Title: "Gravedancing"
Story: "Caprica" returns after a one-week hiatus with the highly anticipated Daniel Graystone appearance on Baxter Sarno's popular talk show. Ever since Daniel's wife Amanda raised the specter of their dead daughter's possible involvement in the MAGLEV train bombing, the family has had to contend with the public outcry against Zoe and the Graystone-created Holoband technology, which Sarno believes is a corruptive influence on the Twelve Colonies' society. Meanwhile, Joseph Adama has second thoughts about his plot to balance out his own family tragedy by having Amanda killed while GDD Agent Duram finally secures the search warrants necessary to search Zoe Graystone's home and school. There's also some further development with Lacy's promise to get to Geminon and Zoe-bot's blossoming friendship with the lonely Cylon tech.
Police Quest: Agent Duram has been present throughout the series thus far, but "Gravedancing" really seems to position him as one of the main players we're going to be spending time with moving forward, at least until there's some resolution in the Zoe Graystone investigation. Duram, who mentions in the episode that the GDD at one point had Ben Stark -- the lone MAGLEV bomber, as we viewers know -- and let him go, clearly has some deeper history with the Soldiers of the One than we've seen. There's no doubt that Sister Clarice, and Lacy by association, will soon fall under his scrutiny. However, seeing as how those two are in the show's opening credits and Duram is not, something tells me the two ladies are going to be just fine. At least for the bulk of this first season.
"You Get The Best Things From Enemies": Hey there Mama Adama! Aren't you the evil Godmother of this organized crime-connected family? Joseph's mother-in-law reveals herself to be quite the ruthless Tauron, urging her son-in-law to stay strong in his conviction to have Amanda offed. As we all know, Joseph has strong moral fiber deep down -- "a Caprican in a Tauron body," as his brother/enforcer Sam says -- and he'd never follow through on a plan involving the murder of an innocent woman. Go Joe! The Adama family dynamics continue to offer the most interesting story arcs we've seen in "Caprica"'s four-and-counting episodes. Joseph and Sam have both demonstrated a sort of moral ambiguity, with the former tending more towards acts of good and the latter frequently succumbing to his criminal background. Given the way the Adama family turns out in the long run, I think we'll either see the two brothers drift apart or a major reckoning for Sam.
Marital Bliss: Make no mistake: the Graystone marriage is a ticking time bomb. The episode ends on what feels like a heartwarming scene, as Daniel and Amanda finally share something of their grief with one another in bed. The problem is, Daniel is lying. He didn't create an avatar of Zoe; he found the one she created. Amanda does not know this. They've both been behaving irrationally, which no doubt stems from the grief over the loss of their daughter. But Daniel's lie has nuclear potential; when the truth eventually does come out, there's no telling how the unpredictable Amanda will respond.
There's No Such Thing As Bad PR: The Graystone appearance on Baxter Sarno's talk show is in many ways the centerpiece of the episode, the plot point around which many of the other story threads revolve, both now and moving forward. Amanda once again surprises her husband by storming onto the stage after he refers to Zoe -- under the advisement of his publicity manager (who clearly needs to be fired) -- as "troubled." Her public appearance this time turns out to be a positive one, as it leads Daniel to publicly suggest a significant change in the way his company does business.
The "Big Fan" Arrives!: Patton Oswalt's Sarno appeared briefly in the previous episode, but we finally get to see him this week in all of his Jay Leno-inspired glory. He has some grave issues with Holoband technology and its potential to desensitize Caprican youth, mirroring in many ways the ongoing real-world dialogue over the dangers of video games (17+ folks... those "M" ratings exist for a reason). This is something that "Caprica" has done really well in general: drawing parallels between the fictional society and our own. I look forward to hearing more of Sarno's socio-political commentary and drawing out real-life messages from it. Plus, it's great to see the "Big Fan" star again tackling a role that mixes equal parts drama and comedy.
Tags caprica
** FOLLOW MTV MOVIES BLOG ON TWITTER! **
CAPRICA: Episode 1.04 Recap, 'Gravedancing'
Posted 2/20/10 10:17 am EST by Adam Rosenberg in Commentary, Reviews, TV
Story: "Caprica" returns after a one-week hiatus with the highly anticipated Daniel Graystone appearance on Baxter Sarno's popular talk show. Ever since Daniel's wife Amanda raised the specter of their dead daughter's possible involvement in the MAGLEV train bombing, the family has had to contend with the public outcry against Zoe and the Graystone-created Holoband technology, which Sarno believes is a corruptive influence on the Twelve Colonies' society. Meanwhile, Joseph Adama has second thoughts about his plot to balance out his own family tragedy by having Amanda killed while GDD Agent Duram finally secures the search warrants necessary to search Zoe Graystone's home and school. There's also some further development with Lacy's promise to get to Geminon and Zoe-bot's blossoming friendship with the lonely Cylon tech.
Police Quest: Agent Duram has been present throughout the series thus far, but "Gravedancing" really seems to position him as one of the main players we're going to be spending time with moving forward, at least until there's some resolution in the Zoe Graystone investigation. Duram, who mentions in the episode that the GDD at one point had Ben Stark -- the lone MAGLEV bomber, as we viewers know -- and let him go, clearly has some deeper history with the Soldiers of the One than we've seen. There's no doubt that Sister Clarice, and Lacy by association, will soon fall under his scrutiny. However, seeing as how those two are in the show's opening credits and Duram is not, something tells me the two ladies are going to be just fine. At least for the bulk of this first season.
"You Get The Best Things From Enemies": Hey there Mama Adama! Aren't you the evil Godmother of this organized crime-connected family? Joseph's mother-in-law reveals herself to be quite the ruthless Tauron, urging her son-in-law to stay strong in his conviction to have Amanda offed. As we all know, Joseph has strong moral fiber deep down -- "a Caprican in a Tauron body," as his brother/enforcer Sam says -- and he'd never follow through on a plan involving the murder of an innocent woman. Go Joe! The Adama family dynamics continue to offer the most interesting story arcs we've seen in "Caprica"'s four-and-counting episodes. Joseph and Sam have both demonstrated a sort of moral ambiguity, with the former tending more towards acts of good and the latter frequently succumbing to his criminal background. Given the way the Adama family turns out in the long run, I think we'll either see the two brothers drift apart or a major reckoning for Sam.
Marital Bliss: Make no mistake: the Graystone marriage is a ticking time bomb. The episode ends on what feels like a heartwarming scene, as Daniel and Amanda finally share something of their grief with one another in bed. The problem is, Daniel is lying. He didn't create an avatar of Zoe; he found the one she created. Amanda does not know this. They've both been behaving irrationally, which no doubt stems from the grief over the loss of their daughter. But Daniel's lie has nuclear potential; when the truth eventually does come out, there's no telling how the unpredictable Amanda will respond.
There's No Such Thing As Bad PR: The Graystone appearance on Baxter Sarno's talk show is in many ways the centerpiece of the episode, the plot point around which many of the other story threads revolve, both now and moving forward. Amanda once again surprises her husband by storming onto the stage after he refers to Zoe -- under the advisement of his publicity manager (who clearly needs to be fired) -- as "troubled." Her public appearance this time turns out to be a positive one, as it leads Daniel to publicly suggest a significant change in the way his company does business.
The "Big Fan" Arrives!: Patton Oswalt's Sarno appeared briefly in the previous episode, but we finally get to see him this week in all of his Jay Leno-inspired glory. He has some grave issues with Holoband technology and its potential to desensitize Caprican youth, mirroring in many ways the ongoing real-world dialogue over the dangers of video games (17+ folks... those "M" ratings exist for a reason). This is something that "Caprica" has done really well in general: drawing parallels between the fictional society and our own. I look forward to hearing more of Sarno's socio-political commentary and drawing out real-life messages from it. Plus, it's great to see the "Big Fan" star again tackling a role that mixes equal parts drama and comedy.
Tags caprica
Comments