By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
While the Battlestar Galactica remake is filled with great bad guys, the most compelling villain isn’t some Cylon infiltrator or tin-plated soldier. Arguably, the best villain is Tom Zarek, someone who rises from political prisoner to Vice President before leading a mutiny and ultimately getting killed. Fans have generally imagined him as someone who hates his frequent onscreen sparring partner Laura Roslin, but when discussing a plot that begins with the Season 2 episode “Fragged,” Zarek actor Richard Hatch verified that “even though Zarek’s highly competitive with Laura Roslin, he has tremendous respect for her.”
How Tom Zarek Is Battlestar Galactica’s Best Villain
For a bit of context, “Fragged” is an episode in which Commander Adama has been shot, leaving the alcoholic Colonel Tigh in command of the Galactica. Adama had previously thrown President Roslin in the brig, and after Tigh declares Martial Law, she only escapes to the safety of the civilian fleet thanks to Tom Zarek, her fiercest critic. Richard Hatch later pointed out that Zarek helped her out because he respects her and because “it’s civilian vs. military,” and he sarcastically noted that fans can “guess where he falls in that struggle.”
What Richard Hatch is referring to is that Tom Zarek began the show as a prisoner who had previously bombed government buildings and wrote a best-selling book about fighting governmental corruption. Furthermore, his first big storyline in Season 1 involved him taking over a prison ship and demanding that a proper election be held because Laura Roslin was never properly elected…she was simply the closest surviving politician in the line of succession when President Adar died.
Because of this, Tom Zarek’s decision to help Roslin escape custody on Galactica is surprising because he could have simply left her in there to rot. But she was being held unjustly without any kind of trial or hearing while the ranking military officer declared martial law on all the citizens in the fleet. What Richard Hatch later emphasized about his character is that Zarek is a man of principles who would rather help a foe he respects than help a military force he despises continue its oppression of civilians.
Nobody understood Tom Zarek better than Richard Hatch, and the actor was excited to play a character who embodied what he saw as a real-world, nationwide struggle. “The storyline speaks to the huge issue of balancing individual freedom with survival, something those of us in the United States are all familiar with right now.”
This, of course, refers to the increasing government power during the George W. Bush administration and how citizens had to grapple with whether they were comfortable giving up their constitutional freedoms in the name of national security. The national debate over these issues would continue in later seasons, and these frequent reflections on Bush administration antics effectively made Battlestar Galactica one of the most political sci-fi shows in TV history.
Tom Zarek would continue to clash with Laura Roslin throughout Battlestar Galactica, but in Season 2, he saves her from the custody of military overreach. Hatch’s words illustrate how much fans have traditionally misunderstood his charismatic character, someone who ultimately respects Roslin no matter how different their politics are. And in his willingness to save his most powerful foe in the name of his beliefs, this memorable villain reveals himself to be the last thing audiences would expect: the most ideologically consistent character in the show.
