The Ark Episode 2 Like It Touched The Sun Review And Recap- Who Killed Jasper And Not All Liquid Is Good

They are dropping like flies on The Ark. In The opener of The Ark Episode 2, we lose another crew member and injure an integral second when a trio led by Lt. Brice and Lt. Lane take a space walk to determine what damaged the ship. It’s the beauty of a show like The Ark. Core crew members continuously put themselves in harm’s way, red shirts are canon fodder, and just as one crisis is averted, another makes itself known. Combined with an intriguing murder mystery and a shipload of secrets, all the pieces are in place for another entertaining episode of SYFY’s newest series.

By the time the two remaining space walkers return to the ship, one now sporting a concussion, tensions are high, and imaginations are running wild. Everyone has a theory, and the place is overheating, literally and figuratively. Poor Dr. Kabir(Shalini Peiris) is trying to handle everything all by herself because no other doctors are left. I can see a recurring joke about her being exhausted coming. Peiris imbues Dr. Kabir with a subtle humor that will allow this joke to land again and again. She also has a groundedness that the rest of the crew needs to bounce off of their otherwise manic energy.

Rumors and secrets breed mistrust, fear, and anger. It doesn’t take much for tempers to flare. Lt. Lane and Lt. Brice will try to keep things under wraps for now, but the situation is spiraling out of control with each minute. Garnett, Brice, and Lane lose control when the irrigation pipes break in the bio farm. Panic makes people act out. They will need to use all the meager resources to keep things from reaching a breaking point. Ava Markovic is grieving after her loss in the previous episode, and she is needed now more than ever. Her engineering crew is essential to get the water reclamation system running again. Her grief has paralyzed her, though. Having to try to keep it under wraps has exacerbated things.

The least likely hero, Cat Brandice(Christina Wolfe), is asked to step up and get her functioning again. Unfortunately, the self-help guru isn’t the best equipped to act as the ship psychologist, but she is all they have. Wolfe’s Brandice may yet turn into my favorite character. She has the type of opportunistic sarcasm and unexpected depth that makes for a fun watch. Now that the decision has been made to compost the dead bodies, there will undoubtedly be a lot of people who need some counseling.

A flashback brings more questions than answers. We knew Susan and Trent were close, but they may have been closer than anyone knew. We also know the wealthy man behind the Ark is a genius turned maniac named William Trust. We know very little about this billionaire beyond rumors of a breakdown, but I am getting some serious Weyland vibes that will be entertaining to explore. Additionally, the mystery surrounding Lt. Garnet gets murkier. She didn’t train with the others and seemingly appeared out of the blue. Who is she connected to, and why is she on board? She shows some impressive fighting skills when a brawl breaks out in the mess hall, and I doubt that was part of her officer training. What other skills is she hiding? What is her real purpose on the ship?

Whatever happened to damage the ship is probably unrelated to Jasper’s death, but that might be even more worrying. One saboteur is bad enough, but a murderer willing to kill to protect secrets and a potential ship-destroying threat is a lot for anyone to handle especially a very young and underprepared crew. Felix catching Lt. Garnet messing with the keypad to the closet where Jasper was held looks terrible, but Lt. Lane slipping about the knife found when the irrigation pipe leaked looks worse. Dodging Felix’s questions is worse still.

What is he hiding? How did he know the murder weapon was disposed of in the water tanks? We know only four people had the clearance to wipe the logs. That doesn’t mean they are the only ones who could do it, though. Considering how many people on this ship may not be who they claim to be, I wouldn’t be surprised to find there are others with the skills necessary to get into the system. The Ark Episode 2 is doling out information, slowly building layers and intrigue.

Borrowing a page from Star Trek, the most critical crew members are also the ones to take the most risks. The Ark Episode 2 establishes Lt. Brice as a risk-taker and potential hero. Unfortunately, another unauthorized space walk temporarily leaves Lt. Brice down a hand when he comes into contact with something that likely caused the ship disaster. The crystallized substance liquefies when it is compressed. In crystal form, the substance is inert, but once it becomes liquid, it is like acid and eats just about everything it touches. It doesn’t destroy human tissue, though, curiously.

The series looks great, filled with quality EFX and pretty people. The ensemble cast of interesting people with great accents and loads of secrets means there will be no shortage of places for this series to go. No doubt this current water crisis will be resolved soon. Having compelling characters to write for will keep things from becoming stale, just as it did for SG-1. We came for the excitement, but we stayed for the people we formed an affection for. I can already see many of the characters of The Ark developing fascinating arcs.

By the end of The Ark Episode 2, things are slightly better and infinitely worse for the crew of the Ark 1. Earth has probably burned, killing everyone on the planet; Dr. Drew, I mean Dr. Brandice, is now the ship therapist operating out of the only other officer cabin on board; the water reclamation system is working but only running at 62%, and they are dead in the water(pun intended). However, Markovic’s work bought them another four days. Hopefully, they will be able to use that time to find a solution before they all die of dehydration. Find all our The Ark coverage here and look for new episodes on SYFY on Wednesdays and Peacock the day after.