The flashback also gives us some context for the mistrust Brice and Lane have towards Garnet. In the premiere, the man posing as Jasper mentioned he knew Garnet’s secret, and it appears her position on the crew was granted under suspicious circumstances. Lieutenant Garnet is an interesting protagonist for The Ark given her misguided and often inflammatory unilateral decision making, and the fact that she also has secrets makes it difficult to root for her over her fellow leaders.
But to be honest, none of the characters have become particularly endearing yet this early in The Ark narrative. It’s nice to have Alicia on the makeshift council, but she really upped the annoyance factor this week, and Angus, as smart and helpful as he is, is lacking any real personality. There was a bit of a spark between Trent and Alicia as the former spoke about taking over the latter’s job in waste management, but it was nascent flirtation at best.
Perhaps the most compelling character in this week’s The Ark was Cat Brandice, the social media celebrity who has now been placed in charge of the crew’s mental health. She was definitely helpful in getting Eva out of her funk to work on the water recycler, but the fact that she was able to secure private quarters ahead of Brice and Lane says as much about her self-interest as it does about Garnet’s lack of propriety with her fellow officers.
As for the emergency with the spill in the agricultural area, the fact that the water situation is becoming more dire or that Jasper was killed is not nearly as interesting as the immediate aftermath of Lieutenant Brice’s slip of the tongue in mentioning the knife that caused the damage, a fact that was not common knowledge according to security officer Felix. If not for the engines shutting down due to a lack of coolant, Brice would have been the center of attention as the episode ended.
