Critic's Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
It just goes to show you that you should never sleep on a series as fun as The Ark, regardless of airborne tranquilizers.
That was a fun episode, but we at TV Fanatic call it as we see it, and what we saw here was a “Die Hard” in space. Air vents be damned.
The Ark Season 2 Episode 8 continues the show’s trend of trying out new story ideas and circ*mstances.
At this point in the season, it’s fair to say that many of the risks the showrunners, writers, and producers took have worked out.
Now that we have a clearer picture of the plot’s direction, let’s hope that The Ark doesn’t lose its way or momentum toward the big, climactic ending.
We’re more than halfway through Season 2, and it’s time for the series to decide who or what the crew of The Ark One is going to have to face.
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The Ark Doesn’t Need Space Monsters Or Ray Guns Because Of Its Well-Crafted Characters
As mentioned in previous reviews, The Ark is a special kind of science fiction show. The series makes a tangible effort to focus on the story’s humanity.
Science fiction shows tend to lean towards the pomp and camp of space monsters, aliens, and ray guns. The Ark doesn’t need any of that because of its well-crafted characters.
However, with so many moving parts at this point in the season, this Syfy series did a smart thing. They incorporated a sleep episode, and in doing so, recalibrated the plot onto the main characters.
It can be easy for a show to stretch itself thin by trying to monopolize too much of the viewers’ attention. That’s how we end up with a series that feels convoluted.
When the season started, the main issues were avoiding Maddox and getting enough spare parts for the ship to reach its destination planet.
Since then, there have been electric tentacles, parallel universes, post-humans, and now we have the Eastern Federation and a ship’s worth of clones to deal with.
The Ark was due to reposition its spotlight.
The Captain Can’t Keep Clowning Around With These Clones
Speaking of the clones, they have been far more trouble than they are worth. Granted, they didn’t have much worth to begin with.
They were only introduced to bring on a new type of foil, and boy, did they foil.
Those Gen 2 clones didn’t waste any time getting right to action. I said before that I saw a clone uprising on the horizon, and here we are. However, that’s not the only clone prediction I made.
Since the start of The Ark Season 2, there have been multiple subtle moments of sweetness between Captain Garnet (Christie Burke) and Lieutenant Lane (Reece Ritchie). Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed it.
Then, there is Spencer’s clone, who seems as charming as Lane. A clone love triangle is the only reason I can see for the writers to have some random Gen 2 clone take over The Ark One.
We spotted Milos a few times over the last couple of episodes, but he hasn’t said a single word, so there was no reason for audiences to pay attention to him.
It genuinely feels like they chose not to make Spencer’s clone, Ian, the leader of the Gen 2’s, to keep the character redeemable.
Not that it will stop Spencer from flying off the handle again. Have you noticed that he goes from zero to sixty with every piece of bad news? Someone, please tell the actor to breathe between the lines.
However, if the hands behind The Ark need something to focus on, they can start with the coincidental good fortune of its characters.
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I’m talking about the delivery system the Gen 2 clones used to knock the entire ship out. It was pretty convenient that there was an easy-to-use tube that would disperse whatever was dumped into it to the rest of The Ark.
There wasn’t even a security pad or anything on the delivery system. Someone on the security team dropped the ball. Maybe they should recruit Kelly (Samantha Glassner).
The Ark Has An Unlikely But Much-Needed Friend In Kelly
The Ark is trying hard to keep Kelly at the forefront of the plot. Now it seems like they are forcing a hero arc onto the character, and I’m not mad about it.
Kelly has been a deeply misunderstood individual for quite some time. Her story has been fascinating, though.
Altered and enhanced by her mother to be a super soldier, Kelly has never known freedom. Used as a weapon, Kelly’s life has been one tragic event after another.
So, when it was revealed to The Ark One that Kelly’s homicidal tendencies were brought on by implants that augment her, I thought this was Kelly’s chance to prove she’s not a killer.
With the help of Captain Garnet, Kelly finally displayed the redeemable qualities that should make her a more trusted ally on the ship.
And trust is in short supply with the ever-rising number of enemies at the gate.
Kimi Is Cool, Lati Is Locked Up, William Trust Can’t Be Trusted, And For Some Reason, Brice Still Has His Shirt On
As stated above, the clones and eastern federation became problems for The Ark around the same time. Their episodes actually aired back-to-back.
One thing led to another, and before you knew it, we had a ship full of untrustworthy people. Now, it’s hard to remember who is on the good side and who is on the bad side.
If I’m correct, Kimi (Díana Bermudez) is cool as long as she keeps communicating with Sharon. Lati is locked up and not going anywhere. Eva is also being contained but in much nicer quarters. William Trust is, well, William Trust.
Brice was on Kimi’s hit list, but he’s just about cleared himself. Still, did anyone else notice those brief moments where it seemed like something was going on behind those gorgeous blue eyes?
I’m not entirely convinced Brice (Richard Fleeshman) doesn’t have skeletons in his closet. So, while he may not be Eastern Federation, something is clawing away at Brice’s past.
Either way, we’ll be finding out soon now that the Eastern Federation has officially entered the building.
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As a side note, the crew has to be getting tired of looking out the windows and seeing another problem headed their way. Oh, well. It makes for fun TV.
As usual, things are looking dire for The Ark, but that’s just part of the show’s charm. Everything may be on fire, but at least we can always count on Angus (Ryan Adams) and Alicia (Stacey Read) to sweeten things up.
Go ahead and get that birth control implant, Alicia!
Do you think Brice is Eastern Fed or just has a dark secret from his past?
What direction do you think Kelly will go in now after helping save the crew?
Drop a comment below to let us know, and join me again when I review the next episode of The Ark!
