Why Caprica is Quality Sci-Fi TV

By Jennifer Hudock on March 8th, 2010

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Everyone who knows me, whether in my personal life, or through reading my online content, knows all about my Battlestar Galactica obsession. I’m not just a fan; I’m a big nerd about it. I’ve seen every single episode of BSG multiple times, and can debate with the best of them on a wide array issues: both Cylon and human.

When Syfy first announced they were taking the BSG storyline and heading backwards almost sixty years, I’ll admit I was scared. What if everything we had all come to speculate as fans was destroyed once Caprica aired, adversely affecting the way we think about Battlestar Galactica itself? It’s bad enough that the series-finale still has some fans afraid to even tune in on Friday nights, but if you’re one of those fans, I have news for you. If you’re not watching Caprica, you’re missing the hottest science fiction series on television.

From the earliest moments of the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, there was talk about the human/Cylon war. Many of the older characters not only lived through the event, but fought in that war.

Caprica takes us back to a time before that war was a blemish on the face of the Twelve Colonies to the conception of the Cylon itself.

Co-producers, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick are no strangers to hitting on hot media topics, as many of the most controversial episodes of Battlestar Galactica were designed to hit on tender societal issues. Caprica takes many of today’s hottest topics to the next level, making it somewhat more controversial and exciting than it’s predecessor.

In a world where technology infiltrates every aspect of daily life, Caprica City is a far cry from the world we live in today. On the other hand, many of our current social issues revolve heavily around the ever advancing world of technology. Virtual gaming consumes lives, the Internet has expanded global culture and awareness, and continual advances in bioengineering and robotics have many of us wondering just how long it will be before we’re ordering our cybernetic house maids to take out the trash.

One issue many viewers seem to have with science fiction is the far-fetched nature of ideas, but Caprica is believable. Combining science with politics, cultural oppression and spiritual conflict takes Caprica to the next level. Much like the series that spawned it, Caprica continually unravels the threads of each character layer by layer, exposing us as viewers to relative issues and experiences.

One of the more recent developments in the series surrounds the avatar incarnation of Tamara Adama, a teenage girl who was killed in the train explosion that drew the main characters together in the mini-series. After discovering his own daughter’s avatar, Daniel Greystone creates an avatar of Joseph Adama’s daughter, and later tells Adama the avatar was lost. Unbeknownst to both Adama and Greystone, Tamara Adama is alive and trapped in the virtual ward, raising questions as to the nature of her spiritual existence. These questions lead into the deep-rooted spiritual issues that provide the basis for Battlestar Galactica.

Just five episodes into the series, Caprica does more than fill the void created by Battlestar Galactica’s series finale. It enhances the mythology, changing the way hardcore fans of the series relate to a story they thought they knew by heart.

Even if you’ve never seen an episode of Battlestar Galactica, don’t use that as an excuse to miss Caprica. As a stand-alone series, Caprica prepares viewers for the future–relatively and fictionally. Which is exactly what a quality science fiction show should do.