DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Ark Season 1 Episode 8, “Every Single Person Matters,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, space travelers! We only have four more episodes left as The Ark hurtles toward the season’s conclusion. “Every Single Person Matters” boasts a few tricks and twists up its sleeves, namely that moment with Cat and William Trust. That said, I should’ve seen it coming when she ordered Lane to keep William’s presence under wraps in last week’s episode. It’s not the strongest episode, but it’s certainly not the weakest.
There are some rocky moments in this outing, especially regarding the acting. Despite a few wooden performances, stars like Richard Fleeshman and Reece Ritchie continue to shine, stealing every scene they’re in. They consistently deliver solid work, week after week.
Ready to delve into “Every Single Person Matters”? Let’s get to it.
RELATED: The Ark Recap: (S01E07) A Slow Death Is Worse
We open with Lt. Lane (Ritchie), helping William Trust (Paul Leonard Murray) acclimate to his surroundings. Suddenly, Helena Trust (Mercedes De La Cruz), his wife, knocks Lane unconscious. She perceives him to be a threat. Meanwhile, Lt. Brice (Fleeshman) and Eva (Tiana Upcheva) lounge in bed post-coitus. Hey, we all knew it was heading in that direction. Brice and Eva agree on the nature of their entanglement: it’s purely a friends-with-benefits thing.
Lt. Garnet (Christie Burke) calls Brice and Eva to the bridge. She can’t find Lane and wants to know if they’ve spotted him. Naturally, Brice cheekily inserts as many sexual innuendos into the conversation as possible. I love one Scottish charmer. Alicia (Stacey Read) presents her and Angus’s findings from Ark Three’s video footage to Garnet, Eva, Brice and Felix (Pavle Jerinic). Everyone is bewildered by the fact that Ark 15, a vessel that should’ve been years behind them, is out and about and attacking other Arks.
Next, Alicia finds Angus (Ryan Adams) in his natural habitat among his veggies. He’s the Veggiefather, after all. She asks him for assistance on a Garnet assignment; however, Kelly (Samantha Glassner) interrupts their convo. She blatantly flirts with Angus and tries to shut out Alicia. Kelly asks Angus to accompany her to a funeral service for the victims of the Ark Three catastrophe. He declines Alicia’s request and provides support for his new pal. Something about Kelly rubs me the wrong way.
RELATED: Catch up on the space drama with The Ark recaps!
Meanwhile, we see a flashback featuring William and Helena on Earth when William was booted from his company courtesy of Evelyn Maddox. Once they’re in their vehicle, Helena injects her husband with a sedative, claiming she’s doing this for him. Helena was the one who ensured their passage on Ark One. Things were getting too dicey on Earth for them. Felix, Alicia, Brice and Jelena (Tamara Radovanović) search for Lane. They split up to cover more ground on the ship.
Dr. Kabir (Shalini Peiris) conducts an autopsy on the man from Ark Three who died on the operating table. Kabir tearfully examines the body. You can tell she blames herself for his death, as she’s still enduring withdrawal symptoms from her substance addiction. Angus and Kelly enter the med bay, with the former asking the good doctor if they can take Kelly’s friend to the NOR. You know, to compost him. Kabir insists she must finish the autopsy. “Every single person matters,” she emphatically states (Title of the episode!). Angus insensitively (and gleefully) chats about composting Kelly’s friend, which, rightfully, doesn’t sit well with her. Oh, boy.
Then, Lane wakes up with William and Helena standing over him. He introduces himself and reveals that, unfortunately, all of the superior officers seeing to the Trusts’ protection are dead. Lane is the only person they can trust. Eva and Alicia work on retrofitting their circuit board with the Maddox Faster Than Lightspeed (FTL) tech in the engine room. Alicia rambles about fun space facts and casually mentions her perusal of Ark Three’s archives. There are cures for certain diseases. Could one of them be Klampkins?
RELATED: Catch up on the ghostly real estate antics with our SurrealEstate recaps!
Later, Kabir enters Cat’s (Christina Wolfe) quarters for a therapy session. Cat starts said session as she does with all of her sessions by asking her client something inane about her physical appearance. She wants Kabir to remove a mole from her shoulder. We can’t have any imperfections, now, can we? Anyway, Kabir discloses her belief that she killed a patient during surgery. She also divulges her substance abuse, to which Cat replies with her knowledge of Kabir’s struggles. Cat knows the signs of addiction all too well. She vows to help Kabir work through this dark point in the latter’s life. Poor Kabir. She’s had a rough go of it since waking from cryosleep.
Next, Lane asks William about the secret room full of animal DNA samples he discovered a few episodes ago. Helena is responsible for ensuring the vials made it onto Ark One. This information was concealed from the general public for fear of an uproar. Then, Felix, Eva and Jelena chance upon the chambers containing the Trusts’ cryo pods. Helena greets Felix by name, indicating they know each other, while Lane and William stand behind her. Uh-oh.
Then, Felix escorts the Trusts to the bridge to meet Garnet. Upon their arrival, Brice, in a rage, immediately decks William. He vehemently directs his ire toward William, blaming him for “his friend” contracting Klampkins. Is that friend a charming Scottish navigator, by chance? Garnet orders Brice to depart the bridge to cool off for a spell. How’s that for a warm welcome? Garnet confronts Lane for hiding this pertinent information from her. He claims he wanted to keep a lid on the crew’s collective anger, but Garnet insists she still should’ve known.
RELATED: Read about the Slushy Shack gang with our Reginald the Vampire recaps!
Helena requests that Felix be her and William’s bodyguard. We see another flashback featuring the Trust couple on Earth. Felix serves as their bodyguard, even taking a bullet for William amid a volatile protest outside the Trust headquarters. Back on the ship, Felix blames Helena for the deaths of his husband and daughter. However, Helena believes she did him a favor by securing him a position on Ark One.
Meanwhile, Alicia sits with Angus in the mess hall and excitedly delivers a play-by-play of her day, unaware he’s having lunch with Kelly. She pulls a Regina George in Mean Girls, changing Angus’s hairstyle. Kelly asks Alicia what she thinks of it. Go on, tell Angus he looks sexy with his hair pushed back. On the bridge, Garnet asks Lane for a more detailed explanation regarding his withholding of the Trusts’ location on the ship. Then, she boots him from the bridge and removes his rank of lieutenant. Now, he’s simply Spencer Lane. I sense a villain origin story is afoot.
William wonders how to fit in on the ship when everyone despises him. Helena suggests he make himself indispensable to the crew. When he spots Alicia and Eva on the bridge, he inserts himself into the conversation. William learns that Alicia and Eva successfully retrofitted their circuit board with the Maddox FTL tech. They believe if they attempt FTL, it can work. William strongly advises against this, but Garnet gives the go-ahead.
RELATED: Catch up on the Purgatory madness with our Wynonna Earp recaps!
After they engage Faster Than Lightspeed, some peculiar effects take root. Everyone appears to be warped, almost as if they’re phasing in and out of reality. According to Live Science, special relativity states that if something travels faster than light, “it would move backward in time.” This makes sense, considering we see past versions of each person carrying out a task or making a statement that happened minutes before the ship engaged FTL. William accompanies Eva and Alicia to the engine room to implement the fail-safe and uninstall the retrofit.
Of course, the trio struggles to stay on task as we see past versions of themselves sporadically appearing and intermingling with their present selves. Finally, they manage to remove the Maddox tech from their circuit board. Huzzah! After the incident, Garnet visits the Trusts in their quarters and apologizes to William for not trusting him initially (despite his surname). William dispenses sage leadership wisdom to the young lieutenant.
RELATED: Catch up on all the space adventures with The Orville: New Horizons recaps!
Meanwhile, Brice and Eva get into an argument regarding Brice’s acceptance of his impending death from Klampkins. Eva doesn’t think he should give in, especially if Ark Three’s archives contain a cure. Brice orders Eva to leave it be and breaks things off. Cat accepts an unexpected visitor in her chambers: William. They were having an affair on Earth before Ark One departed. Cat pledges her loyalty to William, while the latter questions her regarding the “Juno Project.” Oh, I’m digging this twist. The shift in Cat from the vapid, self-obsessed influencer to, well, this, is intriguing, to say the least.
After his private encounter (the sex) with Cat, William runs into Lane in the hallway, looking like a British Steve Jobs. William throws his support behind Lane, claiming he disagrees with Garnet’s decision to revoke his military rank. Lane expresses his loyalty to William. He reveals he’s no longer tethered to anyone else on this ship. Uh-oh. Lane the Baddie is coming!
RELATED: 4 Reasons Why The Orville Deserves a Season 4
“Every Single Person Matters” sets the pieces in place for the next four episodes. It appears there’ll be an uprising regarding William Trust’s presence on the ship. We know William will have Lane and Cat in his corner. That’ll undoubtedly sow discord between Lane and his former coworkers, Garnet and Brice.
It’s not as action-packed or thrilling as last week’s outing, but “Every Single Person Matters” hones in on the dynamics between our core cast, presenting as more of a character-driven narrative than a plot-driven one. I don’t trust Kelly. I’m indifferent about Brice and Eva ending their no-strings-attached relationship. The development with Cat is most intriguing to me.
Do you think we’ll see a war on the ship between William’s supporters and his haters? Will Eva go behind Brice’s back and find a cure for Klampkins? Will Lane morph into the Darth Vader-esque character I want him to be? Only time (and more episodes) will tell.
The Ark drops new episodes every Wednesday at 10/9c on Syfy.
https://www.geekgirlauthority.com/the-expanse-women/
[email protected]
What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
- WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS Recap: (S06E10) The Promotion - December 9, 2024
- THE WHEEL OF TIME: Prime Video Sets Premiere Date and Releases Teaser Trailer for Season 3 - December 7, 2024
- OUTLANDER Recap: (S07E11) A Hundredweight of Stones - December 6, 2024
