(S01E09) The great thing about 'Caprica' (and 'Battlestar Galactica' before it) is its ability to completely mess with your expectations. Granted, tonight's mid-season finale contained more predictability than not, but there were one or two surprises that cemented this series as one of the best on television right now.

Of course, the show ended with a ton of cliffhangers, at least one of which is easy to predict how it will be resolved based on what has happened before (and will happen again ... sorry. Couldn't resist). On a side note, Amanda Graystone was using a tablet computer at her bed. It must be a PC tablet, because if it was an iPad, the Cylon War would likely never have happened (they're so much more user friendly).

On to the spoilers ...

(S01E08) This episode could just as well have been called 'Marathon Robot' or perhaps 'The Manchurian Robot Candidate.' Given the psychological torture Robot Zoe had to go through from her father, it's no wonder that eventually the Cylons will rise up and try to destroy the human race.

When you stop to think about it, humanity isn't really giving the first set of sentient artificial intelligences a break. One of them is being hunted and the other is being tortured. It's definitely a case of parenting to the extreme.

(S01E07) One of the best aspects of 'Caprica' (and its predecessor series) is the creators' ability to know exactly how long to drag out a storyline before people get bored with it and replace it with the next level of the storyline. The final, single word spoken by Daniel Graystone in tonight's episode proves that the story is ready for the next step.

Another benefit is the ability to have so much happening at once that the viewer has absolutely no idea how the season is going to end, which is why he or she keeps tuning in every week.

Yet another benefit is that the technobabble is nowhere near 'Star Trek' level annoying. It's realistic enough to keep interest without making up every other word.

(S01E06) Yes, that was James Marsters (Spike from 'Buffy' and 'Angel') with the brunette hair and the distinctly non-British accent. The fangirls get a moment to squeal before we continue.

Tonight's episode was a lot of set-up and/or continuation of previous storylines. It didn't feel like anything major happened. There are only three episodes left in the season after tonight, so the only conclusion to be reached is that the creators are thinking beyond the first season.

I didn't even notice before tonight that Eric Stoltz's character was sporting a soul patch. He's quite the hipster. Plus, how is it that Caprica, a planet millions and billions of light-years away, has cucumbers, carrots and peppers? What are the odds? Are they available on every planet? Next they'll have cows.

(S01E05) Like 'Battlestar Galactica' before, 'Caprica' has a wonderful way of continuing storylines with constantly changing characters. This episode was great at keeping one's attention, despite the noticeable absence of Lacy Rand and Sister Clarice (and the actors playing them).

First, we have Joseph Adama having trouble connecting with his son, who is on the road to hooliganism as a result. In order to relate to his son, Adama must do what he has been avoiding since the series began: embrace his ethnicity. There is definitely some Italian in the Tauron culture (or rather, the Tauron culture will lead to some of the Italian culture). The use of coins during the memorial service echoes some of the practices of the ancient Romans.

(S01E04) We've now learned a little bit more about the culture of the planet Caprica before the fall. For one thing, drugs were legal. For another, their version of the Internet was owned by one company. That is, until now.

One of the more interesting aspects of the series is its use of anachronisms. The hats that some of the male characters were wearing were something out of a noir film of the 1940's. They also use standard cell phones, yet can transmit data on a piece of digital paper that makes the upcoming Apple iPad look like a stone tablet. The story of the Adamas reads like a high-tech version of 'The Godfather' or 'The Sopranos.' Obviously, Bill would inherit his later strong moral tendencies from his father.

(S01E03) Now begins the reign of mistrust. With the characters generally established, as well as their relationships to one another, it's time for the show to start sowing the seeds of conflict, and they get right down to it. The first thing they do is establish the Adams Adamas as even more brutish than I anticipated. The hats, coats and the whole 1950s gangster look should have been a tip-off, it appears.

Add to that the difficulties the Graystone's are dealing with now that Amanda has blurted out to all the twelve colonies that their daughter Zoe was a terrorist, and responsible for the train bombing that killed her, her boyfriend Ben and Joseph Adama's wife and daughter, among many other people. The unfair thing to Zoe is that while we know better, how can anything different be proven?

(S010O2) In one scene in the second episode of Caprica, Amanda Graystone holds a book that belonged to her daughter, called The Physics of Religion and Spirituality. The fact that she's holding it at a memorial for the victims of a terrorist attack, while mourning her daughter, Zoe, is more than a little ironic.

We'll start with the fact that the book was given to Amanda by the mother of Zoe's boyfriend Ben, who strapped explosives to his chest and blew up the train in the name of one true god, killing Zoe and many others. When Amanda finds a religious symbol amongst the book and some photos, she is convinced that Zoe was part of the plot to bomb the train (she wasn't, although she shared some of the religious views that led to it).

What happened on this week's 'Caprica' season 1 episode 1, 'Pilot' -- in 100 words or less.

Ah, so this is where it all begins -- with virtual nightclubs, train terrorists, avatars, group sex, virgin sacrifices, and daddy issues on the peaceful planet of Caprica.

Set some 50 years before 'Battlestar Galactica,' the Graystones and the Adamas are brought together by tragedy. Before young Zoe Graystone dies at the hand of a terrorist bomber, she perfected a virtual reality where kids could hang out. When Joseph Adama's wife and daughter die in the same attack, he and Daniel Graystone are brought together.

One of the best parts of this job is the advance copies we get of television DVD sets. In short: Holy frak! The final set of Battlestar Galactica episodes is awesome.

Minor spoilers follow...

There are those who liked the ending and those that didn't. I didn't like the lack of explanation of Kara's return from the dead and found the finale generally anti-climactic. But the series set a high standard and, overall, it's a minor complaint. In most ways, the series is perfect and far better than most of us deserve.

I'll give them this: the people who make the show know their audience ... that audience being nerds. Nerds like information. Hence, the DVD set is full of extras and special features. These include deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and extended versions of episodes, including the three-part finale, "Daybreak." And every episode (let me repeat that:: every episode) has podcast commentary by Ronald Moore.

For those us Battlestar Galactica nerdz, we're still feeling frakked up, teary-eyed and sniveling following the series' recent exit stage right. Ron Moore laid the show to rest with dignity and deserved pride, which is why our posting the following video might appear silly, childish, and self-indulgent to some.

But still, if you haven't yet seen it, the combination of Muppet and Cylon is a marriage made in LOLheaven, and we can't let Adama and co. get away without witnessing a giant Animal enacting a nuclear holocaust across the twelve colonies. While there are plenty of mash-ups floating around YouTube, this one has most definitely stood the test of time (less than two years, that is), considering that it combines Bear McCreary and Jim Henson (which is essentially something we've been waiting for since the very moment Six blew up the planets and stuff in the BSG miniseries).

Match made in heaven? So say we all.

(S04E20) "Frakkity, frak. Don't talk back." (Apologies to Lieber and Stoller)

After four years of some of the best and most adult sci-fi in the history of television, Battlestar Galactica draws to a close with a bang and then a whimper, with an overall satisfying ending that was as morally complex as any episode in the series.

(S04E19) You can tell that this show is approaching the end. Tonight's episode had the credits and chanting immediately after the "previously" montage and didn't even show scenes from tonight's episode during the final part of the opening. Plus, it was written by the same guy who wrote the original mini-series way back when. That's a telling sign.

Caprica City looks like a high-tech New York City. That was probably intentional.

(S04E18) I know it's a little late in the game to make this sort of observation, what with the show having only two episodes left, but if I were to compare characters in this show to characters in Gilligan's Island, I would say that Six is Ginger, Eight is Mary Ann and President Roslin is Mrs. Howell. Adama would naturally be the Skipper and Tigh would be Gilligan. I'm still working on Mr. Howell and the Professor.

In the beginning of the episode, either in someone's fantasy or projection or reality, Hera is moving the Galactica in a position next to the enemy Cylon fleet. Foreshadowing?

(S04E17) Before I go all spoilery on tonight's episode, what was the tattoo on Starbuck's back? It looked like a temple of some sort. Was it the Temple of Five?

Tonight's episode had its share of "what the frak" moments. It had some revelations, but it created more mystery than it solved. I was a little annoyed at the tease of learning the secret behind Starbuck's resurrection that ultimately didn't happen.