‘The Ark’ Season 2 Finale: Postmortem Interview with Dean Devlin & Jonathan Glassner

THE ARK -- “Fortunate” Episode 212 -- Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Richard Fleeshman as Lt. James Brice, Christie Burke as Lt. Sharon Garnet -- (Photo by: Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY)

Season two of The Ark on SYFY has come to a close and well, it’s safe to say that Arkaholics everywhere are still buzzing about it. After all, we saw a major character death with a twist and also… aliens. So, what brought about such powerhouse storytelling decisions? Well, we sat down with Executive Producers/Co-Showrunners Dean Devlin and Jonathan Glassner to discuss this bold second season.
 
John Betancourt: I would love to start by learning more about what influenced the decision to give Reece Ritchie a new role to play.
 
Jonathan Glassner: Um, you know, we felt like we had sort of resolved his story last season, you know, he went from being the naysayer who said, you know, “Why are you in command?” And “That'll never work,” and, you know, to being a hero who ended up saving them in the end. And when we came back to the writers’ room this season, we sat, sat down and said, “What are we gonna—” we always start at the beginning, saying, “What are we gonna do with each character this season?” And when it came to Lane, we were like, you know, everything we came up with just felt like we just had already done it with him last season. So, then we decided that the best thing to do was what we did, which was we didn't want to lose Reece, so we wanted to give him a new character to play, and along the way, Lane, unfortunately dies.
 
Dean Devlin: I, you know, I always find it interesting. I don't know if you ever watch any of these shows where people are given their DNA, you know, where you'll meet these people, and they're absolute racists, and they hate some race, and then they find out that they are that race, right? And so for me to have Lane be this guy who was so sure he knew everything in the beginning and he hated clones, to realize that the world was not the way he had it in his head, and that in fact, he is a clone, really was a wonderful resolve of that character and a perfect time to pass that torch to a different version of Lane, who actually may be a kinder, more gentler version.
 
John Betancourt: Another great thing that you all do this season, that I really appreciated, was this is almost kind of like… a greatest hits of sci fi, because you have the grittiness in those first episodes. I love “The Inner Light” tribute with that episode with Ian and Garnet, you know, in their in their own special life, and I'm kind of curious what went into the decision to offer up this, this grand celebration of sci fi over 12 episodes.
 
Dean Devlin: Well, you know, season one was really, to some degree, disaster of the week. You know, what else goes wrong each week? And while that was fun to kick us off, it really… we didn't feel was sustainable. So, we thought, going into season two, let's really start embracing some broader science fiction concepts, and, you know, and that led us to the alternate universe, that led us to the fever dream. So, you know, it opened up storytelling. And then Jonathan and his amazing team of writers, I mean, they just kept, week after week, surprising me and coming up with incredible ideas. And this really has become the show that I always hoped it could be, which is a giant love letter to the type of science fiction shows that Jonathan and I grew up watching,
 
John Betancourt: Now, speaking of the classics, there's always been a hint of a little Battlestar Galactica in this from the from the get-go, which is wonderful. But I did also want to talk about the fact that you guys made another bold decision in getting to Trappist-1D now. Because this is something that could have definitely been drawn out, and I’m curious what led to the decision to bring them to their new home, now.
 
Dean Devlin: Well before we started season two, Jonathan, and I had this conversation, and we said, what if all of season one and all of season two was the pilot for what The Ark is about. And if you think of it that way, you really see that at the end of the season finale, we set up what the series of The Ark really is about, and it's about a search and rescue mission.
 
Jonathan Glassner:  Well, it's also, you can't be headed somewhere for, you know, for 24 episodes and never get there. You know, it's just gonna start to get really old. And so, it was always the plan. First time Dean and I sat down and met, was that we'll actually get there at the end of season two, and that's what we did.
 
John Betancourt: I loved it. I thought it was a great, bold decision, as was, of course, that surprise at the end, which obviously fans now have questions about. But I know that’s likely a season three exploration, but to satisfy the fans now… what can you say about that wild discovery?
 
Jonathan Glassner: Nothing without major spoilers.
 
John Betancourt: Fair enough.
 
Jonathan Glassner: But, I mean, I think that both of those things that you're referring to set up another season or more, in a very good way, an exciting way.
 
Dean Devlin: Yeah, I mean, if you think of our show, almost like an onion that just slowly gets peeled and it just gets more and more fragrant. So, you know, we started off as one thing, and then we opened it up to more sci fi concepts in season two, but now season three, between the New World and the surprises on that world and being able to go anywhere in the galaxy to try and rescue humanity. Literally every science fiction concept that we've ever loved, we can explore on the show now.
 
John Betancourt: I think that will do. Let’s people know there’s some big stuff on the horizon. Now we've talked a lot about Greatest Hits today, things that you guys loved, and I'm curious what the most fulfilling aspect was for each of you as writers, in putting together this season,
 
Jonathan Glassner: I would say it's the cast. You cast a show, and you never know what you're going to get, you know, you hope that you did it right and we nailed it. I mean, I think our whole cast, every last one of them, are amazing, and they always bring -- they always take a mediocre line of dialogue and make it a masterpiece, and they're just very good at expanding their characters and making them three dimensional. I just… couldn't be more thankful.
 
Dean Devlin: Absolutely, same point. I love being surprised with the way an actor performs a bit or a scene or takes something that I thought was supposed to be funny, and they played it very sincere, or the opposite, something I thought was gonna be sincere, and they played hilarious. And then often, the things they're doing will inform us on where we want to take the show. We'll see a look between two actors and go, “Oh, what was… what was that?” And then suddenly, now we're exploring storylines. So yeah, I have to say what the writers’ room and the writers are brilliant, and it's so much fun, but watching it actually come to life, that's where the real surprises happen.
 
John Betancourt: The last question I have for you today, what are you each most proud of when it comes to your work on season two?
 
Dean Devlin: That we’re still alive. François Truffaut once said that filmmaking is much like the settlers coming from the east and going out west. They leave with the idea of great riches and a new life. And when they arrive, they're just happy, they're still alive.
 
Jonathan Glassner: I'm always, I'm always happy when I feel like I've entertained an audience for 12 episodes. And you know, from everything I read from the fans, I think we did. And so, you know, that always is very satisfying to me.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

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