Felgercarb.
February 7, 2017 6:25 PM Subscribe
Richard Hatch, best known as Captain Lee Adama (Call sign Apollo) in the original version of Battlestar Galactica and Tom Zarek in the remake of Battlestar Galactica has died at the age of 71.
I was always super impressed with him for playing Tom Zarek. Dirk Benedict was a shithead who didn't want to bless the new show unless he could be himself in it again. Hatch dove into a completely different role and ate it up, happy to participate in something new and different.
Be like Zarek.
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posted by fatbird at 6:50 PM on February 7, 2017 [39 favorites]
Be like Zarek.
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posted by fatbird at 6:50 PM on February 7, 2017 [39 favorites]
I scoffed at the idea of a BSG remake, blond Cylons, really? Until I watched it. Then I scoffed at Hatch making an appearance til I saw him act. And his role kept getting better until the end. I've never been so glad to be wrong.
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posted by beowulf573 at 7:03 PM on February 7, 2017 [23 favorites]
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posted by beowulf573 at 7:03 PM on February 7, 2017 [23 favorites]
If you are playing the Battlestar Galactica board game and someone plays Zarek as Hatch did, then the game enters an entirely new level of difficulty as you try to balance the maintenance needs of a tenuous human alliance inside the ship against horrific metal death. It forces you to think about working with the people inside the Battlestar, rather than all working together as if the characters are all best buds.
Given how Hatch felt about Zarek's motivations, I suspect that this would have made him happy. He brought something new and he made himself a genuine and essential part of the new series.
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posted by nfalkner at 7:04 PM on February 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
Given how Hatch felt about Zarek's motivations, I suspect that this would have made him happy. He brought something new and he made himself a genuine and essential part of the new series.
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posted by nfalkner at 7:04 PM on February 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
I remember seeing him at a convention many years ago, bankrolling his own project to revamp the show. (Which I think was more of a direct sequel, and he'd reprise his role. The graphics weren't bad, as I recall.)
So I was pleasantly surprised when he went on the remake, since it wasn't his project. But he absolutely nailed Zarek and made him a memorable character.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:10 PM on February 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
So I was pleasantly surprised when he went on the remake, since it wasn't his project. But he absolutely nailed Zarek and made him a memorable character.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:10 PM on February 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
There have been a few things on the Blue today that have made me feel old. Realizing that I have clear memories of Hatch both as Apollo in the original BSG and as Zarek on the new BSG...well, yeah, that's another one.
Enjoyed him in both roles.
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posted by nubs at 7:14 PM on February 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Enjoyed him in both roles.
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posted by nubs at 7:14 PM on February 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
so say we all
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:15 PM on February 7, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:15 PM on February 7, 2017 [13 favorites]
My friend and I have matching, custom made Zarek for President t-shirts.
Now more than ever.
posted by latkes at 7:21 PM on February 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Now more than ever.
posted by latkes at 7:21 PM on February 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
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Shame that the writers threw Zarek's complexity out the window and made him a generic bad-guy during the mutiny episodes as a way of disposing of him before the endgame. One of his best character moments was a flat rejection of being easily-coded as a "bad guy": during the occupation arc when Roslin finds herself arrested and on the verge of being executed by the Cylons she's surprised to see Zarek there too. He's annoyed at her surprise and says something to the effect of, "I may be a rebel but I would never betray my species to the damn Cylons."
Memory is hazy because that episode aired more than a decade ago. Whoah.
posted by Ndwright at 7:23 PM on February 7, 2017 [8 favorites]
Shame that the writers threw Zarek's complexity out the window and made him a generic bad-guy during the mutiny episodes as a way of disposing of him before the endgame. One of his best character moments was a flat rejection of being easily-coded as a "bad guy": during the occupation arc when Roslin finds herself arrested and on the verge of being executed by the Cylons she's surprised to see Zarek there too. He's annoyed at her surprise and says something to the effect of, "I may be a rebel but I would never betray my species to the damn Cylons."
Memory is hazy because that episode aired more than a decade ago. Whoah.
posted by Ndwright at 7:23 PM on February 7, 2017 [8 favorites]
So say we all.
posted by schmod at 7:26 PM on February 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by schmod at 7:26 PM on February 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Tailkinker to-Ennien at 7:42 PM on February 7, 2017
posted by Tailkinker to-Ennien at 7:42 PM on February 7, 2017
I was always impressed at his defense of Zarek's actions in the mutiny, as seen here. He absolutely embraced his character as 3-dimensional, and brought that out both in this analysis and the performance on screen.
So say we all.
posted by stevis23 at 7:45 PM on February 7, 2017 [6 favorites]
So say we all.
posted by stevis23 at 7:45 PM on February 7, 2017 [6 favorites]
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posted by greermahoney at 7:59 PM on February 7, 2017
posted by greermahoney at 7:59 PM on February 7, 2017
Never saw the new show, but spent many happy childhood hours watching the original (and envying all my friends that had Original Series toy Vipers. Spoiled rich bastards!).
posted by Samizdata at 8:22 PM on February 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Samizdata at 8:22 PM on February 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Aww man.
I was born in '74, and Battlestar was in regular syndication in the early 1980s. It was one show we watched with our dad, who wasn't much for anything that wasn't the news or a WW2 documentary. This was serious quality family time, and probably in my top three fondest memories of childhood. PJs, a fireplace, and blasting Cylons.
And all my friends wanted to be Starbuck. Starbuck had an attitude. Starbuck got the girls. Starbuck was cool.
And I wanted to be Apollo - the responsible leader. A wise captain, not a cocky lieutenant. Because he was right.
Say hi to the Beings of Light, Richard. As they now are you may yet become.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 9:28 PM on February 7, 2017 [11 favorites]
I was born in '74, and Battlestar was in regular syndication in the early 1980s. It was one show we watched with our dad, who wasn't much for anything that wasn't the news or a WW2 documentary. This was serious quality family time, and probably in my top three fondest memories of childhood. PJs, a fireplace, and blasting Cylons.
And all my friends wanted to be Starbuck. Starbuck had an attitude. Starbuck got the girls. Starbuck was cool.
And I wanted to be Apollo - the responsible leader. A wise captain, not a cocky lieutenant. Because he was right.
Say hi to the Beings of Light, Richard. As they now are you may yet become.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 9:28 PM on February 7, 2017 [11 favorites]
Richard Hatch, best known as Captain Lee Adama (Call sign Apollo)
Not to be all Comic Book Guy, but Lee Adama was the name of the character Jamie Bamber played in the relaunch.
Richard Hatch was Apollo.
If you are playing the Battlestar Galactica board game and someone plays Zarek as Hatch did,
In the BSG game, the humans are trying to keep fuel, food, morale and population above certain minimums. Awesome note about Zarek's special ability: he and he alone can convert between the four, shifting these abstract units around from one resource to another. Yes, he can convert population into food or fuel.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:42 PM on February 7, 2017 [15 favorites]
Not to be all Comic Book Guy, but Lee Adama was the name of the character Jamie Bamber played in the relaunch.
Richard Hatch was Apollo.
If you are playing the Battlestar Galactica board game and someone plays Zarek as Hatch did,
In the BSG game, the humans are trying to keep fuel, food, morale and population above certain minimums. Awesome note about Zarek's special ability: he and he alone can convert between the four, shifting these abstract units around from one resource to another. Yes, he can convert population into food or fuel.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:42 PM on February 7, 2017 [15 favorites]
So say we all, indeed.
posted by northtwilight at 11:42 PM on February 7, 2017
posted by northtwilight at 11:42 PM on February 7, 2017
So say we all.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:11 AM on February 8, 2017
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:11 AM on February 8, 2017
So say we all.
posted by magstheaxe at 6:53 AM on February 8, 2017
posted by magstheaxe at 6:53 AM on February 8, 2017
Dirk Benedict was a shithead who didn't want to bless the new show unless he could be himself in it again.
That's a bit harsh.
posted by Beholder at 7:21 AM on February 8, 2017
That's a bit harsh.
posted by Beholder at 7:21 AM on February 8, 2017
"Not to be all Comic Book Guy, but Lee Adama was the name of the character Jamie Bamber played in the relaunch. // Richard Hatch was Apollo."
Agreed that it's pedantic, but that's also a fair observation. I never watched the old series until *after* seeing the reboot, and I went into the old series thinking Apollo was his call-sign, like in the reboot. I was surprised to realize that the character's actual name was Apollo, not just his call-sign, and that it was also true of all the other call-signs used in the reboot that had equivalents in the original (Starbuck, Boomer, Athena).
I think it was actually an improvement to go with the names as call-signs in the reboot, as it's closer to actual military processes, plus it allows the names to be treated as an homage to the original but not be quite as strictly tied to it.
(As my own pedantic addition, I will say that I wish the reboot stopped just before the finale, as that finale was crap. I don't even care if they did something totally different instead; they just needed to not do what they did. It's a similar gut-wrenching feeling to watching the last two episodes of the anime Evangelion.)
posted by mystyk at 7:58 AM on February 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
Agreed that it's pedantic, but that's also a fair observation. I never watched the old series until *after* seeing the reboot, and I went into the old series thinking Apollo was his call-sign, like in the reboot. I was surprised to realize that the character's actual name was Apollo, not just his call-sign, and that it was also true of all the other call-signs used in the reboot that had equivalents in the original (Starbuck, Boomer, Athena).
I think it was actually an improvement to go with the names as call-signs in the reboot, as it's closer to actual military processes, plus it allows the names to be treated as an homage to the original but not be quite as strictly tied to it.
(As my own pedantic addition, I will say that I wish the reboot stopped just before the finale, as that finale was crap. I don't even care if they did something totally different instead; they just needed to not do what they did. It's a similar gut-wrenching feeling to watching the last two episodes of the anime Evangelion.)
posted by mystyk at 7:58 AM on February 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
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posted by Faintdreams at 8:23 AM on February 8, 2017
posted by Faintdreams at 8:23 AM on February 8, 2017
That's a bit harsh.
Whatever you do, don't be like me, search for his comments on the new series, and find his "I'm a manly man and feminism has ruined the franchise" polemic.
posted by zippy at 9:11 AM on February 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
Whatever you do, don't be like me, search for his comments on the new series, and find his "I'm a manly man and feminism has ruined the franchise" polemic.
posted by zippy at 9:11 AM on February 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm a casual Metafilter participant and have never seen the "." comment before. What does it mean?
posted by ShakeyJake at 1:01 PM on February 8, 2017
posted by ShakeyJake at 1:01 PM on February 8, 2017
ShakeyJake, it's a way of signifying a moment of silence and often shows up in obituary threads.
posted by nubs at 1:18 PM on February 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by nubs at 1:18 PM on February 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by mikelieman at 1:27 PM on February 8, 2017
posted by mikelieman at 1:27 PM on February 8, 2017
The scene between Roslin and Zarek right before the Cylons point their guns at them is probably my favourite in the BSG reboot. Hatch plays the reaction to Roslin admitting she tried to rig the election so well. He simultaneously (and silently) shows "I knew you and I weren't that different" and "I actually respect you more now" on his face. Then when the toasters raise their weapons, he tries to protect her. The man understood his character.
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posted by dry white toast at 7:06 AM on February 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by dry white toast at 7:06 AM on February 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Bastille Day epsisode of the reboot was when I tipped from liking the show to becoming mildly obssessed with it, and Hatch's portrayal of Zarek had a ton to do with that. As others noted, I also really appreciated how he embraced the new series and made a great contribution to it.
posted by TwoStride at 8:15 AM on February 9, 2017
posted by TwoStride at 8:15 AM on February 9, 2017
"Last year, you tried to steal the election, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did, Tom."
"I wish you'd gone through with it."
"Me too."
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Yeah, dry white toast, that's such a memorable scene. watching those two face death together was intense.
posted by Sauce Trough at 10:38 AM on February 9, 2017
"Yes, I did, Tom."
"I wish you'd gone through with it."
"Me too."
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Yeah, dry white toast, that's such a memorable scene. watching those two face death together was intense.
posted by Sauce Trough at 10:38 AM on February 9, 2017
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