The Ark is an American science fiction television series created by Dean Devlin, with Devlin and Jonathan Glassner serving as showrunners for the series. It premiered on Syfy on February 1, 2023, with the first season consisting of twelve episodes. The series stars Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet who becomes the de facto captain of an interstellar spacecraft after a disaster. It also stars Reece Ritchie, Richard Fleeshman, Stacey Michelle Read, Ryan Adams, Pavle Jerinić, Shalini Peiris, Christina Wolfe, and Tiana Upcheva. In April 2023, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on July 17, 2024.[1]
Premise
A hundred years in the future, a spacecraft known as Ark One is shuttling a complement of would-be colonists away from a devastated Earth to a new home, Proxima b. The ship suffers a catastrophic event that kills almost all of the technical crew and all of the ship's senior officers. The survivors must work to reorganize themselves to maintain the ship and stay on course to reach their destination.[2]
Cast and characters
Main
Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet,[3] one of the three highest-ranking remaining members of the crew and the de facto captain of the ship after the disaster.
Reece Ritchie as Lt. Spencer Lane ,[3] one of the three highest-ranking remaining members of the crew; he is suspicious of Garnet's leadership.
Ritchie also portrays Ian (season 2), a clone and Spencer's brother.
Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice,[3] one of the three highest-ranking remaining members of the crew and a self-proclaimed "navigation wonk" who now has to take on other duties after the disaster.
Stacey Read as Alicia Nevins,[3] a waste management engineer with coding skills who is promoted to chief of life support.
Ryan Adams as Angus Medford,[3] a farm and 4-H youth from horticulture whose duties include crop development at the prospective colony.
Pavle Jerinić[4] as Felix Strickland, acting head of security enforcement.
Shalini Peiris[4] as Dr. Sanjivni Kabir, the only remaining doctor on the medical staff.
Christina Wolfe[4] as Dr. Catrina "Cat" Brandice [a], a social media star and "TV relationship specialist" whom Garnet orders to be the head of ship-wide mental health.
Tiana Upcheva[4] as Eva Markovic, acting head of maintenance, engineering, and construction.
Recurring
Lisa Brenner as Lieutenant Commander Susan Ingram (season 1), a career military officer,[4] who would have been the superior officer to the surviving crew.
Miles Barrow as Baylor Trent (season 1), an ensign and Ingram's protégé.
Dominik Čičak as Harris Beckner (season 1), a member of Eva's engineering team and her secret lover.
Chris Leask as Jasper Dades (season 1), a crew member with a secret.
Paul Murray as William Trust, the inventor of the Ark program.
Samantha Glassner as Kelly Fowler, an Ark 3 survivor and Evelyn Maddox's daughter.
Jadran Malkovich as Dr. Marsh (season 2; guest season 1), Evelyn Maddox's former chief of medical who defected to Ark 1 after disagreements with her.
Díana Bermudez as Kimi Joma (season 2), Maddox's former chief of security who defected to Ark 1.
When an accident causes the crew of the Ark to wake up prematurely and with most of the senior staff dead, the remaining crew must establish a leadership committee from the remaining survivors and find a way to get the mission back on track.
An engine malfunction puts the ship at risk of an approaching comet, but the comet may provide an opportunity to deal with the imminent water shortage.
The premise is very similar to the 1970s series The Starlost, in which a multi-generational starship called Earthship Ark was launched to allow the passengers to escape a dying Earth. More than 100 years into the voyage, an unexplained accident occurs, and the ship goes into emergency mode. The survivors have to figure out how to safely pilot the starship.[23]
In March 2022, it was announced that the regular cast of the series had been set, with Christie Burke starring as Lt. Sharon Garnet, along with Richard Fleeshman, Reece Ritchie, Stacey Read, and newcomer Ryan Adams.[3] In April 2022, it was announced that Lisa Brenner would be a recurring guest star, playing Commander Susan Ingram, with Christina Wolfe, Shalini Peiris, Miles Barrow, Pavle Jerinić, and Tiana Upcheva also recurring.[4]
On April 12, 2023, Syfy renewed the series for a second season.[1]
Broadcast and release
The series trailer was released in December 2022.[26] It premiered on Syfy on February 1, 2023,[27][28] with episodes to be streamed the next day on Peacock.[29]
Reception
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 50% approval rating based on 14 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The core concept of The Ark ought to be alluring enough for the sci-fi faithful, but blasé writing and chintzy production values call into question whether this particular world is worth preserving."[30]Metacritic assigned a score of 50 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[31]
Notes
^Wolfe was credited as main in season 2, episode 1 and as guest starring in season 2, episode 4.
^The Starlost (Sci-Fi), Keir Dullea, Gay Rowan, Robin Ward, 20th Century Fox Television, CTV Television Network, Glen Warren Productions, September 22, 1973, archived from the original on September 13, 2024, retrieved August 23, 2024{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
