By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
While things have gotten progressively better, many still see science fiction as a genre that primarily appeals to men. Because of this, sci-fi showrunners are particularly sensitive about airing anything that might potentially drive away female viewers. A great example of this is “The Farm,” a Battlestar Galactica episode whose plot about women being forced to become “baby machines” made the production team worry they’d lose their female audience.
To understand why producers worried about “The Farm” so much, you may need a quick recap on what this episode was about. While the B plot involved Commander Adama and President Roslin vying for leadership, the A plot involved Starbuck linking up with the Resistance on Caprica before the Cylons captured her. She wakes up in one of the titular farms, which she discovers are specialized prisons in which the Cylons use women to try to create man/machine hybrid children.
In its own way, “The Farm” is one of the creepier Battlestar Galactica episodes because it shows the depths of depravity that the Cylons are capable of and that there are fates truly worse than death for the surviving members of humanity. Plus, the Cylon Simon spouts off about how child-bearing women are a “precious commodity,” which echoes some of the nastier real-life debates over the role that women should play in the face of population decline. For all these reasons and more, the episode’s production team worried this particular tale would drive female viewers away.
This tidbit about “The Farm” comes to us courtesy of Battlestar Galactica showrunner Ronald D. Moore’s podcast commentary for the episode. He revealed that some of his production team thought that the episode’s story was so dark that it would drive women away from the show. These concerns affected production, and Moore disclosed that only the Season 2 episode “Valley of Darkness” had such a contentious process.
Aside from the general plot points of “The Farm,” the Battlestar Galactica producers were also concerned about specific story beats, including the heavy suggestion that Simon had given Starbuck a pelvic exam. It certainly fit into the bleak story in which Starbuck destroys Cylon machinery and effectively dooms women who clarify that they’d rather be dead than be “baby machines.” The producers forced ahead with the episode, but they were understandably worried that all of this could drive many of the female viewers away from this new show right when it needed as many people watching as possible.
“The Farm” is a great episode of Battlestar Galactica, but we can’t help but think this tale of its troubled production is just as fascinating as anything we saw onscreen. After all, the producers were right to be concerned…it’s an episode that paints human women as special targets of Cylon violence, all while not-so-subtly drawing attention to the kinds of sexual assault real women are subject to every day. It’s a miracle the episode made it to air, but the very fact that Ronald Moore and the rest took such a chance is just one more reason BSG is the most ambitious sci-fi show ever made.
