In HALF a season Caprica has generated more ideas, images, stories, characters and themes than most shows do in multiple seasons. This nearly impenetrable density has, understandably, turned some off. I suspect that if it wasn't the first post-BSG project of Ronald D. Moore and David Eick it would never have made it to production.

The incredible opening sequence--three teenagers, a decadent nightclub of sex and horrific violence, a VR doppelganger, a secret monotheistic religion in a polytheistic world, a plan to run away to another planet, a suicide bombing--unfolds with breakneck speed and intensity within the first ten minutes (or at least it FEELS like the first 10 minutes). I've never seen anything like it. Eventually, all the threads are untangled and explained, only to reweave into more and more complex patters and structures. This show requires VERY careful viewing and a LOT of patience.

The world of Caprica is a mix of ancient Greek theology, 1940s costumes and architecture, 1980s corporate interiors, noir lighting and cinematography, 1950s futurist technology, 1990s mediascapes, 1960s druggie-commune culture, etc. It SHOULD be incoherent, but the emotional and thematic throughlines are so insistent and palpable that it's all of a piece. Bewildering but ravishing.

Caprica is obsessed with excruciatingly painful father-daughter relationships and absent mothers. The speed of the show slows WAY down to really stew in the minutiae of father-daughter power struggles (the Daniel-Zoe Graystone story), father-daughter loss and grief (the Joseph-Tamara Adama story), and father-daughter sadism (Barnabas and Lacy, not actually related, but the paternalism is unambiguous). This seems to me to be unchartered territory and an under-examined aspect of contemporary American family dynamics. It can be painful to watch, but so rewarding if you can stay with it.

I haven't even mentioned the show's complex representations of homosexuality, race, class, corporate culture, marriage, revenge, death, technology, media, death, violence, the generation gap, and, of course, religion and fanaticism.

Listen to the commentary tracks--these guys are figuring the show out AS THEY MAKE IT. This is risky material put together in a risky way, which makes sense, but can be off-putting to those who want their stories pat and their transitions smooth.

I think this is why the amazing Eric Stoltz and Esai Morales (not to mention Paula Malcolmson, Polly Walker, and a nearly unrecognizable James Marsters from Buffy in one of the scariest performances I've ever seen on TV) have signed on.

I hope the network money people see the challenging aspects of this show as a good thing, and keep it running.

P.S. The second half of Season 1 is turning out to be even better, unfolding with extraordinary complexity, but great clarity as well. While the focus has moved away from the father-daughter stories, familial themes are deepening, and resonating with political themes in surprising and challenging ways. Extraordinary stuff.

P.P.S. Apparently the show has been cancelled. One season of this show is worth 5 of any other, so I guess I can console myself that it had a good run.

SPOILER FREE***
Apotheosis, currently acting as the series finale, was not meant to be the end of the series but it should be applauded the care to wrap up the events on this story as neatly as possible and keep fans salivating for more in case Caprica was not renewed for a second season. This episode was just the Beginning of the line and definitely made this show's 18 episode run worthwhile. To anyone thinking about giving this show a try, do not be afraid for you will not be given a complete cliffhanger. There is clearly meant to be more, but enough closure is given to make the show feel complete enough to warrant the money to download. Caprca may have been fairly slow in the beginning, but it was meant to buld the world and the characters within it so that we could be taken on the wild ride the last 4 episodes trust us upon and this finale was beautiful in the way it used the technology Caprica's world introduced to its viewers and showed how it changed the world forever. If any show I have ever seen deserved a season 2, its Caprica. here's hoping that Syfy gets their heads out of the gutter and realizes the potential this show really has, and it is very evident in the last ten minutes of this brilliant conclusion. So Say We All!

Customers buying this DVD need to be aware that this is not the entire season. It ends midway through season 1. There's more on Season 1.5. To avoid frustration, I would wait until the entire season is available on DVD.