In a way, I wish the Caprica prequel didn’t exist. I also wish to hell they hadn’t made that god-awful BSG companion, The Plan. It SUCKED.
Caprica, which premieres on the TV machine tonight but has been out on DVD for months, is a passable television program. It is, certainly, better than most of the shit out there. I’m just not sure I want all of that explained to me.
What Battlestacked Galactica did best was to pull its punches. I argued for a month with folks who hated the finale because it didn’t tell them enough. I loved it. I loved it because in any kind of story-telling, I’d rather be shown than told.
The Plan is like pure exposition. It explains too much but doesn’t really tell you anything new. Let me sum it up for you: John Cavil was kind of a dick. Duh.
Caprica is interesting, certainly. I’m not sure how it would come across for you if you haven’t watched the BSG. It does begin to offer a surprisingly lucid explanation about how Cylons and their relevant technologies came to be.
I’m just not sure I need to know all that. I’m happier with BSG at its most ambiguous, happier when you kind of pity the Cylons, happier when they finally show you what’s the deal with Starbuck, but that they never ever tell you. BSG was at its worst when it tried really hard to tell a story. I think their one-offs often failed miserably. Tirol as a union boss? L. Adama fighting for the honor of a prostitute? The hostage situation in the pub? Ugh. Really awful eps.
But when BSG finally gets around to laying out the grand unified story, man, there is nothing better on the TV. Save maybe for Weeds.
Anyway. Watch Caprica. It is not bad. But it’s no Battlestacked Galactica. Not much is.