Unvanquished

Unvanquished is an episode of the TV series Caprica. It is the tenth episode of the series, and the first episode of Season 1.5. It was also the first episode to be broadcast on a Tuesday night timeslot rather than Friday, and begun a trend of episodes that pulled in below 1 million viewers on the first showing."Retribution" DVD commentary with David Eick, Tom Lieber and Magda Apanowicz.
== Plot ==
Three weeks have passed since the events of End of Line. With Graystone Industries now under the control of Tomas Vergis, a televised press conference announces they are completing their mass-production of 1000 "battle units" for the Caprican government, which will arrive on time and on budget. On another TV channel, Agent Jordan Durham tells reporters the GDD investigation of the bombing of Sister Clarice Willow's car points to the STO. On another, Baxter Sarno makes a joke about the wings of a statue of Icraus melting. The Caprica Buccaneers are set to play the Gemenon Twins, and are favoured to add another to their seven-game winning streak under Vergis. On another channel, Pantheon Bridge is still closed amid the apparent suicide of the "controversial" Dr. Amanda Graystone. All of these is watched by Dr. Daniel Graystone at his house. Having grown a beard over the past three weeks, he is a wreck.
A woman takes her daughter, Ada, to a Buccaneers game at Atlas Arena. Ada is acting nervous, but is otherwise OK. As she enters, a man points his nose to her as a symbol. The two are STO members. As she leaves, the man takes his position by a bin. Another man walks past an elderly woman, and performs the same symbol. Ada takes her seat in the stadium and takes a bomb out of her pink backpack, placing it under her seat as another man performs the symbol to her. She sees a young child with a bomb under her seat too. As the match begins, all the STO members, who have sat down, recite their prayers: "May the One True God drive out the many[...]", "that I might find forgiveness in this life", "and redemption in the next", "Hear my prayer, O God in Heaven", "so say we all." Their bombs explode and cause massive destruction across the arena, destroying the statue of Atlas in doing so. Sister Clarice Willow, who has been watching this unfold, takes off her Holoband to reveal it was all a V-World simulation. She is really in Gemenon, having demonstrated a planned attack to the Gemenese leadership. The elders are disappointed in her proposal. A terrorist attack will drive away prospective converts to Monotheism rather than the Apotheosis program which would bring in converts. Sister Clarice insists they continue into the simulation. 30,000 Capricans, she estimates, will die in the attack, with those who accepted the One True God being granted digital immortality. The terrorists in the earlier simulation, NPCs, re-appear in a new V-World realm, praising God for saving them. Sister Clarice explains that the confirmable existence of these sentient recreations will drive many to Monotheism, and that the contradictions of science and faith will become irrelevant.
=== Act 1 ===
Dr. Daniel Graystone wakes up on the sofa in the afternoon. Late, he quickly washes his hair in the sink. Driven out by his personal driver, he attends a meeting with the Guatrau, with Joseph Adama in attendance. Having initially offered a covert shipment of battle robots, he instead offers a cure for grief in the meeting, offering the same resurrection program he used to create Tamara-A. The Guatrau lost his son the year before, and Daniel his daughter and now his wife. With the resurrection program, he offers him a personal incentive. The Guatrau tells him and Sam to wait outside while he discusses it with Joseph. 
On Gemenon, Sister Clarice discusses her recent proposal to one of the elders, Obal Ferras. Among the oldest of the Monotheist elders, he is skeptical of the digital world idea, joking that the dream of eternal life is better than living one. He insists she leave religious issues to the church leaders and not the STO. She likewise insists there is much overlap, and demands to see the Blessed Mother.
Back on Caprica, Joseph tells the Guatrau how little he respects Daniel and his offer, showing personal disgust at the idea of a rich man buying his way out of grief. He adds that Daniel believes he can simply use the Ha'la'tha to get what he wants and leave them when done. The Guatrau learns Daniel has already created digital people before with Tamara, and how she had no heartbeat and was terrified. Joseph advises him they not pursue the technology and move on with their lives. As he leaves, the Guatrau gives him official membership in the Ha'la'tha in honour of his service. 
=== Act 2 ===
Obal discusses the proposal with the Blessed Mother. He respects Sister Clarice as a child sculpted in Monotheist values. However, he finds her views of digital resurrection blasphemous, and warns her her long service to the STO could risk her simply overthrowing the Church to get what she wants. Obal Ferras is willing to have her assassinated if need be, and she agrees. Obal leaves behind a Holoband as he leaves her with her tea.
Joseph and Sam Adama arrive at Daniel's house. They have reached out to his old board of directors, and see a good chance of success. No comes the payment, which Daniel understands will mean the Ha'la'tha bleeding Graystone Industries dry to fund their own criminal ventures, with Sam adding they will sell off whatever is left. Joseph is perplexed: why ask the Ha'la'tha for help if he believes this. Daniel thinks he can persuade the Guatrau he is more valuable as the head of an operating company as he could offer more money in the long run. Sam takes out a briefcase containing a remote detonator to a car bomb. Daniel's mother, Phoebus, is driving to her friend Irene's house. The detonator is armed, and Daniel is told to press the button to demonstrate his willingness to the cause. He believes it is a bluff, is hesitant to press the button. He leaves the deal, and Joseph thanks him for showing where he draws the line on where he will go.
=== Act 3 ===
Lacy Rand is with Barnabas Greeley, who conducts another prayer circle while he cuts his hand with a knife. He notices Lacy is not praying with him, and wonders if she is truly committed to the cause if she does not understand the ritual. She cuts herself and drops her blood into a bowl with the others to show her commitment. The bowl is poured carefully on a breadboard to draw an infinity symbol.
Sister Clarice sits with Diego, another leading STO member. He describes where they are on Gemenon, with the Monotheists inhabiting a small mountain range with Polytheists to the east and the Hephaestons to the west. Diego hears there is a plot by the Church to kill her, which the STO is not privy to confirmation on. Sister Clarice sees this as a contrast to how things occurred in 1932, where the STO was the dominant of the two and both were treated as saviours for keeping the Church alive. She is disgusted that the Church's peacefulness is bordering on accepting the Polytheists. The two kiss.
At Graystone Industries, Tomas Vergis heads to the lab with Cyrus Xander. They are unable to get the rebellious prototype to function again. Vergis suggests they have it melted, which Xander is glad to see the end of it, seeing it as Daniel's obsession.
Sister Willow thinks back to when Zoe Graystone showed her the Apotheosis program, but is interrupted by Obal, who takes her away to a meeting. Obal wants to know if she wants the program to serve God, or if she just wants to "be" God. He takes her to an empty hall where the Blessed Mother is not in attendance. As STO members arrive, she realises he has indeed ordered her death, with Diego the one ordered to do it. The Blessed Mother arrives on a balcony to witness the killing. Diego instead takes his knife out and stabs Obal, claiming it is his punishment for putting himself before the Church. Others crowd around and stab him dozens more times. The Blessed Mother leaves to a fire as Sister Clarice arrives to attend her intended meeting with her. She kneels before her as is custom. Asking why she rejects Apotheosis, the Blessed Mother tells her she believes only God should have a role in such things and others should only follow him. She asks what it will take to complete her program, and agrees to the proposal of ensuring total control over all Caprican STO cells.
=== Act 4 ===
Back at the Graystone residence, Daniel starts a screen answerphone message to Amanda's phone, which he uses as a means of confiding in her his feelings. Xander arrives at the house, where he gives him the news the prototype is to be melted. The MCP could not boot up, though was successfully replicated. The mass-produced robots do not display the same kind of artificial sentience the original did, but they are better than the 'dumb' MCP copies they previously had, good enough for the military. Daniel is disappointed Xander only saw the robots as military equipment, not as the new lifeform he sold the idea to the board. He warns him to keep his head down while he works for Vergis. Daniel meets once more with the Guatrau and completes a meeting, while at the lab, Xander orders the prototype be placed in a storage crate, believing Daniel may one day be back for it.
In New Cap City, a hooded figure walks down the streets. Spotted by a gang, they ask if the figure is one of the so-called "dead walkers". The figure takes their hood off, revealing to be Zoe-A. The gang begin attacking her with blunt objects, but she begins fighting back with a sword. The leader, with Tamara-A's symbol on his forehead, takes out a gun and threatens to shoot Zoe-A with it. He has heard that while she cannot die, she can bleed and feel pain, which he wants to experience. Zoe-A concentrates, and is able to cause a bug in his Holoband connection, leaving him both unable to fire the gun, run, and unable to quit the game to save his character. Zoe asks about the symbol, which she hears belongs to the other "dead walker". He does not know, so she kills him.
=== Act 5 ===
In a cabin, Amanda watches Daniel's video message on her laptop, revealing she survived her suicide attempt, but has left her husband. She tries to make a response video, but can only tell him she cannot talk. Sister Clarice opens the door and sits on the bed with her, having returned from her trip.
==Production==
=== Writing ===
The episode was originally written by Ryan Mottesheard, though Ron D. Moore tasked Kevin Murphy with re-writes. Like how Season 1.0 was retroactively edited to better spread out concurrent storylines, Moore recognised that the Season 1.5 opening needed re-writes to better explain the show's message. While it was already emerging in Season 1.0 that Sister Clarice was one antagonist out of the wider STO, little had been agreed on as to what Clarice's end-goal was in Apotheosis.DVD Commentary with Kevin Murphy. Per Moore's instructions, Murphy added in scenes that better explained how Colonial society had become so scientifically advanced that the only way religion could flourish would be to offer certainty. Apotheosis, therefore, is an artificial Heaven that can be proven to exist in order to drive in followers, a cynical concept other Monotheists are disgusted by. The character of Obal was purposely written in by Murphy to represent the old guard of Monotheism to drive in how their values conflict.
Murphy had the idea that Clarice had a parasitic sexual relationship with Obal during the previous STO campaign.
The character of the Blessed Mother was based on characters typically played by her actress, Meg Tilly. Stoltz was a friend of Tilly, who had retired from acting, and the character was written to make her more likely to accept the offer. Tilly had actually been in a film with her co-guest star, Winston Rekert before, the 1985 film Agnes of God, which also cast her as a nun, while Rekert played a priest in Battlestar Galactica.DVD Commentary with David Eick and Eric Stoltz.
Murphy's idea of Sister Clarice's disgust at the Church for its "cosy" relationship with the Polytheists was added as a reference to wars involving religious tension, particularly the Troubles. Peace was achieved ten years before the series' conclusion when the last conflict ended, and the STO's continued existence is viewed by the Church as an embarrassment.
The idea of keeping Zoe-A in V-World emerged as a means of saving up on the effects budget by mostly needing just Cylon props if they are seen, to eventually turn her into an android in the real world. There was some resistance towards her having god-like powers in V-World.
=== Directing ===
Eric Stoltz himself was put in the director seat for this episode, and is credited with certain ideas like for Daniel Graystone's scream to be cut with the bombing. Another idea of his was to have the camera cut back to Draniel after the opening credits upside down. The later idea required a whole week of preparation, as the attachment had to be delivered. Stoltz liked Aidan Dee's acting in her one scene due to both her line delivery and the way she had Hippolyta cut herself. The staff would joke she was playing the "head Manson girl". When it was decided the Gemenese fortress would be on a mountain, Stoltz asked for an STO member standing on the cliff to wear a ski-mask. Zoe-A's actress, Allesandra Torresani, is a trained martial artist, and this allowed her to perform her fight scene.
=== Post-production ===
Inspired by the TV show Sanctuary, which heavily used CGI, the Gemenese fortress and its cliffs were made entirely in CGI with the exception of the occasional mock pillar, and multiple scenes were set in a tent to save up on money. To make it visually different from Caprica, Stoltz had the CGI team go for a hybrid of Egypt, Israel and Alaska, having originally envisioned the Taliban in Afghanistan wearing fur coats.
After filming wrapped up for the episode, it was felt that the scene where Daniel must decide whether or not to press a bomb switch managed to go beyond its core element, that the Ha'la'tha was tricking him into thinking he was going to kill his mother. Stoltz' last line was ADR'd in to remind audiences of the context. Stoltz wanted the Lacy scene to be removed; as it was her only scene in the episode, it felt out of place and not contributive to anything, but under Murphy's advise moved it from Act 1 to Act 3, having been inspired by so-called "mashed potato" scenes in Desperate Housewives.
Daniel Graystone's car was digitally manipulated to look ornate but not recognisable as a particular real world model.
=== Deleted scenes ===
Keon and Lacy walk through a park where she expresses her doubts about the STO. When she joined, Barnabas was frequently talking about abstaining from sex and drugs, but now he takes Hippolyta and Pann off for hours, with them coming back "half naked and glassy-eyed".
At the GDD building, Agents Durham and Singh argue about Sister Clarice again. He insists she is a monotheist and her polytheistic profession is all a sham. She volunteers at a clinic frequented by monotheists, and the rest of her household are known monotheists. It is, however, not illegal to be monotheist, so Durham's suspicions mean nothing at all. Lacy Rand is sitting in the office, waiting for an interview. Barnabas takes a seat next to her, believing she is there to snitch on him, but she offers evidence that the police arrived at her house to request her presence. He tries to rehearse her answers to possible questions, joking he should be in attendance to the meeting. Ready to leave, he threatens to have her killed, and her body dissolved in acid to be sent to her mother if she actually goes into that meeting.
Lacy and Keon meet up with Barnabas at his HQ, interrupting him with a topless girl.
==Cast==
* Jorge Montesi as The Guatrau
* Winston Rekert as Obal Ferras
* Ryan Robbins as Diego
* Hiro Kanagawa as Cyrus Xander
* Feguins Toussaint as Bodyguard Sean
* Liam Sproule as Keon
* Jim Thomson as Voice of Serge
* Zak Santiago as Pann
* Aidan Dee as Hippolyta
* Kacey Rohl as Ada (first appearance)
* Linnea Sharples as Ada's Mother (first appearance)
* Greg Rogers as Businessman (first appearance)
* Doreen Ramus as Elderly Woman (first appearance)
* Chris Robson as Father of Family (first appearance)
* Luke Camilleri as Brewer
==Further notes==
The DVD box-set gives two commentary tracks for this episode, one with Executive Producer Kevin Murphy, and another with Producers David Eick and actor Eric Stoltz.
==Sources==
== External links ==
*
10