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.