Even if Rebirth's ending was awkward because of the Graystone mother hokey speech, I was confident that Caprica's third installment would be excellent. Well I was wrong, very wrong. I'm so disappointed by Reins of a Waterfall that I worry about the upcoming episodes quality. Do they plan to mix science-fiction and soap like in Defying Gravity or something ? I mean it was a non-event and the story was dead boring. For once it was directed by one of the three show creators and I think he did a really poor job. As for the writing it was a complete disaster. It was really like watching a completely different show with a low-budget, disjointed arcs and old fashion concept.
First the Cylon was MIA and the story focused on the after speech events. The Graystone family was trashed on TV but it's one thing to try to avoid it in the real life but when you have to watch a full episode about it well it's just unbearable. I understand that their intention was to make the story intense and to test how strong the characters are but they miserably failed. Graystone 0, Adama 1. Indeed the last family was quite convincing when Daniel and his wife disappointed me. How did they survive so long in such a tainted world ? Yes because hopefully some elements were quite surprising and I wonder how some characters will react or defend themselves. From the on-going investigation to the family collision there should be plenty of elements to nourish the upcoming arcs but now I worry about the execution. But in the end the worst element was probably some characters behavior. Daniel's wife is far too emotional but his more rational profile balances their relationship. However the teacher's game was just too obvious when her approach was far more subtle in Rebirth. I want some heavy and smart character development and not a few breadcrumbs to feed viewers that are not demanding.
Beside the terrible media part some characters also visited the virtual universe. In my pilot review I already mentioned that I didn't like the club and things got worse. One performer's acting was quite bad and I was also disappointed by Alessandra Torresani. They'll really have to take things to a whole new level to compete with what we have been accustomed to with shows like Dexter and Lost. Even Smallville's performers were better in the first seasons because there were plenty of pros to cover the cons. It's probably the issue with young actors and actresses, they look all pretty but when it comes to acting you get questionable performances. I know it's a harsh comment and that they deserve respect but I'm just puzzled by how things turned. They just weren't able to put the pieces together. What happened ?
I could spend hours listing the problems I noticed, from the bad lighting to the sharp editing, but I prefer to just forget about it and hope the next episode will be better. The pilot and Rebirth proved Caprica has an overwhelming potential and it's definitely a strong argument to not give up on it because of one poor episode. I could watch it again to better understand what went wrong but I don't want to waste my time. So if you have something more important to do my advice is just to read a quick recap and skip it ! Now I almost regret my spoiler-free policy. Laughing out loud is the only thing I'm left with, and a pencil to scratch the surface of Kaprika.