I know what you did last month, Graystone
[Many spoilers]
Since the episode title quotes from The Art of War, I expected Know Thy Enemy to be a precursor to battle. It is (sort of). The episode jumps one month ahead from the Vergis Corporation robbery of the Meta Cognitive Processor (MCP) device. Two research lab employees, close to Tomas Vergis, were killed during the break-in. Vergis confronts Daniel Graystone at a museum fundraiser. They speak in front of the beautiful Bill Reid sculpture The Raven and the First Men. The sculpture is inspired by a human creation myth where the raven coaxes people out of a clamshell. I find it appropriate that the Vergis/Graystone chat would have Raven as background since they argue about a device that aids artificial intelligence in leaving the virtual world.
On a different battlefront, Soldiers of the One serial bomber Barnabas, a much-anticipated new character, is introduced. I’m not too impressed with the character yet- using razor wire as an arm bracelet was overkill. I suppose the writers want to make him seem crazy. Or they like torture porn. Keon takes Lacy to see Barnabas in a bid to help transport the Zoebot to Gemenon. Unfortunately Lacy is being tight-lipped about what she wants to transport so Barnabas says nyet. Barnabas is played by James Marsters so he better not be wasted! Or else the Whedon people will revolt.
The Graystone household gets two visitors, both with decidedly unfriendly intentions, making you wonder if they have any friends at all. Clarice Willow visits Amanda, gets her drunk, and manages to get invited to the lab in her search for the Zoe avatar. I used to make excuses for Amanda, but wow, this was really stupid of her. Separately, Daniel gets a third visit from Tomas Vergis. Vergis wants Graystone to know that his MCP robbery hurt him and he has the tattoos to prove it. The lab assistants that got murdered were close to Vergis; he was nonós (godfather) to their children. As a viewer, I can’t sympathize with Vergis yet because we haven’t seen much of him, even though he promises to be an interesting character. Vergis lets Daniel know that he wants to buy his precious Caprican Buccaneers just because Daniel loves them so much. Graystone Industries needs the cash to fulfill their military contract on time. The Vergis character could be as hard-ass as Sam Adama. Here’s hoping.
Speaking of Sam Adama, I wonder why he was so nonchalant about the MCP lab murders. After all, it the Guatrau learns of a Tauron-on-Tauron hit, he will be most displeased. Food for thought.
This holoband better work because I threw away the receipt
As for our Latino actors, Esaí Morales’ Joseph Adama buys a holoband to find Tamara’s avatar. His newbie status is humorously and painfully on display when he tries to interact with the obnoxious Daniel avatar. Adama is interrupted by the real Daniel who is shitting his pants about the MCP murders and needs someone else to blame.
Adama’s assistant Dr. Fraiser Evelyn is totally smitten with her boss. Who wouldn’t be? She used the old “let me see your new tattoo” trick to get close. Adama of course ran away. They would make a cute couple.
Our friend Panou’s character got a tiny bit more developed. Olaf seems to be the techie in the Willow family. He gets his wife Clarice a swipe drive to copy Zoe avatar data in the Graystone lab. Clarice thinks the Zoe avatar is the key to eternal life of the soul. Speaking of Panou, I recently caught up with all the Sanctuary episodes and loved his character there. Would have loved to see more of him. As for Caprica, Panou sightings are few and far between, and it’s hard to see how he could become anything more than another Willow husband. Prove me wrong, Caprica!
Some random tidbits only the obsessed fans would notice:
- Daniel Graystone suffers from back issues. I totally sympathize.
- Joesph Adama got his holoband at Emptor Electronics. Emptor means ‘buyer’ in Latin.
- The Vergis Corporation is in Tauron City. I get the feeling that each planet has a main metropolis with “City” attached to its name. Would be nice to show a bit more originality here. You know there’s a Vergisville somewhere on Tauron!
- Tauron is known for its steak preparation, brandy and cigars.
- If you’re interested in online dating, check out V-Match. “V” is the “i” of tech marketing on the Colonies.
- The Willows have a beautiful matrioshka doll in their bedroom, presumably to enhance their fertility. Or maybe they just like Russian nesting dolls.
- Joe Adama smokes Forge cigarettes.
- Slang for getting a Tauron tattoo is “I got some Tauron on me.”
- Scorpion Ambrosia is green. Heads up for the Caprica party planners: make sure it’s too strong and smells like sulphur for realistic effect.
SciFi Latino 