Rebirth

"Rebirth" An episode of the Caprica Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 2
Writer(s)	Mark Verheiden
Story by
Director	Jonas Pate
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	102
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	January 29, 2010
CAN airdate
UK airdate	February 10, 2010
DVD release
Population	{{{population}}} survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Caprica pilot	Rebirth	The Reins of a Waterfall
Related Information
Official Summary
R&D Skit – View
[[IMDB:tt{{{imdb}}}|IMDb entry]]
Listing of props for this episode
Related Media
			@ BW Media
Promotional Materials
Online Purchasing
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Overview

Zoe's attachment to the Cylon Prototype makes it difficult for Daniel and his company to duplicate success with other U-87 units. Amanda looks into her daughter's life and finds that she barely knew the real Zoe. Sister Clarice invites Lacy for dinner, as Sam begins to exert a bad influence on his nephew.

Summary

Teaser

All events in this episode occur one month after the bombing of Maglev 23, depicted in the pilot. The main part of the pilot started two weeks after the bombing.

• At a lab in Graystone Industries, Cyrus Xander informs Daniel Graystone that the meta-cognitive processor (MCP) only works in the original U-87 prototype body; they are unaware that Zoe-A inhabits the body. Attempts to install the chip in any other body result in the other units becoming "morons." The technicians attempt to determine what makes the bonding between the MCP and U-87 body unique. Xander notes that the military liaison is giving him grief.
• Graystone orders the unit be transported to his private lab at his residence.
• At the estate, Amanda Graystone searches for old home movies of Zoe, enlisting Serge to help.
• At the Athena Academy, Sister Clarice Willow approaches Lacy Rand at the end class, asking if she received the lunch invitation for Saturday. Rand says that she hasn't been to a teacher's house before and is uneasy about the invitation, but ultimately agrees to the lunch date.
• Zoe-R calls Rand at the school. Zoe-R is losing track of time and is having dreams of not only her life as an avatar, but of the original Zoe's life as well. Rand offers to tell Sister Willow about the situation, but Zoe-R rejects the notion, believing that the only control she has is that no one knows she exists. After securing Rand's promise to not inform anyone, Zoe-R hangs up and returns to her place in the lab, where two of Graystone's technicians prepare the Cylon prototype for transport.

Notes

• The musical piece Daniel Graystone is playing on the piano in his lab is the second movement of Nomion's 3rd Sonata.
• In this episode, Bear McCreary introduces a specific theme for Sister Clarice Willow entitled "Clarice Theme."
• Joseph Adama's car is a Citroën DS, a well-known French car produced between 1955 and 1975.
• The sign over the window smashed by Sam says "ποιοτητα εκτύπωσης σε λογικές τιμές", which means "quality printing at a reasonable price" in modern Greek.
• The episode uses the visual effect of switching between Alessandra Toressani and the robot. This both conveys how Zoe-R thinks of herself and makes her more sympathetic to the audience.
• Colonial society is confirmed to use a 52 week year as demonstrated by the use of the "52 week low" in the Cubits & Pieces telecast on Graystone Industries.
• Further, this episode marks the establishment of both day and month names in the Re-imagined Series universe. Established is the day name "Saturday" (as evidenced by the conversation between Lacy Rand and Sister Clarice Willow) and the month name "Junius" on the Memorial Event card that Joseph receives at his apartment. By their existence, these names also introduce two Gods from the Roman pantheon: Saturn and Juno.
• This episode introduces another Lord of Kobol in the pantheon, Atlas, in keeping with the Greek influences established in the Re-imagined Series.

Analysis

• Homosexuality is totally accepted by Caprican society. William Adama's uncle Sam Adama had no reluctance in telling how his brother Joseph, William's father, would win dates with the sister of the boys Sam would flirt with but would strike out when the two brothers were close to William's age. On modern Earth even in the most liberal modern countries, homosexuality is not usually discussed with frankness around or with children.
  • In further contrast to modern Earth, where although homosexuality is gaining acceptance in most "First World" countries it is still viewed negatively by much of the world and is actually illegal and punishable by death in some countries, primarily in the Middle East. In ancient Greece and Rome, and in a few other cultures, homosexuality was much more widely accepted as part of life, but even in that time and place the union of man and woman was the ideal, with homosexuality seen as a pleasurable dalliance at most.
• Polygamous or plural marriages are legal in Caprican society. Sister Clarice Willow, so far the only person revealed in the series to have one, has three wives - Mar-Beth, Helena, and Desiree Willow (they use Desiree's last name as the family name) and at least four husbands - Olaf, Nestor, Tanner, and Reshawn - including a few that she didn't know if they were presently in the house or not. They range across the board in both ethnic appearance and age, including a husband that could had been young enough to be her son (Nestor). The family has children, and Mar-Beth is currently pregnant.
  • Judging from Lacy Rand's reaction, the practice is unusual but not against general social mores. Her reaction is similar to that of a person in modern America who just discovered a friend was in a homosexual relationship or, in 1980's America, in a relationship with someone of a different skin color, i.e. surprised but accepting. The fact that she feels compelled to say, "It's cool" implies that at least some people on Caprica would consider it not cool, but she also noted that she knew several kids that were from group marriages.
  • The Willow group marriage is different from the majority of polygamous marriages in those Earth cultures which allow the practice, which tend to be strictly polygynous, heterosexual, and patriarchal. In these arrangements, a man has multiple wives, who have no other husbands, do not engage in intimate relations with the other wives, and have an unequal relationship with their husband. Polyandry, where the woman has multiple husbands, and examples involving homosexual relations do historically and presently exist. There is, however, no known example of a culture where a group marriage would be polyandrous and polygynous.
• The Soldiers of the One is viewed by many (including the Caprican security forces) as a terrorist group, but that may be a simplistic and overly monolithic view. The original Zoe Graystone had been a member of the group. Nevertheless, she never appeared to advocate violent action, and was horrified when Stark revealed his bomb seconds before it was detonated. Stark's unwillingness to inform her ahead of time suggests that those in the STO who advocate terrorism must operate separately from those who do not.
• Ruth continues her attempts at trying to introduce William Adama to his Tauron roots by cooking a Tauron meal, but ultimately ends in failure on her part. Interestingly, Willie begins to bond with Joseph's brother, Sam Adama, who introduces him to a different aspect of Tauron culture: the Ha'la'tha and the Guatrau.
• Zoe was more comfortable with Ben's family than with her own. She visited Ben's house and Natalie Stark was well aware of her relationship with her son, whereas Ben never visited the Graystone house and Zoe's parents didn't even know he existed.
• Amanda and Zoe's disconnect goes beyond Amanda knowing nothing of Zoe's religious and political affiliations. Amanda states that her daughter was too young to have a boyfriend, yet at 16 this is certainly not true. This is perhaps due to the idealization that many parents have of their children, thinking that they are more innocent and unworldly than they actually are.
• Sam Adama showed William how to be a successful criminal including taking William along to intimidate a store owner by smashing his window after he got the assignment to do so from his boss over his cellphone. The policeman was right when he half jokingly accused Sam of running a criminal school as he handcuffed Sam and his partner handcuffed William, for Sam was in fact corrupting a minor. His teachings included making other people feel guilty about something when they try to make you feel guilty about something. He put the lesson to use when he deflected his father's accusations when he confronted William about his absence from school and his responsibility to the family by saying they haven't been much of a family lately. As his father guiltily hugged him William smiled at his new found ability to manipulate.
• Lacy made reference to Zoe-R being a Trinity, "...three faces of one thing" when Zoe described her confusion of being Zoe, The Avatar and the Robot. The real world equivalent is in most forms of Christianity refer to God as The father , the son and the Holy Spirit as The Trinity. There is also the concept of the Trimurti in Hinduism.

Questions

• Is Zoe developing feelings for Philomon? If he finds out about her being in the U-87, will he become an ally?
• Why does Sam throw the trashcan through the store window?
• Why does Sam not want William to say the name "Guatrau"?
• Where is Tamara's avatar now?
• What is the previous incident that Clarice's spouses refer to? Did it involve inappropriate relations with a student?
• Is Clarice beginning a downward slide when she visits the Dive Bar?
• Under what circumstances in her past did Clarice smoke before?
• How much did Natalie know about her son's activities?
• Are Nestor and Clarice trying to get information out of Lacy about Zoe-A?
• How is the common surname of a group marriage agreed upon?
• Did all the Willow spouses enter into the marriage at the same time?
• Is the Willow group marriage a cover for STO activities?

Guest stars

• Scott Porter as Nestor Willow
• Avan Jogia as Ben Stark
• Alex Arsenault as Philomon
• Sina Najafi as William Adama
• Hiro Kanagawa as Cyrus Xander
• Karen Austin as Ruth
• Genevieve Buechner as Tamara Adama
• Jim Thomson as Voice of Serge
• Francoise Yip as Desiree Willow
• Philip Granger as Tanner Willow
• Anita Torrance as Mar-Beth Willow
• James Pizzinato as Drew
• Michael Eklund as Waylon
• Renu Bakshi as Abasi Lowe
• Dale Wolfe as Steve Bahara
• Feguins Toussaint as Bodyguard Sean
• Greg Webb as Man at the Mic
• Nimet Kanji as Natalie Stark
• Darryl Scheelar as Officer Mendez
• Jeanettea Antonio as Female at the Mic
• Kailyn Stratton as Six-year-old Zoe
• Brady Schlecker as Angry Crowd
• Mario Casoria as Angry Crowd
• Hannah as Caesar the Dog