If you love shows set in the future, with high stakes and plenty of mysteries, chances are you’ll want to tune in to The Ark, premiering February 1 on Syfy, because series stars Christie Burke (Lt. Sharon Garnet), Richard Fleeshman (Lt. James Brice), and Reece Ritchie (Lt. Spencer Lane) promised all that and more when they sat down with TV Insider’s Damian Holbrook at the Television Critics Association 2023 Winter Press Tour.
The series, created by Dean Devlin (who serves as co-showrunner with Jonathan Glassner), takes place 100 years in the future, when planetary colonization missions are necessary to help secure the survival of the human race. The first of these missions is on a spacecraft known as Ark One, which encounters a catastrophic event causing massive destruction and loss of life — and there’s still more than a year to go before they reach their target planet.
“From the very first moment of the first episode, we’re thrust into this crazy situation where some of the ship has been destroyed, all of our leadership have been killed, and you’ve got this bunch of lowly lieutenants and these other folk that are meant to be asleep until we get there and suddenly they’re woken up and they’re handed the keys to this Ferrari and nobody knows how to drive,” Ritchie previews.
Among the many problems the crew will be facing is the question of whether what happened to the ship was an accident. “There’s a lot of secrets and mystery to this show that I think audiences are going to love,” Burke says. “It’s very unexpected but also you’re dealing with the unexpected characters who have to become their own heroes.”
There are more than a few twists and surprises when it comes to the characters. As Burke notes, Sharon “was put on the ship so last minute. Nobody really knows her.” She did try to get answers from Devlin (but couldn’t), though according to Ritchie, the executive producer did share a secret with each about their characters (and swear them to secrecy).
“The problem with this is there’s so many intertwining storylines that one clue over here might give something away over here, so we’d rather just let people explore it for themselves because it’s worth the wait,” Fleeshman promises, adding, “You don’t want to go into Sixth Sense knowing the whole time, you know what I mean?”
Watch the full video interview above with Burke, Ritchie, and Fleeshman for more about the mysteries and characters of the new sci-fi series.
The Ark, Series Premiere, Wednesday, February 1, 10/9c, Syfy
