Caprica: 1x10 The Unvanquished.
[note: the numbering of the episodes has always been unclear, but there seems to be a concensus to count the original pilot as the first episode, so this is the tenth episode.]
Lacy: “I let down my best friend and now I am living a life I never intended.”
Clarice: “Apotheosis will unite the twelve worlds under one true god.”
Zoe: “I trusted my friends to get me to Gemenon and they failed me.”
Daniel: “Everything I’ve worked for is gone.”
Amanda: “I feel like I’m going insane.”
Caprica, at its best, is a show about how different people utilize technology – from the grandest scale, how society is shaped by technology (religion, war, communication), on the smallest, how one individual tries to cope with grief by using it.
Daniel and Zoe are both creators of technology. It has always been difficult to untangle the desire for profit and power within his own company from Daniel’s desire to remain connected to his daughter, now the ghost in the machine, since her very existence promises unexpected new sources for revenue. Daniel is all about mass-production and the unlimited replication, which is a stark contrast to Zoe’s uniqueness (which mirrors Tamara’s in New Cap City, she is also one of a kind): Zoe is still programmed to follow some kind of plan to advance the cause of the One True God, and Caprica has never given a definite answer whether she has a free will, or is predetermined by whatever desires and aims her creator (the original Zoe we never really knew) gave her. Lacy, who has been my personal favourite from the beginning, has been loyal to Zoe 2.0 from the beginning, if mostly out of a sense of guilt for having betrayed the original Zoe by not joining her on her way to Gemenon (she suffers, you might say, a severe case of survivor’s guilt). I’ve never really seen her as a religious fanatic: it always seemed like she just somehow stumbled into the “Soldiers of the One” because her best friend joined, and now that she has gotten involved with Barnabas’ terrorist cell, she is once again living a life that she did not choose or want for herself. Clarice sees Zoe’s technology as the ultimate tool to convince everybody in the twelve colonies that monotheism is the way to go: Apotheosis (an individual being raised to a god-like status, eternal life after death) is the perfect way of marketing The One True God, since technology can now remove uncertainty (ultimately, faith is no longer required and replaced by circuits). Daniel has lost his company to Tomas Vergis because he was unable to provide the government with the Cylon soldiers, and he has also lost his wife, since he was too focused on his own way of dealing with grief (fully embracing the idea that the copy of Zoe is exactly like the original Zoe, yet at the same time something that he has to control and exploit in order to advance his own technology) to notice that she was slipping away.
In the last episode which aired more than six months ago, everything changed: Lacy tried to get Zoe to Gemenon, failed, and found herself in the midst of Barnabas terrorist group. Clarice decided to take her idea to the religious leaders on Gemenon, if only to finally win the struggle for power within the STO against Barnabas, who had killed one of her husbands with a car bomb. Zoe, desperate to remain sentient and not let Daniel have her technology, drove her Cylon body into a road block and exploded. Amanda jumped from a bridge – we spend the better part of this episode in uncertainty about what happened to her.
Daniel’s technology has always been used in ways he never intended. Last season, he was shocked to find out that teenagers had created an underground filled with sex and violence as a respite from Caprican society; New Cap City is exactly the kind of place that would emerge from a tightly controlled “high” society like the one on Caprica: a place with no rules, where everybody can become powerful if they play their cards right. The holoband allows the show “Caprica” to comment on the current state of the internet, on the race between those who use the freedom it provides and those who are trying to regulate and control it.
The brilliant thing about “Unvanquished” is that it centres around two very different sales pitches for Daniel’s even more exciting technology. Both paint a picture of a world radically different from the one we live in now, both promise power and influence, and both are met by opposition which they eventually overcome.
Daniel and Zoe are both creators of technology. It has always been difficult to untangle the desire for profit and power within his own company from Daniel’s desire to remain connected to his daughter, now the ghost in the machine, since her very existence promises unexpected new sources for revenue. Daniel is all about mass-production and the unlimited replication, which is a stark contrast to Zoe’s uniqueness (which mirrors Tamara’s in New Cap City, she is also one of a kind): Zoe is still programmed to follow some kind of plan to advance the cause of the One True God, and Caprica has never given a definite answer whether she has a free will, or is predetermined by whatever desires and aims her creator (the original Zoe we never really knew) gave her. Lacy, who has been my personal favourite from the beginning, has been loyal to Zoe 2.0 from the beginning, if mostly out of a sense of guilt for having betrayed the original Zoe by not joining her on her way to Gemenon (she suffers, you might say, a severe case of survivor’s guilt). I’ve never really seen her as a religious fanatic: it always seemed like she just somehow stumbled into the “Soldiers of the One” because her best friend joined, and now that she has gotten involved with Barnabas’ terrorist cell, she is once again living a life that she did not choose or want for herself. Clarice sees Zoe’s technology as the ultimate tool to convince everybody in the twelve colonies that monotheism is the way to go: Apotheosis (an individual being raised to a god-like status, eternal life after death) is the perfect way of marketing The One True God, since technology can now remove uncertainty (ultimately, faith is no longer required and replaced by circuits). Daniel has lost his company to Tomas Vergis because he was unable to provide the government with the Cylon soldiers, and he has also lost his wife, since he was too focused on his own way of dealing with grief (fully embracing the idea that the copy of Zoe is exactly like the original Zoe, yet at the same time something that he has to control and exploit in order to advance his own technology) to notice that she was slipping away.
In the last episode which aired more than six months ago, everything changed: Lacy tried to get Zoe to Gemenon, failed, and found herself in the midst of Barnabas terrorist group. Clarice decided to take her idea to the religious leaders on Gemenon, if only to finally win the struggle for power within the STO against Barnabas, who had killed one of her husbands with a car bomb. Zoe, desperate to remain sentient and not let Daniel have her technology, drove her Cylon body into a road block and exploded. Amanda jumped from a bridge – we spend the better part of this episode in uncertainty about what happened to her.
Daniel’s technology has always been used in ways he never intended. Last season, he was shocked to find out that teenagers had created an underground filled with sex and violence as a respite from Caprican society; New Cap City is exactly the kind of place that would emerge from a tightly controlled “high” society like the one on Caprica: a place with no rules, where everybody can become powerful if they play their cards right. The holoband allows the show “Caprica” to comment on the current state of the internet, on the race between those who use the freedom it provides and those who are trying to regulate and control it.
The brilliant thing about “Unvanquished” is that it centres around two very different sales pitches for Daniel’s even more exciting technology. Both paint a picture of a world radically different from the one we live in now, both promise power and influence, and both are met by opposition which they eventually overcome.
“A cure for human grief”
In the beginning of the episode, mass production on the Cylons has begun (it’s a haunting moment for everybody who has seen “Battlestar Galactica”). While Daniel lies drunk on his couch, it’s Tomas Vergis, who has taken everything he ever cared for, who has finally figured out how to do it. As Daniel zaps through the channels, we see that Caprica is even more shaped by terrorist acts now, they are a daily reality, and The C-Bucks are also in Tomas’ hands now and finally winning their games. He does, however, turn the TV off before we can find out what happened to Amanda.
Daniel is in a desperate position. He never dealt with his grief for Zoe because he still had a version of her available (and he saw Zoe 2.0 as his daughter, since “a difference that doesn’t make a difference isn’t a difference”). The fragile balance between trying to understand his daughter and, at the same time, requiring her technology to keep his company alive, defined his relationship with her – and in the end, he chose his company over her, he decided to trade her sentience for mass-production, which makes him even more flawed as a human being that he was from the start. We also saw that he was willing to kill in order to get what he wants, so it doesn’t exactly come as a surprise that he now tries to strike a deal with the devil (the Ha’la’tha, the godfather of the Tauron mob).
Daniel: “I have suffered some losses recently, and it’s made me think about the extremes I’d go to to avoid ever having to deal with that kind of pain again, both personally and professionally, which is what brings me here to you today. Tomas Vergis has taken my company away from me, and I want it back. In return, I offer you something of great value, something you’ll find very attractive, and normally… […] My point is, I can make us both a great deal of money.”
The Ha’la’tha: “And the nature of this exciting windfall?”
Daniel: “A cure for human grief.”
Joseph: “I thought we were talking about battle robots.”
Daniel: “Battle robots have a very limited consumer appeal, but who hasn’t lost somebody they loved. Who wouldn’t do anything possible to bring that loved one back? Well, what if all I had to do was to buy the right piece of software, that would recreate them? They would be in the virtual world, but you could visit them every day, talk to them, spend time with them again. Say the things that you’d always wished you’d said. Maybe ultimately we can even find a way to get them bodies in the real world. They would be a part of our lives once more. The ultimate drug, to heal the ultimate pain. Now what do you think that’s worth to someone? […] We can either sit and wail the gravity of our loss, or we could rise up and redress it. This has unlimited potential on any number of levels, not the least of which is profitability.”
In their review of the episode, The A.V. Club calls Daniel’s idea that “corporate equivalent of Apotheosis”, which is exactly what it is: It doesn’t recruit believers, it attracts consumers. It’s sobering to see Daniel use Zoe, and his loss, for a sales pitch, but this is exactly the kind of person he is: He deals with grief by trying to find a way to profit from it. I assume that Daniel is conscious enough of Tauron customs that he realizes he has to stress the importance of profit more than the actual “dealing with grief” part: After all, the Taurons are the one Colony that deals with grief in a very practical way. One ritual of saying good-bye, and it’s done; you don’t even get to hold on to little keep-sakes. He does appeal to the Ha’la’tha’s personal loss of a son (which seems to be an insult for the Taurons), but the stronger point he makes in his pitch is that this is a product nobody will be able to live without.
Daniel doesn’t just see the profit-margin, he considers this the one great invention: when Cyrus, still his faithful disciple although he is officially working for Vergis, tells him about the successful mass-production of non-sentient Cylons, he responds: “We were going to create life, and now you’ve settled for shooting and fighting?” Later, Obol will ask Clarice if she wants to be god, and really, both of their pitches kind of sound like it.
The Ha’la’tha realizes that, even though Joseph Adama disapproves (“we need to grief and move on. That is the Tauron way.”) Daniel is asking them to betray one of their own, Tomas Vergis, once again, but he actually has put himself in the position of being needed by the Taurons, so it all works out. Joseph moves up in the hierarchy and gets the task of “representing” the Ha’la’tha’s interesting in the matter – and is therefore finally fully caught up in the very organisation he tried so hard to avoid. Didn’t William Adama call his father a “Civil Rights Lawyer” at one point during “Battlestar Galactica”?
Sam and Joseph test Daniel’s limits later, when they ask him to kill his own mother to prove his allegiance. Daniel gives up (“You’ve shown me your limitations, this isn’t a life for you. Walk away, and hope that nobody ever asks you to kill somebody you love.”) – but he is not intimated enough, he does end up shaking the Ha’la’tha’s hand in the end to enter into the pact.
“Imagine a world…”
I have always had a hard time to figure out Clarice: is she a religious fanatic, deeply convinced that her convictions are true, or does she merely strive for power and the STO is the most accessible way to get it? Her sales pitch to the religious leaders of the One True God is even more perfect than Daniel’s to the Tauron mob because she uses Daniel’s technology to make her point: in a scene that we can not identify as virtual, a young girl hugs her mother before going to a C-Bucks game, then gives the secret sign to a number of very nice-looking people, including an old woman and a child, and then they blow up the stadium. The narrative is interesting because it shows how Clarice justifies the “terrible deeds” that she has done: those people who are placing the bombs, who are sacrificing themselves, seem like normal, everyday people, not like religious wackjobs. If their actions lead to a world that embraces Monotheism, then the end justifies the means – even if the means are killing 30 000 people.
Daniel doesn’t just see the profit-margin, he considers this the one great invention: when Cyrus, still his faithful disciple although he is officially working for Vergis, tells him about the successful mass-production of non-sentient Cylons, he responds: “We were going to create life, and now you’ve settled for shooting and fighting?” Later, Obol will ask Clarice if she wants to be god, and really, both of their pitches kind of sound like it.
The Ha’la’tha realizes that, even though Joseph Adama disapproves (“we need to grief and move on. That is the Tauron way.”) Daniel is asking them to betray one of their own, Tomas Vergis, once again, but he actually has put himself in the position of being needed by the Taurons, so it all works out. Joseph moves up in the hierarchy and gets the task of “representing” the Ha’la’tha’s interesting in the matter – and is therefore finally fully caught up in the very organisation he tried so hard to avoid. Didn’t William Adama call his father a “Civil Rights Lawyer” at one point during “Battlestar Galactica”?
Sam and Joseph test Daniel’s limits later, when they ask him to kill his own mother to prove his allegiance. Daniel gives up (“You’ve shown me your limitations, this isn’t a life for you. Walk away, and hope that nobody ever asks you to kill somebody you love.”) – but he is not intimated enough, he does end up shaking the Ha’la’tha’s hand in the end to enter into the pact.
“Imagine a world…”
I have always had a hard time to figure out Clarice: is she a religious fanatic, deeply convinced that her convictions are true, or does she merely strive for power and the STO is the most accessible way to get it? Her sales pitch to the religious leaders of the One True God is even more perfect than Daniel’s to the Tauron mob because she uses Daniel’s technology to make her point: in a scene that we can not identify as virtual, a young girl hugs her mother before going to a C-Bucks game, then gives the secret sign to a number of very nice-looking people, including an old woman and a child, and then they blow up the stadium. The narrative is interesting because it shows how Clarice justifies the “terrible deeds” that she has done: those people who are placing the bombs, who are sacrificing themselves, seem like normal, everyday people, not like religious wackjobs. If their actions lead to a world that embraces Monotheism, then the end justifies the means – even if the means are killing 30 000 people.
“Imagine a world in which death has been conquered, in which eternal life is not just a dream but a reality. 30 000 Capricans will die in the fire, a select few will be reborn: Those who have accepted the one true god into their hearts. Only day will see a life everlasting in a virtual heaven that we have built. […] Myth and mystery have been replaced by reason, and science. I offer you a religion that removes the need for faith. A religion of certainty that reflects the wonder of all we have created. That is Apotheosis.”
Is a religion that doesn’t require faith, that provides certainty, even a religion? This is the argument Obol, one of the Elders, uses against her sales pitch. Someone likened Clarice’s pitch to Don Draper’s approach in “Mad Men” – painting a picture, selling a story – that is ultimately a lie. Apotheosis is “a transformative recruiting tool” because who would not like the chance to live forever and not be afraid of death?
Joseph is Daniel’s opposition in Caprica; on Gemenon, Clarice is met with criticism by Obol.
Joseph is Daniel’s opposition in Caprica; on Gemenon, Clarice is met with criticism by Obol.
Clarice: “A man in your position doesn’t believe in life eternal?”
Obol: “I believe in being surprised.”
Their conflict shows up a dividing line within the religion: There is the terrorist branch, the STO, which helped keep it alive during “the lean years” and is now marginalized, like something in the attic the family would rather not remember (the best sign for that is the fact that the terrorists don’t get to sleep in the palace, they are in caves outside, with no heating). Clarice feels that she is entitled to a position of power within the Church – she demands to be taken to “Mother” because she has “earned the right” with the terrible actions she has committed “in the service of this Church”.
Obol considers Apotheosis “blasphemy”, and he almost has “Mother” convinced that it would be better to have Clarice killed – but then she asks for the holoband, so she can see for herself what Clarice is promising, and that reveals the true power of the sales pitch. Instead of killing Clarice, the congregation turns against Obol, and kills him in a very “Et Tu, Brutes”-manner, while Mother turns her head. The final confrontation between Clarice and Mother reveals that she is not religiously convinced that this is the right way, but politically it is, since they are struggling not only against the hegemonic polytheistic religion, but also against competing monotheistic ones.
Obol considers Apotheosis “blasphemy”, and he almost has “Mother” convinced that it would be better to have Clarice killed – but then she asks for the holoband, so she can see for herself what Clarice is promising, and that reveals the true power of the sales pitch. Instead of killing Clarice, the congregation turns against Obol, and kills him in a very “Et Tu, Brutes”-manner, while Mother turns her head. The final confrontation between Clarice and Mother reveals that she is not religiously convinced that this is the right way, but politically it is, since they are struggling not only against the hegemonic polytheistic religion, but also against competing monotheistic ones.
Mother: “Are you unhurt? I hope so.”
Clarice: “I’m fine. And I’d like to remain that way. You disapprove of Apotheosis.”
Mother: “Artificial heaven. I trust the hand of god to actually play a role in our lives. It’s best to let these things play out as he sees fit.”
Clarice: “You like to be surprised?”
Mother: “Sometimes.”
Mother uses exactly the same words Obol used before, yet she realizes the importance of Clarice’s “science project” and is giving her everything she asks for (“I’ll prepare my list”). Just like that, Clarice is given control over all the STO-cells on Caprica.
Clarice doesn’t actually have the technology. A memory of the original Zoe before the explosion of the train reveals that her plan was, probably, to get her technology to Gemenon and use it exactly the same way Clarice did, but it is unclear if this is the path Zoe 2.0 was going to follow. Clarice’s safest bet now is Amanda Graystone, who turns out to be alive and well, and “home”, in Clarice’s bed.
“Hey. You’re one of the deadwalkers?”
A hooded woman walks the streets of New Cap City and is attacked by a group of thugs who all carry Tamara Adama’s symbol on their forehead: she turns out to be a superhero, not only able to beat them in a fight, but also with the power to manipulate the reality of the virtual world. Zoe Graystone has become another deadwalker – someone existing only in the virtual world (while we see this scene play out, Cyrus decides to put her burnt Cylon chassis into a crate, in case it will be needed again in the future).
Clarice doesn’t actually have the technology. A memory of the original Zoe before the explosion of the train reveals that her plan was, probably, to get her technology to Gemenon and use it exactly the same way Clarice did, but it is unclear if this is the path Zoe 2.0 was going to follow. Clarice’s safest bet now is Amanda Graystone, who turns out to be alive and well, and “home”, in Clarice’s bed.
“Hey. You’re one of the deadwalkers?”
A hooded woman walks the streets of New Cap City and is attacked by a group of thugs who all carry Tamara Adama’s symbol on their forehead: she turns out to be a superhero, not only able to beat them in a fight, but also with the power to manipulate the reality of the virtual world. Zoe Graystone has become another deadwalker – someone existing only in the virtual world (while we see this scene play out, Cyrus decides to put her burnt Cylon chassis into a crate, in case it will be needed again in the future).
Zoe: “I’ve seen this symbol around the city. It belongs to the other dead walker. You know, I’ve been looking for her. Do you know where she is?”
This is going to be interesting. Tamara knows that Zoe is (or at least: has been made) responsible for her death and has every reason to try and fight her. We don’t really know what Zoe’s endgame is, now that she is stuck.
“I can speak for myself.”
While Daniel and Clarice are struggling for a position of power, Lacy finds herself in a life she never wanted: she can’t really escape Barnabas’ terrorist cell, and it is obvious from her reactions to the rituals and the devotion other members offer him that she doesn’t exactly enjoy life there. Lacy has always been my favourite because she is so level-headed, and yet gets caught up with people who are fanatics because of her loyalty to her best friend. We don’t know yet if Lacy is communicating with Zoe in New Cap City, if she even knows that Zoe is still alive, but I assume that her path in the remainder of the season will be a power struggle with Barnabas. As she performs the blood ritual (during which the “I am not really buying into this crap” look on her face never fades), it becomes clear that she is trying to make the best of the situation she never wanted to be in, but is also looking for a way out.
Random notes:
Sam's fascination with Serge, Daniel’s house robot, is adorable. “Hey little man”.
You know what else is tacky, dude? YOUR ROBES. The costume department really must have had a lot of fun this episode. The religious elite on Gemenon looks like they barely escaped Star Wars/Dune, the thugs that attack Zoe on the streets of New Cap City look like Alex from “Clockwork Orange”.
Cyril: “The thing is toast.”
Tomas: “OR A TOASTER.”
While writing this review, I had a sudden realization: both Daniel’s and Clarice’s pitch actually describe the Cylon’s ability to re-generate. I’ve always wondered where the Cylon’s monotheism comes from (my guess is now that they got it from the original model, Zoe), but the Re-generation, the inability to die, comes very close to what we hear this episode.
“I can speak for myself.”
While Daniel and Clarice are struggling for a position of power, Lacy finds herself in a life she never wanted: she can’t really escape Barnabas’ terrorist cell, and it is obvious from her reactions to the rituals and the devotion other members offer him that she doesn’t exactly enjoy life there. Lacy has always been my favourite because she is so level-headed, and yet gets caught up with people who are fanatics because of her loyalty to her best friend. We don’t know yet if Lacy is communicating with Zoe in New Cap City, if she even knows that Zoe is still alive, but I assume that her path in the remainder of the season will be a power struggle with Barnabas. As she performs the blood ritual (during which the “I am not really buying into this crap” look on her face never fades), it becomes clear that she is trying to make the best of the situation she never wanted to be in, but is also looking for a way out.
Random notes:
Sam's fascination with Serge, Daniel’s house robot, is adorable. “Hey little man”.
You know what else is tacky, dude? YOUR ROBES. The costume department really must have had a lot of fun this episode. The religious elite on Gemenon looks like they barely escaped Star Wars/Dune, the thugs that attack Zoe on the streets of New Cap City look like Alex from “Clockwork Orange”.
Cyril: “The thing is toast.”
Tomas: “OR A TOASTER.”
While writing this review, I had a sudden realization: both Daniel’s and Clarice’s pitch actually describe the Cylon’s ability to re-generate. I’ve always wondered where the Cylon’s monotheism comes from (my guess is now that they got it from the original model, Zoe), but the Re-generation, the inability to die, comes very close to what we hear this episode.
Clarice flirts with everybody in close proximity, but it's nice to see that it finally paid off. Clarice lost one of her husbands in the explosion, but I wonder how much of her relationship with Amanda is real and how much is her trying to get Zoe's technology through Amanda.
Someone had the idea that Clarice might be Laura Roslin’s mum. Now, doesn’t that sound intriguing? On the other hand, everything she is and does looks more like the reformed Gaius Baltar, who never really made up his mind about whether he liked power or faith more either.
His name was probably not Obol, but I couldn’t find it anywhere and that’s what it sounded like.
Oh right: Heather Hogan managed to say most of this on a single page.
Oh right: Heather Hogan managed to say most of this on a single page.
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