Fumarella smoking

Kara "Starbuck" Thrace smoking a cigarette following a Triad game ^{(TRS: "Water")}.

Fumarella smoking is a popular passtime throughout the Twelve Colonies. Smoking is a common practice seen in both civilian and military life in the years leading up to and following the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.

Of the items "smoked," cigars and cigarettes made of Fumarella leaf are the predominantly, and more publicly, consumed. Non-fumarella products, such as chamalla, coto, and opium, tend to be privately consumed.

Re-imagined Series

Characters such as Kara Thrace, Saul Tigh, and President Laura Roslin frequently partake in smoking at various times, including Dr. Sherman Cottle. For pilots and military personnel, smoking often appears as a way to cope with stress.

Caprica

Smoking is a pervasive cultural element in Caprica, used to define character and establish the show's unique aesthetic. Unlike in the Re-imagined Series, where it is often a stress response, smoking in Caprica is portrayed as a common social activity. Characters like Joseph Adama and Daniel Graystone are rarely seen without a cigarette, and their first meeting and subsequent bonding occurs over hours of smoking and drinking coffee in a cafe.

Behind the Scenes

Because smoking is cool. Don't let anyone tell you different, kid. [...] Seriously, we're showing people doing what people really do and not all of their choices are smart ones. We smoke, we drink, we have sex with the wrong partners—we make lots of bad choices and some of them we do knowingly and in full cognizance of the risks and consequences. Dr. Cottle obviously knows the risks associated with smoking and he elects to do it anyway — that's his choice.

—Ronald D. Moore, Moore's blog entry (February 19, 2005)

The prevalence of smoking in Caprica was a deliberate and multi-layered creative choice by the producers, intended to achieve several effects:

• Aesthetic and Tone: Smoking, along with the use of hats and vintage cars, was used to give the series a "period piece" feel, visually separating it from the era of the Re-imagined Series.
• Character Bonding: The act of sharing a cigarette was intentionally used as a bonding device, serving as the foundation for the complex relationship between Daniel Graystone and Joseph Adama following the deaths of their daughters.
• Creative Defiance: Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore admitted to including it with a "perverse sense of putting smoking in people's faces," as a defiant statement against modern "anti-smoking fanatics."
• Production Awareness: The amount of smoking was so noticeable that a network executive on set asked if everyone in the show was going to smoke. Co-creator David Eick acknowledged that watching "scene after scene" of smoking sometimes felt "contrived" during filming.

Of note, Ronald D. Moore is a tobacco smoker, and often smokes (and drinks) while recording his podcasts.

References