CAPRICA - 1x03 "Reins of a Waterfall" - Episode Review
Joe Adams, we hardly knew ye…
Plot summary: The Graystones deal with the repercussions of Amanda's claims, Zoe recovers her avatar, as well as that of Tamara whose father desperately wants to see her again, and Sister Clarice continues in her attempts to get closer to Lacy.
We’re three episodes into CAPRICA, and so far I don’t see any hint of the behind-the- scenes hand wringing over the show’s tone and direction; if anything, this week’s Ron Moore helmed “Reins of A Waterfall” served in the best tradition of transitory plot installments, it was expository without being boring, allowed for new and interesting character beats within in the necessary framework, and it had a cliffhanger that led me begging for more, right frakkin’ now.
As with last week, one of the show’s strongest assets was its ongoing world building efforts. CAPRICA’s predecessor was by necessity a claustrophobic and (more or less) contained world, but it seems that each week we’re seeing new corners and facets of Caprican society that make it all the more convincing and relatable, from seedy backroom Tauron gangster clubs, blue collar workman GDD headquarters, and tainted halls of justice. Plus, in what promises to be a recurring role, we had the incomparable Patton Oswalt as a Jon Stewart-esque talk show host (“[M]ore than half the college age kids say they get their news [from him]”)
Oswalt’s character is brought up because of the P.R. nightmare the Greystones find themselves in after Amanda’s impromptu confession last week. Now maybe being fired from her job and having rocks thrown at her during t.v. interviews might make her assuage her (perceived) guilt, but it’s not helping her husband or his company. And yet what else can he do but support her in their shared time of need. Stoltz and Malcolmson are playing a finely tuned examination of parental grief here, and their scene in his lab was masterfully played, moving effortlessly between three or four major delicate emotional dynamics, each blisteringly effective in their own way. That Zoe was a helpless witness to it all was the capper to the scene (which, as a bonus, included the funniest use of a Cylon’s wooshing red eye to date).
Meanwhile the William-Sam alliance and its GOODFELLAS allusions continued hot and heavy this week, right down to cab stand-instead-of-school dodges and the discussion of “funny guys”, but all I could think about is how it’s looking more and more like Chez Bibby from A BRONX TALE instead, with Joseph and Sam perhaps fated to one day have a serious falling out over the moral soul of young Willie - remember that Joe doesn’t know about any of this “tutoring” yet. And the funny thing this week is that the gangster seemed like the better choice this week, as evidence by the episode’s simple, yet brutal closing line. Apparently Sam didn’t appear as enthusiastic about “making [their] own justice for Tamara and Shannon” anymore…
Once again, the bane of prequels is that we know where we’re going in the end, it’s the getting there that’s the question. Because we really don’t know Joseph Adama that well yet, and our impressions of him were mainly formed from passing references, it’s surprising to see his level of ruthlessness on hand here, and truth be told, just a little bit pleasing as well (from a dramatic point of view).
And in the third leg of the triad, the Lacy-Zoe-Sister Clarice plot lines got some big movement, as Lacy resisted Clarice with some clever obfuscation but got seduced by a somewhat snotty Zoe-A in the end, Clarice taught me a new word (“apotheosis”, or the elevation of a person to the rank of a god) and also mentioned something about a prophecy (always a harbinger of doom), and Tamara-A wasn’t gone but in fact lived on inside the construct, and escaped into the wilderness of the V-Club, a development that paid off both this week and perhaps in episodes to come.
It’s inevitable at this point to not make thematic or stylization comparisons to THE MATRIX, but CAPRICA seems more interested in what virtual reality reflects in terms of identity, what that does to a person both inside and outside of a Construct. I (and the show’s creators) have already pinpointed Lacy as the pivotal character, with her foot in all worlds. Now while on a personal note her copious cleavage may have been a bit, err, distracting, in Daniels Virtual Prison, it makes a point between there and the real world, where she’s almost a pariah of sorts, a no one in often dowdy clothes and meek appearance. Morpheus once said of one’s appearance in the Matrix (as opposed to the real world one) “It is the mental projection of your digital self”, and that self inside Lacey seems primed and ready to blow (as does Tamara-A’s) in both worlds.
Based on everything I’ve seen to date, with its tight plotting, emphasis on character, and attention to background detail, CAPRICA is quite balanced out already.
Other notes:
• Battlestar Easter Eggs: This week there were three alums on, Kat (Lucianna Caro, Greystone’s PR woman), Duck (one of the Tauron gangsters), and Royan Jahee (the Demand Peace leader from “Epiphanies”, here the corrupt judge)
• Nice directing job by Ron this week, I particularly liked his staging inside Daniel’s Prison construct as soon as Tamara was revealed, with that one open door as the main key light. The transition between Lacy’s house and that scene (the dolly move with the fence in the foreground) was also a very nice touch.
I want to mention at this point the addition of subtle light beams shining through the various avatars inside the holoband - this effect was not present in the original DVD last year, but was added for the broadcast version and all subsequent episodes. It lends an almost spiritual quality to the proceedings, as if these characters are in fact creatures of the light struggling to escape the darkness (fitting neatly within all the religious subtexts of both shows).
• Bear note of the week: A Tauron Gangsta rap, in Ancient Greek, no less! Also, hurrah for the return of more prominent takios!
• A small, hilariously accurate detail in one of news interviews pegged one of Lacy’s classmates as “Scared Kid”. Speaking of, I wonder if Keon (Ben’s buddy, the guy she was going knee in the balls) was being set up a love interest for Lacy?
• There was another odd prop choice to have 70s video cam/vhs cassettes mixed in with all the other high tech.
• Somebody on the writing staff sure likes boxing...
• Lots of “frak” usages this week. Angeli at the typwriter perhaps? It almost seemed a bit out of place.
Episode grade: B+