1.15 – The Dirteaters – Caprica Review

Posted by Samuel Walters

Focusing heavily on the Brothers Adama, “The Dirteaters” is perhaps the most character-centric episode of Caprica to date. In that respect, there’s some value to the story. But it’s heavily flawed. Once again, Caprica resorts to extreme violence as a means to an end and, once again, the overall narrative is too awkward and unwieldy to allow for deep, meaningful explorations. The end result is a slight improvement, but one that clearly demonstrates the flaws of the series.

There are two noteworthy plotlines in this episode. The first focuses on Daniel and his efforts to avoid being killed by driving a wedge between Sam Adama and the Guatrau. The second, and most prominent, is an explicit focus on the familial history of Sam and Joseph — a history which will ultimately help Daniel’s desire to stay alive. The joining of these two threads is a decent idea, and is one of the few praiseworthy aspects of the episode. But even here, there are … issues …

It’s good that Caprica finally got around to making something of Joseph Adama’s character beyond a spineless, waffling paper pusher. But much of the episode does little to alter this perception and, even with the major revelation that Joseph killed his own father, it’s difficult to see how the events in this story fundamentally alter his character.

The flashbacks focus on the familial history of Sam and Joseph Adama. We learn that Sam was always a person of action, while Joseph was always more sensitive and introverted, reinforcing how the two men have been portrayed thus far on the series — at one point, an exasperated Sam tells his older brother, “You’re afraid of everything!” to which Joseph replies, rather lamely, “Grow up.” We also learn that their parents were part of the Tauron resistance.

Late one night, the two boys witness a Tauron security officer being brutally beaten to death in an alley outside their apartment. Inexplicably, after the assailants leave, Sam climbs down the fire escape, rifles through the dead soldiers clothes, and carries away a gun. Why? Because boys will be boys? Or something. In any event, the next day a security detail comes calling and the boys are hidden inside a pantry. Understandably, the parents deny knowledge of the murder (after all, they didn’t witness it), but when the security detail finds the gun hidden under a cushion the brutal beatings and torture commence … with the boys watching it all unfold.

This is “drama” in the grand tradition of Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica: namely, make everything as violent and brutal as possible in order to elicit an emotional reaction from the viewers. And honestly, the scene ought to evoke a reaction of some kind. The brothers stare wide-eyed at the scene while the father is brutalized; the mother is dragged off screen by a male security officer, clothes are heard ripping, slaps and screams are audible. While the security team heads into the other room to execute the mother, the boys steal out of the pantry and grab the gun. The detail returns to torture the father some more. Sam is unable to pull the trigger. Joseph does the deed, killing the security detail and, with his father’s encouragement, his father as well.

This, I suppose, is meant to give the Joseph Adama we’ve seen thus far in Caprica a harder edge, more of a spine. Make him a badass of some sort. But the scene is utterly preposterous in its depiction of violence, torture, (implied) rape, murder and patricide. And the moment doesn’t undo the incredible vacillation of principles and decisions we’ve seen thus far from Joseph Adama. For example, in this episode he tries to help Daniel avoid being killed after, just a couple of episodes ago, saying there could be no resolution between the men because Zoe killed Tamara. Furthermore, Joseph is scandalized by the Gautrau selling Cylons to the STO, but he has no qualms in helping the father of the person responsible for the deaths of his daughter and wife? Finally, after telling Sam to ignore the Tauron rebellion and after preaching loyalty to the Gautrau, Joseph jumps right in to Sam’s little insurrection.

So while I commend the decision to uncover more of the history between the brothers, and while I like the idea of playing against audience expectations — history says Sam should have been the one to pull the trigger — the execution doesn’t fundamentally change the equation of the series. Furthermore, it’s far too easy to do balls-to-the-wall violence as a means of generating an emotional reaction. I’d have had more respect for a subtle, nuanced approach that also explained Joseph’s continued “weakness” of character.

At the very least, and to be perfectly fair, these events do provide a much better understanding of the Brothers Adama, and their bond. We also get a healthy dose of Tauron history and culture which provides some much needed continuity — the non sequitur introduction of the Tauron rebellion a few episodes back now carries much more overall significance. So if the series really is moving toward a more consistent, focused narrative — and isn’t simply ignoring old plot developments in favor of new ones — then at the very least the flashbacks were an investment that will pay dividends for the final episodes.

What’s most critical is that these events allow Daniel Graystone to exploit the division between the idealism of Sam and the greed of the Guatrau. And we see just how powerful a wedge Daniel is using here. In essence, Daniel offers to help Sam smuggle Cylons to the Tauron rebels, in exchange for being allowed to live. This is the episode’s best drama and character conflict. And it didn’t even need to resort to yelling, screaming, shooting or violence to generate its tension and suspense. In the end, Sam gets a Cylon, Daniel gets a reprieve and, Joseph agrees to help Sam undermine the Guatrau. In fact, the contrast between the Adamas and the Guatrau provides Caprica with its most sympathetic conflict thus far.

The rest of the episode is almost entirely forgettable. Agent Durham is railroaded out of his job. Clarice bitches to her family about designs for the afterlife — she wants a statue of herself, after all. Amanda pouts some more and, finally, decides to join Daniel in a quest to find Zoe.

Zoe.

In perhaps the most intriguing development, we learn that Zoe and Tamara are trying to “clean up” New Cap City by eliminating its more immoral denizens. But after Daniel shows up and spooks Zoe, the “Avenging Angels” realize that, within the V-world, they are gods — and they literally remake the V-world to suit their purposes. It’s a great scene for its implications. The distrust and enmity between the avatars and humans is growing. The avatars have unlimited power in the V-world. The humans have power in the real world.

The stage is set for a riveting confrontation of ideals and motivations.

Overall Grade: C-

“The Dirteaters” gets credit for its focus on character and backstory. But the Tauron scenes felt far too much like a vague Godfather knockoff. The violence, while obviously serving a purpose, was too extreme to be praiseworthy. And the revelations don’t undo or explain the inconsistencies in character already seen in Caprica. There is some basis for hope, though, that the series is finding a direction. Time will tell if Caprica can use this episode as a basis for future consistency.

Topics: Sci-Fi, TV Reviews
Filed under: Caprica Reviews