Caprica Review

I know that the show is cancelled, and there might be a good chance that they won't air the remaining eight episodes, or even the series on Syfy again. I just thought it would be nice to write a review anyway, because of the circumstances the show faced.

First off, I am a BSG fan. I fell in love with the series and I plan on watching it again. Everything works for that show. Caprica is the prequel to BSG and it's supposed to explain how the Cylons came to be and why they hated the humans ( revenge for their enslavement, just like in Terminator and Matrix series). I think for this reason, it's a cliche. I'm not saying that the series is not good. It's well written, but it's not written for the BSG fans. The writers were looking for a new fanbase. This whole situation with cancelling shows and writing crappy movies and such are reasons why I play videogames. In some cases even the game developers can fall short at times. Unlike the movie and television industries, the gaming industry actually does a good job listening to the fans and try to create a fanbase with gamer who otherwise passover the said genre.  Caprica failed to bring in a different fanbase for its show. There are fans, but like more famous science fiction series (BSG, Stargate and Star Trek), they are cultbased.

The Good: Caprica so far has a good set of actors, futuristic settings and a nice plot for character development. I find the philosophical aspect of the series to be deep and the show brings up issues that someday humanity will face as we advance scientifically and technologically ( artificial life, the idea of creating an afterlife from virtual space).

The Bad: This show is not designed for BSG fans. I do not expect this show to cater to them, because most BSG fans are male and they want more action and less back story. Not to mention that some people feel like there is a "gay agenda" when the creators chose to have Joseph's brother be a masculine gay man who has a stable relationship with his husband. Personally, that's where the viewers began to be alienated. When a marginalized group is portrayed as stable and accepted, the American people of mainstream culture do not like it, especially when they show gay men in a loving relationship. I personally like that the creators chose to show Caprica as an accepting society. They also portray Clarice Willow as a head of a plural marriage household and a the future leader of STO. The focus on Clarice and the religious aspect of the show alienated viewers.

The Ugly: I give the show a 3 out of 5. Not only because they cancelled the show before it had a chance to establish a plot, but because the series had too many story arcs, they waited too long between season one and 1.5. Common sense would tell these producers show the whole season and then see what happens. Instead, they used the same tactics that made BSG successful and it backfired. What works for one show, may not work for another. I read some comments that said that advertisers played a role in getting the show cancelled. That's partially true. I think that Americans do not know good television. We cannot see anything on TV that makes us think. When it comes to taste, we have it backwards. This is the real reason why the show got cancelled. I also blame Americans for allowing corporations to take over our lives. We have ourselves to blame when it comes to entertainment and influence.

Conclusion: They are making a show based on William Adama's younger years in the military. I do not think they should make another series based on BSG. There are too many sequels out there in movies, books, tv shows and videogames. Unless it was intended to be a series from the beginning, there should not be any sequels or prequels. If it's over, then it's over.

Syfy pulled the plug on Caprica

On Oct 27th, a few days before making the previous post, Syfy announced that they are cancelling Caprica. At first I was a little disappointed. The network could have sold the rights to the series to another network. They could have also hired better writers and make the series more coherent. Instead, they pull the plug on the show. It reminds me of why I do not like American television. On the other hand, I can understand why the show was pulled and the BSG's fan's disappointment in it (I'll be doing a review on Caprica). BSG fans expect the show to be like BSG. They do not understand that Caprica is a prequel, but it's also a whole different type of science fiction show. What I learned from this is that most Americans (myself included) love action films. We do not like shows that actually make us think. I watched a review online about Caprica. I do agree with the reviewer that in the second half of the first season, too much attention was placed on Clarice Willow and the religious aspect on the show. What they should have done was place more attention on Zoe and Tamera in New Cap City or they should have less story arcs and reveal the soul plot of the whole series. To me it was a good show, but it seemed like it wasn't getting anywhere. It was nothing like Odyssey 5 (Showtime pulled the plug on that show in 2003 just before the last episode).

The show is an example demostrates the frustration that the audience have with the creators of shows, movies and videogames. It also shows the disconnect that writers and producers have with the audience. I feel like the writers and producers present what they want in a show and not so much what the audience wants. It makes me glad that I'm a gamer by hobby. If I feel a game might fall short, I just won't buy it. I remember Halo ODST fell short compared to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. I borrowed the game from a hallmate, played it and was seriously disappointed. It's not like that with TV. Shows get pulled or get another season based on concensus. I kind of wish they gave/give Caprica another chance by hiring another writer/director. They could expand plots in other areas. If advertisers are pulling their products from this show, I can see why. Battlestar Galactica fans dominate syfy and are their main viewers. They will be replacing the time slot that Caprica held with wrestling. Networks such as Syfy, USA, and G4TV are geared toward American men between the ages of 18 and 35. Caprica is too slow for their attention spans. Maybe if they tied up loose ends in another possible prequel to BSG (I heard they are replacing Caprica with a story about William Adama in his younger years) then the mistakes with Caprica won't happen in another scifi series.