Hottest. Space. Marriage. Ever.
Amanda's watching the home movies in her bedroom: Lacy gets shy about the camera and puts Zoë in front of it, and Zoë -- wearing a gold infinity pin on her sailor dress -- talks more crazy cult talk about how their lives are about to totally change, and also that she is a very pretty girl. Amanda weeps, and then Daniel shows up in the bedroom looking drunk and nuts, and without prelude he asks why she even wants to go to the ceremony. She's not sure why. Daniel flops down on the bed by her -- this scene is the best scene in the whole episode, I think -- and nearly starts crying when he tries to explain. "I don't want to think. I just feel awful, and angry, and numb, and..." Amanda asks who on earth he's mad at, and she cries listening to him: "Everybody. And everything. Myself, and the world. Her." Amanda can't even really hear him say that last one. It's too true. It's too unbearably disgusting.
You know, whenever anybody on this show goes on about how such a sweet innocent child (whether they're talking about Zoe, or Lacy, or Ben, or whoever) couldn't possibly be a terrorist, I wonder if they've ever met any teenagers.
I mean, is it weird that I, age of 34, remember viscerally what being 16 was like? That it was like being a squirrel hopped up on meth and trapped in a paint can banging on the sides and bottom and lid shrieking all the time, that everything was turned up to 11, that everything was either a tragedy or a triumph and that not a moment of it was silly or worthless or pointless or wrong? Kids are so serious, kids mean everything they say and they think you do, too. I think people forget that a lot, or think if they don't take kids seriously it'll stop the kids from being serious, or they think distance makes it cute, or something. It's actually the opposite, because kids are like that one guy on Survivor all the goddamn time, in that the more you mock the more it proves how right they are. When you're convinced you're alone in your righteousness, it's so perilously easy to see every attempt to talk you out of your tree as conspiracy.
Kids 12-19 are basically looking for something hardcore enough to match the Shakespearan glory raging inside them, and most of them never find it, if the legions of teabuggers and Freepi are any indication. I think it's how we fuck up a lot of lives, actually, as a culture, by pretending there's something wrong with them and that they have to deaden all that passion in order to make their lives work in the shitty world we've accepted as "real," rather than encouraging them to make the world match the truth inside them. And I think we do that because from the outside passion looks like crazy, and without the little voice in your head going, "You know you could be full of shit about your sovereign destiny, right?" it's really easy to slip over into blowing up trains.
But seriously, teenagers being terrorists? The real mystery is that more of them aren't.
Quick takes: Sam, best gay mobster uncle ever. Apparently Caprica doesn't care about gay marriage; I wonder if the reason we didn't see more of it on Galactica was because the other colonies are more bass-ackwards about it? Willie has a lot to learn about disguises. Evelyn the Secretary & Joe Adama, sitting in a tree. The Zoe avatar is growing on me, as are Lacy and Sister Clarice. That scene with the tea was fantastically well done.
There is not a lot of room for anybody in the Graystone marriage but Daniel and Amanda. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing middle-aged married couples so hot for each other they'll frak in front of the robotic household help. I think it's fascinating that despite how each thinks the other one's going full-on bugfuck nuts, they're still nursing each other through this, very generously and lovingly. But I don't see a lot of room between the two of them for a kid, and I think I understand Zoe's desperate search for a way to matter a lot better, watching how completely wrapped up in each other Mom and Dad are.
This show's growing on me.
A.





Growing on me, too.
And Zoe's going to need therapy after having to watch her parents...do things.
.
Posted by: spork_incident | February 06, 2010 at 08:21
HOLEY SCHNIKEYS!?!? Is that Eric Stoltz??? YUMMEH! Dang...
Sorry, estrogen overload, what was your question???
Posted by: Elspeth Ravenwind | February 06, 2010 at 09:20
Elspeth, when he was young he looked EXACTLY like my oldest cousin, who was like my older brother and therefore impossible to crush on without feeling pervy. Now, though, he's all lovely and elegant and that VOICE.
Yeah, I've forgotten my question, too.
A.
Posted by: Athenae | February 06, 2010 at 09:42
Apparently, the only hangups that Capricans have are about monotheists and people from Tauron.
I'm guessing that Zoe stops Sam from 'balancing' things out somehow.
Posted by: BlakNo1 | February 06, 2010 at 12:39
Um, checked out some Caprica pics on IMDB...wow, even Esai Morales is now on my radar...he looks like a man now. I never was into the stringy kid look he had going. In a suit, and now filled out - nice!
Posted by: Elspeth Ravenwind | February 06, 2010 at 14:31
There's some serious estrogen overload going on here!
:)
SP
and yes, this is yet another well crafted SyFy show.
Posted by: ServingPatriot | February 06, 2010 at 19:30