'Caprica': Daniel goes on the offensive

[Midnight 6]

[imgleft] [/imgleft] On "Caprica" the searches for Zoe and Tamara continue -- in two very different ways. "Ghosts of a Machine" gave glimpses into the origin of the human Cylon idea in its very early stage. Little does Daniel know, that will be the bane of his existence in years to come.

The Hunt for Tamara: Joseph embarks on his journey to find his daughter Tamara with his new friend/private investigator Emmanuelle in New Cap City. His wardrobe has changed to emulate that of mens' fashion in the '50s in order to "camoflauge" himself with the rest of the citizens in the fake world. Their goal? To make their way across the city without dying. Sounds simple enough. To help Joseph out, Emmanuelle gives him an addictive drug called Amp (taken via eyedrops), which, like the name implies, amplifies a user's senses and reflexes. Joseph takes his first drop and he already feels its effect.

Joseph and Emmanuelle walk by an unconscious body, and it's after he makes the snarky comment that a game without rules sounds eerily similar to a scam. It's then Emmanuelle tells Joseph, "There's no rulebook in life, right? If you ask me, that's what keeps it interesting. You have to figure out for yourself what's important."

The two arrive at their destination and meet a guy named Zulu. We see the Tauron side of Joseph come out, as he bosses the guy around with an agenda to get to. Joseph shows him a picture of Tamara. He tells Joseph to try going to Mysteries, a club in New Cap City, but moments later, a man with a gun stops him in his tracks. He doesn't believe it when Joseph tells him he just wants to find Tamara, "the dead girl" they call her. The man tells Joseph that her daughter took out two of his own men, and he's looking for revenge. Before the man can kill Joseph, taking him out of New Cap City forever, Emmanuelle takes shots at he and his men. When the head honcho is ready to off Joseph, Emmanuelle takes the fateful shot for him, ending the man's life in the virtual world. Emmanuelle wants Joseph to grow some "stones" before he returns to the game, because his hesitation in firing his gun is a recipe for disaster.

Back in the real world, Sam comes over to Joseph's apartment to see how his brother's doing. Joseph asks Sam what goes through his mind when he's making a killing. Sam is perturbed -- and who wouldn't be! -- by Joseph's question, but answers anyway. "You tell yourself, 'It's not real,'" Sam says. "And then they're not people shooting at you, they're targets. The whole thing becomes just a game."

In New Cap City, Joseph and Emmanuelle stake out Mysteries. Emmanuelle briefs him on who to look out for and Joseph, taking on a new attitude (hopefully), marches forth, ready to seize the day -- so to speak. They check in their guns per the "no weapons allowed" rule. Mysteries is a cross between a strip club and a weird stage show. The current stage act needs someone to fill a role, and of course, they pick Joseph. He gives the host -- a sequined drag queen -- a picture of Tamara, who rips it up. The only way Joseph can find Tamara is if he can answer the following riddle: "As the gods overthrew the Titans, so has man overthrown the gods. But when man visits his sins upon his children, how shall he be repaid?" Joseph doesn't have an answer, and some men throw Joseph out.

As Joseph is ready to get his gun back from the weapons room, he notices a red "T" with a flower on top, Tamara's signature. Joseph takes two more drops of Amp to revitalize his senses. "Like you said, you're either quick or you're dead," Joseph says, before shooting the weapons check-in guy dead. He makes his way down to the club, killing many of the patrons, and asks the cross-dressing host about Tamara once more. The host confesses that Tamara, the one who transcends life and death, may be the answer everyone is looking for. The game changes people; stick around and you'll find out for yourself, the host tells Joseph.

"It seems your daughter has found a home," Emmanuelle says, after she and Joseph see the numerous "T" markings on the wall outside Mysteries. "Maybe you should go back to yours."

Daniel Discovers Zoe: Daniel is convinced Zoe's avatar is inside the Cylo and wants her to give him a sign to indicate that it is her within. He pleads with Zoe via the machine to tell him if she wants out of the metal and into a more human body (foreshadowing, anyone?). He asks Zoe to look at him when he's talking to her, and it takes a few tries for Daniel to get her to do so.

Daniel has Zoebot putting together a gun multiple times. While Zoebot is busy following his orders, Daniel recounts a story about the fire in their home when Zoe was five years old (which explains her fear of fire), as he prepares to light a cigarette. When he lights it, he lets the flame linger on the match, only dropping it onto the table when the flame burns his fingers. At that exact moment the match hits the table, Zoebot hesitates during her drill. That was all Daniel didn't to see to confirm his suspicion.

In the virtual world, Zoe tells Lacy about Daniel's test. She realizes Daniel wanted to see Zoebot's reaction, but Lacey tells her that maybe it isn't a bad idea for Daniel to know it's her inside. Zoe comes to the following conclusion: "I have to turn me off. Just be a robot." Lacy asks a haunting question, "Can you even do that anymore?"

Daniel has a one-sided confrontation with Zoebot, basically recounting every single thing he's done to transfer Zoe from the virtual world and inputting it into something real and palpable. A lot of what he says is true, though much of it is a catalyst to get Zoe's reaction. Daniel brings up the Maglev bombing, suggesting that Zoe was most afraid of life itself because life is well, scary. He lights another cigarette mere inches away. "If you're lucky, maybe you'll get to create something that lasts," Daniel says to Zoebot. He backs off a little, confessing that maybe it isn't Zoe underneath all that metal. "You are all of her that I have left," Daniel says bleakly. "So please, talk to me."

Zoe struggles whether or not to do what he says, but the decision is sort of made for her when Daniel pours gasoline around her. He tells her that all she has to do is step out of the circle, and that will confirm that it is Zoe in the robot body. Desperate measures for a desperate man. He throws the lit cigarette into the circle and Zoe is determined not to move, but as Daniel studies the robot for any movement, the flames die down before Zoebot has to make her fateful reveal.

In the lab, a tired Daniel decides to do one more test with gun in hand. "I love my dog, but I love my daughter even more," he says. Daniel gives the gun to Zoebot and tells her to shoot the poor Graystone dog. As he counts to five, the tension builds, and all of a sudden we're not sure if Zoebot will or won't go through with it. When Zoebot pulls the decisive trigger at five, the dog is its untimely victim -- or so it seems. Lucky for the family dog, the gun was only loaded with blanks. Whew. For now, Zoe's identity is safely hidden, but it's only a matter of time before it'll be accidentally or unexpectedly revealed.

In the virtual world, Zoe tells Lacy that she knew the gun had blanks inside when Daniel handed the weapon to her. Interestingly, had the gun been loaded with real bullets, Zoe would have offed her dear old father. Yikes. This leads to Zoe begging Lacy to get her out of Caprica, before she acts on her inhibitions and does something profoundly regretful.

Amanda Revists the Past: Amanda visits the site of the car accident that took her brother Damien's life, touching the tree the car hit, during which she sees the car drive by with her dead brother in the driver's seat. She calls Clarice, telling her about what she saw earlier that day. Clarice seems to think Amanda's vision of her dead brother is Zoe-related.

Vergis (guest star John Pyper-Ferguson) visits Amanda at the Graystone compound. Vergis, also in mourning because two of his employees were killed during the MCP break-in, tells Amanda about his device being stolen. Of course, Amanda doesn't know anything about Daniel's role in it. Vergis suggests that Daniel might have played a big part in Vergis Corp.'s stolen MCP, much to Amanda's bewilderment and shock. Little does Amanda know, Daniel is capable of some dangerous things even she is not aware of.

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