(That and if I’m truly lost I can cheat and use the endless wikis devoted to the show to fill in the blanks.)
I liked the pilot as much as I liked the original BSG miniseries, and that’s saying a lot.
Set 50 years before the beginning of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica is about a society that has reached a near peak of scientific perfection without dipping into scientific tropes like transporters, giant mechs, or reptillian overlords who gaze out over mankind and uttering “Hmm, yeeeeeesssss” like Beast Wars Megatron.
Caprica is set in a world that’s very similar to the 21st century. People wear business suits when they go to work and the only time you feel it is set in the future is with the little things people use from day to day. Rather than carrying around a clunky cell phone they have small little communication devices and instead of a smart phone or laptop to send emails to each other they use pieces of paper that are miniature screens you can interact with.
For some, it can be jarring. Absent are the capes, blasters, and starships from the original BSG series. Instead of having nobles they have politicians and while starships are mentioned people still travel back and forth in cars or on the subway. (Ugh. The subway survived into the future and seems just as crappy.)
The main focus of Caprica are the characters of Joseph Adama and Daniel Graystone.
While Daniel Graystone represents an interesting character who is torn between his devotion to science and his belief he can resurrect his daughter through technological means, I was more attracted to the character of Joseph Adama. Joseph, or Yosef as he is referred to by his fellow Taurons, is someone who is trying to live the Caprican way of life and yet comes from a planet that is looked down upon by the “civilized” world.
Graystone is very familiar to me, which is both comforting yet a little…dull. A scientist obsessed with his work and making irrational decisions to save his company and his daughter and he is from what can only be called a “Western” culture? Eric Stoltz does a fine job but I have seen it before. I think his character will get more interesting as time goes on, so I’m more than willing to let this go in favor of seeing new episodes.
Joseph Adama is interesting and his background is a combination of Middle Eastern, Hispanic, and a refreshing mix of a made up culture thrown together with a grieving father whose ties to the underworld conflict with wanting a better life for his kid. He pulls off the role as a distant father beautifully, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the character evolves.
Alessandra Torresani was good as Zoe Graystone. I admit, I hated the living Zoe at the beginning of the show and much preferred the purity and innocence of the digital version.
Hopefully the show keeps going strong and I’m looking forward to seeing the development of the Cylons, the eventual outbreak of the Cylon war, and how the relationship between Joseph and Graystone evolves.
Breaking news, dear readers:
FML = DEAD
Congratulations, internet. In the time it took you to invent a new catchy saying, you buried it but a short time later.
I only learned about this phrase last fall but it seemed to hit its zenith during December. Like a teen pop star or boy band, FML started popping up on AIM status messages, Facebook postings, and inevitably with internet sayings I heard it in real life with a coworker at his cubicle. What is this now extinct internet phrase you might ask?
FML: Fuck My Life. As in, “I can’t get a job, my dog is sick, and I’m fairly sure my foot has gone gangrene. FML.”
Why have I declared this phrase dead?
Like “Angry poster is Angry” or “The emo, I has it” FML became tired and was used inappropriately rather quickly. Before long, I was reading my Facebook page and grimacing at how people were using it to describe little things with the phrase. It was like a caterpillar which turned itself into a cocoon and emerged a piece of poop that was all ridgy and green.
Here are just some samples I’ve seen on LJ and AIM as of late…
“Still can’t find a job. FML.”
“They screwed up my order at McDonalds and put mustard on the sandwich. FML.”
“Aww, man! I couldn’t get Gaga tickets. FML!”
That first poster? That sucks. They can’t find a job, and that’s never good to hear. Their life is properly fucked, especially if they can’t figure out how to pay their bills. That second person? Well, no one likes having mustard on their sandwich when they don’t want it there but maybe they had something else happen in their life.
But no Gaga tickets? Oh man, your life is over. What will you do now that you don’t have tickets to Gaga?
I think the biggest telling point that this catch phrase is dead though?
When it is used ironically.
“Yeah, FML or whatever.”
Personally, I hope the next catch phrase involves the Last Starfighter. That would be killer.
In Other News
J.D. Salinger is dead. That’s a damn shame, though it was kind of inevitable with his age. You will be missed and I need to find my copy of Catcher in the