The Ark’s Showrunners and Stars Tease Season 2’s Exciting Story
After its premiere season, The Ark has already amassed quite a fandom, with many excited about what’s in store next. As …
The post The Ark’s Showrunners and Stars Tease Season 2’s Exciting Story appeared first on TV Fanatic.
After its premiere season, The Ark has already amassed quite a fandom, with many excited about what’s in store next.
As a show that has done an amazing job of setting itself apart from the space Odyssey formula, it’s no wonder viewers are all on board for whatever the series creators have planned for audiences.
TV Fanatic got the inside scoop from showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner and stars Christie Burke, Stacey Reed, and Ryan Adams.
Grab your spacesuits and helmets because we’re about to blast off into some intergalactic details about The Ark Season 2!
The ending of season 1 left so many characters’ lives hanging in the balance; what factors did you use to decide who made it? And were those factors purely plot-related?
Dean: Oh, it was easy. We just killed everybody.
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We just said they’re all dead. No, no, no, we wouldn’t do that. We felt there was a responsibility that there had to be real consequences.
That it couldn’t just be, oh, everything’s fine. We’re in season two. Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen.
So, there are real consequences to the characters, to the ship, to the plot. And it wasn’t easy making those choices because, you know, we love everybody who works on the show.
But I think for a show like this to work, for the stakes to be high on any given episode, you have to know that anybody could die.
And was that something that you kept in the dark from the cast between the seasons?
Dean: Well, we didn’t know ourselves. You know, we had to spend some time. I’ll let Jonathan answer that.
Jonathan: Yeah, well, first of all, we had to get a pickup to know that we were going to do that.
But then, you know, it’s a challenge, especially on this show where we loved all our characters and all our actors, to make that decision.
And we had to make it based totally on plot, on where there is to go with each individual character.
We knew character arcs for everybody, and some of them had less left in their arc than others. So, they were the ones, unfortunately, we had to off as it were. And it’s always painful because we, like I said, we just really loved everybody.
And it was a challenge to even do it, even bring it up. But, you know, the ship was hit pretty bad at the end of last season. If nobody was hurt or killed or anything, it would have been a real cheat.
Joshua: Yeah, you have to make those tough calls.
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After going through so many catastrophic events, the characters are very different from when they started in season 1. Can we expect any shake-ups in the core Ark One crew/family, whether they are brought closer together or pulled apart?
Jonathan: Oh, yeah, there’s some big shakeups.
We are introducing some new characters for the show, which will just in itself, having new people there will shake things up.
But they also happen to know some information about some of our crew members that the rest of our crew did not know and that our audience did not know.
And as those things are revealed, there’ll be some big shakeups happening, some big surprises.
Joshua: It sounds like there’s a lot of exciting stuff coming our way.
Christy, with Lieutenant Garnet fully established as the respected leader of Ark One, she already has a lot on her plate. But will she be able to breathe and have lighter moments, whether comedic or romantic?
Christie: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Which is what I’m so excited about for audience members and fans of the show to see in season two, is that we get to see her not only be an incredible leader like she always has been, but also have deeper relationships.
And that’s all I’m going to say because I don’t want to want to ruin anything.
Is there an aspect of her you’re hoping comes across stronger in the second season, such as her leadership, compassion, or calm demeanor in crisis?
Christie: I think what I’m really excited for audience members to see is more of her emotion.
I think, like in season one, she had on armor, and because she didn’t really know these people that well, through season one, we see her slowly start to the crack in that armor.
And now that she’s in this family, I think we really get to see how tough these decisions are to make for her when she really cares about these people.
And so, I think we get to see a lot of different shades to Garnet’s emotional being, which I’m really excited for audience members to see.
Joshua: I am definitely one of those audience members because I’m excited to see where she’s going with everything she’s accomplished.
Christie: I think in season one, she’s a clone, and in season two, she’s a person. And it’s cool to see that.
Dean, last year, you were quoted as saying The Ark isn’t a show about laser-beam fights with strange aliens, but in the season 2 trailer, a sort of electrical monster can be seen. Will The Ark introduce new alien species? And if so, is Lieutenant Garnet headed for her own Ripley experience?
Christie: Listen, I’m deadly afraid of aliens. OK, let me just get that out there. That’s all I’m going to say.
Dean: I think the thing is, we get to explore some very different science fiction ideas, you know, so that we’re not just a disaster of the week as we’ve been.
And I think that as we introduce elements that are the kind of things we didn’t do before, we’re going to do it in a way that fits the tone of our show.
So, we’re never going to just switch gears and suddenly be Star Wars.
You know, it’s just not who this show is. But we do want to keep expanding what you can see on the show and the kind of conceptual ideas that we can explore.
And Jon did such a spectacular job of taking the show in directions that I didn’t anticipate that it really kind of informed us that this show has a lot of life in it.
There are a lot of directions we can go with this.
It’s its foundation, its character foundation is strong, and it allows for some storytelling that’s really not going to be expected by our audience.
And I think they’re going to be thrilled.
Joshua: Yeah, I would definitely say The Ark sets itself apart from the rest of the sci-fi stories that audiences have come to expect.
At the end of season 1, Lieutenant Garnet and Maddox form an unexpected truce, but the bond seems tenuous at best. How stable is this unlikely partnership, and what should we brace for considering the cold and calculated nature of Maddox?
Jonathan: You should brace for the cold, calculated nature of Maddox. That’s really the answer. She, in her own little sick mind, wants to help us.
But because she has such a sort of sick way of looking at the world, her idea of help is not exactly Garnett’s idea of help.
And that’s kind of going to tear them apart and put them together at the same time.
Joshua: I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her. All right. And one more question.
Was there a scene or episode that was particularly challenging to develop without overreaching the “space science”? And will this season push the crew’s working knowledge and understanding of space?
Jonathan: That’s a tough one. You know, we try to stay. I think this is what you’re getting at.
We try to stay as grounded as we can in science. But the truth is, this is a show about characters and adventure and fun and not really a science.
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So, the whole show is a challenge in that regard because we want it to feel possible.
But we’re not going to box ourselves into, you know, as if something could never happen.
I hope that answers your question.
Dean: I think the tricky thing with our show is we’re not a grounded show.
But we’re not three feet off the ground either.
You know, so we try to hit that sweet spot where we’re just enough off the ground that we can make stories that are engaging and fun but not so far off the ground that it feels silly and stupid.
And so far, it seems like we’ve hit that sweet spot, at least with the audience that likes the show.
Joshua: Yeah, I’m definitely part of that audience.
Well, thank you so much, guys, for answering my questions. I’m so excited for the next season of The Arc, and I hope you all have a great day!
Jonathan: Thank you.
Dean: Nice talking to you, Joshua.
It was so much fun to hear the different aspects that went into creating what is sure to be an exciting season for the Syfy series, The Ark.
But we’re not stopping there because, as audiences know, the finale of Season 1 left so much in the air.
One character, fan favorite Angus, was left in a particularly precarious position, with his life on the line.
Ryan Adams and Stacey Reed were kind enough to give us as much information as they were allowed, but you don’t have to take our word for it.
Check out the interview below and see how excited these two actors are to bring their characters back to the small screen!
With such an amazing cast and talented showrunners at the helm, The Ark Season 2 is primed and ready to take off for another exciting installment!
You can catch episodes airing on Syfy and on Peacock.
Were you surprised by some of the answers about the characters and their fates?
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What are you looking forward to most in the new season?
Drop a comment below to let us know, and join us again as we review Season 2 of The Ark!
The post The Ark’s Showrunners and Stars Tease Season 2’s Exciting Story appeared first on TV Fanatic.