I've decided to split this essay up into four parts, and examine the evidence piecemeal across all the seasons. This first part will focus largely on the Cylons as villains and what they represent, and on the issues presented in the episodes "Litmus," "Flesh and Bone" and "Colonial Day."
That the Fall of the Twelve Colonies greatly resembles the 9/11 terror attacks is undeniable. Six (both in physical and mental form) goes on about God. Cylons infiltrate a society that is very similar to ours. So to a large extent, it's hard not to see the Cylons as very obvious stand-ins for modern terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. I don't really buy the "Cylons-are-the-Religious-Right" argument, primarily because of Laura Roslin. But more on her later.
So Cylons are analogous to terrorists. Then you have an episode where Roslin and Adama agree to have Starbuck interrogate a Cylon prisoner, and not just any Cylon prisoner, but a Leoben, probably the most fanatical model of them all. After Starbuck does more than the Guantanamo Bay interrogators are allowed to do, she goes on to point out that because Leoben is a machine, there's no limit to the techniques she can use. Yet Leoben is played by a human being, and for all intents and purposes is physically identical to one. He sweats and bleeds, eats and prays. Moreover, he doesn't even seem to harbor any particular ill-will towards Starbuck or the Colonials. He mocks her belief, but only as he explains or defends his own. He hasn't actually planted a nuclear bomb, and he's just been stalling for time, trying to keep himself alive.
And yet Roslin, supposedly one of the more liberal characters on the show (I distinctly remember an early commentary where Moore and Eick pointed out that Adama and Starbuck were meant to be Republicans and Roslin and Lee Democrats), has him tortured and then thrown out the airlock once she deems him too dangerous to leave alive.
Not a very liberal position. But then, Roslin's been having visions, and by the end of the season, she fervently believes that the religious texts are true. So, tortures and summarily executes prisoners, believes in a higher power, bans abortion in Season 2... look me in the eye and tell me Roslin's actually a liberal.
Let's take a look at Lee. In "Bastile Day," he successfully talks his way out of a hostage situation and only kills someone when a fellow soldier's life is in danger. He and his father negotiate with terrorists and hostage-takers (Adama's doing it to stall for time). He even promises them what they want: an election. But all Lee is doing is following the rule of law. The law says there's an election coming up, so there's an election coming up. Just because it's the end of the world doesn't mean we get to throw out all the rules. But that's not to say that Roslin couldn't pass a new law or change the Articles of Colonization. As his actions during the Pegasus arc in Season 2 demonstrate, Lee holds more to the letter of the law than to the spirit (more on that in part 2).
In "Colonial Day," he strong-arms a suspect and antagonizes a civilian from Saggitaron, just because he doesn't like the fact that the civilian supports Tom Zarek. In that episode, Zarek makes a few remarks about how there is no economy in place, so they have to go back to a collectivist system. This is the former terrorist espousing economic liberalism (or possibly just making a jab at Star Trek, I'm not entirely sure which). And as is usual for him, Zarek has 90% of a point; there is no economy, but that's no excuse to impose socialism.
And anyway, Roslin, our protagonist, defeats him.
In "Litmus," we have an overzealous prosecutor engage in a witch-hunt to find Cylon spies and saboteurs. Partly due to the fact that Tyrol and Boomer had engaged in an illegal tryst, the prosecutor came this close to getting her hands on a Cylon agent, before she lost perspective and tried to go after Adama for his lax security measures. Rather than first convict a Cylon, and then press Adama for better security measures, she abused the special powers she'd been granted.
Okay, I'll give you that one.
There's no denying that the show does have a political subtext. But at least in Season One, that subtext doesn't really lean in one direction or the other. Battlestar Galactica is not Star Trek, and it never sermonizes at the audience.
I did leave one very important point out here, and that's the culpability of Gaius Baltar. I'll cover all that when I get to his trial in Season 3.
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