DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Ark Season 1 Episode 9, “The Painful Way,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
Welcome back, space travelers! “The Painful Way” presents a ship-wide mutiny that culminates in a thrilling cliffhanger. So far, The Ark has been the slowest of burns, with a narrative bungled by a few stiff performances, pacing issues, unlikable characters and questionable in-universe scientific applications. That said, this show has improved immensely. Even the actors seem more comfortable onscreen in these roles, and I have a few favorites after warming to them over nine episodes. Story-wise, there are also significant improvements. I’d now argue the plot itself is primarily why I tune in.
“The Painful Way” plants the seeds for the final three episodes of the season as we come face-to-face with Ark 15, no thanks to Kelly luring them to our heroes. Will the collective divisiveness among the crew impede them from warding off their mutual enemy?
Ready to delve into “The Painful Way”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with William Trust (Paul Leonard Murray) telling Lt. Garnet (Christie Burke) and Lt. Brice (Richard Fleeshman) that the FTL is recharged and ready to go. Take two! However, Brice, unwilling to trust The Trust™, wants Eva to give it a once over before trying to engage FTL again. Alicia (Stacey Read) reveals she knows where Ark 15 is. She pulls up a map that shows where said Ark is concerning where they attacked Ark Three and Ark One. It’s a straight line and a straight shot to Proxima B, meaning when they arrive at Prox B, Ark 15 will be waiting for them.
Then, Garnet, Brice, William, Helena Trust (Mercedes De La Cruz), Alicia, Eva (Tiana Upcheva), Dr. Kabir (Shalini Peiris) and Felix (Pavle Jerinic) meet to discuss their next course of action. William informs the group about his latest invention: a shield that’ll protect the ship from anything Ark 15 sends their way. Eva believes it might work. Garnet insists she won’t risk the crew’s life on “maybes” and “mights,” especially since a lethal adversary stands between them and Proxima B. Alicia reveals another option: Ross 128B. Unfortunately, it’ll take them years to get there should they change course.
Garnet declines William’s shield idea, to which the latter responds by locking everyone out of the system. That’s what grownups do, right? The Trusts storm out. Kudos to Garnet for standing her ground. Meanwhile, Kelly (Samantha Glassner) overtly flirts with Angus (Ryan Adams) while working with plants, as one does.
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Brice and Eva eat together in the mess hall. He reveals he won’t get his hopes up about a cure for Klampkins, no matter how enticing Alicia’s findings from the Ark Three archives sound. They decide to remain friends, removing the “with benefits” bit. On the bridge, Garnet gives William a firm “no,” citing that she won’t jeopardize the crew’s safety because of the inevitable threat they’ll find at Prox B. Alicia revokes William’s access to the system because you gotta fight fire with fire.
William reunites with Helena and Lane (Reece Ritchie) and rants to them about what Garnet did. Lane doesn’t believe Garnet would purposely embarrass him. Helene decides it’s high time they do things “the painful way.” Teach Garnet and co. a lesson. Meanwhile, Garnet announces the leadership team’s decision to reroute for Ross 128B and warns the crew regarding the amount of time it’ll take to get there. Nobody looks happy.
Now that it’s an official change of course, Brice feels the weight of his new reality. Eva chases him down to comfort him. He realizes he’ll never leave this ship. Brice refuses to ask Garnet to change her mind because of him. One week later, we learn the vessel has been traveling successfully with the FTL tech. Cat (Christina Wolfe) complains to Lane about Garnet’s refusal to see she’s in the wrong. She tells the group about William’s innovative shield to protect them if they travel to Proxima B. Cat plants the seeds of discord among the masses, all in the name of her sex buddy.
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William also does some planting of his own by persuading Eva to see things his way. Can the ship maintain its condition for several more years with limited resources? She appears to be switching out her Team Garnet flag for Team Trust. Helena convinces Jelena (Tamara Radovanović) that Felix might not be fit for duty because he’s stressed out. Then, Garnet and Brice are attacked by a few bold ensigns who step out of line in the name of William Trust. After incapacitating the ensigns, Garnet visits Kabir to receive stitches on her forehead.
Lane pulls Brice aside to ask how they’re doing post-attack. Lane insists he’s an avid supporter of William because he wouldn’t have a job without him. Jelena eats lunch with Felix and informs him about her conversation with Helena. He mutters a remark about how he’s famously known for his histrionics, and it might be my favorite line delivery on the show thus far. Suddenly, Felix passes out. Why? Jelena poisons him. She claims he’ll understand why when they arrive at Proxima B. Uh-oh.
The poison fest continues when Eva gives Brice a glass of water post-coitus. Remember that time these two claimed they were only friends? Anyway, Brice falls unconscious from the dosed water. Garnet’s therapy session with Cat culminates with Garnet also passing out. However, Cat needed to inject an extra dose into Garnet because of her resilient clone DNA. Betrayal!
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After they carry out the mutiny, Lane, William and Helena return to the bridge. Lane reinstates himself as a lieutenant and addresses the crew. He claims they’re setting a course for Proxima B. Banish Ross 128B from your thoughts, folks. Alicia doesn’t look enthused, while Eva’s willing to change their trajectory. Garnet, Brice and Felix wake in a locked storage room. Once they realize Lane and the Trusts conducted a mutiny, Brice loses it. He reveals mid-outburst that he has Klampkins. Now everyone will die because of the Trusts. Garnet embraces her friend as the two weep together. Richard Fleeshman kills it here. He’s a natural.
Next, Cat and Helena eat chocolate-covered strawberries together. William waltzes into Cat’s quarters, claiming it’s time for another “session.” Realizing his wife is there, William backtracks, informing Helena he’s merely there to discuss the Juno Project with Cat.
So, what’s the Juno Project? It’s all about genes, baby, like a dating app. Cat and William hope to match suitable sexual partners for diversity purposes to prevent birth defects. It sounds like eugenics to me. Helena doesn’t buy their excuse and asks Cat to find her own match. Boom.
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Later, Kelly asks one of the engineers to repair her comms watch. When he does, he notices the system is connecting to Ark 15. Kelly claims she wishes he hadn’t seen that and kills him. I knew she was bad news. William revisits Cat and reveals they must end their affair. Cat is devastated. Kelly finds Angus ripping his veggies out of the soil so the mutineers can’t consume them. Kelly persuades him to see the way of The Trust, and their conversation ends with a kiss. Ugh. Cat pulls Dr. Kabir aside and divulges her current crisis: she chose the wrong side because William rejected her. Cat discloses the real string-puller in the mutiny bunch — Helena. Her supposed BFF. Cat the Flip-Flopper. She’s like a politician.
Then, Alicia secretly re-locks everyone out of the system, preventing them from changing course for Proxima B. Helena convinces William to lay down the law by venting the oxygen from the storage room containing Garnet, Brice and Felix. He starts doing this, and we see our trio struggle to breathe. Jelena, who’s guarding the door, notices something’s amiss. She tries to unlock the door but to no avail.
Finally, Alicia waves the white flag by unlocking the system. Helena believes they should make an example out of Alicia since she rebelled against William. She threatens to send Alicia out of the airlock, but Eva shields the latter, claiming she won’t let Helena carry out that threat. Even Lane protests, believing Helena’s gone too far. This was supposed to be a peaceful mutiny!
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Meanwhile, after Alicia unlocks the system and the oxygen levels return to normal in the storage room, Jelena opens the door for our leaders. They storm the bridge and start laying the smackdown on the mutineers. Brice punches William, and Felix prevents Helena from fleeing. Lane tries to call out for Garnet, but she knocks his lights out. Garnet, Brice and Felix reprimand Eva and Jelena for going along with the mutiny. Garnet’s thinking about throwing them in the brig with Lane, Cat, William and Helena.
Suddenly, the alarms blare. Ark 15 appears before them. Eva tries to engage William’s shield; however, it fails. Then, Kelly kills the guard standing in front of the door to the storage room. She trains her gun on William. Kelly speaks into her comms watch, hailing Ark 15 and informing them of her discovery. She has William Trust in her sights. Oh, sh*t.
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Richard Fleeshman steals this episode for me with his beautiful vulnerability. Brice is a man of many layers, and it’s nice to see a roguish male character that’s more than his sexual charisma. Mercedes De La Cruz is another MVP, making Helena a legitimate threat who manipulates and orchestrates a mutiny onboard. I love her turn in the scene where she finds William entering Cat’s quarters.
De La Cruz delivers nuanced work here. Without blatantly stating it, she pieces the story together. She communicates her knowledge with her physicality and vocal inflections. Additionally, I love the moment when she sits in the captain’s chair and calls out male pride.
“The Painful Way” injects conflict aplenty into the narrative. While the fight choreography left something to be desired, I’m always down for some action to spice things up. Here’s hoping the writers maintain this momentum through the last three episodes.
Who do you think is running the show on Ark 15, and why do they want William? Will our heroes protect themselves without the aid of William’s shield? Can someone shove Kelly out of the airlock? Only time (and more episodes) will tell.
The Ark drops new episodes every Wednesday at 10/9c on Syfy.
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