So. Has anyone else been watching "Caprica"?

[Occulus]

For those of you who haven't seen it, "Caprica" is the prequel to SyFy's hit remake of "Battlestar Galactica". Set 58 years prior to the events of "Galactica", "Caprica" tells the story of the birth of the Cylons and the events leading up to the destruction of the twelve colonies of Kobol and the rebirth of the human race.

Got that? Good. Moving right along....

I have to say, I was skeptical, to say the least. It was very hard for me to envision exactly how such a prequel could possibly be done for such an established franchise while still maintaining the continuity of the story. There are so many details that simply cannot be contradicted that it seemed, to me at least, to be a nearly impossible task.

Then I saw the two-hour pilot episode, and I was immediately intrigued. In "Caprica", a world has been built that closely mirrors our own in a great many ways. Oh, sure, the technology is about fifty years ahead of our own (if even that), but at its base, the pilot was very much about the people involved. The character around whom the series seems to revolve (Zoe Graystone, played by Alessandra Torresani) is a very typical- but brilliant- teenager who wouldn't be at all out of place on the streets of any American city. She's conflicted with her parents, experiences typical teenage angst, and dreams of a world where she can just be herself (which, ultimately, leads to both her death and rebirth).

The adult characters are just as accessible. Eric Stoltz plays Zoe's father, Daniel Graystone, CEO of Graystone Industries and the ultimate creator of what later comes to be known as the Cylons. His performance on "Caprica" is probably the strongest character I've ever seen him play, and serves as an excellent foil to Esai Morales' character, Joseph Adama (father of William Adama, commander of the Galactica on "Battlestar"). Seeing these two on screen together is just magic; they have excellent screen chemistry, and I'm looking forward to seeing the two duke it out in as many ways as possible.

I won't spoil anything here, because "Caprica", even moreso than "Galactica", is something to not be missed. As as recent TV Squad article put it, "'Caprica' looks and feels like a prize-winning science fiction novel". There are several layers of depth to this series, and although it really isn't very hard to follow, each episode has left me with more questions than I have answers. For a series like this one, that's nothing but a good thing, and I'm hoping the writers keep it up.

Be warned. "Caprica" is very slow-paced. There are no car chases, no action sequences, no guns to the head (well... yet). This is very much a character-driven drama set against a science fiction backdrop, and in that sense is much more in keeping with novels by Clarke or Asimov than it is with its prior action-driven sibling. Nevertheless, I've become quite addicted to this series; the story is more and more becoming an exquisitely-woven tapestry of characters relating to the events happening around them, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment.

"Caprica" can be found on the SyFy Channel, and airs Fridays at 9/8c (check your local listings).