Rebirth

There was inevitably less of a showcase-y feel to the second episode of Caprica, given that the pilot had thrown plenty at the screen in an attempt to set up a labyrinthine tale of two families, while also bridging the gap between finding a new audience, and keeping the Battlestar Galactica fanbase hooked in. That said, it did play up its science fiction credentials very strongly from the off this week, not least kicking off with a sequence that could have been ripped straight out of Robocop. We had flashbacks, interspersed with robotic interference, and the general impression that Murphy would appear and start eating baby food any minute.

But back to Caprica. The debut episode left the once-deceased Zoe Graystone's data upload housed in the shell of what we know to be a fairly crude Cylon, where she's basically been put by her father. She's clearly a bit taken aback by this, and is struggling to comprehend exactly what's going on. One minute she looks puzzled, the next she's hurting those who are trying to transport her. It's a strangely double-edged role, and not an easy one for the writers to address.

Fortunately, the production team behind Caprica handle complexity well, and they get across the feeling of human/robot hybrid (and a not very comfortable one) by interspersing the robotic creature that Zoe's become with actress Alessandra Torresani. Those of us who spent much of the last half decade watching Gaius Baltar and Number Six interact I suspect found it easier to wrap our heads round this, and it's a device that works just as effectively in Caprica.

What's interesting, though, is the character of Lacy, who in this episode becomes more pivotal. She's bridging two functions here. Firstly, she's the friend that Zoe calls on, leading to an odd, but effective scene where she ends up hugging the new Cylon version of her (although I'm curious as to why Lacy got such easy access, given that we've had two episodes reinforcing tightness of security to varying degrees thus far). But just as, if not more interesting, is the fact that Lacy is being wooed by her headmistress, Sister Clarice Willow, presumably towards the STO. While I felt this sequence lacked, perhaps, the sinister punch that was intended, the latter strand is going to be particularly intriguing given the pronouncement made by Zoe's mother at the end of the episode, where she reveals to the world just what her daughter was up to (much to her own surprise and horror).

That's going to cause problems for her husband, Dr Daniel Graystone, too. He took more of a back seat this week, although he's clearly up against it with his promised contract to deliver a lot more Cylons than he's got working to the military (and he can't understand, and seems emotionally detatched from, the functionality of the one he does have working). For much of the episode, though, he was out of the limelight.

Instead, however, this episode of Caprica then shifted more to the Adama side of the story, where we see young William being led astray by his uncle. Meanwhile, Joseph has been hit by the realisation that his daughter may be alone, trapped in the strange holoband world that Daniel has created, and he's not comfortable with it at all. I'm expecting the friction between the Graystones and the Adamas - especially given the swanky new title sequence - to form the cornerstone of Caprica, and the divide between the two camps is not an easy one so far.

It all, however, proved to be quite a functional episode in picking up fairly quickly after the pilot and keeping its head down. There feels like a small Frankenstein-esque theme being explored with Daniel Graystone, and inevitably pieces are being moved into place for the rest of the season. But it struck me, for better or worse, as a low-key way to kick off the series on. That's, perhaps, surprising given the first post-pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica - and comparisons are inevitable - was 33, which remains one of my favourite BSG stories of the lot. But still, Caprica remains an interesting, evolving drama, and one I'm keen to see just how it develops.

Back next week, then...

Read our review of the pilot episode here.