It’s

microbes versus humans, and the microbes are winning.

It’s

an old premise for the new A&E miniseries The Andromeda Strain, based on the 1969 techno thriller by Michael

Crichton, a book that pioneered and popularized the very genre of storytelling

that mixes actual science with action-oriented accessible popular

entertainment.

But

this time around, the cast of characters is markedly different than it was in

the original novel or its 1971 film adaptation. This time, one of the

characters, Major Bill Keene, played by Ricky Schroder, is gay. It’s perhaps

the most high-profile example to date of a leading gay character in an American

science fiction or genre movie.

“It

was my decision,” screenwriter Robert Schenkkan tells AfterElton.com regarding

the inclusion of the gay character. “The novel was written in 1969, and all the

scientists were white heterosexual males.” (One of the male characters was

changed to female for the original film version.)

“If

you’re going to update the story, which is our mandate, you have an obligation to

reflect the world as it is,” says Schenkkan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning

playwright of The Kentucky Cycle.

The Andromeda Strain tells the story of a highly

lethal pathogen that arrives on Earth via a downed satellite, eventually killing

all but two of the occupants of a remote Utah

town. A group of diverse medical

specialists is assembled at a secret underground laboratory to try to unlock

the secrets of the microbe, which is rapidly mutating and spreading beyond the

quarantined area. Major Bill Keene is one of the specialists.

From left to right: Ricky Schroder, Benjamin Bratt,

Christa Miller, Daniel Dae Kim, Viola Davis

The

gay character is one of the miniseries’ leads, but there is only one brief

mention of his homosexuality, in a scene between him and Dr. Charlene Barton,

played by Viola Davis:

DR BARTON: How about you? You gotta girlfriend back home

tying ribbons around old trees?

MAJOR KEENE: No ball and chain for me.

DR BARTON: Can’t get a date, huh?

MAJOR KEENE: If you don’t ask, I won’t tell.

DR. BARTON: I always thought that was a stupid-ass policy.

While

there is a brief hint of romance between two other heterosexual characters,

none of the scientists’ personal lives factor into the story much. In a way,

the incidental nature of Major Keene’s gayness — it’s more back-story than anything

pivotal to the plot — is almost as remarkable as his appearance in this

prominent science fiction miniseries, which had a reported cost of $15 million.

It’s an example of what many gay viewers have long called for: characters that

just happen to be gay or bisexual, not characters whose sole function in a plot

is to somehow “deal” with their gayness.

Schroder as Major Keene

But

according to Schenkkan, the character’s gayness is based, in part, on an

element in the original novel. In the book, Crichton invented the notion of the

“Odd Man Hypothesis” — the idea that an unmarried man with no personal ties is

the most dispassionate and logical in a time of crisis. As a result, it is this

person — Major Keene in the miniseries — who is given the only key able to stop

the underground facility’s self-destruct mechanism, should the lethal virus

somehow escape containment.

“In

thinking about who this [‘odd man’] would be in a military context, I thought

he might be gay,” says Schenkkan. “This is something that many people in the

military unfortunately have to deal with,” he adds, referring to the military’s

policy of expelling its openly gay members, something that makes ongoing

romantic relationships difficult for gay service members.

Indeed, upon learning Major Keene is gay, the character of

Dr. Barton pointedly notes, “It’s ironic that the army’s extensive battery and

psychological test has conclusively determined that the person they are most

afraid of is the best suited to make the right choice in this crisis.”

The Andromeda Strain’s gay character is unusual

not just that he’s appearing in a work of high-profile science fiction; he’s

also non-stereotypically gay — an aggressive, conservative military man who was

a hero in a previous crisis and who ends up again being fearless in this

crisis.

“It’s

understated,” Schenkkan says, “but his being gay speaks to his dignity and

restraint, and makes him much more interesting.”

The

background of the character and his conflict with another of the miniseries’

characters, played by Benjamin Bratt, is documented on a fictional website

Whathappenedinpiedmont.com.

Schenkkan

says he received nothing but support for the inclusion of the gay character.

“I

never heard boo from the network about it,” he says. “The producers thought it

was a great idea, as did the director.”

The

miniseries also stars Eric McCormack of Will

& Grace (1998-2006), and Andre Braugher, who played a gay character in

the 1999 movie All the Rage as well

as Frank Pemberton, the detective on the NBC series Homicide: Life on the Streets (1993-1999) for whom the bisexual Tim

Bayliss (Kyle Secor) apparently had romantic feelings.

Ridley

Scott, the director of Gladiator (2000), Thelma and Louise (1991),

and Alien (1979), and his brother Tony Scott, the director of Top Gun (1986), served as executive producers.

The Andromeda Strain airs on A&E on Monday,

May 26 and Tuesday, May 27 from 9-11 PM ET/PT.

(AfterElton.com

reader Joey H. contributed information for this article.)