What are the "Things We Lock Away"? Memories, secrets... even human beings. That we can call them "things" and lock them away implies that we have power over them, that we can oppress them. It is the nature of this relationship between the thing in the safe and the owner of the safe that is at the heart of tonight's wonderfully engaging episode of Caprica -- and with three loaded stories to boot.
Let's start in the V-World. Picking up from "Unvanquished", Zoe finds the gladiator-esque arena where Tamara's been killing time and confronts her. Thing is, Tamara's kinda pissed about that whole MAG-LEV bombing and how it killed her and her mom, and she and other family members of MAG-LEV victims want revenge on Zoe for her terrorist ways. At first, Zoe is compliant, but over the episode, she recovers memories from Zoe's life that lead her to a simple conclusion: she is not Zoe, and she does not have to follow the path that Zoe laid out for her. This all culminates in a fantastic fight sequence between Zoe and Tamara that ends with Zoe lending Tamara a hand, then they look upward at their captors.
Lacy, meanwhile, is having less of a good time. Clarice locks her up in her attic while she brings Amanda back to the Graystone residence (sans Daniel for the brief time she's there, so no reunion just yet). Oh, sure, Lacy's got some food and water, but it's drugged, and Lacy isn't happy about that. Finally, after much psychological torture, Clarice visits Lacy, and Lacy reveals that, while Zoe's original files are all fried, she may have had a backup in the STO infinity symbol she used to wear. Satisfied that Lacy is now under her thumb, Clarice ships her off to Gemenon for STO training. It's only after this that Clarice brings Amanda to live with her at her home. Clarice is quite the puppetmaster -- she knows how to hide the strings.
The final plot deals with Daniel Graystone. Predictably, he is voted back as CEO of his own company again. However, Joseph lays down basic Tauron beliefs upon him: Vergis will never stop coming after Daniel, so the only course of action left is to end him. Daniel disagrees. He thinks he can play the business game with Tomas, boxing him into a corner, locking him away so he can never really fight Daniel with any power ever again. But Tomas is a proud Tauron, and in a brutal final scene, he forces Daniel to thrust Tomas's own blade into his chest.
The illusion is that we only think we have power over these things we lock away. But Zoe and Tamara subvert the gladiator spectators' expectations by extending a helping hand to each other in the end. Lacy will no doubt be back for Clarice (as one of Clarice's husbands notes as she is chauffeured away), ending the reign of terror she has exerted over Lacy, Amanda, and her immediate family. And Daniel's own illusions are falling apart: he is beginning to realize that violence, not business, is truly power, and he has crossed the Rubicon in that arena.
I noted that last week's Caprica seemed to be spinning its wheels -- now it's easy to see why. This episode, like Zoe's memories or Lacy, was locked away, waiting for the right moment to exert its influence upon the series. What this episode did so well is that it incorporated the show's strongest elements into a cohesive story with a strong thematic heart that kept each scene alive with meaning, with purpose. This is Caprica at its finest.
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