02/08/2010
Admiral Adama and President Laura Roslin visited Spain this past weekend and shared the BSG love in an intimate gathering of 350 fans. Some of the fans (around 80) came all the way from the United States and other countries, so BausauriCon had an interesting mix of international Colonials. Compared to other mass conventions, it looks like this one had a perfect number of attendees that allowed Olmos and McDonnell closer contact with their fans.
Basauri Con 1.0 was organized by The 13th Tribe Science Fiction Fans Association, and was supported by the city council of Basauri. Always nice to see fan-organized events be a success.
Looks like the video is not working- will let you know when the BasauriCon people put up pictures and videos. Meanwhile, a fan has put up several vids of the event here.
02/06/2010
Next time, pick up the phone big shot
[Some episode spoilers]
Reins of a Waterfall is an episode about the Graystone fallout from Amanda’s previous public revelation of Zoe being a terrorist. As could be expected, the public cried foul, Amanda had to resign from Caprica General Hospital, Graystone stocks plunged and the late night comedians (specifically Baxter Sarno, played by funnyman Patton Oswalt) are having a field day with the material. Graystone’s assistant Cyrus implores him to get P.R. help, but Daniel refuses to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, Avatar Zoe plays around with her programming and Sister Clarice meets with a shady Soldiers of the One disembodied voice. We get to meet more Global Defense Department detectives of Caprica City, some of them inept and corrupt. Yet these are the “better” Capricans, not Taurons.
Speaking of Taurons, I find it amusing how they are every ethnic stereotype rolled into one. In this episode for example we learn that Taurons are bad drivers. Stereotypes aside, we see more of the tough guys of the Tauron mafia hanging out at a place called Goldie’s, eating burritos, and teasing school-skipping Will Adama.
Will’s father, Joseph Adama, has been hit hard by the news that Zoe could have been the Maglev 23 terrorist. He gets sloppy with his quasi legal work and becomes increasingly violent. Esai Morales as usual was great, but in Reins of a Waterfall he got to expand his performance. His final words in this episode came as quite a shocker!
I really enjoy the Adama brothers’ interactions- the actors have great chemistry. Oh and in this episode we see the softer side of Sam Adama, as the man in love with his husband. So nice to see a gay relationship in science fiction seen as something normal.
Again, and I can’t say this enough, loving the details! Fun ones were a financial TV show called “Cubits and Pieces” or “Dollars and Cents” in Earth English. Also, the Monotheists call their prophesized culmination Apotheosis (deification) and there are several interpretations of what that might mean. And futuristic Roomba Serge can detect if you’re hurt!
No new episode next week. The next installment will be on February 19th.
02/05/2010
Here’s a fun two-part interview with Esaí Morales talking about his feelings for the show, his costars, and Tauron ethnicity.
01/30/2010
[Minor spoilers for Rebirth, major ones for Pilot]
Caprica on SyFy is getting better and better. The writers keep bringing on those details us sci-fi geeks love. Caprican seedy drug world! Planetary anthem! Little Tauron neighborhood! I must note that this first episode after the two-hour pilot (which would be episode zero) opened with a gorgeous series intro that reminded me of those newer SyFy channel promos. Very well done! Check it out here:
This episode focused mostly on the Graystones, and we begin as Daniel Graystone tries to fulfill his robot order to the Caprican military. He needs to program 100,000 Cylons and so far the MCP device that allowed him to transfer Zoe into a mechanical Cylon (a U-87) isn’t replicating correctly and he’s ending up with a bunch of units that aren’t responding well to commands. Meanwhile the prototype we saw from the Pilot that has Zoe’s programming is hiding in plain sight- she doesn’t want anyone but her best friend Lacy to know that she’s still there behind the glowing red eye. (I think Cesar the Dog knows!)
Esaí Morales’ Adama didn’t do much in this episode. However, we see how his character evolves from complete rejection of the “resurrection” concept to a somewhat sad acceptance that he misses his daughter and wife too much to let go completely.
Olaf and Zoe
I didn’t realize we had at least one other cast member of Latin American heritage! The Canadian of Haitian heritage Panou plays Olaf Willow, a member of Sister Clarice’s family. I don’t actually recall if he’s in this episode, but Clarice did introduce him. Panou (one name) has been in other science fiction TV series in minor roles including Stargate Atlantis, SG-1, and Sanctuary. Here’s hoping that his Caprica role gets more interesting.
I like that Caprica allows itself a sense of humor. Battlestar Galactica rarely got that privilege considering the context. In this episode Shmoo Serge, the Graystone robotic butler, had a great line that made me laugh out loud. Also Sam Adama has an interesting sense of humor, dark, but practical. We see him showing his nephew Will some mafia techniques. The lab assistants Philomon and his (unnamed?) lab partner are also amusing although I don’t think they’re meant to be.
One thing I didn’t notice from seeing the Pilot the first time was that the MCP device that Graystone stole came from the Vergis Corporation on Tauron. That changed my concept of that planet and again, made me want to see more of it. So it isn’t just a war-torn planet without flowers- can we get some space travel and have a look?
