"Battlestar Galactica: Razor" Delivers a Crucial Lesbian Twist

Second, Kendra's surprise at Cain's relationship with Gina is because of Cain's "self-sufficient" persona; it has nothing to do with the fact that it is a same-sex relationship.

Although the only other same-sex relationship on Battlestar Galactica to date has been between two female Cylons, Number Six and Number Three (Lucy Lawless), in the context of a threesome also involving a man, there is nothing to suggest that same-sex relationships are not accepted in the Battlestar Galactica universe. None of Cain's officers blink an eye about her relationship with Gina, though it is possible that they do not know about it.

Also, Battlestar Galactica has been more progressive than most television shows in the way its female characters are treated. Many of the series' most powerful characters, including President Roslin (Mary McDonnell) and Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) — who was a man in the original version of the series — are women. Cain's sexuality is simply a part of her character; what is astonishing is not that she is a lesbian, but that she makes room for human needs in her highly disciplined military life.

Her humanity, however, is soon tested as the events of war build a sense of desperation in her. When her executive officer refuses to order their soldiers to carry out what he believes is a suicidal mission, Cain executes him in full view of the other officers. Though she had assured her officers that she would "never risk lives or resources in some mad quest for revenge," it quickly becomes apparent that Cain's imperative — war — leaves little room for mercy.

When the Pegasus is boarded by enemy Cylons, Kendra sees a woman who looks just like Gina. It is one of the many copies of Number Six, and Kendra realizes that Gina too is a Cylon. Kendra shoots Number Six and rushes to the bridge, where Gina has fled for safety during the attack.

Kendra tells Cain that Gina is a Cylon, and as soon as Cain sees the security camera image of a dead Number Six, she orders Gina to be taken into custody, declaring in shock and disgust, "My gods — get that thing off my bridge."

Gina is taken to a holding cell where Cain brings Lt. Thorne, her interrogator, to view the Cylon prisoner. She admits — with a palpable sense of revulsion — that she gave "it" her trust. "This thing really knows how to manipulate human emotion," Cain says to Thorne, "preys on it. And since it's so adept at mimicking human feeling, I'm assuming that its software is vulnerable to them as well."

Instructing Thorne on how to interrogate Gina, Cain says: "Pain, yes of course. Degradation. Fear. Shame. I want you to really test its limits. Be as creative as you feel you need to be."

Thorne proceeds to torture and rape Gina — all with the full consent of Admiral Cain. She has moved Gina from the category of "human" to the category of "machine." The imperative of war forces her to deal with her enemy ruthlessly.

When the Pegasus encounters a human civilian fleet, Cain orders her crew to strip the civilians of their resources and shoot those who disobey. Kendra is the first to shoot, and Cain later promotes her, praising her for setting aside "every natural inhibition that during battle can mean the difference between life and death." War, for Cain, means losing those natural inhibitions — her humanity. To punish a machine, Cain must become one.

Taken on its own, Razor presents a tragic picture of a lesbian betrayed. Once the lesbian character is betrayed, she loses her humanity and becomes psychopathic. It can be read as a sci-fi version of the tired old morality tale warning against homosexuality: Don't do it, or else.

But Razor is more complex than that, and the many layers to the story emerge only when considering the movie as part of the Season 2 story line about Cain, Pegasus and Gina, which begins in Episode 2.10, "Pegasus," and continues through the two-part "Resurrection Ship" (2.11 and 2.12) and "Lay Down Your Burdens" (2.19). When these episodes first aired, Cain and Gina's relationship was not clearly intimate; with the addition of Razor, those episodes take on new meaning.

Shortly after Gina is tortured, Pegasus encounters another human fleet, this time accompanied by the battlestar Galactica, led by Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos). The Galactica has also recently acquired a Cylon prisoner, Sharon (Grace Park), who is pregnant with a child fathered by a human man, Helo.

Though Sharon is also imprisoned, she has not been tortured. Cain sends Thorne to the Galactica to interrogate Sharon, and he quickly proceeds to assault her and even begins to undress in order to rape her. Sharon is saved by Helo and Chief Tyrol (who also had a relationship with Sharon when he thought she was a human), who accidentally kills Thorne while pulling him off her.

Helo and Tyrol are court martialed by Cain, and she quickly orders them executed for killing an officer. President Roslin steps in, calling a meeting with both Adama and Cain to stop the execution. In a telling display of personality differences, Cain sits with her legs spread — masculine, dominating — while Commander Adama, the junior officer in this case, folds himself inward, his legs and arms crossed defensively.

"We are at war, and we don't have the luxury of academic debate over these issues," Cain angrily says to President Roslin in "Resurrection Ship, Part 1," insisting that her military command supercedes Roslin's civilian one. Cain is once again following her imperative, but this time it has come face to face with a different one: the survival of the human race.