For the Adherent of Pop Culture
Adventures of Jack Burton ] Back to the Future ] Battlestar Galactica ] Buckaroo Banzai ] Cliffhangers! ] Earth 2 ] The Expendables ] Firefly/Serenity ] The Fly ] Galaxy Quest ] Indiana Jones ] Jurassic Park ] Land of the Lost ] Lost in Space ] The Matrix ] The Mummy/The Scorpion King ] The Prisoner ] Sapphire & Steel ] Snake Plissken Chronicles ] Star Trek ] Terminator ] The Thing ] Total Recall ] Tron ] Twin Peaks ] UFO ] V the series ] Valley of the Dinosaurs ] Waterworld ] PopApostle Home ] Links ] Privacy ]


Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138 at popapostle dot com
Caprica: Reins of a Waterfall Caprica
"Reins of a Waterfall"
TV episode
Written by Michael Angeli
Directed by Ronald D. Moore
February 5, 2010

 

Amanda’s revelation about Zoe’s possible involvement in a terrorist group sends shockwaves through the Colonies.

 

Read the synopsis of this episode at the Battlestar Wiki site.

 

Didja Notice?

 

A late-night comedy-interview television show called Backtalk with Baxter Sarno is shot in Caprica City and broadcast all around the Twelve Colonies. The show is similar to American late-night talk shows such as The Tonight Show, The Dick Cavett Show, and The Daily Show.

 

At 3:15 on the DVD, a student at the Athena Academy is carrying a binder made by Oxford. This is a real world brand owned by Pendaflex. Notice that it and the other binders/notebooks she carries have the corners clipped only on the outer edges, not the binding edges.

 

Daniel Graystone has published an autobiography called The Man Who Could see the Future.

 

Daniel likes to get his work-outs at the Red Gloves Gym.

 

During Daniel's sparring practice at the gym, Xander is speaking to him from outside the ring, eating a sandwich that appears similar to an Egg McMuffin!

 

This episode introduces newly-hired public relations officer for Graystone Industries, Priyah Magnus, formerly of Sagittaron. She is portrayed by Luciana Carro, who also played Kat in BSG2000.

 

At 7:05 on the DVD, the dumpster in the background says Menkar Sanitation. This does not appear to be a real world company, so it may be a bit of a joke placed by the producers. "Menkar" is another name for Alpha Ceti, a star in the Cetus constellation, so we get Alpha Ceti Sanitation. But "menkar" is also derived from the Arabic word manħar, meaning "nostril". So, "smelly sanitation"?

 

At 10:18 on the DVD, the boys appear to be playing a game of triad at the card table inside Goldie's.

 

The character of Francis at Goldie's is played by Christian Tessier, who also played Duck in BSG2000.

 

At 10:40 on the DVD, one of the guys at Goldie's remarks that the police grabbed Plex right off the street. Later, we hear in a discussion between Joseph and Judge Maximus that Joseph is representing Plexico Amarcord, presumably the same person.

 

The boys at Goldie's seem to use the term "hardback" to describe someone who has done hard time in prison.

 

At Goldie's, Willie's uncle, Sam, pops a beer and hands it to him to drink. Is this just Sam's continuing attempt to turn the boy against his father's more placid ways, or is it entirely normal for kids to drink alcohol on Caprica?

 

This episode introduces Evelyn, Joseph Adama's assistant. She will go on to become Joseph's second wife and the mother of the boy who will go on to become Commander Adama of the battlestar Galactica.

 

As Daniel and Amanda begin to make love in his lab, right in front of the U-87, notice at 18:51 on the DVD, that the robot's red eye begins to stay in the left-hand side of its visor, away from the "action" occurring nearby.

 

The video of the police interview of Ben Stark is dated Aprilus 9th YR41, indicating it took place over a year before the current date of Junius YR42.

 

Notice that Agent Duram destroys the tape of the interview Agent Youngblood did with Ben a year ago, to spare embarassment or worse to the department. Director Singh seems to condone it, hinting at their failure to have done so earlier. This all suggests a certain level of corruption within the Global Defense Department.

 

At 21:28 on the DVD, the preview banner of the Caprican Tribune newspaper, Aprilus 11th YR42 edition, states that the Caprican Museum will be receiving two B77R aircraft, nicknamed Spooners, for restoration.

 

The date on the newspaper tells us it is Aprilus 11th, but in "Rebirth", the date of the memorial event is said to be Junius 7th. Which is correct?

 

The headlines on the above edition of the newspaper say "Graystone Stock Stumbles on Terror Confession" and "MagLev Anniversary to Become Annual Day of Remembrance".

 

Priyah remarks to Daniel that more than half of college-age viewers say they get their news from Baxter Sarno. This is analogous to a similar statistic in our own world which found that comedian Jon Stewart's The Daily Show was the source of news for many young adults in America while Stewart was hosting the show. At the time of this writing, Stewart has retired from The Daily Show and the program is on hiatus while a new host, Trevor Noah, preps the show for return on September 28, 2015.

 

This episode introduces Alvo, Sister Clarice's contact in the VR world to the STO leadership on Gemenon. In "Blowback". Alvo is revealed to be Gara Singh, director of the Caprica City division of the Caprica Defense Department.

 

Sister Clarice tells Alvo that the Zoe avatar can help the STO attain apotheosis. Apotheosis is the raising of an individual to god-like status. It's unclear whether she means that the Zoe avatar itself is that individual or merely the means to obtaining it.

 

At 37:32 on the DVD, notice that there is a model of what may be a Graystone Industries building under glass in Daniel's home lab.

 

When Daniel says he's sorry about the loss of the Tamara avatar, Joseph's last statement to Daniel is, "I'm sorry." This is probably his way (or a Tauron way) of saying "you are not forgiven, and there will be punishment."

 

The newscrawl at the bottom of the screen during the Cubits and Pieces broadcast at 40:20 on the DVD states that Eros Day sales have reached a new high. Eros Day seems to be roughly equivalent to our own Valentine's Day. Eros was the Greek god of love and is presumably the name of a similar deity in Colonial religion.

 

In this episode we see that Dr. Amanda Graystone works at Caprica Central Hospital.

 

Sam's husband tells Willie that at their home, Mars is the largest statue, because Sam is a "tough guy." Mars was the Roman god of war and is presumably something similar in Colonial religion.

 

Willie asks Sam and Larry why they never adopted a child of their own and Sam replies that the life he has now (Ha'la'tha enforcer) is "not so good for kids". Yean, so why is he taking his young nephew under his wing? 

 

Notes from The Caprican

 

The article "Mad Mothers Take Action Against Terrorism" states that a new citizens organization called Mothers Against Terrorist Tactics (MATT) has formed. The name is surely inspired by the American group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The article implies that MATT is largely responsible for the protests against Amanda Graystone outside the hospital about her employment there.

 

Notes from the videoblogs on the DVD

 

The look of Caprica is meant to be sort of a cross between those of the 1997 film Gattaca and the 1998 film Dark City.


Memorable Dialog

poor choice of words.wav
it's Adama now.wav
how about a good frak?.wav
wait for them to take attendance.wav
ta-frakkin'-da.wav
can you be free if you're not real?.wav
that's so sad.wav
you were told not to contact us.wav


Back to Episode Studies