Source: Chicago Tribune"Sometimes we have to do things that we never thought we were capable of, if only to show the enemy our will."
-- Admiral Helena Cain, "Battlestar Galactica: Razor"
Now there's a statement worthy of debate. When does the will turn malignant? When do the actions that a person takes to survive make that individual no longer worthy of the title "human"? When do the ends no longer justify the means?
Those are the questions that the reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" has asked for the past few years. The genius of the series is that it asks these questions obliquely, without preaching or grandstanding. The solutions to these dilemmas aren't easy, and the show doesn't insult its audience by pretending that they are.
Characters sometimes openly debate complicated, life-and-death issues, but more typically, the Big Questions are woven into the fabric of an absorbing, well-crafted character-driven drama. It's nearly possible to ignore the moral dimension of the series -- which is its most timely, bracing element -- and focus on the rock 'em, sock 'em space battles, the energetic direction, the spectacular special effects and the deft relationship drama.
Admiral Helena Cain, the charismatic leader at the heart of the 2-hour film "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" (8 p.m. Saturday, Sci Fi Channel), is yet another fascinating embodiment of the "Battlestar" storytelling method. She does terrible things in order to ensure the survival of the crew of her battleship. Was she right to do them? Was she wrong to pass on her brutal philosophy to the impressionable young officer Kendra Shaw (played by talented newcomer Stephanie Jacobsen)?
Fans will be debating that question for months (or at least until the series returns for its final season in April). But whatever you think of Cain, as played by Michelle Forbes, she's a woman you can't take your eyes off. Cain, who first appeared in several Season 2 episodes of the show, is not a cardboard cut-out or a monster. She is never less than human, and she actually possesses many admirable qualities.
"I think what made her so compelling even prior to 'Razor' was our sense that there was more going on beneath [Cain's] stony exterior than we could guess at," said "Battlestar Galactica" co-executive producer Michael Taylor, who wrote "Razor." "The challenge and fun of the movie, from a writer's point of view, was getting under that character's skin, showing what shaped her and really made her tick, and in the process making us at least understand, if not sympathize, with the harsh choices she made."
We meet the admiral just before her ship is hit by a wave of attacks from the Cylon race. As the Pegasus crew reels from the damage and begins to pursue the enemy, Cain's new aide, Shaw, learns lessons from Cain that no officer's training ever prepared her for.
"I think you can argue that Cain is ... a character who makes us question how far we might go, given similar responsibilities in similar circumstances," Taylor said. "Cain skirts the boundary of the limits we set for our leaders, and for ourselves, in wartime. ... I think we find her conviction compelling, especially when we understand the kind of experience and choices that shaped it."
"We want someone who seems fearless" as a leader, Forbes said. "I think that there is something compelling ... about her sense of duty, and her sense of getting the job done at whatever cost. There is comfort in that in difficult times, in times of war. But people like that may be misguided."
Though "Razor" boasts solid performances from the entire cast, the narrative thrust of the film does falter a bit toward the end of the film. There are some wonderful action set pieces in the second half of "Razor," but by then there's also familiarity to the trajectory of Shaw's story.
All things considered, however, the propulsive "Razor" has much to recommend it.
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