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
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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 (Philomon and Drew) prepare the Cylon prototype for transport. Drew views Philomon's attempt to feminize the machine with disdain; indeed, he views the robot as merely another piece of machinery, much to Zoe-R's disgust.

Act 1

• The scene opens with various broadcasts on Caprica Network channels: a news piece featuring Global Defense Department Agent Jordan Durham on the Soldiers of the One monotheist terrorist group; a follow-up on GDD officers arresting suspects from the STO; a piece on Cubits & Pieces discussing the 52-week low on Graystone Industries stock; and a sports broadcast from the Atlas Arena covering the long-awaited pyramid match between the Caprica Buccaneers and the Olympian Stallions hosted by sports commentators Steve Bahara and Abasi Lowe.
• At this game, Daniel and Amanda Graystone watch from their private box. After the Caprican national anthem, Amanda leaves as she is not ready to be sociable as she once was.
• From the front of Promethia High School, Joseph Adama calls Daniel in to hopes of seeing the avatar of his departed daughter, although he doesn't openly state this. After the phone call, he realizes that he's at his daughter's old school and calls up Olson Elementary in order to get a message to his son, William Adama, about how he would be late.
• In the lab, Philomon is testing out voice commands for the Cylon prototype. His impatient associate becomes increasingly irate to the point of interrupting Philomon's tests, strapping down the unit forcibly, and notes how "she likes it rough"—mocking Philomon's preference of feminizing the robot. Zoe-R reacts painfully to this, but she does nothing as she is crated.
• Joseph arrives at his apartment, finding that William—playing a handheld video game—was able to get a ride home. William asks his father if he went to Tammy's school again: he lies, saying that he was held up in court. Joseph checks his answering machine, after which Ruth mentions receiving an invitation for a Memorial Event at Apollo Park on Junius 7, commemorating the loss of family members and friends at the Lev bombing—financed by Graystone Industires. Joseph exclaims "Frak the Graystones!" and storms off.
• Zoe-R begins to break free of the crate as she is being transported to the Graystone Estate.
• At the Estate, Amanda watches an old family video with a young Zoe playing in a waterpark. During this, Serge announces Agent Durham's presence at the front door. Amanda goes to meet him, bluntly informing him that he cannot search the premises due to her husband's defense work; he inquires as to Zoe's now-deceased boyfriend Ben Stark. Amanda does not know the name and has no knowledge that he was Zoe's boyfriend; Amanda claims that she wasn't "old enough" to have one. She closes the door on Durham thereafter.
• Arriving at the Estate, Philomon and his associate discover that the U-87 is working her way out of the crate. After a close call, Philomon talks the robot down pulls the MCP.
• Ruth, Joseph and William are having a Tauron dinner she prepared; Joseph stares off at an empty seat, while William fusses over the meal. After Joseph offers the comment of "maybe going out for some burgers," William proclaims that he may not be that full after all; Ruth and William clean up the table, after Ruth's proclamation that she wouldn't cook another Tauron meal. As Joseph grabs a plate, he "sees" his daughter as she reaches out to him; he is visibly unsettled.
• Drew and Philomon wheel Zoe-R to Daniel Graystone's lab. As Philomon offers his views on how the robot is able to do things that he thought no other robot would be able to do, Drew notices that a piece from the unit needs repair. Despite Philomon's objections that they run a diagnostic, Drew grabs a tool and begins to adjust the damaged facial component manually. As the tool reaches Zoe-R's face, she reacts and, as a result, severs a fingertip from Drew's left hand. Philomon finds the severed fingertip and he brings Drew away to obtain medical attention at a nearby hospital. Now free from their influence, Zoe-R begins to remove her restraints. She discovers blood on her cheek and wipes it off, seeing it on the gloved hand of the U-87 through her "eyes."

Act 2

• Amanda seeks out Lacy Rand, finding her on the footsteps outside her home wearing a holoband. Amanda attempts to strike up a conversation with Rand, which is cut short by Rand's mother calling for her. Before she goes, Amanda asks Rand what Zoe was running away from, but feigns ignorance to the subject and notes that there'd be a "new family waiting for us on Gemenon." Amanda does not react well to this particular revelation.
• As Daniel plays Nomion's 3rd Sonata on a piano in his lab, Philomon discusses his belief that the MCP is diffusing some of its control to the peripheral sub-units of the U-87 prototype. Daniel reminds Philomon that they have a contract for a 100,000 robots, not one.
• Rand makes it to Sister Willow's house for the lunch date, where she is introduced to Willow's various husbands and wives, in addition to children from said wives. Willow is first introduced to a shirtless Nestor, who notes that not only is Rand pretty, but it was "about time that someone in this family brought home someone interesting"; Nestor is Sister Willow's husband. Rand is then introduced to three wives (Mar-Beth, Helena and Desiree Willow) and her various husbands (Nestor, Tanner, Olaf and Rashawn). Tanner notes the various soups he's made, the last one being "squirrel." One of the wives notes that the stew is just regular. Nestor is called over to the table, and he seems a bit uncomfortable with Rand's presence at the lunch.
• Sam Adama and William are walking through Little Tauron, a part of Caprica where Sam and his brother Joseph grew up. Sam tells William that when hanging out there with Joseph and all the other Tauron kids that came there; Sam would try to pick up men while Joseph would get dates with the men's sisters. Sam picks up some food from one of the stands on the street, assuring William that he can do that here, since he knows the shop keepers—who can tell his whole story by his tattoos, or so he informs William.
• Sam receives a call on his cell, which prompts William to later ask if it was the Guatrau. Sam tells him never to use that name in public, as they are en route to "break something."
• After eating lunch, Rand sits down with Sister Willow and Nestor. Rand tells them that her mother is formal, whereas everyone in the Willow house is very comfortable with each other. Nestor, with Sister Willow's help, broaches the topic of Zoe Graystone and her computer work; Nestor reveals that his studies are in computers. He notes that software exists that was written decades ago and that such programs can outlive their writers, and that Zoe was an artist and that her work will live on. The conversation becomes more awkward from there.
• In his lab, Daniel is listening to a sportscast on the Caprica Buccaneers while he lets the "old subconscious" find the answers when his wife enters. Upon seeing Zoe-R, she makes a crack that she once saw the "guy in a movie once" and that the robot was a "monster." She then brings up the subject of the memorial, believing that they attend it; Daniel comes up with various excuses, encouraging her to go. Caesar, the Graystone's dog, leaves Zoe-R's feet when summoned by Amanda; Serge informs Daniel that Joseph Adama is at the front gate, requesting entry. Daniel denies it.
• Rand leaves the Willow household, where Tanner and Mar-Beth challenge Sister Willow on the reason why Rand was invited, claiming that she has a less than stellar "track record." She defends her position, claiming to be supporting a grieving student.
• In his office, Daniel plays a game of makeshift pyramid with balled-up crumpled paper, while Serge offers pre-programmed sentiments about how the crowd "goes frakking wild" and demands another hour of game time. He then continues his work on the U-87 problem while attempting to figure out where Zoe-A went.

Act 3

• Sam Adama and William make it to Sam's destination. As Sam talks about mechanics of automobiles, he picks up a trash can, empties its contents, and throws it through a window of a business. William is shocked at the blatant vandalism and is itching to run away from the cops that approach, but is stopped by Sam who states that running is admitting guilt. Sam and Officer Mendez are well acquainted with one another, submitting to arrest. Sam assures William that a phone call will fix the problem after they pay the "fine." He also tells William that "if you give them all the little things, they miss the big things."
• Amanda watches an old video of Rand and Zoe from her bed when Daniel enters. He inquires about her reason for going to the memorial, she admits that she doesn't even know why. Daniel opens up, saying that he doesn't even want to think about Zoe. He admits to being angry at everyone and everything. After the chat, he says that if she wants to go to the memorial, he would go with her. He jokes that the reason for going was that Serge has a crush on the U-87 and he wants to give them some time alone.
• Sam and William are released from jail, and he imparts more advice on his young nephew regarding guilt and smoking cigarettes.
• As Lacy returns home, Zoe-R calls her and tells her to come to the Graystone Estate.
• At the Adama apartment, William walks in to find his father waiting for him. He asks why he didn't attend the Tauron class, and William manipulates his way out of punishment by claiming that it's hard to be part of a family when there is no family.
• Sister Willow finds herself across from an Opium den she's never visited before. After being greeted by the tender, she asks for a private room and partakes in the drugs.
• Zoe-R visits Zoe's room, sitting on the bed while looking at a statue of a giraffe. The bed soon collapses under the weight of the robot. Lacy enters the room as Zoe-R continues searching through Zoe's belongings; Lacy is amazed by the robot. Zoe-R asks Lacy if she looks real to her, and while Lacy replies in the positive, Zoe-R explains her problems about being ordered about and even hurting a person who touched her. Lacy says that she doesn't know how to help. Zoe-R informs her that Zoe's original program was destroyed, and that she feels like three beings trapped in the same body—a Trinity, which Lacy calls her. Zoe-R is further conflicted when revealing that Amanda called her a "monster" upon seeing her. Lacy comforts Zoe-R, although she has her doubts.

Act 4

• On Junius 7 at mid-day, Daniel and Amanda Graystone attend the memorial for the victims of the Maglev 23 bombing. While there, Amanda wants to talk to the parents of students from Zoe's school, however Daniel attempts to dissuade her from doing so—and fails. While looking at a display at the memorial, she meets up with Natalie Stark who confirms Agent Jordan Durham's assertion that Ben Stark was Zoe's boyfriend.
• An irritated Joseph Adama approaches Daniel at the event. After Daniel waves away Sean, they begin discussing the avatars.
• Stark returns a small collection of Zoe's things that she found while cleaning out Ben's room to Amanda. Amongst these possessions is the infinity symbol brooch that she saw Zoe wear in a video earlier; she looks up from the brooch to see Agent Jordan Durham in the crowd staring back at her from across the park.
• Adama presses the issue of seeing Tamara-A again, while Daniel attempts to give him the runaround. He claims that she is gone, destroyed during a beta test to iron out the glitches in the avatar program. Adama fears that Tamara may be all alone in the virtual world, wondering where he went. Daniel abruptly leaves the conversation when he sees his wife take the stage.
• During her speech to the crowd (which is televised and is watched by many, including Ruth and Zoe-R), Amanda shares that she never knew her daughter and that her daughter not only died on the train, but she may have caused it.

Tag

• Still on stage, Amanda Graystone "reveals" that Zoe Graystone was a member of the Soldiers of the One, holding up the infinity symbol brooch that she was just given. Daniel rushes to the podium, telling Sean to help him and to have a car brought around. Emphatically, the grief-stricken Amanda declares, "My daughter was a terrorist!" The crowd becomes feral and frenzied, expressing their outrage.
• At the opium den, Sister Clarice Willow doodles in a notebook while listening to Amanda's pronouncement.
• Sean and Daniel make their way through the crowd outside a police barricade. The crowd becomes increasingly violent and Sean pulls out his pistol as the Graystones enter their vehicle. The crowd runs after the Graystones's vehicle as it speeds off, while Joseph Adama attempts to deal with his own rage in his stoic manner.

Notes

General

• 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.
• Serge's official twitter page explains that Lacy Rand was able to enter the Graystone house because Zoe-R told Serge to let her in.
• An obvious gaffe in this episode is the sign in the building adjoining the one that Sam Adama vandalizes. The sign features Chinese characters and, in English, says "Carley Quality Meat Ltd." Carley Quality Meat Ltd. is a company based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where Caprica is filmed.

Music

• 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."

Colonial Society

• Joseph Adama's car is a Citroën DS, a well-known French car produced between 1955 and 1975. Citroën cars were introduced in the Re-imagined Series's universe in the episode "Downloaded."
• 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.
• 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, stating that the memorial at Apollo Park takes place at midday on Junius 7th. 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? (Answer)
• 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?
• Why didn't Serge stop Lacy from entering the house, given that her security clearance was revoked in the pilot?

Noteworthy Dialogue

• Drew and Philomon's discuss the Cylon Prototype:

Drew: Great piece of engineering.

Philomon: Yeah, I know. She gives me the chills.

Drew: [glares at Philomon] "She?" Dude, stop feminizing it. It's weird. It's unnatural.

Philomon: I don't think there's anything wrong with feminizing it.

Drew: Nothing wrong with it? It's not a person. It's useful. Just a tool.

• Daniel Graystone is throwing crumpled balls of paper into a makeshift pyramid hoop in his home lab:

Daniel Graystone: Sudden death. Graystone steps up to the line and... [throws a crumpled ball, misses goal] Graystone lines up the shot, sees the angle—[throws another ball, makes the goal] Goal! What do you say to that Serge? We've been over this!

Serge: The crowd goes frakking wild, sir. They're tearing the seats. It's bedlam. [sounds of pre-recorded cheers come from Serge]

Daniel: Thank you! Thank you!

Serge: They demand another hour of game time, sir.

• Sam Adama and William Adama are about to be arrested by the police. Sam stops William from running off:

Sam Adama: Stick around! Stick around! If you run away, you're guilty of two things: the thing and the running away from the thing.

• Sam imparts more wisdom on William:

Sam Adama: If you give them all the little things, they miss the big things. Okay? Now you remember that. Good advice.

• Daniel opens up to his wife regarding his grief:

Daniel Graystone: I don't even want to think about her. I know it sounds awful but... it's true. I don't... I don't want to think... I don't want to think. I just feel awful, angry and numb.

Amanda Graystone: Angry at who?

Daniel: Everybody. Everything. Myself and the world. Her. The robot.

Amanda: The robot didn't do anything.

Daniel: [chuckles] No, it didn't. I'm just going a little crazy.

Amanda: Oh really? What's that like, huh?

Daniel: Oh, like you don't know... I sure love you. And if you want to still go to the memorial, I'll go with you.

Amanda: Because you're ready to think?

Daniel: Because I promised Serge some time alone with the U-87. [Amanda laughs] I think he's got a little crush...

Amanda: No!

Daniel: It's not pretty. It's not a pretty thing, but they need to be alone.

• After leaving the police station, Sam imparts even more wisdom on William:

Sam: Someone tries to make you feel guilty, you figure out what they feel guilty about. You talk about that. Also, don't smoke. You know why?

William: Uh, because it's bad for you maybe?

Sam: No. Life's bad for you. You don't smoke because they can get genetic data of a cigarette butt now.

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
• Unknown as Helena Willow
• Unknown as Olaf Willow
• Unknown as Rashawn Willow
• Unknown as J.G. Moon