Search - Caprica: Season 1.0 on DVD

Karmen F. from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/23/2012...

The show was fantastic - from the writing, the actors, VFX and art & costume direction. Was very disappointed when it was not renewed.

Just doesn't click

Pain?poro | Baltimore, MD United States | 10/14/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I was really into Battlestar Galactica and so I watch Caprica because I want to see more of that world. Sadly, despite having so many great things going for it, this show cannot pull itself together. I have to blame the writers because I love the actors, love the sets, and love the music, but after 12 episodes I still couldn't tell you what this show is about.

I think the writers were trying to be post-modern or something by creating a show without a central plot line or idea. However, I think shows, even the absolute best shows, should have central concepts that you can sum up in one sentence. You simply can't do that with Caprica and so the show stumbles from one episode to the next as you wonder what characters you should be investing in. I have no problem rooting for an anti-hero or a bad guy, but if I don't understand a character's motivation then I have no idea what I'm rooting for. I just don't understand what any of the characters want so instead I watch them fight, watch them grieve, watch them plot and scheme without caring or connecting.

I would like this show to find it's voice but I will be shocked if it can do that in time to get picked up for a second season. This first half of Caprica's first Season has it's moments, but it's a confused show. I would rather watch a BSG sequel where Chief Tyrol and Lee Adama scrounge around for berries on Earth II then re-watch any episode on this DVD set."

What happened?

DMBX | Bronx, NY USA | 10/10/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"How did BSG devolve from one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever, to this mostly average show? When I first learned about Caprica I was hoping it would redeem the BSG finale -- but so far, it seems to be making many of the same mistakes. Early BSG was a believable story set in a very different world. We were fully engaged: we believed at some point we'd learn the nature of the entity the Cylons called God, how it seemed able to predict future events, and have a plan for some if not all the characters; the scientific explanation for head-Six and head-Baltar; how Starbuck came back from the dead. We wanted explanations for these things consistent with the show's realistic tone.

We got none of it. Much like the Lost finale -- is there a bug going around? -- we were asked to "have faith" and be happy with a soulful lack of explanation. God apparently really was God. Starbuck, head-Baltar and head-Six were angels, or something.

Well, I can't reconcile this kind of ending with anything Ron Moore has been responsible for before, but apparently he stands behind the finale. Fair enough. But that means we see things so differently that I'm not able to watch Caprica with any real expectation of a satisfying payoff.

Caprica's writing, while generally good, is plagued with inconsistencies and has done little to recreate confidence in the BSG world. When I learned the writing was to be overseen by Jane Espenson -- best known for work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- I didn't have high hopes. To me her writing means deus ex machinae without prior buildup, characters behaving inconsistently just to create a dramatic moment, etc. She is certainly creative and wrote some of the best Buffy episodes, but also some of the worst BSG episodes. Leaps in logic may be fine for Buffy ... not for BSG or Caprica.

One example of this -- in "Rebirth", which to be fair was written by usually excellent Mark Verheiden, overseen by Espenson -- is Amanda blurting, "My daughter was a terrorist!" to a crowd of victims' families. Overly dramatic, utterly foolish from a business and personal safety perspective, and not at all what we'd expect from a woman we are to believe is Daniel's intellectual equal. Grief could have moved her to confession, sure -- but in such a ham-handed, public, and dramatic way? I almost stopped watching. How much of this awful moment was Verheiden or Espenson is unclear, but I've never seen Verheiden disappoint on this level before.

Such moments are rare. All in all, while early concerns on the writing weren't unjustified, there have been few instances of the story slipping completely off the rails.

The show's occasionally beautiful to look at, especially if you have a big HD screen. Very good acting by adept actors: Eric Stoltz, Esai Morales, Polly Walker, Paula Malcomson. Stoltz is consistently excellent; I find myself rooting for Caprica if only to keep this vehicle for his talent around. The teen acting has potential, but needs work. It's not easy to play a convincing teen super-genius, but that's one of the challenges the show decided to undertake, and I'm not fully convinced.

Ron Moore ... love his work going back to ST:TNG and DS9. But I don't know how this world even makes sense in light of the BSG finale. This all takes place 150,050 years ago but folks worship ancient Greek gods, which didn't exist before Ancient Greece? We could suspend disbelief and reason that, just as they're all speaking English, when they say "Athena" or "Apollo" they're actually using an ancient analogue of that god's name, but ... has anyone ever found cave paintings resembling Athena or Apollo from 150,000 years ago? Making some distant galactic cousins our ancestors was a neat idea for a sci-fi story, but it just doesn't fit BSG. Maybe it could have been *made* to fit with a little more fleshing out -- but the finale did not accomplish that, and neither has Caprica. How long are these holes you could drive a truck through going to be allowed to exist? The BSG finale was an opportunity to answer questions we've had since the first season of BSG. Caprica was another, so far squandered.

Last word, to the studios: please stop the half season nonsense ... you might regain some lost customers."

Imaginative, Original, Brilliant, Unique and just plain fun!

Michael Smith | Chicago, IL | 10/23/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, so I was a huge fan of BSG. When they started advertising the spin off during BSG's last season, I was skeptical. How much of a story could they make to the events leading up to the Cylon attack? So it was when I sat down for the series premier. And I was immediately hooked. Creative, original, brilliantly acted and mesmerizing. Eric Stoltz and the rest of the cast truly pull the viewer into the story.
Yes, its si-fi, so you have to let a touch of reality go.
"