What of Tom Zarek?
We didn’t get a chance to spend nearly as much time on this in the last podcast as I’d have hoped, so I suspect it’ll pop up next time as well — but I couldn’t wait that long. What’s going to come of Tom Zarek?
I’ve always liked Tom more than I could really justify to my partners in crime here at GWC. While we all agreed early on that Tom was out for Tom and Tom alone, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to him than we wanted to accept. When we first met him on the Astral Queen in Bastille Day, there was a moment after the “showdown” with Lee when Tom shook his head in frustration at the waste of the whole situation he engineered — and I think we saw his “human” side poking out into the light.
Again on Kobol when he “rode the line” with his homicidal buddy, refusing to take the next step to kill Lee, he seemed (at the end, anyway) to grasp the fact that even his ambition paled in comparison to the survival of the human race — a fact that separates him dramatically from Baltar.
This is a concept that the occupation clearly drove home to him. In Exodus, Pt. 1 we see him talking honestly with Roslin, admitting that he sees the error of his ways — and passing on the fact that even he has limits, having stood up to Baltar and been cast out of Colonial One. When he handed his gun to Jammer (of all people) and asked him to protect Roslin, I for one believed that he truly meant it — that he wanted to see her safe because she was the right person to lead the colonies, not just because there was some specific power gain for Tom.
So what does all this mean in the coming episodes now that the fleet’s back together again?
Well, as we mentioned in Friday’s podcast, Tom might well be the current president of the colonies. We know that he was Baltar’s vice president, so if we assume that he continued to hold that office even though he was “ejected” from Baltar’s presence, he would now ascend to the presidency since Baltar is with the Cylon.
Then again, Roslin sure looked comfortable in that chair at the end of Exodus, Pt. 2. And would Tom dare to suggest that she not take up the role where she last left off? He does know that Roslin fixed the election, but would he use that — if necessary — to hold on to power? Would it work if he did?
I suspect that he’s not going to do anything of the kind. I suspect that he’s going to become Roslin’s new vice president, and they’re going to bea powerful team.
But as Sean pointed out in the last podcast, I’ve been wrong a bit lately. Maybe we’ll find out this Friday.
Galactic Watercooler 
Modern Geek 
Save Eureka 
Eff This Week 
FitSmart
Fantastic podcast, folks. Glad to find it.
On Zarek, one huge question to add to the stew — why wasn’t he more involved with the resistance? I just don’t get it from a writing point of view. We know he led a major resistance movement on one of the 12 coloies. Wouldn’t he be a natural go-to leaderon New Caprica? There could have been a passing reference, at the very least, that he was too obvious a leader for an underground movement.
I agree that Zarek is power hungry, I think the writers have cast in the most interesting light this kind of character can to be. It is not meglomaniacal greed that drives his grasping for power, but his heartfelt belief that his ideas and direction are best for the colonies. As such during this period of organization and chaos following the exodus, I think Zarek will let the proven team of Adama & Roslyn. But I am sure that he will try to insinuate himself into the ranks of leadership before too long.
In response to Challabuck, it is fact that he would be an “obvious leader for an underground movement” that he was snatched up and imprisoned. As soon as he rubbed one of the cylons the wrong way, they would have thrown him in jail just to keep him out of their way.
Though it would have been cool to se Zarek and Tigh plotting together.
OK, the patrimony of this quote is convoluted, but it’s worth it. The GF recommended I check out “Lawyers, Guns, & Money” which is normally a constitutional law blog, b/c they started adding a “Saturday BattleBlogging” feature. I did. So-so blog entry, but in the comments I found this referencial gem:
“first of all, I have to pull a quote from Television Without Pity:
I’m fairly certain that voids the hell out of the warranty. I’m fairly certain there’s little red and yellow stickers on the underside of Galactica that say: “Warning, Do Not Plow Into Some Planet’s Unsuspecting Stratosphere Like The World’s Grimmest And Most Heavily Armored Fat Kid Jumping Into A Pool Full Of People He Hates Screaming Cannonball With A Grenade In His Teeth, Yeah, We’re Talking To You Adama, ‘Cause Jesus Christ.”
so yeah, that was awesome. second, Michael Hogan is my Gods. That is all.
will | 10.22.06 – 12:18 pm | #”
I so want one of those stickers…
Afternoon everyone, I just recently started listening to your podcasts and the first ones I listened to were Exodus Part 1 & 2. I did a couple of call ins after listening to the cause I couldn’t wait. First I wanted to say you guys are doing an outstanding job and keep it up, and I don’t mind you guys geeking out for Part 2, I was doing the same (I think all fans were).
Anyways I just wanted to bring up some things about Kara Thrace and the cylon Leoban that I don’t think have been directed. Yes he does lie and messes with her head and she does the same but also continuously kills him (Go Starbuck) but there is a link between the two of them.
We saw in Season 1 in the episode “Flesh and Bone†when Starbuck was interrogating Leoban and he knew who she was. Leoban said, “I knew it was you, but only last time I was the interrogator and you were the prisoner.†We see that he is right on some level cause Kara was his prisoner for 4 months on New Caprica.
So does he predict the future like the Orical in some way but refers to it as the past/future of there scriptures? Example: “All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again each of us playing a different role.†Was he hoping that in Flesh and Bone that Kara would be trying to fall in love with him, as if they were playing different roles? Is his mission to understand how someone is capable of having children but chooses not to (Kara)? Or is it his mission to just Frak with Starbucks head?
I may be reading way to much into this but I don’t know this has just been inkling at me since the premier. So please comment if you have any other opinions or theories. And if this doesn’t make to much sense I’m sorry, it is hard to get what I am trying to say down on paper (I am dyslexic).
Katrina
Katrina-
I agree with you about Leoben. I”m thinking that he can see the future. I forget which episode, but sometime this season he said that Starbuck would say she loved him. That turned out to be true last episode… just before she stabbed him (again). I take that as a prophecy fulfilled to the letter, if not to the spirit we’d expect.
I’ll take what GM says a half step further: Is Leoben the Cylon Oracle?
Ken I agree with you that when Starbuck told leoben that she loved him even through she was lieing through her teeth, what Leoban said came true.
Pike: I don’t think the Cylons have an Oracle if so, they would still have a plan. And what we’ve seen so far there winging it. But this is my guess so far, it may very well change very shortly.
Katrina- You’re right, Leoben said he saw their roles reversed at some other point in time (he as the interrogator, Starbuck as the prisoner). I had totally forgotten that.
It’s possible that he was referring to Starbuck’s house-arrest or fake-apartment arrest or whatever. But still there could be a future scene that more closely resembles the torture scene, where they really are switched in the exact same roles.
I still think Tom Zarek isn’t to be trusted. As one of you mentioned, with Baltar personal non grata among the humans Zarak is the legitimate president. He even got Laura to admit her role in trying to fix the election by sweet-talking her during a weak moment. That is soooooo going to come back to bite her.
Just a thought I had about Laura Roslin, now I am not saying that she was bad as the President nor am I suggesting that giving her the office back is a bad idea. However has anyone else noticed that she has never been elected???
I could make the argument that her first term had more legality then her second one does, she was a member of and the lone survivor of the Pre-Holocaust presidential cabinet. This would make her the legal president.
However her new current term in the office was done by a backroom deal. The ethics of this could be challenged greatly, and I would also add that she lost an election bid. Regardless if Admiral Adama wants to approve of Tom Zarek as president, he really has no legal choice. If he would jail him for keeping the office, which is legally his to keep; Adama would be committing a second military coup.
An outsider seeing all of this might conclude that democracy has been lost in the “Second Exodus.â€
Am I missing something here. i swear I have seen Tom Zarek as a cylon in one of the earlier episodes. It was really brief, but has anyone seen that?