Caprica 1x10: "Unvanquished"

[OdoWanKenobi]

Below Average bordering on Poor.

I feel like I missed weeks of this show. There's several unrelated, and frankly, uninteresting plot lines going on at once. How did we go from Clarice's car blowing up to her on Geminon? How did Amanda survive her fall? Vergis took Graystone Industries? When did Joseph go from the show's moral center to full on gangster? I was completely lost this entire episode. It might have not been so bad had the show previously made me care about the story or the characters. There's not one single sympathetic character here, though. I've really wanted to like this show. I've given it its chance. I think I'm done. That's it. I'm bored and apathetic towards this show, and I won't waste my time on it any more.

One other side note: The lighting in this episode seemed to wash everything out and make it look very unappealing. That could be yet another reason why I couldn't enjoy it.

[cbspock]

Samuel Walters wrote:

---

Fair enough. I don't know if the series is viable in the long term. But this was one of the better episodes, at least in terms of defining what the series is actually about.

Yes, I agree it did set up what the whole series will be about, and the creation of the cylons but I don't see this series going anywhere if it doesn't engage the audience. This series needs a likeable character like Tyrol, or someone you love to hate, like Tigh. I thought season 1 got better as it went along, but this seems to have gone back to early season 1, where it was just dramtically flat.

Given that this was the first episode of 1.5 or season 2 where was the dramatic hook? I really wasn't surprised to see his wife alive. I also didn't really care either.


-Chris

[DarthPipes]

Joseph was the show's moral center? If so, the writers have done a horrible job trying to portray that. I agree that his recent transformation here needed more explanation and why Vergeis is running Daniel's company is a bigger mystery.

I do think the show would benefit from a character who is actually likeable and someone you could root for. The fact that all of them are morally corrupt is lazy writing. It's the opposite of everyone being all likeable and uncorruptable.

[PsychoPere]

I went with Above Average.

DarthPipes wrote:

---

So Vergis is now running Daniel's company? I understand that he got the contract but how did he get the company?

Colonel Patel promised Vergis the company and the contract in "End of Line." Presumably Caprican law allows the government to step in and turn a company over to new leadership if it so deems appropriate (perhaps limited to companies related significantly to defense?).

OdoWanKenobi wrote:

---

I feel like I missed weeks of this show.

"Unvanquished" was set three weeks after "End of Line." Considering we already knew Clarice wasn't killed in the car explosion, did we really need to have any scenes of her getting on a ship to Gemenon?

[Mr. Adventure]

Boring, but Meg Tilly(!)? She hasn't done a movie since 1995, wow, is she like a big fan or what?

[cbspock]

I gave the episode a "poor". Strike 1. It has two more episodes to re-engage me into the story.


-Chris

[WeAreTheBorg]

cbspock wrote:

---

I gave the episode a "poor". Strike 1. It has two more episodes to re-engage me into the story.


-Chris

You've stated your opinion like 9 times already. We get it.

[Samuel Walters]

cbspock wrote:

---

Great topics, if they made the episode engaging, and the characters interesting to watch. They all mope around. Galactica grabbed you into the universe, this just makes you want to have the Cylons whip out the guns and put these people out of their misery.


-Chris

&

OdoWanKenobi wrote:

---

It might have not been so bad had the show previously made me care about the story or the characters. There's not one single sympathetic character here, though.

You both hit upon a fundamental challenge for the series going forward: It's characters. For this episode, I thought the characters were both plausible and interesting (though, Joseph is a bit weak, considering his continual flip flopping) -- and drove the story forward (instead of being morphed to fit the story). But long term, Caprica is going to need a character people can identify with in all of this. I suspect the series is going to try and make us sympathize with either Tamara or Zoe, but I'm not sure if that effort will be consistent enough.

Still, even if it wasn't the most entertaining installment ('splosions & gunfights & stuff), I thought this was one of the better episodes of the series so far. Plenty of intrigue and lots of focus on the central (moral and thematic) conflicts of the show.

[DarthPipes]

PsychoPere wrote:

---

I went with Above Average.

Colonel Patel promised Vergis the company and the contract in "End of Line." Presumably Caprican law allows the government to step in and turn a company over to new leadership if it so deems appropriate (perhaps limited to companies related significantly to defense?).

"Unvanquished" was set three weeks after "End of Line." Considering we already knew Clarice wasn't killed in the car explosion, did we really need to have any scenes of her getting on a ship to Gemenon?

Ah. Thanks. That's one hell of a law.

Speaking of Clarice, I take it her husband Jason Street (FNL) got killed in the explosion.

[OdoWanKenobi]

PsychoPere wrote:

---

"Unvanquished" was set three weeks after "End of Line." Considering we already knew Clarice wasn't killed in the car explosion, did we really need to have any scenes of her getting on a ship to Gemenon?

It's not just that, though. When we last saw her, she had absolutely jack squat. Now she apparently has the technology and know how to create her virtual world? I don't get it.

Just because there's a gap of a few weeks (a bad idea considering all of the dangling threads) doesn't mean we should be left in the dark about them.

[vampgrrl]

Well the weakest part of the show until now was the STO and Clarice. That made a strong comeback tonight....the monotheist church was the epitome of creepy...and killing that "priest" was reminiscent of ancient Rome.

[DarthPipes]

I'd like to see Joe begin the path to redemption and become the man that Bill Adama spoke of highly.

What's fascinating about this show is seeing how everything came together to create the disaster that the Twelve Colonies goes through. It's like watching a car wreck. Would love to see Admiral Adama and companies reaction to learning about all this.

[cbspock]

I would much rather see a series closer to the Cylon rebellion. The political intrigue between the colonies, how they came together, what caused the cylons to rebel. What exactly were the cylons used for? Did the colonies use them in inter-colonial wars, etc.

Let's see what the colonial space program looked like. What did the cylons use to fight the colonies, were the cylon ships colonial made or did the cylons go out and build their own weapons, etc. Why did the cylons start experimenting on humans, what got them interested in resurrection technology.


Just how fast did the colonies drop technology during the cylon war, what was the impact, etc. I am sure there were zealots on both sides.


I would have loved to have seen the relationship between Bill and his father, at the same age as say Apollo on Galactica. Something more relatable to Galactica.




-Chris

[vampgrrl]

Well what I find interesting are the parallels to modern Earth...and the state of our society, and especially Western Civilization and the United States (as well as how technology changes said civilization)

[Mr. Adventure]

vampgrrl wrote:

---

Well the weakest part of the show until now was the STO and Clarice. That made a strong comeback tonight....the monotheist church was the epitome of creepy...and killing that "priest" was reminiscent of ancient Rome.

Indeed.