False Labor

Another week of Caprica; another week of it staying in place quality-wise, neither improving or slipping.

I get the impression that someone, maybe the writers, or maybe Syfy Channel execs, think that what people want to see on the show are more Cylons, perhaps leading to the Sam storyline tonight, which culminated in a Cylon going in and shooting up the joint for an extended action beat. And I won't deny, it looked cool and delivered some visceral thrills.

And yet, this whole Tauron storyline just really isn't packing the emotional punch I wish it would. Sam talked of his marriage; we learned (apparently) that the mob figurehead he's been reporting to is his father. And yet somehow the most potent Tauron moment in the hour (I thought) was the brief moment of ickiness I felt watching "Mom Adama" pimp out her son to his assistant.

The Daniel storyline, as per usual, was the much better component of the episode, and the measuring stick I wish the rest of it all would reach. I enjoyed his growing frustration with his fake-Amanda, at his own ability to make it work. It says something very interesting about Daniel that he chose to make a fake-Amanda rather than another Zoe, given that a Zoe was one of the cases of the old program actually working. He rather torture himself by being spurned by his wife again... except that the program can't be made to do that.

Clarice was sort of a non-entity in her own storyline this week. The driving force was one of her wives, and how she interacted with the real Amanda. I like the ambiguity of the story Amanda told her to gain acceptance, and the apparently genuine emotion to it -- all contrasted with the final moment in which she disavowed all she'd said as a lie. Should we say "nice performance" or "nice try?" I don't think I believe that it was really all a lie; I think Amanda only wishes she were that ruthless.

I suppose this episode provided a little more to talk about and consider than usual, so maybe Caprica actually was improving a bit this week. But with its ratings sliding ever farther each week, and with the recent news that the Syfy Channel has decided to try dipping into the Galactica prequel well for a second time, perhaps I should stop wishing for the show to get better. That only sets me up for disappointment at what seems its inevitable cancellation.