The Dirteaters

For the anti-Tauron racial slur, see: dirt eater.

"The Dirteaters" An episode of the Caprica Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 15
Writer(s)	Matthew B. Roberts
Story by
Director	John Dahl
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.	115
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	4 January 2011
CAN airdate	November 9, 2010
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	{{{population}}} survivors
Additional Info
Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Blowback	The Dirteaters	The Heavens Will Rise
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
Amazon: Standard Definition | High Definition
iTunes: [{{{itunes}}} USA]

Overview

Joseph and Sam Adama reflect on the horrors of their childhood and their loyalty to the Guatrau. Zoe-A and Tamara-A come to understand the extent of their power in V-World. Agent Duram's investigation is thwarted from within the GDD itself.

Summary

Teaser

• Formally dressed Ha'la'tha members gather in a back room of Goldie's for a ceremony to make Joseph Adama a full member and to elevate his younger brother Sam to captain. Joseph privately confesses that he feels terrible about this event in light of business ties to the STO terrorist group and orders to assassinate Daniel Graystone. Sam blithely dismisses his concerns about Graystone. At that moment, the Guatrau arrives. He fondly recalls his first encounter with the two when they were boys in a refugee camp, when Sam tried to pick his pocket and Joseph showed his quiet, calculating manner. He kisses both of them and the ceremony begins with the lighting of a skivvy malanos lamp.
• Thirty years earlier on Tauron, William Adama Sr. lights a skivvy malanos on the kitchen table of the Adama family home, and prepares to give young Joseph--"Yoseef" in the Tauron language--a tattoo of manhood. He praises Yoseef's successful learning of prayers and religious texts. After asking Yoseef to find his ceremonial robes, William turns to a sullen-looking Sam and asks him to support his older brother on this day. He assures Sam that he is already a man, and that his time to receive his own mark will come.
• Isabelle Adama enters the kitchen with news that Heraclitus regime troops were arriving, likely as a reprisal for the resistance blowing up grain silos. William is uncomfortable about the resistance's tactics, while Isabelle sees them as appropriate. The four family members sit at the table, and as the boys' parents warn them against the dangers of the Heracs, William shows them a small vial of kapi, suicide capsules to be used if no other options remain. He tells them that like their own ancestors, it is a point of personal honor for someone to decide for themselves how they would "return to the soil."

Notes

• "Dirt eater" is a derogatory term for a Tauron.
• Joseph is seen for the first time with the lighter that, according to his son William, he always carried with him into court when arguing cases. Nearly sixty years later, William lends the same lighter to his own son for good luck before a key battle (TRS: "The Hand of God").
• Black-and-white film of atrocity victims from the Tauron Civil War is taken (at least in part) from footage of bodies discovered in Nazi concentration camps by Allied forces at the end of World War II

Analysis

• After being gunned down in New Cap City, Olaf complains that he had been working on his avatar inside the game for five years. This puts a minimum age on the game, and possibly approximates the age of holoband technology.

Official Statements

• From an interview with Scifi Wire:
  • Esai Morales: "There's one we unofficially call 'Adama-rama.' It's called 'Dirt Eaters' and it shows the history of my brother (Sasha Roiz) and I on the show, our history when we were little, when he was actually shorter than me."

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Nestor stands alongside Olaf in the Slash & Cut bar in New Cap City, challenging Zoe-A:

Nestor: You look nothing like Zoe Graystone. Whoever programmed you was a hack.

Guest Stars

• Scott Porter as Nestor Willow
• Peter Wingfield as Gara Singh
• Jorge Montesi as The Guatrau
• Aleks Paunovic as William Adama Sr.
• Elisabeth Rosen as Kolibri
• Sina Najafi as William Adama
• Genevieve Buechner as Tamara Adama
• Panou as Olaf Willow
• Teryl Rothery as Evelyn
• Jim Thomson as Voice of Serge
• Christian Tessier as Francis
• Alison Araya as Isabelle Adama
• Daleal Monjazeb as Young Joseph
• Alexander Kambolis as Young Sam
• Diego Diablo Del Mar as Bartender
• William C. Vaughan as Fan Boy
• Nicola Anderson as GDD Receptionist
• Colin Decker as Herac Soldier