SciFiWire continue to roll out their coverage to conincide with Knight Rider‘s primetime premiere, and today it’s focused on Sydney Tamiia Poitier and her character, Carrie Rivai. Rivai was by far the most controversial character in the pilot, based purely on her introductory scenes involving a supposed lesbian one-night-stand. “I was really surprised that people were thinking about it and that they were so concerned,” Poitier says. “Bottom line, to be honest, I don’t think you are going to see her have a personal life. She literally lives [in the K.I.T.T.-Cave], and she is head of security, watching everyone 24/7, and has responsibilities. You’re not going to see her out on a date with someone or see her wink at somebody… I don’t think you’re going to see her have any kind of life, unfortunately, but you never know.”
There has been talk that Rivai’s background has been altered for the series, but Gary Scott Thompson reveals that that is not necessarily so. “My inclination is to leave her as she was,” Thompson says. “Why change it? But the thing about my argument is that, in the case of Anne Heche, she was straight, then bi, then a lesbian, then bi, then straight. If [Rivai] is actually bisexual, she would appear different ways, depending on the situation. Of course, in my book, that would make her a much more interesting character, much like Capt. Jack Harkness in Torchwood. If I could use Jack in Torchwood as a role model — I would absolutely use him as a role model — I love his conflictedness about… everybody. He’s real cool.”
That’s doesn’t mean that Knight Rider is going to follow Torchwood‘s lead, and introduce overt sexuality into the weekly adventures. “We can’t get away with what they do,” Thompson adds. “America is extremely [prudish], and we’re living in a Republican regime, where it becomes even more [so]. The reality is that there are people who are out there who are bisexual. There are people who are gay, that’s the reality… It’s, like, deal with it. I mean, trying to shove people back in the closet isn’t correct.”