Caprica Review: “There is Another Sky”

This week demonstrates the kind of plotting and pacing the show needs to survive, as we jack into Caprica’s version of Grand Theft Auto and witness a key moment in Cylon history.

Title: There is Another Sky

Cast and Crew

Directed by Michael Nankin

Eric Stoltz as Daniel Graystone
Genevieve Buechner as Tamara Adams
Paula Malcomson as Amanda Graystone
Sasha Roiz as Sam Adama
Esai Morales as Joseph Adama
Allesandra Torresani as Zoe
Magda Apanowicz as Lacy Rand
Sina Najafi as Bill Adama
Hiro Kanagawa as Cyrus Xander

Additional cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

Graystone industries switches from holobands to Cylons.

Adama tries to regain his life and his son, while wrestling with his Tauron/Caprican influences.

In her attempts to escape the virtual world, Cyber-Amanda agrees to play a deadly game in New Cap City.

High Point

They did an excellent job of New Cap City, the noir/retrofuturistic version of the already noir/retrofuturistic Caprica, and the plot kept me interested. I’m not certain how people can stay in the virtual world so long, but we also see why virtual worlds, even our version, draw in so many people.

Quite the nailbiter when, after being down three for two periods, the Slovakian team…. Sorry. I had to watch Caprica later, thanks to the counter-scheduling against a key Olympic hockey game. What’s a Canadian nerd to do?

Low Points

I’ll try to minimize the number of times I repeat this particular Low Point, especially as it refers to another series. Every time we receive new information regarding the Cylon Genesis, it makes perfect sense: until we consider the final revelations of Battlestar Galactica.

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6. The show had some solid writing this week, though more than a few echoes of Robocop, The Matrix, and virtually every holo/videogame story ever written.

Effects: 6/6. I make allowances for the slightly unreal effects in the virtual world. Surely, that was the point.

Story: 5/6. This episode features the kind of pacing the show needs to keep its audience. The story arc continues to develop, but we have actually plot developments that arrive at tentative conclusions.

Acting: 5/6. Genevieve Buechner had the most compelling plotline and, while she’s good, she’s not as strong as many of the other actors. Paula Malcomson, meanwhile, needs more to do.

I’m impressed with Eric Stoltz’s recent work in this series. He does a great job of making the character charming and appealing, despite the fact that we know his actions will doom the human race.

Emotional Response: 5/6.

Production: 6/6.

Overall: 5/6.

In total, the “There is Another Sky” receives 35/42

They’ve created new worlds, but neither Caprica nor Galactica consistently showed subtlety in their real-world borrowings. This online recap makes the revealing slip of saying that Joseph “decides to embrace his Italian ethnicity in order to help his child.”

One reply

  1. Whenever I see Pryah I mentally assume she’s Kat’s mum or aunt or something. They look so…similar ;).

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