I might surprise you, but I don't have so may specific points of my own this time, as my colleagues have already covered the most significant ones. Wow, the reviews came out early this week! So I thought I could address some of the points raised by you guys.
Well, at least there is no annoying teenagers........oh wait.......
Of course you may be free to dislike teenagers in any form or shape as much as you prefer. But to be fair, these teenagers are not concerned about being cool, don't talk about pop fads, are involved in romantic entanglements that are so typical of teen stories, don't have a smug attitude believing to know more than the adults, aren't partying all the time, and what they did so far has moved the story forward. They are OK in my book.
So the Bride of Frankenstein has turned the villagers and now they want to storm the castle. Greyskull industries in big trouble and even the players on his team want traded. this in it self would be a bad day but then you get your but handed to you by the mob.
Great one! Very funny. My sentiments exactly. I just wish to add that I think each time they show the Graystone home, they should present a caption saying,
"The legally-owned waterfront property Daniel shares with another adorable and photogenic member of the Graystone family, his wife Amanda." Because sometimes I honestly forget where they are.
Now something that really goats my cheese, they have paper virtual reality doors super smart robots, interplanetary travel but use Fracking VHS tape at the police station? Really, Really? VHS tape. Come on Caprica you can do better than that.
---------------------------------------------------
Other thoughts: the futuristic Caprica with paper computers and virtual reality glasses uses VHS tapes? And did you see the crappy picture it produced? I’d expect to see that kind of image from a cold case file 20 years earlier, but not from evidence from one year earlier.
---------------------------------------------------
Now now now it's the retro vibe.
I think the show missed the precious opportunity to have used Betamax tapes, not so well-known, with a weird but different retro vibe.
From a purely logical point of view I agree VHS tapes doesn't make sense, or at least makes as much sense as old Volvos, Citroens and DKWs. But it is in accordance with the retro vibe the show wants to establish, and there's something important you guys are missing: it's a symbol for how underfunded the police are and how obsolete their equipment is. You guys might not understand that very much in your cozy communities of US and Canada, but here in Brazil it makes a whole lot of sense.
Once I heard here cops were saving ammunition not to show they use it responsibly, but because they have to pay for bullets for their own pocket. Also I read about a little town where the police had one vehicle, and it never went anywhere because there wasn't money for the gas. And it was broken anyway...
We have to understand that little by little they are showing the corruption and decay in the Caprican society. And the imbalance of distribution of resources, which includes technology. The Ha'la'tha is a powerful organization, it bribes judges and makes the rules, and the police simply are not equipped to deal with that. Good move, show.
And speaking of horror, I couldn't imagine what it would have been like to forced to watch my parents be intimate....yikes
LOL! For a moment I imagined the U-87 covering that red eye with its robotic hands and shaking its head in disgust, with the corresponding mechanical sounds.
That just means I've grown wiser and more tolerant with time, as I've very receptive to the ways of those teenagers. It's the opposite thing that would be ironic.
lol, what ever lets you sleep at night
A few hours have passed. Now I'm even wiser. I'm even growing a long white beard.
As for Sam Adama, as he beats up Daniel he has the nerve to say he hates terrorists. What the heck does he think he is?
Excellent point. That's the problem when people have a very narrow definition of terrorist, as "someone who explode others." But thugs are terrorists too. Governments can be terrorists too, even democratically elected ones. Terrorists come in very different shapes these days. But considering there's a war/revolution/civil war/guerrilla war/whatever involving Tauron and Caprica, so I imagine Sam,a s a good Tauron, finds lots of ways to rationalize his actions.
By the way, I loved his lessons to Willy Adama: cut class, but only after roll call. Makes sense.
Amanda seemed remorseful about her “my daughter is a terrorist” speech at first, but then admits she’d do it again. Some people just cannot learn.
You can say that again!
We learn more about Zoe’s avatar. She doesn’t have all of Zoe’s memories. She probably only has all of her memories up to the moment she was “created”, after that she only knows what Zoe has told her. So she’s in the dark about certain aspects that the real Zoe knew. Now she’s determined to go on to Geminon and fulfill whatever special tasks she was designed to perform.
Remember she said Zoe installed in her some sort of live feedback so she would feel what Zoe felt in real time. This is why iZoe appeared all bloody after real Zoe died. And I find it interesting that now iZoe totally identifies herself as the real Zoe is virtual form.
When Lacy questioned Keon about the STO, I honestly expected him to say that there never was any real plan to go to Geminon – that it was just a ploy to have them on that train to get blown up. But he didn’t, so it seems there is some kind of Geminon agenda here.
It seems that will play an interesting role as the show develops.
And pundits on Caprica do monologues, where they make jokes about terrorism. Should be interesting to see what happens next week when Daniel appears on Sarno’s show.
Definitely a criticism against the misuse of free speech, and another example of the decay of the Caprican society.
First time I watched this ep, I thought Sam's, "You have balls. I'll give you that," was about Daniel getting in the first punch if no other one. How silly of me now that I see the pun intended. Insult to injury cracking wise at a guy you're beating up.
I had missed that. Nice catch! OUCH!
Joseph is changing in character and getting darker. Sam looked genuinely worried about his brother when he requested a hit on Amanda Greystone.
I had exactly the same feeling.
Man, I don't wanna talk about either religion or politics on this board, but this show is dragging both out of me. Unexpected!
Please do! I've been willing to have some serious discussion.
And this is something nobody mentioned. About the "avatar soul" we talked about last week, I think the most significant part of the episode was said by Sister Clarice:
"The Zoe Graystone avatar is gonna help the soldiers to serve the Lord through apotheosis. Or do you deny the prophecy? (...) I won't abandon God's plan. I know that Zoe Graystone was beloved of God, and that she was given the spark of life itself, and that was her gift to all of us, and it will save all of us." Prophecy... Spark of life... save us all. It's all there!
All in all, this was a slow-burning episode, and this kind of episode is necessary for drama buildup. The show started with a literally explosive event, and now the pieces are being set on the board until we have the next move. So, this kind of episode works more like a bridge between two major events.
I give this episode
7 compelling teenage characters eating virtual cheeseburgers and watching mislabeled VHS movies.
reply
share
charmedwon666
11 years ago
We have to understand that little by little they are showing the corruption and decay in the Caprican society. And the imbalance of distribution of resources, which includes technology. The Ha'la'tha is a powerful organization, it bribes judges and makes the rules, and the police simply are not equipped to deal with that. Good move, show.
Now here is the thing I find interesting, in some shows lets say Middleman for example you speak of things being clichéd such as the wrestlers and the Italian mod. Now in this show I see the exact same things with the clichéd mob people and the crooked judges all very clichéd in my book. Every cop show or legal show always has these characters. tiresome to me.
As far as the VHS thing is concerned....I agree that there are places behind the times and under funded but a police station in a futuristic place as this that's just too much.
As far as the teenagers are concerned....no they are not bad I'm just teasing you a little with this but I do not agree about they aren't out all the time partying, what in the world is that virtual world if not a party and it looks like it is packed constantly so I think that qualifies as partying.
http://codenamestone.blogspot.com/
reply
share
madp
11 years ago
Now here is the thing I find interesting, in some shows lets say Middleman for example you speak of things being clichéd such as the wrestlers and the Italian mod.
I'd say that bothers in drama, and becomes unbearable in poorly attempted humor.
Now in this show I see the exact same things with the clichéd mob people and the crooked judges all very clichéd in my book. Every cop show or legal show always has these characters. tiresome to me.
I can agree with that. Still, the general picture is to show the Capricans' decadence, and since the Caprican society mimics the American one so closely (someting I really, really disliked in Battlestar Galactica but got used to in time until it didn't make much of a difference any longer) I understand why these cliched situations were picked. Still, they are cliched, and I never said they weren't. I complimented the show for the general idea of decadence and what the VHS tapes symbolized. What different ways would have written to show this decadence instead?
As far as the VHS thing is concerned....I agree that there are places behind the times and under funded but a police station in a futuristic place as this that's just too much.
Again and again I'll repeat: it's what the tapes represent, not the technology itself. Of course to build an entire universe within the constraints of an American-Canadian TV show, they came up with this use of regurgitated old technology we are so familiar with (old European cars, huge answering machines with knobs, VHS tapes, Gibson guitars...) It's a questionable stylistic decision, I agree, but that's the way the producers chose.
But if you're complaining about that, why don't you complain about the American names? Joseph, Daniel, William, Evelyn. For me, as a non-American, that's much worse. And, again I really, really hated that in Battlestar Galactica, but in time since there were other elements I really liked, I kind of turned off to these aspects.
AS for the underfunded police, I told you you wouldn't understand. But a Brazilian understands. I know how obsolete our police, our prisons, our hospitals are. (Think of the worst scenario. Well, it's worse than that.) Just because some technology exists, it doesn't mean the official authorities have access to it. Much to the contrary. So, in this aspect, Caprica is much closer to Brazil than to Canada, where the show was filmed. But in fact it's much worse, because it seems the powers-that-be could equip the police the best way but they don't.
As far as the teenagers are concerned....no they are not bad I'm just teasing you a little with this but I do not agree about they aren't out all the time partying, what in the world is that virtual world if not a party and it looks like it is packed constantly so I think that qualifies as partying.
So, silly of me to take your bait, right? I'll remember that. And your're right. They party all the time. Which is OK, as long as they don't do it
on screen, where it really matters.
reply
share
bob-402-252005
11 years ago
And all that fuss over the VHS tape, but I seem to be the only one so far to mention the rotary dial phone at the police station. I found that to be at least as quaint.
If you're lucky, you might find one in a yard sale once in a number of years.
We know them to be outdated here as we've already seen the characters using cell phones similar to the ones everyone was using at the time this was made. No smart phones, but I don't recall exactly when those became the "norm" according to the companies that sell them. Long live the voice-only flip!
___________
I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
reply
share
madp
11 years ago
Long live the voice-only flip!
Those are still quite popular here!
reply
share
bob-402-252005
11 years ago
LOL! For a moment I imagined the U-87 covering that red eye with its robotic hands and shaking its head in disgust, with the corresponding mechanical sounds.
I think they did a good job of showing that eye-light trying to look away and the head shaking in a disturbed manner. Kudos to the robot operator who pulled that one off!
___________
I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
reply
share
dtmuller
11 years ago
I finally get a chance to watch the week's episode on Friday and jump in early, and everyone beats me to it. Madp, a while back you claimed we were all your Brazilian buddies just pretending to be Americans. I think the real prank here is that you're all getting e-mail alerts from my wife--"He's watching it now! Jump in before he gets a chance!"
Well, you covered everything, including Bob picking up on the rotary dial phone, Brimfin deciding there's nobody to like on this show except maybe Lacy, Madp picking up on the old equipment relating to an underfunded police department (In most cop shows set in today's America, they have grungy old furniture, dingy offices, outdated computers, etc. I agree that maybe this is Caprica's nod to that sort of thing.), Bob catching the robot acting distressed and looking away.
I got nuthin' left!
A couple of comments on your comments:
I never quite understood the "trip to Geminon" bit. What were a couple of teens going to do there? Join a hippie commune? Work at Burger King? (Idle thought: Do they always serve double cheeseburgers on Geminon?) And if you're a suicide bomber, why would you try to take as many of your fellow-terrorists as possible with you? Wouldn't you want to go with just as many as were necessary and leave the rest for the next attack? It doesn't add up, and I hope we'll get an explanation in the coming weeks.
As for the talk-show host's monologue, I have to say that not only does he have bad taste in material, he also has horrible timing and delivery. He recites his material like some guy on "open-mike" night.
Bob, I'm glad to read your "long live flip phones" comment. My wife and I have those, and for nearly a year, she's been bemoaning that fact. I keep hearing how embarrassed she is when she has to pull it out, "Those are only for old people". I keep telling her it's retro, that they'll be coming back, and we're so far behind the curve that we're actually ahead of it. She's not buying. Now, I have to admit that if you look at the available flip phones, most of them really are for old people. They advertise the clearly-readable displays, large keys, etc. And some even have fake dial tones. So, next month when my contract is up, we'll be switching to smartphones. My kids laugh, because we all know my wife will never use it for anything but making calls--she doesn't even know how to send a text message. Some phone manufacturer could sell a ton of phones if they made a dumb phone that just looked like a smartphone, with fake app icons, etc.
reply
share
madp
11 years ago
by dtmuller » 11 hours ago (Sat Mar 15 2014 07:00:09)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I never quite understood the "trip to Geminon" bit. What were a couple of teens going to do there? Join a hippie commune? Work at Burger King?
Well, I'm sure we all hope they shed some light on what the deal with Geminon is anyway. It's not a stretch to imagine Geminon could play some important role in the development of the story.
And if you're a suicide bomber, why would you try to take as many of your fellow-terrorists as possible with you? Wouldn't you want to go with just as many as were necessary and leave the rest for the next attack? It doesn't add up, and I hope we'll get an explanation in the coming weeks.
Excellent point. At first, it doesn't make any sense at all. But then I remember that Alvo, (that Deep-Throat-like character), tells Clarice the explosion was premature and brought them unwanted attention, so I think it was not sanctioned by STO command. Perhaps in the haste of showing his use for the cause, Ben "Starke" made a hasty execution of plans that should have been carried out in a different way, at a different time. And he decided to take Zoe with his because, what the hell, they would all be meeting the one true God anyway, so he was doing them a favor???
His actions seem confusing. Especially since he had been arrested with a backpack with materials that could be used to make a bomb, and that was a year before. how long had he been considering the attack? The organization wouldn't have instructed him that long ago about an attack to execute. This kind of thing is something terrorist organizations don't usually tell their suicide bombers too much time ahead, because they longer they know about it, the longer they have to think about it, change their minds and even talk to the wrong people about it. So, now I'm wondering how much of the attack and how it was carried on was the idea of Ben Stark alone.
My kids laugh, because we all know my wife will never use it for anything but making calls--she doesn't even know how to send a text message.
My father says he likes to use the daily planner. My mother sens and receives text messages, but she has problems with voice messages. And I just installed in my mothers phone an app called EasyTaxi that allows you to locate and call the closest free taxi in town. She finds that useful.
Some phone manufacturer could sell a ton of phones if they made a dumb phone that just looked like a smartphone, with fake app icons, etc.
I told them about your misadventures with phones and this joke and they loved it. They totally understand. But my father is 79, so he must be wondering why a kid like you would be having smartphone issues.
reply
share
bob-402-252005
11 years ago
Bob, I'm glad to read your "long live flip phones" comment. My wife and I have those, and for nearly a year, she's been bemoaning that fact. I keep hearing how embarrassed she is when she has to pull it out, "Those are only for old people". I keep telling her it's retro, that they'll be coming back, and we're so far behind the curve that we're actually ahead of it. She's not buying. Now, I have to admit that if you look at the available flip phones, most of them really are for old people. They advertise the clearly-readable displays, large keys, etc. And some even have fake dial tones.
Yeah, but the guys at work, who all have smart phones, mostly use theirs to watch porn at break time. And from what I see over their shoulders, or when they bug me with it, I watch a much better quality of porn on my PC at home.
Sometimes, I see everyone else take out their phones, and catch myself frivolously taking my own flip out in break time for no reason at all. But I still maintain that I have a nice home built PC at home with which I do everything they do on their phones and more. Some of those guys express the sentiment that they don't need a computer for what they do with their phones.
Which is what I think the corporate sector introduced smart phones for in the first place. Trying to stuff the home computer genie back into the bottle now that many of us use our home computers for purposes at odds to their agenda. Such as making websites and discussion-board posts opposing corporatism. (They need a foil-hat emoticon here. )
One coworker even has an oversized screen on his phone, to which I joke that his isn't a phone, it's a tablet. I could see myself someday getting a tablet to replace my crappy netbook for on-the-go use, but all the phone I need is exceeded by my low-end flip.
Some phone manufacturer could sell a ton of phones if they made a dumb phone that just looked like a smartphone, with fake app icons, etc.
No use. The people it would be meant to fool would soon learn about it and then it would seem the same to them as a flip phone.
I just wish they would make a flip that looks like Captain Kirk's communicator and makes that same chirping sound when opened. But I've given up on that wish.
___________
I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
reply
share
madp
11 years ago
by bob-402-252005 » 21 minutes ago (Sat Mar 15 2014 19:29:56)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sometimes, I see everyone else take out their phones, and catch myself frivolously taking my own flip out in break time for no reason at all. But I still maintain that I have a nice home built PC at home with which I do everything they do on their phones and more. Some of those guys express the sentiment that they don't need a computer for what they do with their phones.
Wow, the way you guys are talking, now I want a flip phone! I have to admit for many years a flip phone was one of my consumer dreams. Once I even had one phone that had a flip cover, but it was just a pretend one, it was just a fake cover. Consumerism is something crazy, really.
I miss the time when we knew a tiny phone was the best thing we could expect. Now we want more features and they are increasing in size again, but I miss a small phone that fit in any pocket. But of course, now I couldn't live without certain phone apps.
As for desktop PCs, I know that serious computer users have a PC with enough cabinet space for improvements, such as more memory, video card, etc, and even though notebooks and all-in-one PCs look cool and streamlined, they don't give you the capabilities for improvement that you sometimes need. And they are cheaper.
One coworker even has an oversized screen on his phone, to which I joke that his isn't a phone, it's a tablet.
I don't know if that's official, but I've heard they call those phoblets. Like the five-inch Samsung Galaxy Note.
I just wish they would make a flip that looks like Captain Kirk's communicator and makes that same chirping sound when opened. But I've given up on that wish.
I thought we already had those, but I think that's just a prototype I saw somewhere.
PS.: found it. Here's a lame one:
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/nokia-star-trek-communicator-revealed- we-want-matrix-phone-50000788/
reply
share
bob-402-252005
11 years ago
Bob, I'm glad to read your "long live flip phones" comment. My wife and I have those, and for nearly a year, she's been bemoaning that fact. I keep hearing how embarrassed she is when she has to pull it out, "Those are only for old people". I keep telling her it's retro, that they'll be coming back, and we're so far behind the curve that we're actually ahead of it. She's not buying. Now, I have to admit that if you look at the available flip phones, most of them really are for old people. They advertise the clearly-readable displays, large keys, etc. And some even have fake dial tones. So, next month when my contract is up, we'll be switching to smartphones. My kids laugh, because we all know my wife will never use it for anything but making calls--she doesn't even know how to send a text message. Some phone manufacturer could sell a ton of phones if they made a dumb phone that just looked like a smartphone, with fake app icons, etc.
If I had an iPhone, I would mostly use it to play
Cro-Mag Rally at break time at work.
___________
I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
reply
share
jakeconhale
11 years ago
The robot is pure CGI. There may be a physical model in one or two spots, but otherwise it's just a computer model.
Jake Meridius Conhale, at your service!
"Old Man" of the BSG (RDM) boards.
reply
share
bob-402-252005
11 years ago
The robot is pure CGI. There may be a physical model in one or two spots, but otherwise it's just a computer model.
OK. Kudos to the CGI artist who pulled that one off.
___________
I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.
reply
share