The Ark cast and crew discuss the challenges of returning to space for season 2

When we last checked in on the crew aboard Ark One, things were far from OK. Ark One finally reached Proxima b, the planet that hopefully would serve as humanity’s next home. Unfortunately for the human race, Proxima b explodes, and the blast causes significant damage to Ark One. The final moments of The Ark season 1 finale saw Lt. Sharon Garnet (Christie Burke), Lt. James Brice (Richard Fleeshman), Lt. Spencer Lane (Reece Ritchie), and Alicia Nevins (Stacey Read) scrambling to find survivors.

The Ark season 2 jumps right into the aftermath of the explosion. While Ark One experienced several casualties, there are some notable survivors, including Felix Strickland (Pavle Jerini?), Eva Markovic (Tiana Upcheva), and Angus Medford (Ryan Adams). With the fate of the human race at stake, Ark One must pivot to finding another new home.

In an interview with Digital Trends, several members from The Ark cast and crew – including Burke, Read, Adams, and co-showrunners/executive producers Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner — discussed what fans can expect in the upcoming episodes and how they approached a new set of challenges in season 2.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Ark season 2’s premiere episode.

Digital Trends: As showrunners, what’s harder to do — start from scratch on the first season or build on the success of the first and write a second season?

Jonathan Glassner: You know, I think they’re both equally hard. You’re starting with a blank page and saying, “Oh, God, where are we gonna go?”

Dean Devlin: They’re very different challenges. The first challenge — can we make something that people are going to enjoy? But then, if they really enjoyed it, like the 6.5 million people that watched the first season, now you feel this responsibility to go to a whole ‘nother level. You owe it to them. So I think that they’re equally hard, but in very different ways.

Glassner: Yeah, I mean, I’ll tell you when you’re writing a season, the whole time you’re saying, “Am I writing us into a corner? Are we going to be able to do another season if we end this way?” We’re very careful about leaving a whole bunch of stuff to answer for the next season. This season, we started out already knowing that we had this, this, this, this, and this that we wanted to do. It’s just what order to put it in.

Christie, coming into this season, you already have this foundation [for your character] established in season 1. What was the prep like for season 2?  Did a lot of things change? Were you able to step right into the character again because of the base you built in season 1? 

Christie Burke: Well, I feel like I worked out more because I was like, “Oh man. I really got to beat up a lot of like seven-foot Serbian stunt dudes.” I was like, “I wanna really do that and make it look real because I do all my own stunts on the show.” So yeah, I got in the gym as lame as that sounds. [laughs] They just are so tall in Serbia! It’s crazy.

If you accidentally punch one of them, it’s like hitting cement. And I was like I want to be able to do that better. And yeah, getting excited for where they’re going to take Garnett this season. They take her to so many amazing places, and I felt like we had unfinished business with her. We didn’t know everything there is to know about her, and we still don’t by the end of the season.

That’s your rite of passage, fighting a Serbian. 

Burke: 100%. That, and a three-page monologue to a crowd of Serbians who have no idea what you’re saying … I love it. [laughs]

Glassner: Christie was a stunt woman in another life. I’m convinced.

Burke: No way. [laughs]

Glassner: She’s very good at it, and she’s fearless.

Stacey and Ryan, for your season 2 prep, what changed for you, knowing you had that base [for your character] to build from in season 1?

Stacey Read: With season 1, it was pretty much like we wouldn’t get all the episodes at once. We’d get them sent as we were shooting. With that, it was figuring out the character and building a character, essentially. Going into season 2, like you said, we already have that base. With this season, it was more of, I have my character, and now she’s been put in these situations. How does the situation make her grow? How does this affect her on a more long-term scale? That’s kind of what I started to look at.

Ryan Adams: I think, for me, it wasn’t exactly like I could just continue where I left off because my first proper scene in season 2 is waking up not knowing what happened and not really in a sound state of mind at all. It was all about trying to find that edge to him [Angus] when he really shouldn’t be waking up because of Kelly’s blood in his system.

Not knowing why he’s there, not knowing why he’s alive, not knowing why Kelly is standing right there. The last time when he saw Kelly, she had her hands around his neck. He has so many questions. He’s immediately not the same person, and it was really cool progressing with that episode by episode.

How early on did you [Ryan] find out that you may potentially die?

Adams: Oh my gosh. [laughs] I’m not sure. I think … Stacey, when did we get episode 1? Maybe like a month before we started shooting?

Read: Yeah, I think.

Oh, wow. That’s pretty close.

Ryan Adams: Yeah, I think no one really knew the state of their own character until we got sent that script. Everyone’s cautiously turning the page like, “Don’t be me. Don’t die. Don’t die.” And then when I got to me, and I read how brutal it was as well, I’m like there’s no way this kid can survive that. There’s no way. Yeah, it’s always scary. I mean, I was contracted for all of season 1. I’m not contracted for all of season 2, so I was really, really scared. [laughs]

I mean you did have glass hanging out of your chest, so if you can survive that, it’s going take a lot to kill you.

Adams: Yeah, exactly. Exactly! Angus, a hard guy to kill.

OFFICIAL TRAILER | The Ark Season 2 | The Ark | SYFY

Jonathan, introducing all of the characters and laying the groundwork for the show takes up a lot [of time in] of season 1. Now that you have that done, what would you say is the main task for season2?

Glassner: Well, I mean, the honest truth is we haven’t finished with the characters. There’s a lot of their history and secrets they have that get revealed this season. It’s a slow unpeeling of the onion. Also, by doing that, we learn about what happened on Earth a little bit more and the politics of Earth before the launch.

Dean, when we spoke about the end of season 1, you said the show may not be for everyone, but for the people who really like it, it fills a need. It’s this fandom where the viewer feels like they own the show. They get to hang out with their friends once a week. How do you keep that same feeling and sentiment alive in season 2?

Dean Devlin: Well, we really try to honor the fans. Someone was asking us earlier if we change the story based on suggestions we see on Twitter. No, we don’t, but you do hear what they [the fans] want to feel and the emotions that drive them to watch the show. The more we understand that, the more we feel it, the more we want to service that. Yes, this takes place in outer space, and yes, there’s science around it.

But I don’t think anyone who really watches the show is watching it to get a science lesson. I think they watch it because they fall in love with these characters, and they want to see what’s gonna happen to them next. Our goal: What are interesting science fiction concepts where we can place stories that explore these characters and the now very intense relationships that have developed over the course of these many episodes?

There is an endearing, sometimes awkward, and heartfelt relationship between Alicia and Angus. What can fans expect in terms of romance and friendship for season 2?

Adams: I think you can expect a lot of Alicia and Angus content. I mean, we’ve got some really cool scenes together. We did a lot of work together this season. Everyone and their mother knows that Angus and Alicia really like each other and want this to happen. It’s just finding a time for it to happen, obviously with Angus being in such a bad state at the beginning and Alicia running the show. Yeah, it will be fun to see when that happens, and if that happens.

People really respond to this show. It feels like a tight-knit community judging by the fan reaction. How do you and the cast keep that tight-knit community alive for the second season?

Adams: Oh, man. I mean it always helps liking everyone, you know. [laughs]

It’s obvious, but not always true.

Adams: You’re right. Yeah. We’re really lucky that everybody on the show is so lovely and so supportive. I mean, we know that firsthand. Coming onto this show as newcomers, [we] literally got so much support, patience, and warmth from the crew and the actors. We just learned so much from them. Yeah, everyone’s just really nice. There’s some new characters this season. [The new characters] are very, very nice. Can’t wait for you to meet them.

Read: Yeah, I think what’s really nice about it is we went on a show, and we met new people, but I think real friendships have come out of it. A few of us are U.K.-based, so I’ve met with Shalini [Peiris]. I’ve met Jess [Yemi], who plays Naomi. She’s doing a course here in London at the moment. I met her just the other week. I met Ryan just like two weeks ago. We’re actually friends [laughs], like we’re all really close in real life.

Adams: We really do like each other. It’s not just for the camera! [laughs]

I will make sure to write that down in the article. That you really like each other.

Adams: Nice!

Christie, one of the main storylines in season 1 was who will take the leadership role of the ark. This Game of Thrones political battle for leadership. At the end of it, you’re the captain now. Securing that was the goal for Garnet in season 1. What is her motive and goal for season 2?

Burke: I think to complete the mission. I mean, it wasn’t that hard to get the leadership role. You know what I mean? [laughs] I was dealing with two dumbos. No, I’m just kidding. I think it’s the same. I think the mission is to save humanity and get them [the passengers] to a planet.

Then, I truly believe Garnett has no idea. Once she completes that mission, what comes next? What does she want to do? I think her whole objective is selfless. She’s just trying to save these people. Once she gets there, if we ever do see her get there, what does she want? I think that’s what’s really exciting about our show is that we get to see more of what Garnett wants this season.

What’s great is what Dean was saying that there are more relationships [this season]. These people have known each other now and have been through a lot of high-stakes situations. They’ve seen the best of them or the worst of them.

Through that, maybe relationships romantically develop, or maybe they don’t, or maybe they start hating each other. These are real humans who form real relationships. I think people are going to be really surprised about what happens.

The Ark season 2, episode 2 airs at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Wednesday, July 24, on Syfy.