Caprica pilot (2009)

The wonderful Battlestar Galactica finished on a low with a dull, drawn out finale, but that doesn’t mean the show is dead. In the tradition of other science fiction shows (eg Babylon 5), it continues to live in one form or another. The first continuance is the series Caprica.

Caprica is set 58 years before Battlestar Galactica and the attack on the human colonies by the robotic Cylons. Caprica is a planet living in luxury and excess, much like ancient Rome, but with virtual reality and better sanitation. It’s a world of technological marvels, religious fanaticism, political rivalries, family squabbling, and all the other usual ingredients for a prime time soap opera. Eric Stoltz is Daniel Graystone and he is on the verge of creating Cylon technology. Esai Morales is Joseph Adama, father of William Adama (commander of Battlestar Galactica) and a political mover and shaker. These two men represent the families that are the centre of the story.

The bleak war scenario of Battlestar Galactica is replaced with a drama focused on a society on the verge of change (and destruction, but only the viewer knows that). The pilot is promising, and gives a clear indication of where Cylon technology comes from, and provided some clever jabs at monotheism and the war on terror. It will be interesting to see if the series can maintain the freshness of the pilot, and not disintegrate into trivial family rivalry (eg Dallas).