There is Another Sky

"There is Another Sky" An episode of the Caprica Series
Episode No.	Season 1, Episode 5
Writer(s)	Kath Lingenfelter
Story by
Director	Michael Nankin
Assistant Director
Special guest(s)
Production No.
Nielsen Rating
US airdate	February 26, 2010
CAN airdate
UK airdate
DVD release
Population	{{{population}}} survivors
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Episode Chronology
Previous		Next
Gravedancing	There is Another Sky	Know Thy Enemy
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Overview

Tamara is forced to participate in a game in a trade with those who claim to help her return to reality. Joseph tries to reconnect with his son. Daniel keeps himself from being removed by his own company by introducing the U-87.

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Summary

Teaser

• Sam Adama enters his brother's apartment in the morning, and finds Willie listening to music and playing with a computer instead of going to school--and Joseph asleep on the sofa. Sam wakes him roughly. Joseph insists that he will take Willie to school, but Sam and Willie both insist on going together. Sam asks Joseph whether he will go to work today, and after getting no answer, he chastises his brother for failing both his image as a Tauron and his son.
• In V-World, Tamara Adama walks into a caged area and pushes through a line until a pair of teenagers stop her. She tells them that she is looking for Vesta, since she appears to be the only one who can help Tamara get back to the real world. At a round table, Vesta is accepting bets. She signals, lights in the room begin to flash, and a wheel with handguns spins on the tabletop. The wheel stops. Each player takes a gun, points it at their own head, and pulls the trigger. One man's gun fires and he instantly de-rezzes. Tamara realizes that this is a way home.
• She intrudes on the roulette game, telling Vesta that she wants to play. Vesta recognizes her as "the girl who can't get out" and tells her to just remove her band. Tamara barely has time to say "I can't" when Vesta produces another gun and fires. Tamara falls to the floor, bleeding and crying, but she does not leave V-World. The crowd is stunned. Vesta kneels next to Tamara, telling her that they are going to help each other.

Act 1

• Gathered around Tamara, Vesta and her follwers speculate on Tamara's status: she is asleep or unconscious or in a coma, but with her holoband malfunctioning, since the device should have timed out. Tamara figures oput that Vesta wants something in return for their assistance. Vesta says that she wants help in striking an adversary. Vesta's followers marvel that Tamara's gunshot wound has completely healed, something that never occurs in V-world.
• Still at home, Joseph recevies a call from Principal Andrews: Willie has been out of school since the middle of the previous week.
• Joseph finds Willie at the Tauron social club on Gore Avenue, wearing an apron and interacting with the Ha'la'tha there. He angrily demands that Willie leave. Before going, Sam tells his brother that he has lost Willie.
• Heracles, one of Vesta's followers, pulls Tamara through an underground tunnel by the wrist, giving her a few more details about their objective. Both of them are dressed in styish formal clothes that do not resemble the norm for Caprica. They emerge onto a hotel fire escape overlooking a noisy, lower technology version of Caprica City at night. An airship prowls the city. It launches fighter planes that fire at the street and at them, forcing them to take cover. "Welcome to New Cap City," Heracles tells her.
• Safe in the hotel room, Heracles tells Tamara more about the game, that it mirrors and alters Caprcia City, down to the site of the Maglev 23 bombing. Tamara asks calmly, "A maglev train blew up?" "How long have you been asleep?" He goes on to tell her that although players can accumulate points and money in New Cap City, no one knows the ultimate object of the game.
• Joseph is working at home when he stumbles upon pictures of him, Willie, his wife, and Tamara on a fishing trip. He starts to cry.
• In a lower east side bar, Heracles and Tamara stalk Chiron, the best gamer in New Cap City. Heracles briefly mentions the plan to steal Chiron's avatar in order to gain access to his money. A few minutes later, Tamara moves toward Chiron, an overweight older man surrounded by pretty teenaged boys and girls and a number of bodyguards. Tamara claims to be an ignored girlfriend pleading for attention. Just as Chiron's patience is about to run out, Tamara produces a gun and takes out a bodyguard (who de-rezzes from the game) before she herself is shot. Like before, everyone is drawn to her as she cries in pain on the floor. While Chiron and the others are distracted, Heracles sneaks up behind Chiron and touches him with a device. Chiron looks up, puzzled but nothing more. A moment later, Heracles is running through the street, carrying Tamara.

Notes

• Lacy Rand, Clarice Willow and Jordan Durham do not appear in this episode.
• According to the audio commentary for the episode, New Cap City is a reference to the film New Jack City.

Analysis

• The Tauron Funeral Rite as seen in this episode mirrors the Ancient Greek rite of placing a coin on the head of the dead for the Charon, the ferryman who took the souls of the dead across the Rivers Styx and Acheron to Hades (The Underworld). In Ancient Greece it was two coins for each person to be placed on each eye; however, in the case of the Tauron rite it was a single coin each. The ceremony also differs in that it involved the Tauron custom of applying tattoos.
• Logically, Zoe-A has the same capabilities that Tamara-A does, though we have not seen this. It is possible that this is because she, like Tamara at the beginning of the episode, does not know about her capabilities. Another possibility is that she simply hasn't seen any reason to use them.
• It is likely that Heracles ran away because he did not believe Vesta's claim that Tamara was really dead. This is evidenced by his statement to Joseph Adama was in trouble and that he should "wake her up." When Joseph told him that Tamara was dead, his demeanor changed rapidly.
• Daniel Graystone's speech to the board about the Cylons might seem self-destructive at first glance and, in the long run, it certainly is. However, it is possible that when he talked about the U-87 appearing sapient he did not, in fact, mean that it was, but rather that it did an excellent job at imitating a human connection. Alternatively, he may believe that sapience and free will are not necessarily linked and that the U-87 can be both sapient and completely obedient. This latter scenario has a precedent in famed sci-fi author Isaac Asimov's work, which imagines a society in which (sapient) robots carry out the commands of their human overlords without hesitation, but who are nonetheless capable of conscious thought, rationalization, and self-inquiry. Whatever the case, it's clear that Graystone miscalculated, as the Cylons do, in fact, eventually rebel.
• This episode marks the first time that a specific street address is given for a location in the re-imagined continuity: the Adama apartment is located at 615 Olympic #3 in Caprica City.

Questions

• What will happen to Tamara-A now that she is aware of her abilities within the V-world?
• Will Joseph find Heracles? If so, will he lead him to Tamara? (Partial answer)
• Will Daniel's treatment of the U-87 in the board meeting affect Zoe-R's behavior?
• Does Willie ever learn of his sister's avatar?
• Will the funeral improve Willie and Joseph's relationship, as Sam indicated it would?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Sam Adama is arguing with his brother Joseph about his detachment from work and family:

Sam: First, you be a father, and when you can manage that, maybe I'll introduce you to your son.

Guest Stars

• Luciana Carro as Priyah Magnus
• Karen Elizabeth Austin as Ruth
• Camille Mitchell as Vesta
• Sina Najafi as William Adama
• Hiro Kanagawa as Cyrus Xander
• Genevieve Buechner as Tamara Adama
• Julius Chapple as Larry
• Richard Harmon as Heracles
• AC Peterson as Chiron
• Eve Harlow as Byun
• Travis Turner as Ashok
• Graham Chabot as Big Kid
• Thomas Saunders as Jon Parker
• Ian A. Wallace as Ferryman
• Patti Allan as Tauron Rites Singer
• Jim Ralph as Chiron's Bank Guard
• Charles Andre as Rail Thin Man
• Zolton Crane as Man

Galactica 1980 definition: Dillon looks up this term after Gloria Alonzo asks if he has one ^{(1980: "Space Croppers")}