TV Review: Caprica 1.13 – “False Labor”

Episode: Caprica 1.13 – “False Labor”
Original Air Date: October 26, 2010

Screencaps from eyescubed.

This week’s episode of Caprica seemed a little slower to me than last week, I have to admit. Last week in “Things We Lock Away,” we were left with Daniel Graystone being responsible for Tomas Vergis’s demise, Zoe and Tamara making peace (somewhat) in New Cap City, and Amanda trying to infiltrate Clarice’s home and life. We do not see any Zoe/Tamara plot this week, which I missed and made the episode a little less cool for me.

“False Labor” opens with a scene at the Adama house, where Sam turns on the news to see scenes of violence and unrest on Tauron. He tells Willie he should watch and learn. Evelyn, Joseph’s assistant (played by the lovely Teryl Rothery! Love her!) is at the house and Sam and Joseph’s mother tells her she thinks she’s good for Joseph, implying she means good in a better-than-just-an-assistant way. Evelyn appears to stop and think about it.

Daniel, meanwhile, is at his home with Amanda, having a seemingly cheery breakfast. Daniel says he isn’t sleeping, and Amanda suggests he come sleep upstairs again. He tells her he is trying to re-create his program, and Amanda tells him she has faith in him. Daniel replies that he wishes she did, removes his holoband, and we see that he is actually alone in his kitchen, and was interacting with an avatar of Amanda he created.

At Graystone Industries, Daniel is shown a completed ad for his new avatar product, called “Grace by Graystone.” A grieving family is suddenly reunited with their soldier husband/father in a warm, fuzzy scene. The tagline is “because some memories should live forever.” Daniel has a problem with the commercial, because it was made with a computer-generated image of himself, and he didn’t even know it was being made. Cyrus apologizes, saying he never thought Daniel would have a problem with it. It’s suggested that they re-shoot the commercial with the real Daniel.

At Clarice’s house, Amanda is trying to connect with Marbeth, the pregnant wife in Clarice’s family. She is asking about her plans with the baby she is having, and Marbeth takes some offense at Amanda’s questioning of her having her child at home, without any medical intervention. Amanda insists she’s just thinking like a doctor, and Marbeth is visibly short with her. Later, Marbeth asks Clarice about the progress finding Zoe’s avatar, and Clarice says they are trying to get at Zoe’s personal belongings from the GDD. Marbeth expresses disapproval of stealing and says she does not like that Amanda is there. Clarice says everything happening is God’s will.

Back to the Adamas, Sam and Joseph are talking in Joseph’s office. Sam tells Joseph he has sent some weapons to Tauron because he feels he has to do something. Sam touches on the fact that this (violence/unrest, politically motivated, I believe) happened when they were back on Tauron, and Joseph says he doesn’t want to talk about it. Joseph isn’t happy that Sam has sent weapons to Tauron, and Sam complains about his husband Larry not understanding it. Joseph tells him he should be thankful he has someone who loves him. As they speak about this, we see Evelyn behind Joseph listening to the conversation.

Amanda, after being clipped by Marbeth, meets covertly with Agent Duram in a park for a progress report. She tells him she hasn’t been able to crack the family’s shell and that no one trusts her. Duram says she has to keep trying to fit in because he has a feeling they’re running out of time.

Sam is continuing to send weapons to Tauron, despite Joseph’s disapproval. As he and another man are driving, they are ambushed by a gang with guns, pulled out of their car, and the coffin in the back of their car opened to reveal all the guns. Sam tells the leader of the men, Atreus, that they are not looking for a fight, and calls him friend. Atreus responds by hitting Sam several times, then shooting the other man he was with. He puts a gun to Sam’s head, and Sam asks to be taken back to the soil (which is how Taurons refer to death and dying). Atreus fires a blank from his gun, telling Sam to stay out of their gun business. Sam later meets with Guatrau, the mob leader, who says Sam was not given permission to send guns to Tauron, that his driver’s death is his responsibility, and that Sam has to take care of this by the end of the day. Evidently there is a specific group within the Ha’latha that does the weapons dealing, and they weren’t happy that Sam stepped on their toes by sending guns to Tauron, which caused the problems and caused the death of Sam’s driver when Atreus stopped them.

We see Daniel again with the avatar of Amanda he is trying to perfect. There is another suggestive exchange between them, with Amanda telling Daniel she’s sure she could please him. Daniel is sure she could too, since a healthy sex drive and a desire to please are base components built into every avatar. Amanda tells him he needs a vacation, which triggers memories of their last vacation together, when Zoe turned 9. Daniel asks if Amanda even remembers that, and he pulls pictures up to show her. She recites some of Zoe’s diary from the trip, and remembers some more intimate events that took place on the trip with Daniel.

Back at Graystone industries, Daniel tells Cyrus he thinks he’s had a breakthrough with the resurrection program. Cyrus has some company records with him and asks Daniel to take a look. There are some sketchy timecards, and sketchy shipping records, and they wonder how to figure out how the Ha’latha are ripping them off. (It’s Sam’s weapons purchases, I am assuming.)

Amanda goes back to Clarice’s home to talk to Marbeth again and try to gain her trust. Marbeth bluntly tells Amanda she wants her to leave, and Amanda tells a tale of how she’s actually just jealous, she doesn’t think Marbeth is crazy. She tells Marbeth that she never planned to have children and suffered post-partum depression after Zoe was born. She claimed she did get over it, but feels that babies can pick up on these things (lack of love/affection from mom after being born due to post-partum), and maybe that’s why her and Zoe fought so much, and maybe also why Zoe “drifted” (to the STO). Amanda says she sees Marbeth and Clarice’s big, chaotic family and is jealous, and she feels lucky to have been able to share in it. Marbeth seems to be considering what Amanda’s telling her.

Daniel has gone out to a balcony at Graystone Industries to smoke, and Joseph joins him. Before this happens, we see Sam walk by a desk and stop after seeing a Cylon diagram in some papers, very interested. Joseph and Daniel have a heart to heart, and Daniel tells Joseph he’s trying to get back to who he was, and he can’t do it alone. Joseph tells him he has to find someone who can see the man he was, inside the man he’s become, and forgive him for things he’s done. Daniel asks if Joseph’s wife did that for him, and Joseph replies that yes she did, “until your daughter blew her up.”

Since Sam has been given only the day to take care of the problem he’s created, naturally he goes to see Atreus. Atreus and his men are partying in a penthouse when they hear the elevator coming up, but aren’t expecting anyone. The doors open, and a Cylon emerges. It walks out, and as the men raise guns to it, it busts out some big honkin’ guns and blows everyone away. Sam then exits the elevator, and as the wounded Atreus tries to grab for a gun, Sam kicks it away and shoots a blank at his head, as Atreus had done to him earlier. The Cylon then empties a clip into him, and he’s done. Sam has taken care of the problem, probably meaning that he will take over the gun business for the Ha’latha.

There is one more scene with Daniel and his Amanda avatar. He is playing out a scenario of having her come over and asking her forgiveness, which he’s probably trying to figure out how to do in real life. He says they need to start by being honest with each other, and tells her that he stole Vergis’s chip so he could try to bring Zoe back. He says for all intents and purposes, the Zoe avatar was real. Not realizing where everything would lead, he was obsessed with getting her back and couldn’t let go. Amanda says she can forgive him and loves him, and Daniel gets angry and says that his real wife would call him out on his crap and walk out. He grabs the Amanda avatar and shoves her down onto a couch as he yells at her, and the avatar blinks and disappears after insisting she loves him. Daniel rips off his holoband and throws it across his lab, as his work screen blinks an error message at him.

Sam meanwhile has gone back to Guatrau and has told him what he’s done. He’s also singing the praises of the Cylons and says Guatrau should see them, and imagine what they could do for Tauron. Guatrau tells Sam they have survived this long by staying out of politics, and tells him that he needs to end his obsession with the old world.

Next we hear Clarice praying, and see several scenes: Marbeth giving birth, surrounded by her family: Evelyn and Joseph hooking up: Daniel at work. As Marbeth gives birth, we see Amanda carrying the baby out to present to her, so it seems that Marbeth and the family bought Amanda’s story hook, line and sinker. The last scene of the episode is another covert meeting between Amanda and Duram, and Amanda tells him she’s in. When he asks how, she says she lied, and he commends her for it. She obviously doesn’t feel quite as good about it.

Giving this episode 3.5 / 5 stars because although I appreciate the other storylines they have developed, the one I’m most interested in is the evolution of Zoe and Tamara, who I’m sure will end up being very significant to the development of the Cylons of BSG. We didn’t see any of them this week. Sam’s interest in the Centurions is probably significant too. I will save it for another post, but we may never find out where they were going to go with this plot, since the show HAS BEEN CANCELLED. I don’t know if there will be a new episode next week but I will review the remaining new episodes as they are aired, whenever that is.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars