'Caprica' recap: Zoe versus Tamara, and death by Daniel's hand

Most viewers (OK, I) expected the showdown between Zoe 2.0 and Tamara to be a knock-down, drag-out fight that would be the center of this "Things We Lock Away" episode of "Caprica." Well, there was fighting aplenty, with chains and swords and pipes, but that bloodshed may not have been the defining, or even most violent, moment.

 

So, yeah, Zoe found Tamara. Of course she'd be in New Cap City, the place of virtual decadence and depravity. It was not exactly the meeting I expected, with two point-blank shotgun blasts to the chest instead of sisterly bonding.

From the moment Zoe 2.0 walked in the arena, we knew there would be a spectacular ... wait. She was shot, stabbed, kicked and beaten with chains -- and she didn't fight back?  The Zoe I know would have sliced up those digital thugs. But, as this episode tried to prove a few times, Zoe 2.0 is not who we met in the first episode. Philosophical moment: Why is Zoe 2.0 not original Zoe, taking into account that they are physically the same and have the same memories (on V-World)? Zoe had a plan, and Zoe 2.0 was just part of it. Experiences and our reactions to them shape us as people just as much as genetics (real or fake). Seeing Zoe 2.0's "birth," and Zoe's statement ("You're a person with restricted movement, but you're still real."), shed a bit of light on both of them.

And although we learned a bit about Zoe 2.0, we didn't find out much at all about Zoe's friend Lacey. Pushed around and thrown into a dingy cellar by Clarice Willow's minions, Lacey was a bundle of nerves and defiance the entire episode. She smartly realized that she was being drugged by Clarice's clan and rebelled against eating and drinking. In the end, though, she cooperated with Clarice, imparted some key information about the possible whereabouts (the always-seen infinity pin?) of Zoe 2.0's original programming, and was informed that she's getting to fulfill her original wish: a ticket to Gemenon. Without Zoe, though, I wonder what Lacey's ultimate goal is now?

'Caprica' recap: The multiple meanings of 'Unvanquished'

"Caprica" has returned, almost six months after we watched Robo Zoe driving her way toward a fiery explosion, Lacy going full on into the Soldiers of The One, Joseph dealing with losing his daughter again, Clarice avoiding death, Amanda stepping off a ledge, and Daniel losing it all to a rival business tycoon.

In "Unvanquished," they don't waste any time updating us, and they make it clear that everyone has become more active in the events that will lead to the Cylon war/rebellion and to "Battlestar Galactica." It's like they all got a raise and a title change in the "Caprica" corporation, and it begins with Clarice Willow.

Her presentation of Apotheosis, her digital Heaven, as Polly Walker called it, to the monotheistic leaders on Gemenon was pretty effective as she demonstrated the ruthlessness of the STO by bombing a stadium full of people, and the possibilities of eternal life through the holobands.

"She certainly has a way with words," said her mentor, Obal, who was later killed after conspiring to have her murdered. The Mother (nice going, Meg Tilly) apparently flipped the deal with Obal, favoring Clarice, and even meeting with her. Clarice was given control over all of the STO on Caprica, a big step up for the school headmistress.

'Caprica' looks for more action; Polly Walker's Sister Clarice codes a 'digital Heaven'

"Caprica" is back tonight with its Season 1.5 premiere episode, "Unvanquished," on Tuesday. We should all be used to the crazy Syfy programming schedules, but the show was rumored to not start until January 2011. Luckily we won't have to wait that long, and scenes like this New Cap City meeting featuring a samurai-like Zoe Graystone (Alessandra Toressani) should get fans back on board quickly.

The Syfy video has a couple of other promos for the upcoming season and recaps as well. In case you missed them at Comic-Con, we got video of Alessandra T. and Mr. James Marsters here and here.

Recently, we got to very briefly chat with a member of the cast that we weren't able to get to at the beginning of the season: Sister Clarice herself, Polly Walker.

Walker has infused Clarice with a sense of purpose, dedication to the point of being a zealot, and downright scariness that she told us expands and continues in this next half of the season. As for Ms. Walker, all the talk of holobands and cylons and V-World are not exactly exciting to her. She even went so far as to call them "horrible."

"I'm not a technical person ... I do well to send an e-mail. But it is interesting that I play a character who wants to create a digital heaven."

Walker, who does believe in God but is not a "particularly religious person," didn't do any specific research for the role.

"Like any actor, I just translated what was put in front of me," said the actress.

Walker also tells us that for this second half of the season, "fans are definitely going to see the action quotient go up. Characters are more active, and Clarice graduates beyond the school."

-- Jevon Phillips

Photo: Polly Walker as Sister Clarice Willow on "Caprica." Credit: Syfy

RELATED
- A chat with Ron Moore about the sci-fi soap opera
- David Eick and the history of Caprica
- Magda Apanowicz's Lacy Rand may be the heart of the show
- The music of the master, Bear McCreary
- Talking to Alessandra Torresani about the birth of the Cylons
- 'Caprica' coverage at Comic-Con (Hero Complex)

'Buffy' still ignites controversy as Jane Espenson defends her Riley comic

There are three types of TV watchers: those who were obsessed with "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," those who weren't, and those who are just now discovering it. The show created an intense attachment — apparently not just among fans but also the cast and the crew.

"Buffy" may have gone off the air in 2003, but it didn't exactly end there. It became one of the first (the only?)  television series to carry on in comic book form, allowing the obsessed to keep tabs on the denizens of the Buffyverse.

Some of the comics (published by Dark Horse) were written by Buffy creator Joss Whedon and other writers from the original series, and in recent years they followed the storyline into a Season 8 (the TV show ended at Season 7), in which fans could watch Willow mature as a witch, Giles and Faith bond over their pursuit of a delusional slayer, and Buffy "experiment" with a fellow female slayer, Satsu.

Recently, a standalone issue was written by Jane Espenson, currently an exec producer on Syfy's "Caprica" and a longtime "Buffy" fan favorite for writing many of that show's memorable episodes spotlighting Buffy's fourth-season boyfriend, Riley Finn. Riley was never the most popular of characters — pretty much a bridge between Angel and Spike — and there was puzzlement as to why he would merit his own comic. Apparently the chatter became widespread enough, and the anti-Riley voices loud enough, that Espenson had to respond:

"A one-shot is a lot of work. It requires panel appearances of up to six per page, page after page. Sometimes there are difficult and complex stunts involved, and unlike on television, in a comic book the character’s face is almost always clearly visible during the shooting, jumping, falling, or being blown up."

Though it was all in fun as she referred to the characters as actual actors who now work in the panels of comic books (get that?), it suggests the bond between the members of the Buffyverse is as strong as ever. Espenson ended by defending the comic book and the character.

"... Obviously, there will be one-shot appearances for other characters in other seasons. But this is Riley’s turn. He’s put in the work and he’s ready to show you what he’s got. Riley . . . sir . . . please take the center stage. It is your time."

Not sure if the Riley issue is included, but if you're not into reading, the Buffy motion comic book is available on iTunes.

— Jevon Phillips

Photo: Dark Horse comics

Eddie McClintock is a 'Warehouse 13' showboat

Eddie McClintock has no more need to write his novel "Living in the Shadow of Boreanaz."

[Correction: David Boreanaz' name was spelled incorrectly.] "I think I may have freed myself from the chains of Boreanazdom," says the "Warehouse 13" actor who was often mistaken for "Angel" and "Bones" actor David Boreanaz in the past. But the popularity of his own show has helped him get noticed for who he is.

"Warehouse 13," which returns for its second season Tuesday night, has been a hit for Syfy, racking up some of the highest ratings that the recently rebranded cable channel has ever seen for a series. In its first season, "Warehouse" became the all-time Syfy leader in total viewers (4.1 million), adults 25-54 (2.1 million) and household ratings (2.9), based on Live+7 DVR data. The success of the show stems primarily from the quirky chemistry between lead actors McClintock and Joanne Kelly, and from McClintock's outside-the-box instincts. Those instincts range from his approach on set to his comedic chops, which makes McClintock a bit like his character Pete Lattimer, who has almost supernatural hunches about people and situations.

"I don't have ESP or 'vibes,'" McClintock points out, but "I tend to kind of run on instinct a little, and it serves me well sometimes -- and sometimes not so well -- but I think for the most part, it has helped me. It makes me who I am, and it helps me to make Pete a more defined character."

McClintock's penchant for 'going with it' helped get him the gig he has now. In recounting the screen test/audition that he and Kelly went through, it was easy to see the character of Pete forming right before the producers' eyes.

"So I went in with Joanne. Myka [Kelly] was supposed to call Pete a showboat, and Joanne called me a showbot. So, I started doing the robot dance and talking like a robot -- then I started to do something like a Michael Jackson kick and a 'HE-HE!' Just completely out of context to anything that was in the script or in the show. And everyone in there was looking at me and laughing and Joanne punched me in the arm and was like 'Shut up!'"

That may not have been all it took, but it went a long way in cementing the onscreen duo.

"I later found out that after we walked out, [exec producer] Mark Stern turned to everybody and said 'That's the show right there!'," McClintock said.

That quick thinking translates onscreen where some of the first season's dialogue was more spur-of-the-moment than regurgitated. But McClintock knows that the balance is delicate.

"It's improv in that we create it on the set, on the spot, but never before it's been signed off on. The writers spend a lot of time making sure all of the right words are in the right places, and personally, I don't want to step on their toes."

This marriage was not love at first sight, though. McClintock had some misgivings about jumping on board, mosty due to the network's reputation for obscure content.

"I love sci fi. Growing up I was a huge Godzilla fan, and King Kong and "War of the Worlds"....But when I turned on the Sci Fi Channel it was, like, 'Mansquito,' or 'Pteradactyl from Mars' -- I was like, 'What in the world is this?'"

Shows like "Battlestar Galactica," and reassurances from Mark Stern and Bonnie Hammer and Dave Howe, gave McClintock confidence in the network's new direction.

As for the show's direction, McClintock sees it as more cohesive and expansive in its second season. Bringing in guest stars like Lindsay Wagner ("It's kind of like a dream come true, not to be overly dramatic..."), and having crossover episodes with other popular Syfy shows like "Eureka," can only be more exciting for the fans.

"It's sci-fi light," says McClintock. "My dream was to make a show that everyone could make some popcorn, flip the lights down, get scared a little bit cause there's some tension and suspense, but most of all just have a good time."

For fans who may want to get an up-close glimpse of the star, he, along with his other cast mates, will be attending Comic-Con this year -- and he already knows what to look out for.

"I expect to see lots of Klingons. I expect to see Linda Hamilton. I expect to see some scantily-clad girls dressed as Princess Leia from Jabba the Hut's lair ...  I love the fans. They dress up and it's still this naive position on their likes. You guys like to play golf and to hike ... we like this. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

-- Jevon Phillips

Photos: Top - Eric McClintock as Pete Lattimer. Middle - Pete (McClintock) and his partner Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly). Bottom - Pete looks at a serious situation in the 'Resnance' episode of "Warehouse 13." Credit: Syfy.

-- More coverage of the Syfy network on Show Tracker and on Hero Complex.

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Totally massive summer TV blowout

Hey, kids, it's summer and, for better or worse -- you may have thought about getting off the couch now that the days are long, but, um, sorry -- a massive amount of new television is headed your way. Premiering series, returning shows, random one-night stands.

Once it was all about the fall, but summer is no bummer. We (the royal we) have done you the favor of cataloging a great deal of this coming product -- from the oh-so-kissable "Mad Men" to a puppet-monkey in rehab (MTV's "Warren the Ape") to the quartet of famous human foxes starring in TV Land's first original sitcom, "Hot in Cleveland" (above). Name them and I will send you a penny, maybe. (Probably not.) I did neglect to include Starz's eight-part adaptation of "The Pillars of the Earth," Ken Follett's novel of 12th century England, but that just tells you what an unmanageable amount of new TV is bearing down on us. The report is online now, and will appear in this Sunday's Calendar on keepsake newsprint. 

--Robert Lloyd (twitter.com/LATimesTVLloyd)

Photo: "Hot in Cleveland" cast. credit: Craig T. Mathew / TV Land

'Caprica': In 'Know Thy Enemy,' there are a lot of people to get to know

An intriguing foil has been put into play on "Caprica" with the addition of Tomas Vergis, a Tauron business rival of Daniel Graystone's who has now become a personal foe. The ethical implications of his war with Daniel might actually split some viewers, but we'll get to that. 

Sometimes, that's the problem with having so many storylines going: Your favorite, or even the ones you think are strongest, can't be followed every week. I really like NBC's "Heroes," and that's one of the show's downfalls. We were treated to a taste of V World last week, and got to know a lot more about Tamara Adama -- yet this week nothing.  Not a complaint, just an observation. The introduction of Vergis, with his wealth and commitment to his goals, will probably present some interesting twists. Daniel's guilt about the two men killed in the theft of the mcp technology from Vergis is manifesting as those bloody stabbing nightmares, and will probably get to him sooner rather than later.

Joseph Adama, who was trying to put a tragedy behind him, is now about to throw himself fully into V World as Tamara's avatar's existence is dangled in front of him. More on that in later episodes because right now, he has to worry about Vergis as well. A Tauron stealing from a Tauron, which would be the case since he got his bro Sam to take the mcp, seems like it will be problematic in many ways. Sam denies any wrongdoing, but do we trust him?

'Caprica' countdown: Talking to Alessandra Torresani about the birth of the Cylons

It's not "Battlestar Galactica." Let's get that straight right now. The tone of Syfy's prequel series "Caprica" may not be as stifling or on edge as life was with Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer and the rest. There's a thriving planetary structure of 12 colonies out there, and that's plenty different enough. To help you get caught up on the show's mythology, we'll be doing a daily countdown until the Jan. 22 premiere of "Caprica" on Syfy, including a description of one of the colonies/worlds with each countdown post.

One planet mentioned early on in the series is Gemenon. A mountainous desert with stretches of plateau, Gemenon is best known for its religious fervor. Its mainstream culture is polytheistic, and ruled by a "democratic" theocracy. But it is also the cradle of monotheism among the colonies, spawning radical and extremist groups such as Soldiers of The One. It's that group that setS off the explosion that kills the people that begins the end. (Watch the pilot episode here.)

The character of Zoe Graystone,played by Alessandra Torresani, is a radical who becomes the catalyst for the eventual destruction of the 12 colonies. Torresani is about to trek Runyon Canyon when we talk -- a very L.A. thing to do for the local actress, who has been transplanted to Vancouver, Canada, for the show. It's a very big role for the actress, who says she got it by keeping it "old school": She just auditioned.