By Lisa Fary
Looks like Caprica will be providing us with a different PSA each week. The last ep’s message was that families suck. This week’s Caprica PSA was this:
Everyone is getting harassed and bullied around in this ep.
After Amanda’s outburst at the MagLev memorial, everyone has it in for the Graystones. The colonial media, as relentless as ours, won’t leave them or the story alone. Amanda, while addressing reporters outside of her workplace, gets nailed by a flying bottle. Meanwhile, Daniel gets beat up by Sam Adama. Funny thing, that. Minutes before the Adama beat down, Daniel seemed to be doing quite well boxing at the gym. Lot of good it did him.
Little Willy, enrolled in the Sam Adama Academy of Hoodlumism, tries to fit in with his uncle’s Ha’la’tha buddies. Nothing really happens; Willy just catches some grief about not being fast enough with the sandwich delivery. He then learns an important rule about successfully skipping school: stay until attendance is taken, then bolt.
Joseph Adama - who I’d really like to call Gramps Adama – gets some harassment of his own in the form of a dirty judge. Judgey will always take the Ha’la’tha pay off, but only if he’s asked first. This judge is very particular in his dirty ways.
Poor Lacey gets it from all sides: her sociopathic classmates, Sister Clarice, and now from Zoe-A with the classic bitch line, “If you’re my friend, you’ll do this.”
“This” is smuggle Zoe-A to Geminon. Complete with her giant robot body. Zoe-A doesn’t know the reason, but is sure it’s good because it came from Zoe, and Zoe said it was wonderful. We later learn that the Soldiers of the One are planning to use the avatar technology to reach apotheosis. I can only assume this is leading up to skinjob technology.
Patton Oslwalt made his Caprica debut as a Jon Stewart/ Bill Maher type, hosting a news/comedy show called Backtalk with Baxter Sarno. There wasn’t much of him, just a few clips of his show, but there will be more next week when Daniel Graystone is a guest on Backtalk. I expected Oswalt’s appearance to take me out of the show the same way John Hodgeman’s BSG cameo did. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Oswalt is pretty dark and isn’t a bad actor – I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.
Otherwise, I wasn’t terribly impressed by “Reins of a Waterfall”. It succeeded in showing us how these people are pinched and entrenching themselves further into their own messes, which appeared to be the only goal this time around. It was no different than the drama I get from reruns of The Sopranos.
I wonder what next week’s PSA will be. Gramps Adama has asked Sam to whack Amanda Graystone, so I’m betting the PSA will be about revenge.
Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s almost 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
OMG I lose this much so you have to lose the same or more! BS bad bad bad man
First of all, I LOVE that "poster."
But I actually thought there was more to it than "harassment sucks" – I think the bigger PSA, if you want to call it that, is that the wealthy and powerful can DO something about the harassment they receive, the poor and/or vulnerable can't. Daniel can choose whether or not he wants to go on a Daily Show-like talk show to improve his image. The Caprica police can choose whether to acknowledge their failure in an investigation, or put the focus on the Graystones and how the government is keeping them from searching their house. Whereas Joseph Adama, a Tauron who gets looked down on by everyone, despite being successful, turns to intimidation to get what he wants out of Daniel, because that's all he has left. And then there's Zoe-A, who can only stand by and listen as her own mother tarnishes her image and memory after Zoe is dead.
The character who's really fascinating me on Caprica right now is Amanda. It's interesting to watch a mother on television who doesn't really even like her daughter. She thought her shallow and spoiled when she was alive, and now that she's dead, she mostly seems angry that her daughter betrayed/lied to her, and it's very easy for her to think the worst of her. She and Daniel have an interesting relationship, in that they really are a great, well-matched married couple, but they are horrible, horrible parents.
I liked finally seeing Sam and Larry interact as a couple, and the Adama family as a whole having some quiet moments together that weren't about crime.
The huge amounts of emotional manipulation running through the episode were a bit too blatant for my liking. Between Clarice and Zoe-A, it seems like everyone is out to use Lacey for their own purposes, poor girl. I felt so disappointed when Tamara brushed off her offer to help, so I hope this isn't the last of their encounters.
Love love love seeing Peter Wingfield on my television again, even if his using a non-British accent was a bit jarring at first. I hope he gets to come back again. Every mystery needs a crooked police chief.
And Teryl Rothery! And Hiro Kanagawa! This week was a good week for playing Spot the Vancouver Actor.