'Caprica': It's all about the kids in 'Rebirth'

With the way the adults are influencing the kids on "Caprica," it's easy to see why there's an escape like the virtual club scene V World, or such a desire to live under a different set of rules (even down to religion).

The big event in this episode of "Caprica" was Amanda Graystone's weirdly cathartic (for her, I guess) blurting out that her daughter Zoe was a member of the STO, was a terrorist, may have bombed the train that everyone was there memorializing loved ones over, and (gasp!) had a boyfriend that she didn't know about.

Her husband, Daniel, and the rest of us, asked her why did she do that, and she replied that she didn't know, that it just came out. Um, no. The speech was too long to just "come out" -- it was a crazy rant by a grieving mother who .. aww, I don't know. To out your dead daughter and spotlight your family in such a public forum? As of now, I'm on Zoe's side in the mother-daughter conflict.

Problem child #1: Speaking of Zoe ... her poor avatar! We've yet to explore how emotions or even an emotional level are transferred via avatar, but she should be scarred. Locked in a van and transported, poked and prodded with foreign-looking instruments, having your mom call you a monster, having to see your parents make out (have sex even?) in front of you -- and then thinking that you look like a boy robot. That's a lot to take in for Zoe, who is still getting used to her robot body. Well, at least she has direction: She needs to get to Gemenon to find her "family". What happens when she does will be a hoot.

Problem child #2: To help her make that trip to Gemenon, Zoe enlists the help of her best friend, Lacy. And this may be a bit over Lacy's head. Even without having to figure out what to do with a hulking robotic best friend, she has kids at school with murderous looks in their eyes after finding out about Zoe and the STO, and she has a polygamous teacher inviting her over for dinner at her home. Not unusual until you see the overtures made by one of her teacher's husbands. Supposedly it's harmless, but we'll see.

Problem child #3: Mr. William Adama. The young admiral has been through a lot, losing his mother and sister, but on the surface seem to be handling things OK. It's more the influence from Sam, his uncle, that could be shady. Witness the exchange:

Sam: Don't smoke. You know why?
Willie: Because it's bad for you?
Sam: No. Life's bad for you. It's cause they can get your genetic DNA from this ...

Life's lessons from Uncle Sam. This will be an interesting relationship to watch as Joseph Adama gets more invested in trying to get his daughter's avatar back, leaving Willie to learn from Uncle Sam's tender mercies.

So we've got a little "Big Love," a little "Gossip Girl"/"90210," a little "Star Trek" and a little "Sopranos" all rolled into one. Like any good soap opera, even a futuristic space one, there seems to be something for everyone, and it'll be interesting to see which storylines take off.

-- Jevon Phillips

Photos: Zoe Graystone (Alessandra Torresani) is about to be adjusted; and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) confronts his son Willie after a day out with his uncle away from school. Credit: Syfy.