Not only did Syfy decide to cancel Caprica–not surprising considering the ratings–but it also decided to burn off the remaining 5 episodes on one night, signaling just how much the executives wanted to jettison the show. Well, the day of Caprica’s ignominious death is here.
I’m not going to comment on the episodes individually (really, who cares at this point?), but rather talk about the final batch of episodes as a whole and the entire series.
When people go back and examine why Caprica had bad ratings, there will be a number of explanations thrown around regarding scheduling (empirically, no evidence suggests this), the bad taste of the BSG finale, or the usual excuses for a show’s cancellation.
However, one fact stands out: Caprica is not Battlestar Galactica–nor is it remotely similar. Battlestar Galactica was fast paced, had mindblowing intensity, and immediately grabbed viewers with the horrifying events of the miniseries. Caprica, on the other hand, was slow, a little melodramatic, and didn’t really have the x-factor to make you crave the next episode. They are fundamentally different shows, unlike many sci-fi spin-offs which are more or less the same shows structurally and tonally.
And the problem was for Syfy was, will BSG viewers watch a show that is vastly different? Furthermore, will non-BSG viewers watch a prequel to a show they are unfamiliar with? Will random television viewers care who the Adamas are? Based off the ratings, the answers, for the most part, are no.
When I read comments about Caprica, my general impression is that people seem to have this idea that Caprica is supposed to be intrinsically linked to Battlestar Galactica as if everything about Caprica must be important to BSG. That’s not the case: Caprica is its own show with its own characters and universe which is tied only through the genesis of the Cylons and Adama name. The focus of the show was not on providing the missing link to BSG but establishing a separate, compelling plot. If it was the other way around, Caprica would probably look a lot like the Dune prequels with the cyborgs.
Personally, Caprica really connected (I add “personally” because I’ll watch almost anything). I loved the world building, seeing the culture before the Cylons attacked, artificial intelligence theme, and the acting. If I had to fault the show somewhere, it would be that the producers bit off more than they could chew. There was Lacy and her introduction to the STO, Clarice and the STO politics, Daniel working on Cylons and mingling with the Taurons, Amanda and Clarice, Zoe in New Cap City, Tamara in the virtual world, the Adamas, the Caprica police–all these different things going on at once without a real focal point.
Okay, that went on way longer than I intended so I’ll move on to the actual episodes. “The Dirteaters” was a powerful episode, and showed us exactly why Tauron matters so much to the Adamas and why they had to act against the Gautrau. Lacy finally breaks out of her shell, though I’m kind of sad we won’t see her grow even more. The endgame plot with the Graystones and Caprica police also provided an avenue for the Cylons to become crucial to daily life, and contained plenty of action.
We can try to extrapolate further about the Cylons–how the final five were made, how the various models were made, and how involved Clarice was once the war started–but there’s really little point unless the writers tell us what they had in mind. Many people will be disappointed that we won’t see a true conclusion to the series. I, for one, am fairly happy how things turned out. Even if the STO/Lacy, Ha’la’tha/Adama stuff wasn’t fleshed out, at least there wasn’t a cliffhanger, and that’s good enough for a show sadly cut short.
Score: 9.0/10
