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The Ark's Christie Burke on Season 2's New Missions: "You Think You Know Garnet?"
How will the big reveal about Garnet's origins in first season of The Ark impact her journey in Season 2?
Spoilers for The Ark Season 2, Episode 1 "Failed Experiment"
In tonight's Season 2 premiere of SYFY's The Ark, "Failed Experiment," the Ark One remains a hot mess with myriad problems for its rag tag crew to fix before it can reconnect with Evelyn Maddox's (Jelena Stupljanin) Ark-15 ship. Of course, much of that falls on Christie Burke's Captain Sharon Garnet, along with the support of Lane (Reece Ritchie), Brice (Richard Fleeshman) and the always innovative chief of life support, Alicia (Stacey Read).
With the new focus laid out and the job itself seemingly just as impossible before they had to deal with a very broken ship, Burke sat down with SYFY WIRE to sort through everything Garnet has to tackle this season, from swindling air life support for the frightened survivors of the Ark One, to discovering their new destination in the great unknown.
For more on The Ark:
Everything to Know About The Ark Star Christie Burke Ahead of Season 2
What Jonathan Glassner Learned on SG-1 That He's Bringing to SYFY's The Ark Season 2
How SYFY's The Ark Borrowed a Page From Star Wars For Biggest Change Yet in Season 2
Christie Burke on How Captain Sharon Garnet's Clone Status Will Impact The Ark Season 2
The big mystery about Garnet's background came to light in Season 1 when it was revealed she was a clone. Burke explained that was a twist she knew was coming right from the beginning of filming Season 1.
"What's so great about [creators and showrunners] Dean [Devlin] and Jonathan [Glassner] is they always have secrets," Burke tells SYFY WIRE. "They always have things in their back pocket that are like, 'Get ready. You think you know Garnet? You have no idea.' So, Dean brought us all to a little room and told each of us, individually, secrets that we had. The first day I landed, he told me that story line: She's a clone. She has a sister and she was raised in a lab."
As to how the knowledge of her being a clone will impact her bonds with her Ark One survivors and leadership team, Burke said, "For me, the clone aspect of her was the root of everything that I did to prepare to play Garnet. This idea that she's not a fully formed human. In Season 1, we see someone trying to prove to everyone that she's a human, or at least a leader. In Season 2, we're getting to see more of a fully developed human that's having human experiences and potentially falling in love. She's not just a leader. Whereas I feel like Season 1... I call it the prequel to Season 2."
Who Is Going to Give Captain Garnet a Run for Her Money in Season 2 of SYFY's The Ark?
In "Failed Experiment," Garnet has some important face time with the excessively pragmatic Evelyn Maddox (Jelena Stupljanin). The woman has a goal, and if lives have to be sacrificed to make it happen, so be it. Burke said that as Garnet continues to evolve, people like Maddox are also going to sway her trajectory.
"I get a feeling like [Garnet] could become Evelyn," Burke mused. "There's a possibility of that. In Season 1, she didn't really know these people so she could kind of make tough decisions.
"Like, it's okay that 'Bob' died, because who is 'Bob'?" she continued, describing a theoretical character who isn't in the primary story. "But now 'Bob' is like the love of my life, or is my best friend. I don't think she's ever had relationships like that, except for her sister. So I feel like we're seeing a Garnet lead from a heart versus like a thinking center."
RELATED: What Jonathan Glassner Learned on SG-1 That He's Bringing to SYFY's The Ark Season 2
Asked who else is going to really challenge Garnet this season, Burke readily offered, "Lieutenant Lane."
"There's this idea that he hates the thing that she innately it," she said of Garnet's clone status. "So what are we trying to tell our audience members — which is what I think is so great about sci-fi stories — is it's okay to be who you are. The Ark is a group of misfits trying to create community. Sometimes they're the best versions of themselves and sometimes they're the worst. But it really, at the core, is about the outcast trying to do the right thing."
Burke said she can't wait for audiences to get to experience what she got to experience herself upon reading the scripts for this season. "I remember being in my hotel room, reading them and like literally chucking the script across the room being like, 'Are you kidding me!'" she laughed. "In Season 1, there wasn't a lot of development for Garnet. Now we're really seeing more character developing with the things that we love about sci-fi shows, or just sci-fi stuff like alternate realities, paranormal activity, betrayal, and catastrophe. And what I'm really excited about for Season 2 is that I think audiences think they know who these characters are. But really, they have no idea. And that's exciting."
Catch new Season 2 episodes of The Ark on Wednesdays at 10/9c on SYFY — and check out Peacock to stream all Season 1 episodes now.
