Tonight marks the season premiere of the anxiously awaited Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica spinoff-prequel. We’ve got a list of reasons why everyone should watch. Still skeptical? BSG had a completely singular vision: gritty, intimate (if not claustrophobic), filled with messy emotions that felt miles away from the Star Treks and SeaQuests of yesteryear — not easy viewing, but a great show. But we know that spinoffs (especially prequels) can be a tough sell.
Syfy’s release schedule for Caprica might have further confused potential fans. Tonight’s pilot episode was actually released on DVD last April, and it’s been available on Hulu for the last few weeks, too. (It’s still there, too, at least until tomorrow.) I’m guessing that most BSG fans have therefore already seen the premiere, and I’d love to hear what other people thought.
So far, I’m onboard. Caprica manages to fit all the depth and intelligence of BSG into more realistic (but still fantastical) surroundings. There’s the same brain-teasingly intelligent treatment of lofty topics (religion, politics, technology), plus a topical treatment of issues like racial diversity in a multicultural society and the moral implications of social networking. Lest this sound like a philosophical screed, Caprica also features robots and gangsters. The cast is great, and in the pilot at least, the show feels like the perfect balance of heavy sci-fi with more realistic family drama.
Still, that balance could always be the show’s downfall: Caprica could end up being too science-fictiony for franchise newcomers and too, well, normal for BSG fans. (There’s also a key character in Caprica who’s dangerously close to becoming the Jake Lloyd of the BSG franchise.) What do you think, viewers? Does the show have a chance of breaking the Prequel Curse? Are you excited by the show’s mix of family, politics, teen angst, and science-fiction? Or do you think Caprica will collapse in on itself like a dying star?
Can someone please give a show to the brunette in the pink satin headband who pointed out the elephant in the room at Gretchen’s tupperware party. Apparently a gal named Mel had leaned inappropriately into Jim’s chair and prompted the ire of Alexis. Nobody leans on the furniture her man is sitting on as he looks disgustedly at a transvestite pimping multi-colored tupperware sets. She and her husband have not spent a day apart in five years and Alexis is not about to let some dark-haired sprite accost him by the hors d’oeuvres table. Jim, who’d been pounding his chest all evening — “I will not be seen front row center at a tupperware party!” — looked thoroughly aroused by the possibility of his being a wanted man. “It’s hard being me,” he preened to Gretchen, after Mel calmly asked Alexis if she wanted to take their inane conversation outside away from the cameras. (Alexis interpreted this as an invitation to throw down and she is not from Jersey y’all.) Finally Jim told Alexis to pipe down and call it a night. As everyone at the party replayed how Jim had become the source of such tension, Pink Headband spoke truth to power. “Uh, can I just say this? He is not attractive. No one was hitting on her husband.” (Andy Cohen, want me to watch your show? Book that woman!)
