The science fiction TV show Battlestar Galactica was first aired in 1978. The show followed the survivors of the 12 Colonies as they fought the cylons, alien robots bent on destroying mankind. It focused on the exploits of the only surviving military ship, the Battlestar Galactica, lead by Commander Adama. Like many other action shows of its era such a CHiPS and Starsky and Hutch, Battlestar Galactica’s central characters were a two man team. In fact, most of the main characters were men; the Captain, the traitor Baltar, even the robots seemed masculine, with the few female character incidental to the male action.

In 2003, Battlestar Galactica was launched again and already it has had a longer life span than its predecessor. Based on the original, the miniseries spawned a series, currently in production for its third year. This latest reincarnation is a higher budget show with more modern special effects. Yet its maturity is most featured in its characterisation and new storylines. The cylons themselves are no longer slightly silly alien robots with no real motivation, but rather human-like machines who have discovered religion and turned on their decadent and pagan human creators. Instead of a cult classic for sci-fi diehards, the 21st Century Battlestar looks directly at our current fears and tries to arrive at a futuristic conclusion. From the battle over religious supremacy to the cause of modern warfare the new Battlestar creates a possibility for the future of humanity.

Today’s feminist concerns are still apparent in this fictional future. Unlike its predecessor, the new Battlestar includes women fully. While this is a positive change to a modern revival, the prominence of women does not grant full equality. Women in the new world order are seen and heard, but their gender is still used against them.

In terms of the advancement of women, the reimagined Battlestar features many women characters. Most notable is the switch from a male/male to male/female in the lead characters of Apollo and Starbuck. Starbuck is now a tougher than tough woman who regularly breaks the rules while smoking a cigar, like her 1970s counterpart. She is a brilliant strategist and the top fighter pilot.

Unlike the present, the women of the future are afforded full and equal access to military combat positions. The men and women share quarters and bathrooms, apparently harmoniously and without the sexual harassment that riddles current military society. Yet oddly in contradiction to the increase of women, all military personal use masculine pronouns in their titles. There are no Ms in outer space.

And while Commander Adama is still a man, the highest ranking position is given to a woman. New to this series is the prominent character of President Rosalin, who wins control when she and Adama go head to head in a power struggle. When the Galatica finds another military ship, Adama is again outranked by a woman, albeit briefly, by Admiral Cain until her untimely death. Again, the sci-fi show does better than reality as no woman has ever been an Admiral, let alone President of the USA. Yet the increase in women characters does not translate to an equal standing with men.

While the women feature prominently in this new version, most of the women do so because they are on the wrong side. One of the greatest alterations to the reimagined series is the ability of the cylons to regenerate into 12 distinct humanoid forms. This is used cunningly by the writers, who don’t reveal these cylons immediately, some of whom do not know they are cylons, leaving a web of conspiracy. Both physically and metaphysically the citizens of the 12 Colonies question the enemy within.

Another character taken from the original series is Lieutenant Boomer, who is now a woman named Sharon. But Sharon is an enigma, even to herself. Eventually we learn she is a cylon, perhaps a good one, although her actions at the end of the first series result in the near death of the beloved Captain Adama. Like many of the cylons, there are multiple versions of the same character. The Sharon on Galactica doesn’t know if she’s an evil cylon, the Sharon on Caprica knows she is a cylon but believes she is not evil.

The most featured cylon is Number Six. Again we have many versions of this character but the most prominent is the one that haunts Gaius Baltar, the galaxy’s leading scientist. Gaius is a character from the original series, and like his predecessor, is responsible for the near destruction of the human race. The new Gaius, however, is selfish rather than inherently evil. He wrestles with his conscious, who in turn is caught in a love and hate relationship with the sexy Number Six. If this is not confusing enough, Number Six makes several physical reincarnations to shake Gaius’ world.

There are other human-looking cylons, some yet even to be revealed, but none are given as much focus as Sharon and Number Six. The male cyclones feature briefly, never more than an episode or two. And while not all versions of these two cylons are necessarily evil, their real power stems from their relationships and manipulation of men, rather than their own inherent skills.

It is Starbuck, perhaps, who is the most independent amongst the female leads. But she is irrational and unpredictable, especially close to the end of series two, when she is consumed by her love for a man stranded on the planet Caprica. Although the best pilot in the colonies, she is not promoted as quickly as the dependable son of Adama.

While President Rosalin’s command is not based on her seduction of men, it is a man who comes to her rescue. In the end of series two, the president not only looses her candidature to vice-president Gaius, but she tries to win the election illegally. It is Adama who steps in, ensuring Rosalin wins and reminds Rosalin of her morality and, perhaps most importantly when fighting robots, her humanity, while the people of the Colonies get the right man for the job.

In a year when the possibility of a US female president seems real, the show’s writers are perhaps too careless with their portrayal of the many powerful women this series offers. The underlying message seems reminiscent of the 19th C women’s malady of hysteria; women change colours, are uncontrollable, indecisive. Much of their power comes from the power to seduce. With power they lead to chaos.

In the future, like today, women are fighting the same battles. In an ironic twist, it is President Rosalin, a woman, who outlaws abortion. Torn by this difficult decision, she does it not for religious reasons but for maintaining a near-extinct population. This is an intriguing futuristic dilemma – or is it? In Australia, the mythology of a declining population has been used before to persuade women to reproduce and have ‘one for the mother, one for the father, and one for the country’.

Yet religion is not separate to the abortion debate of the future. Apparently the gods of the future also see abortion as a sin. The representative from Gemenon, the most religious of the 12 Colonies, warns the president that she will lose the religious vote if she allows abortion. In the future, like today, the religious right tries to steer votes away from pro-choice candidates.

Unlike the present, it is Gaius, in his role as Vice-President, who becomes the moral martyr: “Every time you take away one of our freedoms, every time we restrict or curtail one of our rights, we become one step closer to being like them [the cylons].” The heralding of reproductive choices by a man would be most welcomed today or anytime in the future. Unfortunately, Gaius’ proclamation comes from a desire for power rather than a desire to give women power.

The issue of reproductive rights is not solely centred on abortion. Strangely the cylons – who believe in a single god - are attached to a religion that insists they reproduce. Yet as machines, their biology fails them. Instead they attempt new scientific ways to reproduce.

One way is to use real women. When Starbuck is captured on Caprica, she is taken to a cylon-run hospital where women are being kept against their will. Captured by enemy forces, they are being used, quite literally, as incubators. In a moment of mercy, Starbuck turns off the machines that keep them alive.

Another method is to use psychology, rather than mere physiology. The cylons push Caprica Sharon towards Helo, another fighter pilot, so that they fall in love and conceive. It is a success, but Sharon decides not to give her baby to the cylons, instead escaping with Helo to Galactica. The President must decide whether to allow Sharon to bring the baby to term. Rosalin’s decision becomes based on what the baby, as part cylon, can provide - this includes embryonic fluid which cures her cancer.

Sharon is allowed to go to term, but not keep her baby. Instead she is led to believe her baby has died. The truth is that Rosalin has given it to another woman to be raised. The storyline hints of The Handmaid’s Tale yet is more grounded in reality than we think. The writers of Battlestar have hinted at some ways that new reproductive technology could be used; IVF to stem cell research has opened the way for a new understanding of motherhood. How this will affect women, and women’s choices, is a debate fought not only in legislature, but amongst feminists themselves.

A common thread throughout the series is the fallibility of humans. Although the cylons are responsible for the near destruction of the human race, it is the humans who have mastered the ultimate weapon of war. Amongst the nuclear warheads and photon blasters, none is used as efficiently as rape. In one of the most shocking scenes in either series, the pregnant cylon Sharon is raped by a member of the starship Pegasus. This is used tactically, as a form of torture, to weaken her before interrogation. Even more disturbing is that the woman Admiral is complicit in its use.

Less visual, but even more disturbing is the knowledge that this type of torture has been used on another captured cylon. Members of the predominantly male crew of the Pegasus brag about how they lined-up to participate in the sexual assaults. The result to the captured prisoner Gina, another version of Six, is an almost complete catatonic state.

Although rape is not a new weapon of war, in the last decade it has been recognised as a punishable war crime. In the future, it seems as though only women are subjected to this torture that is no longer considered illegal.

All relationships in the new Battlestar are heterosexual. These hetro relationships are frequently used as part of the war, the interrelational damage hitting as strong as the intergalactic fighting.

The list reads like a soap opera. Unlike a soap opera, they do not need amnesia to make them change characters as all the cylons have the ability to change forms (and even enter the subconscious). Some of the relationships include:

While many of these relationships are, at times manipulative, the final double episode of series two starts with a brutal, and seemingly senseless, scene of violence. The Chief, awoken from a nightmare, attacks one of his juniors Cally. Cally accepts his apology, when he visits her in the infirmary, and declares her love – even though her jaw has been wired shut. She has demonstrated this before in the past, by killing the chief’s lover Sharon, once it is revealed she is a cylon. In one of the last scenes of this episode, when the viewer sees a year into the future, we see the pregnant Cally on the arm of the Chief. This relationship is not just unpleasant but serves little purpose for the overall story development. Although perhaps not a direct commentary on domestic violence, it is unfortunate to think that there is still room for this behaviour in our futures.

If, as the Battlestar tagline states, man created the cylons, then they should be held accountable for the cylons’ destruction of mankind. Noting the inclusion of gendered language, the future of the reinvisoned Battlestar Galactica is one where women participate in the formation of a new humanity. But not all things seem perfect in the world of the future. The writers of this new styled show should be commended for highlighting current issues in a futuristic format. And while not all feminist issues have been reconciled, at the very least, they are on the agenda. As series two finishes, Starbuck’s comments foreshadows the future, which still resonates today: ‘we’ll do what we always do: fight until we can’t fight any more.’