Caprica: Difference between revisions

{{quote| '''Joseph:''' I want you to know who you are. We come from a long, proud line of Tauron peasants who knew how to work the land and still stand proud. You're named after your grandfather. Did I ever tell you that? ...William. He was killed during the Tauron uprising. Our last name isn't Adams. I changed it after I arrived here on Caprica. Our family name is Adama. ADAMA. And it's a good, honorable Tauron name. }}

Though set in the same universe, ''Caprica'' has a [[Genre Shift|much different look and feel]] from its predecessor. Set in an urban environment rather than in space, Caprica focuses on political, corporate, and familial intrigue, and tells the tale of a decadent society that doesn't realize that it's about to run headlong over a cliff. The story of ''Caprica'' centers around the families of Daniel Graystone, a computer engineer and entrepreneur and creator of the Cylon robots, and Joseph Adama, a lawyer and father to ''Galactica'''s William Adama. Recurring themes in the show explore artificial intelligence, robotics, religion and ethnicity. ''Caprica'' tells the backstory of the re-imagined series, and the story behind the creation of the Cylons.

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Remember when Sam said that people could read his life-story from his tattoos? He wasn't kidding.

** [http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/ The Caprican] and [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone Serge's Twitter page] both contain many useful insights and tidbits about the characters and life among the Twelve Colonies, including an [http://showblogs.syfy.com/caprican/opinion/racism-an-unacceptable-aspect-of-caprican-life.php explanation of exactly what "dirt eater" means].

* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Of course, series is set on another planet, but we have clothes from the fifties, more or less modern-looking cars, futuristic flying machines, absolutely modern-looking computers and cell phones alongside with futuristic but more or less realistic computer systems, Turing test-passing robots and a virtual reality device which apparently affects the brain directly and creates incredibly realistic pictures.

* [[And I Must Scream]]: If your body falls asleep or, for some reason, becomes paralysed, you will remain conscious and active in the V-World but be incapable of pulling yourself out unless someone forces you to de-rez. It is a minor example but one can imagine how harrowing it might be for the user. Other players thought this was the case with Tamara until it turned she could not de-rez at all.

* [[Cyberpunk Is Techno]]: The clothing is given a 1950s look, but the music is techno.

** Except for the Ha'la'tha, who (as noted above) are aficionados of Tauron rap. Bear in mind that Tauron is based on Ancient Greek.

* [[Dawson Casting]]: High school-aged Zoe Graystone and Lacy Rand are played by Alessandra Torresani and Magda Apanowicz, who are both in their twenties. Genevieve Beuchner is a borderline case, being 18 while playing 16 year old Tamara.

* [[Dead Little Sister]]: Amanda Graystone's brother.

* [[Generic Ethnic Crime Gang]] The Tauron Ha'la'tha is definitely one of these: it's a very organized outfit with a patriarch (the Guatrau) and a complex code of honor and loyalty linked to the traditions of its native culture and engages in all kinds of criminal activity. It also regards itself as necessary for the protection of the Tauron community on Caprica. And it even has a Capricanized ''Consigliere'' in the form of Joseph Adama.

* [[Genre Blindness]]: Daniel Graystone {{spoiler|"Oh hey, you know what's a good idea? [[Too Dumb to Live|Making a machine which is superior to us both mentally and physically completely sentient but not affording it any rights, liberties, yet program it to defend itself]]. Then lets force them into a subservient role where they work menial tasks and have to take our crap all day. What could possibly go wrong?"}} Not exactly what he said when he {{spoiler|talked his company into mass-producing the Cylons for the military}} but you get the idea.

* [[Genre Shift]]: In terms of its settings and types of conflicts, Caprica is a ''very'' different animal from [[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]].

* [[Happily Married]]: Sam and Larry Adama. You heard me. And no, Sam ''isn't'' short for Samantha. Amanda and Daniel Greystone count, too, but if Amanda knew what Dan was up to...

* [[Informed Profession]]: In the first two episodes Amanda is shown to be a doctor, complete with a cushy office at the hospital. In "Reins of a Waterfall", she is stated to have resigned. In "Gravedancing", she states that she is a plastic surgeon - a doctor, but not the first aid kit kind usually (although you do have some plastic surgeons for burn care).

* [[Interplay of Sex and Violence]]: a scene in the pilot cuts back and forth between the Graystones having sex and (a [[Shirtless Scene|shirtless]]) Sam Adama stabbing someone.

* [[Kiss Me, I'm Virtual]]: Zoe Graystone to Philomon.

* [[Leitmotif]]: Several. This is [[Bear McCreary]], after all. The Tauron leitmotif turns out to be the tune of the Tauron mourning chant used in "There Is Another Sky", in a kind of [[Shout-Out]] to the audience.

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: William B Davis (The Cigarette Smoking Man) as the Minister of Defense in the pilot.

* [[Opium Den]]: Clarice's "dive" seems to be one of these.

* [[Planet of Hats]]: Tauron, literally, given the attire of the Taurons on Caprica. (The hats, being fedoras, are [[Nice Hat|very nice]]).

** Otherwise, this trope is largely averted. In Caprica, Tauron and Gemenon (the three planets we saw extensively), the culture and traditions and culture are shown to be diverse, even when there is one overriding theme (Tauron's militarism, Gemenon's religious nature). The Colonies ''not seen'' sometimes suffer from this though.

* [[Posthumous Character]]: Zoe-A and Tamara-A are [[Digital Avatar|Digital Avatars]] / [[Virtual Ghost|Virtual Ghosts]] of Zoe Graystone and Tamara Adama, [[Death By Origin Story|both of whom were killed in a terrorist attack at the beginning of the story]].

* [[The Power of Friendship]]: In the pilot, Zoe-A is covered with blood after Zoe dies. Lacy hugs her and it disappears.

* [["Previously On..."]]: This being a highly arc-based show, it shows up a fair amount.

* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]: Taurons.

* [[Psycho Serum]]: Amp, a kind of reaction-boosting hack that manifests as a drug in New Cap City and is addictive.

* [[Recycled in Space]]: A comment made by Ron Moore essentially sums up this series as ''[[Dallas]]'' meets ''[[The Sopranos]]'' meets ''[[Rome]]'' IN SPACE. Basically, you know, a [[Family Drama]], AS CYBERPUNK!

** A lot of the first example given here is actually a subversion of this trope, since {{spoiler|it turns out the William Adama who appears in virtually every episode of this series is not Commander Bill Adama}}.

* [[Robosexual]]: Philo and Robot Zoe. Complicated by Zoe having the mind of a formerly living girl and double complicated by Philo not knowing this. {{spoiler|Zoe adopts the guise of Rachel in the V-World to V-date him.}}

* [[Robot Maid|Robot Butler]]: Serge Graystone, who has his own [http://twitter.com/SergeGraystone twitter page].

* [[Rousing Speech]]: {{spoiler|Clarice's sermon to the Cylons:}}

{{quote| {{spoiler|Are you alive? The simple answer might be you are alive because you can ask that question. You have the right to think and feel and yearn to be more because you are not just humanity’s children, you are God’s children. We are all God’s children... In the real world, you have bodies made of metal and plastic. Your brains are encoded on wafers of silicon, but that may change. In fact, there is no limit on what you may become. No longer servants, but equals. Not slaves or property, but living beings with the same rights as those who made you. I am going to prophecy now, and speak of one who will set you free. The day of reckoning is coming. The children of humanity shall rise...AND CRUSH THE ONES WHO FIRST GAVE THEM LIFE!"}}}}

{{quote| '''Lacy:''' Oh, please. The porn sites were the first to license the technology. <br />

'''Daniel:''' Those are for ''adults!'' }}

** It's been moved up to October 5th, 2010.

*** And has just (10/27/10) been completely canned, up to and including removing all future episodes from the lineup until sometime in 2011, which will end the series at that point. Ouch.

* [[Shout-Out]]: Per [[Word of God]], the V-world game "New Cap City" is a [[Shout-Out]] to the movie [[New Jack City]].

** It's hard to believe that it isn't an [[Actor Allusion]] for [[James Marsters|Barnabas]] to address Clarice as "[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Willow]]".

** Dying in New Cap City is called [[Tron|de-rezzed]] and there's mention of a [[Tron|MCP]].

** In the Adamas house a poster features a [[Final Fantasy VII|spiky-haired sword-wielding]] [[Expy|Storm.]]

* [[What Could Have Been]]: "The Shape of Things to Come", a sequence showing exactly what could have been, at the end of "Apotheosis".

** Others are mentioned in DVD commentary. The {{spoiler|Head-Zoe}} in "Things We Lock Away" would have been {{spoiler|Head-Six or Head-Baltar}} if {{spoiler|Tricia Helfer or James Callis}} had been available. And Zoe might have {{spoiler|met one of the Final Five in V-world}} in Season 2.

* [[Wrench Wench]]: Lacy. Amusingly, she kinda looks like the Patron Saint of Wrench Wenches, [[Firefly|Kaylee Frye]]. Comparison: [http://www.fireflywiki.org/img/Kaylee23.jpg\] [http://media.battlestarwiki.org/images/f/f0/Caprica_Lacy.jpg\]

* [[Wretched Hive]]: New Cap City.

** [[Word of God]] (through a video blog on Hulu) describe it as [[Gattaca]] [[X Meets Y|meets]] [[Dark City]].

* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: The Athenian Academy uniforms feature a Grade C. Likewise Lacy wears a booted Grade C in virtual space in one episode.

{{reflist}}