Caprica Gets Smarter as Ratings Teeter; Syfy Remains Committed

If you’re a regular to Techland, then you know I’m a big fan of Caprica – more than a fanboy…maybe an evangelist, who believes strongly that this is sci-fi of the highest order.

I’ve marveled at the sliding scale of humanity on display, as the show has challenged us to confront our biases about what it means to be a human, an avatar, and a digital replica of a human being. Where does the soul reside? What makes us who we are? I think we’ve seen in recent episodes that each character has been forced to confront this very issue: Where do we reveal our true selves? In our personal lives? Our public lives? Our virtual lives?

Anywho: Syfy has made it clear that they are standing behind this series 100 percent. Even as its premiere episode went up against the star-studded Haiti telethon. Even as the Olympics has siphoned off viewers. Even as the ratings fell below a million people. All along the way, Syfy has remained adamant, that this show has remained strong in the key demo of 18-49-year-olds. More than that: The execs over at the network, which have planned some pretty major Caprica events in New York in a couple weeks, seem to believe in the story, the talent and the themes every bit as strongly as I do. (Check out our interview with Caprica’s co-creator)

I thought last Friday’s episode took things up a notch in a fascinating way, revealing what the larger plans are for Tamara, the standalone avatar whose real-life alterego is dead. Lost in the virtual world, and relatively invincible since she can’t be booted out of the game, Tamara grabs an uzi and takes over New Cap City, threatening to lead a virtual of revolution of sorts.

So now imagine how this divide will play out, if a Tauron family commandeers this virtual space, becoming the ruling elites among the avatars, even as Daniel Graystone – who has sworn off profits from his holoband – devotes his life to building sentient robots and killing machines for the Caprican government. What happens when the real world starts operating according to one set of rules, but the virtual world exists on another plane? Just as Google has surpassed the wealth of so many other brick and mortar companies, solely through their online presence, what happens when Tamara is the strongest person in Caprica? Back from the dead, and to the top of the heap…

In any case, the ratings have told a frustrating tale thus far. 1.6 million viewers the first week, 1.4 the second, 1.1 the third, and just under 1 million the fourth. But then last Friday a bump: 1.1 million. Could it be that the devout fans – like myself – are spreading the good word? Could the new storyline, about the young girl in heels toting a sub-machine gun, be catching on? Did the Olympics play less of a factor?

All I know is that I love the show, I think it’s getting even smarter – and slightly more action-packed – and with these big upcoming PR events in the Big Apple, I’m betting there are some big twists and turns on the horizon. Your thoughts?

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charlieromeobravo

I’m personally hoping that what we saw last Friday was representative of what the show will be like going forward. If it were going to remain a show predominantly about teen religious zealots and the families around them I probably wouldn’t hang in there. With Tamara’s awakening to what she is in the virtual world and Zoe’s virtual presence in the real world, things can get interesting. After the pilot I thought “Oh Zoe is the intellectual seed for the sentient Cylons we all know” but that doesn’t necessarily appear to be a foregone conclusion now. There are a million things they can do with the dynamics and conflicts between the flesh and blood humans, pure avatars and sentient robots.
http://theuselessinformationfile.wordpress.com wolvenspectre

One of the problems with the show is some of the sticklers to BSG Backstory saw all the ways this show violated it in the Orignal “uncanny valley” movie. Its Odd, I am the one that usually does that.

Because of BSG I gave it a couple of more episodes than I usually would, and it, while now very well done, is still on a precipice for me and I think that it is that most of the show is good, but then there is these parts that have to tie into the original pilot and first few episodes that they have to refer back to, and then it breaks the illusion for me.

I just hope it keeps improving because there is allot of good talent there and it has brought up some compelling storylines, and it would be a shame if they can’t recover because of past mistakes (subjective) that they have done.
bignumone

OK, because I don’t want to insult you guys, I want to be fair. I went and watched the last two episodes on-line to see if it got better.
It has not.

I have one word for what I saw: snore.

Get the geek strike force and a thousand monkeys on typewriters to fix this thing. They can only make it better.
I have officially given up on the series.