. We even saw a glimpse of “all this has happened before and will happen again” spiel from BSG. I was left after the pilot thinking, what happens now? This then feeds into my dislike of prequels in general. We know what’s going to happen, be it in the next scene or 54 years in the future. Sure it’s neat seeing Adama as a boy and you get some good insight to his past. One thing of note there, boy does Adama’s life suck. He lost his mother, sister, son, two wives and ended up alone on a mountain in Ireland or wherever it was. Ireland before Guinness was invented, which really made it suck.
We’ll have intrigue of course, great acting, great scripts etc etc. But we know where it all leads. There’s no surprise or mystery that filled Battle Star Galactica. And really, wasn’t that what drove the show? We all wanted to see the 13th colony. We all wanted to see Earth if the 13th colony wasn’t it. We all wanted to know how the hell Starbuck survived, which was kinda a let down anyway. That’s what had us tuning in every week, to see how this reboot of a classic panned out.
Caprica is on new ground. Telling the story of how the events which led to BSG unraveled. The biggest issue is there’s not a lot more to tell. We created Cylons, who merged with humanoid Cylons from the 13th colony, who blew up the 12 colonies. Got it. I for one hope Ron Moore throws in some twists here and there. Something unexpected like hints that the 12 colonies weren’t the only colonies. Hell, maybe even throw in some aliens, or at least take us on a tour of the other 11 colonies.
I’ll still watch every episode of course. It is just cool that we are looking at Caprica before the fall. And perhaps that’s what they are banking on. The fact that all the geeky fans will tune in, even though we all know the plot and what’s going to happen, just because we are geeks and loved BSG. Yep, you have us over a barrel Ron Moore. You got our attention now please do something unexpected.
