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Tricia Helfer and Michael Taylor on “Razor”

Battlestar Galactica: Razor, a two-hour TV movie that aired last Saturday, introduced a significant same-sex relationship to the critically acclaimed series by revealing that Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes) was intimately involved with Gina, one of the copies of Cylon model Number Six.

Tricia Helfer, the actress who plays Number Six, and series co-executive producer Michael Taylor, who wrote Razor, recently answered a few questions via email from AfterEllen.com about Razor, the character of Admiral Cain, and sexuality in the Battlestar Galactica universe.

AfterEllen.com: When shooting the Season 2 episodes “Pegasus” and “Resurrection Ship,” did you know about Gina/Six’s relationship with Cain? If not, how did you understand Cain’s treatment of your character when you were shooting Season 2? Tricia Helfer:While shooting “Pegasus” and “Resurrection Ship,” I didn’t know anything of a relationship between Gina and Cain. Though Cain’s reaction and treatment was severe, she was forced to deal with a human/Cylon immediately, in the height of the shock and stress of the attack. Cain was a very strong and ruthless character, so I wasn’t surprised by the treatment she enforced. AE: Gina in “Razor” seemed to genuinely care for Helena Cain, but she was also clearly doing the work of the Cylons. Do you think Gina had genuine feelings for Cain? TH:I do believe that Gina had genuine feelings for Cain. Very much like Six (Caprica Six) who cared intensely for Baltar – that didn’t stop her from completing her mission either.

AE: The character of Gina seems to differ somewhat from Caprica 6 and her other incarnations. Who is Gina in comparison to the other copies? TH: The way I look at all the Sixes is that they are the same base model, but their individual missions have made unique imprints on them. Gina had to fit in with humans, and I feel she was the most “human like” and hence, susceptible to the emotional and physical torture that she endured. She was quite damaged by the time she took her own life.

AE: All of the copies of Number Six seem quite open in their sexuality. What do you think her sexual orientation is, and do you think all Cylons are similarly open? TH:Six is very open with sexuality. I never really thought of her orientation until the Gina/Cain relationship in Razor. Up until that point, the only sexual story was with Baltar so I assumed as such. Obviously, that’s not the case. 🙂

During the third season of filming, Ron Moore gave the Cylon actors a briefing on “Life on a Cylon Baseship.” In it he states that, among other things, nudity and sexuality are not an issue or taboo for Cylons. I assume then that all the Cylons are similarly open.

AE: When the Season 2 episodes “Pegasus” and “Resurrection Ship” were written, was Admiral Cain’s relationship with Gina/Number Six already in the backstory, or was that relationship created for Razor? If so, why? Michael Taylor:That relationship was indeed created for Razor, though it developed from our desire to explore whether Cain’s anger and revulsion at Gina, so evident in her first appearance in Season 2’s “Pegasus,” had a personal component. At which point, the idea that the pair had had an intimate relationship quickly came to mind. It made Gina’s betrayal that much more devastating for Cain.

AE: Tell me how you, as the writer of Razor, see Cain – what kind of woman is she? Why did she allow Gina/Six to be tortured? MT:Cain is clearly a very driven, intense and disciplined – one could say “controlled” – woman. She despises weakness in others and especially in herself, for reasons that will become more apparent when her childhood backstory is revealed in the DVD version of the movie.

Though we see evidence early in the show that she has a friendly relationship with her first officer, her subsequent treatment of him when he has the temerity to question her orders clearly shows there are lines she won’t allow anyone to cross. Her command comes first, personal affiliations second. But in Gina’s case, she let down her guard and allowed someone to get past that self-defense perimeter of hers, to relate to her as a person and not just as a commander.

One could argue that weakness – accepting flaws in ourselves and in others – is part and parcel of being human. But for Cain it carries too much devastating psychic resonance with a personal failure she can never forgive herself for. From her point of view, Gina’s betrayal is a reminder of her own weakness, that original failure of will, and she makes Gina suffer terribly for it. AE: As a writer writing in the BSG universe, how do you feel sexual orientation is viewed in that (albeit fictional) society? MT:I tend to think that in this respect, at least, they’re a bit more enlightened than we are, which is partly why we didn’t want to make much of a fuss about the idea of Cain being “gay,” if indeed she is gay, or if indeed Colonial society places much importance on sexual orientation.

That being said, I’m not sure why our characters are seemingly more enlightened in this respect when in every other way they’re just as flawed as we are. We’ve certainly explored themes of both bigotry and class conflict in episodes such as Season 3’s “The Woman King” and “Dirty Hands.” So maybe their more enlightened attitude is more reflective of our own perspectives as writers. Not necessarily that we’re more “enlightened,” per se, but that as dramatists we were less interested in exploring the idea of sexual orientation than we were exploring the ramifications for these particular two people having shared an intimate relationship.

AE: Number Six has had intimate relationships with men, women and other Cylons. Are all Cylons similarly open in their sexuality? MT:That certainly seems to be the indication, though one could argue that the Number Six models have a particularly sensual way of appreciating the world, which translates into a more open and aggressively explorational sexuality.

AE: The character of Gina seems to differ somewhat from Caprica 6 and the other incarnations of Number Six. Who is Gina in comparison to the other copies? MT:I’m not sure she is that different from the other Sixes, at least in term of her base personality. What distinguishes her is how her experience with humans in general, and with Cain in particular, has affected her. In “Razor” there’s a moment where she has a chance to kill Cain, but can’t bring herself to do it (not yet, anyway). As a good Cylon soldier, she shouldn’t have hesitated to take out this supremely capable human commander, but she couldn’t do it. I would argue that it’s because she has genuine feelings for Cain.

But then the dilemma that our emotions can pose in a time of war – of how they make us dangerously vulnerable, and yet how equally dangerous it can be if we try to cut ourselves off from them entirely, to become “razors” in the parlance of the show – is the crux of the movie.

Helena Cain, her protégé Kendra Shaw, and for that matter Lee Adama and Kara “Starbuck” Thrace – all walk that “razor’s edge” with varying degrees of success. And while Cain and Shaw end up paying the ultimate price, none of them come away from this experience unscathed.

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