Richard Hatch on his just concluded time as Tom Zarek on BSG.

Awesome, so great to see one of the BSG folks using the internet to think out loud about what they have been doing.

I can’t wait until we hear from the others, too. It’s seemed clear to me for some time that Hatch was playing his character against the script, that as written Zarek is a cynical manipulator of discontent, but that Hatch chose to see the role as a committed revolutionary representing what he saw as the inevitable will of the people. By playing it that way, he improved the series against consistently weak writing around labor issues in particular and around weaker political writing in general.

Doing so permitted him, and the series, the luxury to elevate itself to levels of drama generally reserved for the Greeks and Shakespeare. Mr. Moore owes Richard Hatch his most sincere thanks, more more than he knows.

So, Mr. Hatch, I thank you. You transcended yourself and your character’s written role, and in so doing deepened the art of your co-workers. Thanks again for taking the time to write about it afterwards.