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The Ark Showrunners, Star Christie Burke on Season 2 Goals & Fandom

The Ark creators/showrunners Dean Devlin & Jonathan Glassner and star Christie Burke spoke with us about the new season, the fans, and more.

With season two of The Ark lurking, the crew of the Ark One will be dealing with new threats and mystery surrounding new additions on the SYFY series from the Stargate franchise's Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner. Season one was faced with the uncertainty of a ragtag crew trying to survive with minimal resources, making do without senior ship personnel who perished early in the Ark One's journey, and trying to survive the dangers of space for the future of humanity. Devlin, Glasner, and star Christie Burke, who plays Lt. Sharon Garnet, one of the highest-ranking members of the crew made de facto captain following the disaster, spoke to Bleeding Cool about what to expect from the new season, crew additions, and fandom since season one. The following contains spoilers.

The Ark Creators Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner and Star Christie Burke on Season Two & Beyond

Bleeding Cool: My first question for Dean and Jonathan: what are the key goals you wanted to build on from season one?

Glassner: Survival, survival of humanity, and hopeful survival for humanity, not barely getting by, but creating a life. That's the ultimate long-term goal, if that's what you mean.

I didn't know if there were any specific season two goals you wanted to establish.

Glassner: It is to find another planet, which we discover at the beginning. It's to get there.

Christie, what's the biggest difference for Sharon [Garnet] in her leadership in season two?

Burke: She leads a group of people she cares about. In season one, we see someone who's met these people and had no problem making decisions based on her not having any relationships with them. Once you develop more profound relationships, the crew of Ark One makes her feel a part of something. It's harder for her to make decisions and see her leading more from a space of love. Maybe not necessarily being in situations where she's also leading.

Dean & Jonathan, what can you tell us about the season two additions from Ark 15 and what they bring to the series?

Devlin: When you bring in new characters, they don't have the baggage of the more established characters. They have a new, fresh perspective and what we discover this season. They have information that we don't have and that information they bring will knock some of the foundation out from underneath us.

What of the actors as new additions and what do they bring to the cast?

Burke: Incredible energy! It's always fun to shake things up in terms of energy and human beings. They're the people we added this season, extremely talented and so fun to play opposite because you don't necessarily have a rapport with them yet. You don't know what they're going to throw back at you. It was exciting, to be honest.

Christie, what's the most invaluable lesson you learned as an actor, bearing the responsibility of leading a sci-fi franchise, and how do you describe the interaction with the fans?

Burke: Oh, my gosh! That's an incredible question. Have I done any of that? I don't know…Sleep. Sleep is invaluable. Sleep and a great team like our incredible crew. Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glasner, writers…you need a good team behind you.

How do you describe your interaction with the fans?

Burke: They're so lovely and feel lucky. I have people who DM me every once in a while and ask me about my life, and I asked them about their life. I don't know; I feel quite lucky because it gets quite personal. I feel like they're part of 'The Ark,' you know? I'm grateful they watched the show. Like what?! I can't believe this thing we go to Serbia and make and put our heart and soul into is like watched and liked by people!

Devlin: As you know, Tom, like Bleeding Cool. This type of fan tends to know the show better than you do [laughs]. You'll interact with the fans, and they'll say, "Well, in episode three, in the third act, when she turns." You're like, "Wait! Let me remember. [Puts his left hand on his forehead] What did they say? The fans are so engaged, and you can't slip up with them because they're paying attention to everything.

Is there any aspect of season two you found challenging that you have not encountered in the previous season?

Glassner: From a production perspective, we're going out in space much more than we did last season and going to the surface of some planets. Both have been challenging and fun, weird, and cool, to be frank.

How do you break down the intensity of the stunts this season?

Glassner: You answer that, stuntwoman [laughs].

Burke: Oh my gosh! Well, Tom, I trained hard to punch seven-foot-tall Serbian brick houses. The stunts are bigger and better than ever. They have me swinging off things, jumping in the air, punching things. The action this season is so good. I can't wait for the fans to watch it. They will be right in there with Garnet and the crew of Arc One fighting the bad guys.

Season two of The Ark, which also stars Reece Ritchie, Richard Fleeshman, Stacey Read, Ryan Adams, Pavle Jerinić, Shalini Peiris, Christina Wolfe, and Tiana Upcheva, airs Wednesdays on SYFY and streams on Peacock.

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