Frik and Frak say “Free the Flame!”

by spacepug

Is this New Caprica?! What's with the fence?

Other than giving me an opportunity to use way too many Fs in that title, what connection does Vancouver’s 2010 cauldron have to the BSG universe?  Well, quite a bit.

The plaza housing the burning symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympics is officially called Jack Poole Plaza after one of the Olympic organizers who recently passed away.  It is located east of the new Convention Centre, at the north end of Thurlow in downtown Vancouver.

On Caprica, the same plaza is called “Apollo Park” and is the site of the public memorial for the victims of the Maglev bombing in episode 102 “Rebirth” where Amanda Graystone tells the crowd her daughter was a terrorist.

Members of 13th Colony got to take a wander through the plaza several months ago, before the episode aired and long before construction of the Olympic cauldron began, but you can get a sense from this picture that this is the same place.  I’ve only managed to get one screen shot of the plaza from the show which, though it has been altered with CGI, still clearly shows the new convention centre’s sloped geometrical roof, covered with greenery.  Of course now that the cauldron is in place, it will be a permanent fixture dominating the plaza.  If Caprica gets a second season, I think it would be a wonderful idea for the new art piece to get factored into the storyline as a memorial to the victims of the Maglev bombing.

From Caprica, "Rebirth"

And yes, after the initial controversy over a hideous chain link fence blocking the public view of the cauldron, several days into the Games organizers did find a way to “free the flame.”   After only one hour waiting in line, Frik and Frak got their souvenir shot!