The Heavens Will Rise

"The Heavens Will Rise" An episode of the Caprica Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 16
Writer(s)	Patrick Massett John Zinman
Story by
Director	Michael Nankin
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	116
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	January 4, 2011
CAN airdate	November 16, 2010
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	{{{population}}} survivors
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Previous		Next
The Dirteaters	The Heavens Will Rise	Here Be Dragons
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As Tamara and Zoe continue to reshape New Cap City, Daniel Graystone seeks the help of Sam Adama to enter the dangerous game. An old friend threatens to expose the Adama brothers. The Willows move closer to apotheosis. Jordan Duram's investigation comes to a sudden conclusion. Lacy Rand discovers a special link to the U-87 robots.

Summary

Teaser

• From a turret atop their newly made castle, Tamara-A and Zoe-A survey with satisfaction the forested mountains that they have created inside the New Cap City game. Tamara wishes to add one more detail, and with a simple squeeze of her hand, the forest echoes with the faraway screeches of dragons.

Daniel is killed inside V-World.

• With Amanda Graystone at his side, Daniel Graystone searches for the two girls in New Cap City by tracing the alterations they have been making to the game. Amanda argues that she should be the first to approach Zoe, since she had a nasty fight with the original flesh and blood Zoe Graystone the day before their daughter was killed in the terrorist bombing of a commuter train. Daniel counters that he had done worse, torturing the avatar of Zoe with her fear of fire when he believed that she was hiding inside the prototype U-87 combat robot. Amanda slaps him across the face, but allows him to locate the girls in a sea of code. Using a backdoor access that is a regular feature of all V-World software, Daniel snatches one of them without warning and pulls her into a private space. Daniel dons a holoband and enters.
• He speaks calmly with a terrified Tamara, who ignores his request to see Zoe and only begs to be let go. Her persists until he hears Zoe greeting him. He turns and sees her waiting. Daniel relaxes, but suddenly Zoe attacks him with a dagger hidden behind her back, and he de-rezzes out of V-World. He throws off his holoband in the real world, clutching at his chest.

Act 1

• Daniel recovers from the attack, but informs Amanda that he is now shut out of his back door and must use a standard portal into New Cap City--and just like everyone else, he has only one life in the game. Amanda tries to find the positive in the situation, but she is interrupted by a text message from Jordan Duram insisting that they meet. Before leaving, she tells her husband about her involvement in Duram's plan to expose Clarice Willow and her family as members of the STO terrorist group.

Duram and Amanda confer.

• Duram is surprised that Amanda told Daniel about their work, but he quickly moves on to his reason for the meeting in a public park: he has been suspended from the Global Defense Department and the organization has been "compromised at the highest level." Nevertheless, he wants to keep pushing ahead with the investigation. He gives Amanda a rigged holoband for her to switch with Clarice's band. Amanda is reluctant, with the Willows being more cautious than ever in the wake of Mar-Beth Willow's disappearance. Jordan begs her to do it, fearing that something terrible is about to take place.
• Inside a V-World recreation of Atlas Arena, noisy spectators eagerly await the day's game as a young suicide bomber calmly sits and plants an explosive underneath her seat. Standing off to one side, Clarice and one of her husbands, Nestor, discuss the placement of their martyrs throughout the stadium and how their initial blasts will trigger additional bombs, collapsing the entire structure. Removing their holobands and returning to their house, they discuss other aspects of the plot with Olaf Willow. Scanned avatars of the martyrs will be activated inside a new virtual heaven immediately after their deaths, and press releases about the goal of apotheosis will go out thirty days after the bombing. Nestor begins to express doubt about the plan. He observes that their heaven is not a true afterlife for the martyrs and that their avatars are nothing more than "showmanship." Despite Olaf's defense of the martyrs' sacrifice, Nestor goes on to question whether Clarice actually represents the will of God. In response, Clarice offers Nestor an additional ticket to the game at the arena. Nestor backs off, unwilling to die for his faith.
• On Gemenon, Lacy Rand and other STO recruits listen as praetor Kevin Reikle lectures on the design and use of a weapon. A disturbance outside their tent distracts the recruits and they spot one of their own, Lexon, getting into an escalating confrontation with an officer over a breach of protocol. The officer forces Lexon to his knees and calls out to a nearby U-87 robot to shoot him. As it complies and walks toward them, Rand ignores Odin Sinclair urging her to ignore the incident and runs outside, yelling at them to stop. Surprising everyone, the robot stops and responds to Rand, "By your command." The officer tells it to resume and it does, until Rand yells once again. The Cylon obeys, but this time it refuses to accept either the officer's shouted orders or a command from Reikle.

Act 2

• One of the STO's top leaders, Diego, questions Rand about the incident. Although he is relieved that a good soldier like Lexon was not lost, he reminds her that discipline is paramount in their ranks. Rand wonders aloud why they need to rely on killing those who fail rather than inspiring proper behavior. Diego dismisses her suggestion, but before he allows her to leave, he asks how she was able to subvert the U-87's programming and take control. She answers truthfully that she does not know, but suggests that the robot might have a sense of decency.

Sam and Fazekas share a laugh.

• Sam Adama arrives at the Goldie's betting parlor in Little Tauron and starts to read a newspaper when he is interrupted by a welcome surprise--Fidelia Fazekas. The two hug and they begin chatting about her early release from prison, and about Sam's brother Joseph and how he has been coping since the loss of his family members in the commuter train bombing. Sam also apologies to her for the circumstances that led to her being in jail, and Fazekas accepts it. As she leaves, Sam spots Daniel walking across the street toward Goldie's.
• In the privacy of the kitchen, Sam quickly tells him to stop coming, otherwise it will arouse suspicion about their new arrangement. Daniel tells him that the avatars of Tamara and Zoe are alive in V-World and that he needs Sam's help reaching them. Sam is offended at the implication that he is "hired muscle." When Daniel explains his plan to bring both avatars into the real world by building humanlike bodies for them, Sam is angered and tells him that those things in V-World are not real. Daniel pleads that he needs to reunite his family.
• Amanda sneaks into the Willows' workspace inside their house undetected, and swaps Clarice's holoband for Duram's fake. Back in the park, she delivers the band to Duram, who urges her to avoid Willow completely and to stay inconspicuous for a while. Amanda senses that he is holding something back, and he relents: Mar-Beth is dead, the result of Duram's attempt to protect Amanda. She is shocked that an innocent mother who had just given birth was sacrificed by him. All that Duram can do is speculate that the baby would have grown up to be a terrorist like its family, and assures Amanda that she has been invaluable to the security of Caprica. Amanda walks away as Duram is lost in thought. Suddenly, a gunshot cracks through the park, and Duram tumbles down a hill. Amanda runs to him and uses her scarf to stop him from bleeding, but she sees no sign of the shooter.

Act 3

• Sam chats amiably with Evelyn and Ruth in the kitchen of Joseph's apartment when Willie Adama comes home and boasts about his new Avenging Angels t-shirt. Sam immediately confronts his young nephew about the shirt and orders him to remove it, and when he refuses, he angrily pulls it off, and warns him to not tell his father. After Willie goes to his room, Evelyn tells Sam that the Avenging Angels are so popular that confiscating one shirt will not keep Joseph from learning that the avatar of his daughter is still alive in V-World. She suggests that Sam accept Graystone's new job and help him hunt down the avatar, and get rid of it one way or another so that Joseph can move on with his life. Sam lashes out at Evelyn, but an angry gesture from Ruth calms him, and he agrees to take the job.
• In a Graystone Industries conference room, Joseph's late night work is interrupted by a surprise visit from Fazekas. The two hug warmly, and then she kisses him passionately. For a moment, Joseph responds but then he pulls away, telling her that the affair they had carried on behind his wife's back was wrong. She changes the topic and tells him that she is working on an assignment from the Guatrau himself, investigating why two out of every twenty-five U-87 robots manufactured are missing; the Ha'la'tha are not taking that many for sale on the black market. Joseph points out that one out of twenty-five have structural defects and are returned to the company--which would make sense, Fazekas points out, but there are no records of broken robot skeletons to support that. When he replies that the defects are sold to an outside reclamation company for scrap, she answers that Graystone Industries has not received any money for them. Joseph stumbles over his explanation of non-metal parts having to be removed first, and asks Fazekas if she thinks something suspicious is happening. She waves it off, tells him that it is probably a clerical error, and assures him that he is not in trouble. When she leaves, Joseph becomes visibly worried.

Rand looks for a sign of Zoe.

• In his bunk on Gemenon, Sinclair and Rand are having sex when a massive headache hits Sinclair. He is still in his bunk, but Rand is standing over the bed, holding the holoband she just ripped off him and cupping her hand over his mouth. She whispers to him to get dressed and help her. The two make their way into one of the older compound buildings a few minutes later. Inside a vaulted hall, Rand finds dozens of dormant U-87s. She tells them to power up and all of them follow her order nearly in unison. She identifies the robot involved in the earlier incident, and commands it to raise its arm. After it complies, she asks, "Zoe, are you in there?" It does not speak or move. Rand orders all the robots to raise their arms if they are Zoe. Slowly, hesitantly, they begin to move. Sinclair is frightened by what he is seeing and drags Rand out.

Act 4

• Sinclair leads Rand away across the compound and out of the sight of an armed guard to a hiding space. He opens a box, takes out and assembles a device for smoking a drug that he calls "coto," and asks Rand about "Zoe." She gives him only vague details about her dead friend, but abruptly kisses him passionately. Sinclair is sufficiently distracted until Rand names her as Zoe Graystone, but Rand kisses him more passionately, and the two start to quietly make love.
• In another part of the compound, the Blessed Mother of the Monotheist Church make an unexpected visit to Diego's private tent. As she casually looks through his possessions, he assumes a formal tone and tells her that their inability to explain the puzzle of Rand's control over the U-87s is troubling. Mother, though, informs him that she is not troubled. Secrets are troubling, she says; secrets have clear answers that can be found, but answers are mundane. Mysteries, on the other hand, are wonderful in their endless possibilities, and if they are to remain mysteries, they should be left unanswered. Diego understands that she is not interested in an explanation, and neither should he. Mother pivots to another topic, the dangers that STO training poses to young recruits. She muses that it can be surprising that any of the recruits survive the process. Diego sees what he must do to remove Rand and to maintain the mystery. Mother hands him the ring of the late Obal Ferras, her promise to elevate Diego to a leadership position in the church if he succeeds.
• Sam calls Daniel and accepts his offer to enter New Cap City, but only for a price. After Daniel hangs up, Evelyn asks if Daniel suspects Sam's motives, but Sam is confident that he does not.
• After she returns home, Amanda tells Daniel about Duram's condition, assuring him that the attending emergency room physician will keep his presence in the hospital secret. Daniel tries contacting the GDD but Amanda stops him, convinced that they likely are the ones who attempted to assassinate Duram. She goes on to report that she did not find Clarice Willow's holoband anywhere on Duram's person. She asks Daniel to see Zoe soon.
• Nestor tries Clarice's holoband at their house, but finds only static. He checks the unit's e-number and confirms that the band is not hers. Olaf realizes who made the switch--Amanda Graystone. Clarice tries denying it but her husbands both know it is true, that someone else now possesses her holoband and all the incriminating information on it . . . and then it dawns on them that they killed and dismembered Mar-Beth for nothing. Olaf is furious that they murdered one of their own wives and the mother of their newborn child; Clarice almost becomes sick at the thought of it. Nestor calmly points out that twenty-four hours remain before their planned terrorist attack, which gives them enough time to retrieve the missing holoband and their virtual heaven. He asks how Clarice wants to deal with Amanda. She answers that she only wants to talk.

Act 5

• In his car at night, Sam dons a holoband and enters a lush temperate forest, dressed in riding gear. Amanda and Daniel hold hands in Daniel's laboratory and put on their own bands. The three of them set off on horseback into the trees and mist. Zoe feels their presence in New Cap City from the castle. She and Tamara wait for them.

Notes

• This episode confirms the identity of the orange planet in the vicinity of Caprica as Gemenon: a scene on Caprica ends with an orbital view panning up from Caprica and settling on the orange planet, and a new scene at the STO training camp on Gemenon begins.
• When Sam Adama and Fidelia Fazekas talk in Goldie's, Sam asks rhetorically, "My tax dollars at work?" This is almost certainly a mistake, given that the currency of Caprica (and possibly other worlds) is the cubit and dollars likely existed only on Earth many millennia later.

Questions

• Is the medical practitioner Amanda mentions to Daniel related to Sherman Cottle?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Duram praises Amanda for her work against the Willows as she walks away in shock:

Duram: You've done a great service for the people of Caprica. (Mumbling sadly to himself) You've done a great service for the people of Caprica.

• Evelyn and Sam argue about the Avenging Angels:

Sam: What do you want to do, Evelyn? You want to give up?

Evelyn: No. I want you to take Graystone up on his offer. I want you to go into the game, find the Tamara avatar, and kill it.

Sam: Graystone says it can't die.

Evelyn: Fine. Then you bury it. You weigh it down with virtual weights, put it into a virtual lake! Joseph needs to be rid of the dead things in his life. He needs to move on.

Sam: Yeah, move on to you.

Ruth angrily brings down her meat cleaver and glares at Sam, while Evelyn falls silent.

Sam: I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Ev. We'll do this, okay? We--I promise we'll keep him safe.

• Rand describes the original Zoe to Sinclair:

Rand: Zoe Graystone was a true believer in God's grace. An inspiration. She was my friend, and I loved her.

Guest Stars

• Meg Tilly as Mother
• Scott Porter as Nestor
• Ryan Robbins as Diego
• Ryan Kennedy as Odin Sinclair
• Chris Heyerdahl as Kevin Reikle
• Carmen Moore as Fidelia Fazekas
• Sina Najafi as William Adama
• Genevieve Buechner as Tamara Adama
• Panou as Olaf
• Teryl Rothery as Evelyn
• Jim Thomson as Voice of Serge
• Karen Elizabeth Austin as Ruth
• Eva Allan as Devanna
• Luc Roderique as Lexon
• Rob Boyce as STO Guard #1