S1E8: In the dark and gorgeous atmosphere of New Cap City, shadows layer shadows and a mere trek cross town can be the death of you. Unaccustomed to V-World technology, Joseph Adama is given drugs to amp up his instincts at the insistence of new guide Emanuelle. He’s a desperate father struggling to find his daughter–or her avatar, more specifically–but when we take extreme measures in the name of love, we become changed. It begs the question: Does the love change, too?

After a session of connect-the-dots, Daniel Graystone realizes his daughter’s avatar is the only explanation as to why the Cylon robot has evaded duplication. But A-Zoe doesn’t trust Daniel because the original Zoe didn’t trust him either. It quickly becomes a battle of wills, while she pretends to be only a robot, responding to commands and he attempts to expose her true identity.

Phase One of Daniel’s plan to reveal A-Zoe includes a detailed retelling of the night their first home caught fire and five-year old Zoe was trapped and screaming in her attic bedroom. Intermittently, he commands the Cylon to dismantle and reassemble a gun in almost nauseous repetition. A-Zoe becomes so worn down by the mundane task that when Daniel burns himself lighting a cigarette, she flinches at his sudden movement. He notices, but it’s not enough.

In order to handle himself in the lurking danger of NCC, Joseph needs to understand murder and so he asks Sam, who’s unaware of Joseph’s V-World exploits. It’s a direct question that’s never been posed and Sam is taken aback. Hesitantly, he describes his victims as not people, but targets and this isn’t life, but a game. “You tell yourself it’s not real,” he says.

Phase Two: Like a true parent, Daniel unleashes on A-Zoe for her mistakes, biggest of all being the train bombing. He demeans her childish idealism and insists that while she was brilliant, she was also just a scared kid who knew nothing of life’s true gifts. But still, he loves her, no matter what she’s done or what she is–”I know you’re not really even her,” he admits, but further begs, “You are all I have left.” When she doesn’t respond, he proceeds with Phase Three and pours a circle of gasoline around the robot and lights it. The robot can handle it, but A-Zoe will show fear, he believes. Still, she refuses to acknowledge.

Back in NCC again, Joseph and his guide visit a club where A-Tamara is supposed to have gone. But Joseph, wanting only to hear something concrete about his daughter, is frustrated by the circuitous intricacies of this alternate reality. He and Emanuelle are given the boot, but before hitting the street again Joseph catches a scribbling of his daughter’s signature (the particular way she signs the ‘T’ in Tamara) on a poster. Ready to play, he amps himself up with drugs and heads back into the club, gun blazing him a path back up to the stage. The club ringleader admits to having seen A-Tamara, but he only assumed–like everyone else–that she was a new part of the game. This assumption takes on a curious truth when Joseph and Emanuelle later discover Tamara’s signature throughout the neighborhood. If the gamers are right about her identity, then who exactly is Joseph searching for?

Meanwhile, Tomas Vergis shows up at the Graystone residence while only Amanda is home. Calmly and concisely, he tells her the story of how Daniel stole from him the unique technology needed to fulfill the military contract. In the process, he also had two of his associates murdered. So now, Amanda knows. But does she believe? And if she’s keeping her own unraveling sanity a secret, then isn’t it possible her husband could be hiding just about anything from her?

Final Phase: Daniel gives the Cylon a gun and commands it to shoot the dog. A-Zoe does as told but the bullets are blanks, which she notices from the slight weight difference in her hand. The intensity of Daniel’s convictions has, in fact, begun to piss A-Zoe off. In V-World, she confesses to Lucy that she’s losing control of her emotions and must get to Geminon soon. It seems that pretending to be an obedient killer robot is only making her a better one.

Spaceman says, “Bitchin!”

Spaceman Exclamation Ratings

Great: “Bitchin!”

Pretty good: “I felt some G-Force!”

Not so hot: “Not sure this puppy can fly!”

Not recommended: “Let’s get outta here!”

Caprica airs Fridays, 9pm Eastern on Syfy.

Cast: Eric Stoltz (Daniel Graystone); Paula Malcomson (Amanda Graystone); Alessandra Torresani (Zoe Graystone); Esai Morales (Joseph Adama); Sasha Roiz (Sam Adama); Magda Apanowicz (Lacy Rand); Polly Walker (Clarice Willow); John Pyper-Ferguson (Tomas Vergis); James Marsters (Barnabas)

Photo by LiGado em Serie