The moment all BSG fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. Caprica, its sequel, has gone live and is open for scrutiny. I purposefully kept my expectations low. Knowing that Edward James Olmos wasn’t in this one, what can you expect? So here it is, a little review of the much anticipated Sci-Fi series.

SPOILER ALERT!
There were several ups and downs. Many things that were superbly executed, and many things that weren’t. The first thing to keep in mind is that Sci-Fi wants to attract a wider audience this time around. To me, if Galactica was popular enough for four full seasons, webisodes, and insane funding for special effects, they should have catered to the fans of the critically acclaimed series a bit more.

First off, the casting directors should be fired. After such a strong and dynamic cast in Galactica, how did they end up with these actors? The young ones all looked like they had just stepped out of the Disney Channel and acted like it as well. The sad thing about that is that these young “talents” are what we’re focused on for the majority of the time.

The episode gets off on a slow start. I wasn’t really sure where things were going for quite a while, and was even more confused when the “terrorist” was Zoe’s friend. I’m still having a hard time understanding why he did what he did. Did their teacher have something to do with it? Once things get going, and we see what Zoe’s father’s intentions are, I was a little more drawn in. Towards the end, however, I felt that there was an amazing opportunity simply wasted. Zoe’s father attempts to put her memory, or digital version, into a robotic body as a rough start, but things go haywire and he loses everything. This prompts him to use the technology to create the first Cylon (Cybernetic Lifeform Node). This was the perfect ending to the show. They got rid of the annoying teenagers, and we see the birth of the Cylons… however, it’s not really the end. Remember that failed attempt at bringing Zoe back in a Cylon body? Yeah, she somehow wakes up and comes back with Zoe’s voice. And that’s the cliffhanger… ?

If Sci-Fi’s way of appealing to a wider audience is to turn the Galactica universe into a blend of Lawnmower Man, Battlestar Galactica, and the Disney Channel, they’ve got some really low ratings to look forward to.

However, there were things that worked very well. Not all the performances were weak. Esai Morales (Joseph Adama) and Eric Stoltz (Daniel Graystone) did a very good job. And like I mentioned before, the way the Cylon come about was done very well. There are a few Galactica references that avid fans will enjoy, the celtic/iconic Adama music melody comes in at one point when Adama and his son (William Adama) are speaking. We also delve much more into the world of racism and their division by colony. It’s interesting to see how the racism on Galactica was before there even was a Galactica.

All in all, I’ll give it a chance. But I’ll keep a grain of salt near by.

P.S. Favorite cameo: The X-Files’ cigarette smoking man. What’s his name?

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Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, Reviews