Air Date: 05/03/2010
Director: Michael Nankin
Writer: John Zinman & Patrick Massett
Synopsis: Daniel deals with a business rival accusing him of theft and murder. Joseph starts his search for Tamara-A anew. Clarice steps up her efforts for the STO, while another cell enacts their own plans.
Review
After the real high point of “There Is Another Sky”, Caprica falters yet again with “Know Thy Enemy”. The same flaw that has marred episodes like “Reins Of A Waterfall” is back, as the production team feel the need to give every sub-plot going a bit of time, and in the process dilute down the impact of all them. True, some of these sub-plots only get a few minutes, and others get a lot more: but where better writing and pacing would create lemonade out of such lemons, for me “Know Thy Enemy” comes off feeling uneven, even plodding, in how it presents its story. It attempts to cover for this problem by introducing what appear on the surface to be two key new characters but while these two figures do help with the problem, they don’t fully alleviate it in my eyes.
For Daniel, it is a case of a dangerous rival appearing. From being on a height after the events of “There Is Another Sky”, he’s brought right back down to earth by Tomas Vergis, the kind of enemy who has more than enough ability to take Daniel on in multiple arenas. There’s a reason why they have Tomas appearing on Sarno and getting on a lot more comfortably than Daniel did: this is a guy who doesn’t have an issue using the media to advance his own ends. There’s effective drama to be mined in the way that Tomas goes about his business, essentially toying with Daniel in a lot of ways. He accuses him of murder, then casually offers to buy the pyramid team, then announces that he’s seeking Caprican citizenship. Daniel is left at sixes and sevens, facing a problem he has trouble anticipating who could make life very difficult for him.
In the end I liked that it still all came down to that Tauron identity for Tomas, the same identity we have gotten used to exploring with the Adama’s. And Tomas is very much on the same side as the likes of Sam, not Joseph: he has the tattoos, he has the intense connection to the Taurons he has lived and worked with and he has the commitment to the idea of vengeance for wrongs committed. But he’ll do it in his own way, by tearing down the things that Daniel loves: his company, his pyramid team (I love that Tomas hasn’t decided whether he will do this by burying them or winning a championship: whatever works) and then with whatever comes after. This is a man with lots of resources and with lots of motivation: I’m glad to see him enter the fray, as Caprica I think will be a lot better for his presence. Daniel needs this kind of rival I think, someone different to Sarno or even the ha’la’tha, someone who can meet him on his own level and be dangerous. John Pyper-Ferguson does a great job with this character, selling his ability to stick with this psychological warfare campaign as long as it takes.
Despite the great set-up of the previous episode, Joseph doesn’t get a whole lot to do in “Know Thy Enemy”. After the gut check of the meeting with Heracles, and everything that happened with Tamara-A, I would have been happy to explore the aftermath in more detail. But instead we just get a few scenes where it is clear that he has once again taken up the quest to find Tamara-A, with a tracking down of Heracles the key to doing so. But this episode does introduce something of a surprise, in an apparent romantic attraction between Joseph and his assistant Evelyn. I say “somewhat” as, noted in my thoughts on “Reins Of A Waterfall”, the future William Adama’s parents are listed as “Joseph” and “Evelyn”, but this still feels a tad odd. Of course we don’t really know all that much about Evelyn, but it seems strange to be making any kind of move on a man who has lost his wife and daughter only weeks before. Maybe Caprica will lean into that as we go forward.
Clarice is back in the narrative after a well-timed absence from “There Is Another Sky” and of all the sub-plots I think I had more time for this one than others. She’s becoming a fascinating conundrum in many ways: a master manipulator who clearly has a great deal of experience working as what we have to a call a spy, but also with this fragile psyche prone to dealing with stress through narcotics. We’ve seen her form of seduction with Lacy before now of course, but I really did enjoy her approach to Amanda. She gets in the door through an invented connection to Zoe. She gets Amanda comfortable by talking through invented connections and with alcohol. She gets into Daniel’s private sanctum by taking on the role of a tipsy girlfriend for Amanda. Clarice is seemingly very good at identifying what people need to see and here in order to get what she wants, and she demonstrates that again. But the brittleness is also present, and I appreciate what could just be a very one-note antagonist character having a weighted conscience, one alleviated only through self-destructive behaviour. It means that Clarice is ripe for a potential turn, and that kind of tension can drive a lot forward. It certainly helps this episode a lot, with the scene where she has to sneakily download things from Daniel’s computer while keeping Amanda distracted genuine tension-filled.
On the STO, we finally start to get something approximating a clearer picture of it, which to date in our heads has largely consisted of Clarice and a shadowy cabal behind a screen. Now we get more details, of a very loosely organised alliance of cells, which have their own distinct ways of operating and perhaps some differences in goals. I’m not sure if there is a specific basis for all of this, but perhaps it’s just my background that looks to the fractured nature of the IRA, or if we’re talking fictional organisations then maybe the OPA of The Expanse series (though of course the STO pre-dates that).
So far there seems to be Clarice’s cell that is focused on a subtle manipulation of events to get what they want, and then the unit of Barnabas, who are a bit more militant and a bit more hardcore. But also cautious: this Barnabas character, the second new antagonist that “Know Thy Enemy” introduces, doesn’t make new friends easily, clearly. The decision to start showcasing a fragmented STO again gives fertile ground for a potential alignment turn in there somewhere, as well as giving more depth to what is a very important part of the mythos. For now it is basic enough stuff, but there’s plenty of time yet for fruitful plot to be grown from it all. Perhaps the STO could have done with their own episode to more properly introduce all these concepts and flesh them out, but Caprica does not appear willing to go with such focused affairs.
Lastly, as I note I tend to put her and her sub-plot, is Zoe-A. What is this all about though? Maybe I have no time for this stuttering romance because it will so obviously end in tragedy that you might as well start measuring Philomon for a casket right now. Or maybe it’s just because it all gives off a stink that the writers are wheelspinning with Zoe-A, with nothing better for her to do than make doe-eyes at the lab tech and meet up for dates in the V-World. Coming as it does after the excellent material for Tamara-A in the V-World in “There Is Another Sky”, this all seems rather predictable and lame. Of course it’s easy to identify with the lonely sad sack that is Philomon, and oh wouldn’t it just be so nice if it all worked out for him and Zoe-A, but we know it won’t. We’re just waiting to get to that point. The sooner the better really because Zoe-A, and Caprica in general, really does have better things to be focusing on.
Notes
-The title is a quotation from Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War, variously translated as “If you know your enemy as you know yourself, in a hundred battles you will never be in danger”. It’s appropriate for an episode based around rivals.
-Both Zinman and Massett will be back later in the season. Both are Friday Night Lights veterans, adding to the ties between the two shows.
-“Tauron City”, they could stand to be a bit more imaginative with the names of places, huh? This is also a recycled shot from The Plan, there used for Libran, with a few more buildings added in.
-I do appreciate the introduction to Tomas, especially in comparison to Daniel: this is a man who cares a lot more about his people.
-After my complaints in “Rebirth” of actors from BSG being used in Caprica, I was surprised to read after viewing that Pyper-Ferguson also falls into this category, having played Pegasus CAG Stinger in “Pegasus” and “Resurrection Ship (Part One)”. I had totally forgotten his part.
-The theft of the MCP was a bloody affair it seems: the two men weren’t just killed, they were hacked to death.
-I like our first glimpse of Daniel at this party, very much the top man again, accepting greetings and acknowledgement from the same people who were out to oust him in “There Is Another Sky”.
-Daniel is in such a happy mood he even briefly dances with his wife…alone, in this art gallery. It’s a weird moment.
-The art is a bit strange too. The sculpture featured most prominently is Raven And The First Men by Bill Reid, and in this context is apparently meant to be an artefact from Kobol. The shooting location is Vancouver’s Museum of Anthropology.
-Like the use of the phrase “please the Gods” as an utterance of despair.
-Cyrus is suitably horrified to find out how clumsy Daniel has been: “You used the Tauron mob to rob a Tauron!?”
-A bit of an odd moment focusing in on Tomas in some fancy penthouse before the main titles, but I liked the neon infused view from the room.
-A nice bit of humour as Joseph struggles with the plastic covering of his newly bought holoband.
-I’ll admit, I do love the idea of Daniel inserting himself into his holoband introduction programme as, essentially, Clippy. This opening environment looks like when you turn on a Wii.
-Daniel is on form anyway, telling Joseph that “you people” should be better at stealing things. The racism runs deep.
-A news report notes the “latest holocafe bombing”, indicating an STO campaign. But why holocafes? Aren’t they seeking eternal life through this technology?
-This episode reveals that two of Clarice’s husbands are in the STO. Presumably other members aren’t, which is a bit strange.
-Love Clarice’s manipulation on the phone to Amanda, grabbing hold of the fact that Zoe’s personal items have been taken by police as a means of getting inside the house.
-The scene between Joseph and Sam where they go over the Tauron robbery is very oddly placed in the middle of everything else. It really feels like it is just there to remind us that the Adama brothers exist.
-Gotta say, I do not like Daniel’s goatee addition. Looks pretty stupid on his face.
-Dating apps in Caprica look fairly basic, even rudimentary. The site Philomon is on looks like something from the Windows 95 era.
-Love Daniel’s “What are you doing?” when he walks in on Philomon serenading the Centurion. It’s not said with anger, and one suspects Daniel sees a little something of his younger self in Philomon.
-How’s this for a questionable personal philosophy: “Pain keeps our brain from going down bad paths” Reminds me of the albino assassin in The Da Vinci Code. Or maybe something closer to home, from “Flesh And Bone”: “You were brought up by a woman who thought suffering was good for the soul, so you suffered.”
-Barnabas is of course played by the great James Masters, welcome to the show.
-The STO is seemingly led by a “Conclave”, which seems a nod to the body that selects the leadership of another monotheistic organisation.
-There are several instances in this episode where characters are all talking over each other, enough that it seems an intentional choice. I found it a tad strange.
-Clarice appears to have some kind of distaste for robots. I wonder why that is? Maybe she can’t bend them to her will like she can people.
-Is “motherfrakker” a new one? I can’t remember if we heard that in BSG. I have a slight recollection of a Cally rant?
-Bonding over alcohol is a very clever move from Clarice, getting her hooks into Amanda on a personal and chemical level.
-I suppose it makes sense that physical pictures still exist in this world, since a digital one would presumably be a power drain.
-Amanda is so clear on Zoe’s distaste for her fathers work that she repeats the sentiment: “She hated it…she hated it”. It’s another sign of how little Amanda really knew about her daughter.
-Barnabus appears to be some kind of homeless leader, and reminds me Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King from the John Wick series.
-Barnabas advises Kleo to stop thinking with his “tarse” which, as you might guess, is an archaic word, Old English, for penis.
-We also learn that Barnabas is responsible for the maglev bombing, but the train wasn’t the target. Why did Ben set the bomb off in the train then?
-Only just realising now that the noise used for the U-87 is the same used by the “modern” Centurions in BSG.
-Tomas announcing he is applying for Caprican citizenship seems a very big deal for a Tauron. Sam disdains his brother for acting more Caprican than Tauron, so I assume such a move would annoy quite a lot of people back home.
-Zoe-A slaps on some glasses and calls herself “Rachel” and for a moment I thought we were looking at real Clark Kent territory. Philomon twigs it quick enough though.
-I liked that Philomon is awkward in the V-World: it sort of indicates that he’s a bit more honest than many of the people using that environment.
-Then again, he might just be buttering up the cute girl who has agreed to go on a date with him, but Philomon’s declaration that Zoe at least “had principles”, is perhaps a small sign that is maybe not so innocent as he appears.
-Daniel’s vision of the killings is remarkably violent, and it isn’t clear whether it really happened like that. It’s a clever way of getting inside his mindset.
-It is a bit of an awkward scene between Joseph and Evelyn, but I guess that is the point. Her intentions aren’t really creditable, and the way she almost paws at Joseph’s chest is odd.
-Tomas’ dream is wonderfully simple: “To tear up your dream”.
-Daniel is still capable of bare-faced lies, right into the face of the person he has wronged. Not so morally great here.
-How long is Tomas going to keep this vendetta up? “Until the debt is paid”. Now if that isn’t an ominous way to close off an episode I don’t know what is.
Overall Verdict: “Know Thy Enemy” is a step back. From a structural standpoint Caprica was doing great with “There Is Another Sky” but abandons that experiment in favour of a return to a too-crowded episode, that just can’t make the best out of the potential of any of its sub-plots., and indeed is only adding more characters to the mix going forward. The show needs some focus, and it seems increasingly likely it isn’t going to find any long-term.
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