It took me a long time to actually start writing this review; mostly, that's because I have no idea where to start - this episode didn't stick with me mentally like an episode of Battlestar Galactica might have in the past. I find myself needing to re-watch the episode in order to get a better grasp on what's going on in this series. However, I've also decided that I'm not going to do that, because I don't really have any interest in going back and re-watching it.
That last sentence in itself sounds like it should be enough to condemn this episode as technically "bad", but that's not the case. On the contrary, I liked the episode because it elaborated on the world that is Caprica and also had a bookend of character growth from both Mr. and Mrs. Greystone. This episode also firmly established that the on-going storyline involving Zoe is merely an excuse to tell a high-tech drama.
While the resurrection of Zoe Greystone in the body of a Cylon is presented as the main focus of the series as a whole, being able to see scenes like the one between Sam and William in Little Tauron (which is a cross between Little Italy and Chinatown, and was apparently shot in Vancouver's Chinatown), or the group marriage Sister Clarice is a member of (and seriously, how badly must she want to blow everything up working as a member of a religious order she opposes?) is so much better than the Cylon frame story. Yes, at this point I believe that Zoe's story and the Cylons are operating as a frame for the other dramatic elements going on.
I mentioned earlier the book-end character growth of the Greystones. I feel like Daniel and Amanda are headed in different directions with regard to how they're dealing with Zoe's death. On the one hand, Daniel has only a month ago discovered that he can potentially bring his daughter back. In the process, he lost her program completely, which has forced him to realize that she is gone and there's nothing he can do. He's moved on - that's why he has a change of heart about going to the memorial service after initially claiming he had to work on his Cylons (and in the process, gave us a great joke about his butler robot wanting alone time with the Cylon).
On the other hand, there's Amanda. It seemed at first like she was the one who moved on, while Daniel was having trouble coming to grips with the reality of it all. And then she started learning things about her daughter that she never knew while she was alive. She realizes that she never really knew her daughter, and acknowledges that maybe she is in some way responsible for the terrorist attack. Let me rephrase that: she literally thinks that Zoe is responsible for the bombing, but Amanda herself feels just as guilty because she didn't listen to Zoe while she was still alive.
In conclusion of this poorly-written essay-style review, I liked "Rebirth". I'm having a lot of fun watching this all play out, and I'm really more intrigued about the characters rather than how the Cylons come to be developped. It's a shame to know that I only have one season of this to look forward to.
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