TV Review – The Andromeda Strain (2008)

Overall Quality 2.5 / 5.0 (Disappointing and inane)
Gay Content 1.5 / 5.0 (Important gay character)
Gay Positivity 2.0 / 5.0 (The character is positive; his fate is not)

How disappointing. Part I of the miniseries is promising, but Part II moves away from Part I’s strengths and emphasizes its weaknesses. Throw in a serious negative gay stereotype, and color me unimpressed.

A virulent pathogen infects a small town in Utah via a crashed satellite; a near 100% fatality rate ensues. The military puts the Wildfire Program into effect, gathering half a dozen top scientists at a secret laboratory to study the pathogen and create a response. Meanwhile, a reporter (Eric McCormack) tries to break the story, while other government and military personnel engage in some vague, never-fully-realized conspiracy.

Having never read The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, I cannot say how closely the plot adheres to his original story. I suspect it diverges quite a bit.

Part I of the miniseries does a great job of maintaining and building tension and suspense, emphasizing the laboratory portion in a sort of Center for Disease Control-style CSI. The reporter and government conspiracy aspects come across as pure fluff from the very beginning. The bevy of false-start subplots doesn’t help. Unfortunately, Part II dwells more on the fluff than on the lab; and events in the lab take a definitive turn for both formulaic and speculative-in-the-extreme as the story winds to an eye-rolling conclusion.

The miniseries includes a gay character: one of the medical scientists, Major Bill Keane (Ricky Schroder). I am impressed with the inclusion and the way the script handles the inclusion. When discussing family relationship with another doctor, Keane comments, “If you don’t ask, I won’t tell.” The other doctor then opines that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is ridiculous.

His sexuality plays no role in the conflict. I have heard the inclusion criticized according to the “relevance” argument. Keane’s sexual orientation is not germane the plot, therefore, that exchange should not have been included. But that necessitates that any time a gay character shows up in TV or film, their sexuality has to become part of the drama. That’s overdone, and negative by implying that being gay is such a Big Awful Thing that it must cause tension. It’s refreshing to see a gay character included just for the sake of diversity.

*** Moderate Spoiler Warning – To explain the Gay Positivity Score, I have to divulge something that happens near the end. I do not spoil the resolution to the primary conflict. Please stop reading if you don’t want to know. ***

Major Keane dies at the end. Another character also dies, but only because he has to retrieve something from the Keane. I find no compelling reason in the plot why any of the scientists had to die. I was so irritated by the development I nearly stopped watching then and there.

Two overarching stereotypes appear over and over again in the portrayal of gay people. If you’re gay, either you are bad, or bad things will happen to you. Through sheer repetition, it associates “gay” with “bad,” and inculcates the attitude that gay is worse than straight, instead of just different.

The situation is improving as TV and film produce more diverse and balanced portrayals of gay people. But the negative stereotypes persist, thanks to efforts like The Andromeda Strain.

Tags: Gay Science Fiction, Ricky Schroder, The Andromeda Strain