The Battlestar Galactica prequel series – Caprica – is finally here, but it's a show that won't necessarily automatically impress those of BSG. There are indeed several stylized themes that are shared between the two, but whereas BSG was a space-faring adventure with philosophical ideals, Caprica is a human drama with philosophical ideas first and foremost. It might be hard to keep this series interesting week in and week out, but as of right now I'm pleasantly surprised and fulfilled by what I saw in the first episode.

Caprica tells the story of two families: the Graystones and the Adamas. If one of those names seems familiar to you, it should, as this prequel series partly follows the story of Admiral Adama's (from BSG) father, as he copes with the loss of his daughter and wife. Meanwhile, a young William Adama tries to reconnect with his father when they're all they have left. The central story, however, follows the Graystones, who lost a daughter of their own during the same terrorist attack that claimed the other Adamas. The Graystones – particularly the father and daughter (Daniel and Zoe) – are the central figures of the pilot, as they are the ones who give birth to the Cylons that later destroy humanity.

The Fathers

Caprica is a very unique entry into the BSG mythology, as we learn from The Plan that the reason the Cylons fail is because of love, which is the reason why – for the most part – the Cylons were created in the first place. Devastated by the loss of his daughter, Daniel – who has already built the old school Cylon shell for defense purposes – learns that his daughter was a robotics genius herself, and managed to tweak a search engine to essentially create a virtual soul and collection of thoughts that made her who she is. Daniel learns of this virtual avatar, how advanced it is, and finds a way to reconnect to his dead daughter. Daniel is definitely mad from his loss, but yet it's a very touching story to see the lengths he would go to bring her back.

Since the basic premise of the Cylons is created in the first episode, thoughts then must turn to what the show is going to be about then. There are several ways the show could go and stories it could follow. For starters there's Joseph Adama, who is not only a lawyer, but also a member of a Tauron mafia essentially (they put him through college and he finds himself a member of the gang trying to get out). There's also the story of the Graystones and the continued development and evolution of the Cylons. Another major storyline is obviously going to be that of the monotheist organization, which much like the Cylons we're familiar with, believe in a one true god instead of multiple ones. We learn that Zoe was very important to this group, so perhaps it's not surprising that her program leads to the creation of Cylons and thus to the belief in one god. Much like the end season of BSG, many might find the series too "preachy," but as someone who associates himself most closely with agnosticism, I was never turned off by BSG's "preaching" and the focus on that element in the Pilot also didn't affect me either. In fact, I find the study of religion in sci-fi more interesting than the study of religion in real life. Besides being an interesting philosophical idea, the idea of this "terrorist" organization could lead to some good stories in Caprica.

Personally speaking, I was really impressed and enjoyed Caprica immensely. I liked the human drama, the philosophical debates, and the way in which the series tied in wonderfully with the overall mythology of Battlestar Galactica. Will the story of Caprica work as a series or would it have been best served as nothing more than this Pilot? That remains to be seen. I also don't think that every fan of Battlestar Galactica will naturally flock to this series and enjoy it – they're quite different. With that said, however, I really enjoyed it, and will be tuning back in next week to see what happens next.

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