Caprica — 1x07 — Know Thy Enemy
Synopsis
Rival industrialist Tomas Vergis arrives on Caprica demanding a meeting with Daniel, threatening to reveal proof that Daniel stole the chip that is key to the U-87 Cylon and Graystone's military contract. Vergis whirls up a publicity storm that steals the heart of the Caprican public, and surprisingly serves up a friendly offer to Daniel that could save Graystone Industries. But there's a catch to his proposal that could haunt Daniel for years to come.
Clarice, panicked that off-world STO leadership has been backing a rogue named Barnabas, steps up her plans to acquire Zoe's avatar program and may find her answer through befriending Amanda. Meanwhile, wanting to fulfill her own promise to Zoe, Lacy goes with Keon to meet the enigmatic Barnabas, opening herself up to a new world of danger.
After the revelation that the avatar of his daughter Tamara is still lost in V-World, Joseph starts his quest to find her in a virtual world he knows nothing about.
Remarkable scenes
- Vergis on how he got into the private party: "The museum doesn't care if my cubits have Tauron dirt all over them."
- Joseph awkwardly trying a holoband.
- Daniel surprising Joseph in his own home.
- Vergis offering to buy the Caprica City Buccaneers.
- Daniel barging in on an awkward Philomon moment.
- Serge greeting Clarice.
- Clarice getting Amanda to warm up to her so she can get access to Daniel's computer.
- Vergis: "My dream is to tear up your dream."
- Vergis: "You need time and money to try and get my chip to work. So frak the 300 mil. I'll give you 500. I'll take the team. I don't know if I'll ruin them or win a championship, but whatever cuts you deeper. Then I will find the next thing you love. Eventually I will destroy your company. But before that you have so many precious things... until the debt is paid."
Review
Know Thy Enemy delivers a straightforward but gripping dark drama that resonates for me as a stronger piece than any episode of Caprica so far. The bulk of the credit for this goes to the marvelously Machiavellian villain Tomas Vergis, the man who has now pledged to destroy everything that Daniel loves to his face in his own home. Vergis exhibits a frightening gravitas in every scene with his presence culminating masterfully with his overview of the personal significances of his tattoos to Daniel.
All this comes at Daniel and the audience completely by surprise because Daniel assumed the only grievance Vergis could possibly have is the theft of the MCP. But when it's revealed that on Daniel's behalf, Joseph's mob connections murdered two people to get to the MCP; two people that were personally very close to Vergis, suddenly Daniel must confront the fact that Vergis has little to no interest in the stolen MCP at all. His interests lie solely with vengeance, and his type of vengeance is the slow, cold, and calculated kind.
This was also a particularly strong episode for Clarice, who finally gets something interesting to do. Her dealings with Amanda were delightful to watch and reminded me quite a bit of the actress' character on HBO's Rome, Atia of the Julii who likewise had a propensity to engage in complex social functions, rife with false pleasantries and hidden agendas. Sadly Clarice's plot inherits some of the issues from her previous ones. Her mysterious contact in Soldiers of the One remains ambiguous and the plot throws us yet another Soldiers of the One curve ball with the introduction of Barnabas. It seems this terrorist group is heavily factionalized for reasons still yet unclear.
Other wrinkles in the episode include most of Philomon's scenes, whose quasi-romantic involvement with Zoe continues to be an awkward plot thread at best and embarrassing to watch at worst, along with the episode's propensity to have pairs of character talk over each other during scenes where important information is being communicated. This occurred on at least two notable occasions. First when Daniel and Cyrus were arguing in Daniel's lab, then when Joseph and Daniel were arguing in Joseph's apartment. Sure, I guess it's realistic, but it makes dialog hard to follow.
Speaking of Joseph, I think it's clear that he and Daniel are headed toward what may be a long term rivalry. Daniel believes Joseph ratted him out to Vergis and Joseph believes Daniel lied to him about the continued existence of the Tamara avatar. With emotions running high, neither man gets fully across to the other and each implies threats to the other. Though I think Daniel should certainly be more afraid of Vergis than Joseph. For he truly embodies the stuff that good antagonists are made of!