Posted in: SYFY, TV | Tagged: the ark

The Ark Showrunner Dean Devlin on Shocking Death, Felix/Kelly & More

The Ark Showrunner Dean Devlin spoke with us about the death of [SPOILER] during the Season 3 premiere, the Felix/Kelly dynamic, and more.

One of the reasons why Dean Devlin has remained a success story in Hollywood is making the most out of his success, which is in part due to his experience as an actor and evolving more creatively into his writing with early success starting with Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), and Independence Day (1994), which became franchises in and of themselves. Beyond those universes, he's continued to innovate with Leverage and The Librarians, both becoming TV empires in and of themselves. His latest space-faring action drama, The Ark, with Stargate SG-1 creator Jonathan Glassner as showrunner, is currently in its third season, facing new threats both internally and from abroad. The Ark One has finally established a colony at Home Base One, but dangers still lurk for the ship and potential unrest planetside. Devlin spoke to Bleeding Cool about his perspective on if sci-fi as an industry is in trouble in light of Paramount's pause on the TV front in Star Trek, and Amazon MGM's decision to cancel the Martin Gero-led Stargate reboot with many of the original creatives from the TV franchise involved, the shocking season premiere death, and how Pavle Jerinić's Felix continues to work with Samantha Glassner's Kelly on her redemption. At this point, consider our "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign officially on…

The Ark Creator Dean Devlin on Shrinking Studio System, Surprise Death, Felix-Kelly, and More

Bleeding Cool: I want to shift things, because it's been a topic for a couple of months now with what's going on with some of the big sci-fi franchises, where you got the uncertain futures of 'Star Trek' with Paramount having no active TV projects in production, and 'Stargate' with Prime Video scrapping the reboot. How much of that ripple effect does that have? Do you feel among the sci-fi community that these things put pressure on you for a show like 'The Ark' to succeed more and carve your own way, given your influence on the Stargate franchise?

Devilin: Well, honestly, I think the question is larger than just science fiction. I think we are going through a time of enormous change in the entertainment industry, between these… Just to give you an example. When I did the movie 'Independence Day' (1996), nine studios were bidding on it, and it was a huge bidding war amongst them. There aren't nine studios today. There are arguably four or five, so it's a different environment. I think the pressure to succeed is higher than ever because fewer and fewer shows are being made. Yes, fewer sci-fi shows, but (also) fewer of everything. If you go to peak TV, I think we were doing something like 750 scripted shows, and now we're down to like half that. So yeah, I think there's a changing environment, and I think the streaming wars are coming to an end, and there were a lot of losers. Everybody's scaling back and trying to save money, and that's affecting everything. So yeah, there's a lot of pressure that if you are lucky enough to get a show, it must work, because you were privileged enough to get to work when so many people are out of work.

Back to 'The Ark,' how did Richard [Fleeshman] react knowing his character, Brice's, and his fate on that away mission?

You're talking about what happens with him in episode one. You know, the thing about our show is it's always shocking who dies. Usually, the actors don't realize it until they get the script. Sometimes we tell people in advance. With Richard, he's so busy. He's got…I mean, the guy works nonstop. I think that it wasn't totally a shock to him when he saw it, but it's powerful. It's a powerful thing for the show, and what Richard has done with the character and does with it this season is incredible.

I like how the relationship between Felix and Kelly has developed in season two and how it continues further on Home Base One. What's it like seeing that journey through with Pavle and Samantha, and how Felix is helping with Kelly's ongoing redemption?

Well, you know, for me, I always harken back to two things. There was a Ralph Bakshi cartoon called 'Wizards' (1977) Where we had the robot, Fritz (voice of Bakshi), this evil creature who becomes a hero in it, and then later they did that same thing with 'Terminator 2', where the Terminator gets turned, so I love the idea of turning this incredibly evil character that Samantha plays into understanding how she became evil and watching her overcome it. When we go into season three, she's really a changed person, but will anyone ever accept her because of the horrible things she's done in the past?

New episodes of The Ark, which also stars Christie Burke, Reece Ritchie, Stacey Read, Ryan Adams, Shalani Peiris, and Tiana Upcheva, premiere Wednesdays on SYFY.

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