The Ark Season 3’s premiere delivered a devastating blow with the death of James Brice.
Fortunately, we now know that he was miraculously saved due to a creature within the caves on Ross-128, but it took a few episodes to learn all this, and now there’s a much bigger mystery going on.
For Christie Burke, who plays Captain Sharon Garnet on The Ark, the loss was harder. Sharon didn’t just lose her No. 2 on Ark One, but Burke lost her No. 2 on the set.
She delved into this season of The Ark, that loss, and the mysteries on the planets in an exclusive interview with TV Fanatic.
TV Fanatic: Three seasons of The Ark so far. What’s been your favorite part so far?
Christie Burke: When I was prepping for these interviews, I was like, “What even happened this season? I can’t give spoilers away!”
There’s so much that we got to do on The Ark. This season feels really special. I feel like we’ve arrived.
It’s so cool to share these intricate storylines, and everyone gets their own moment.
I love Episode 7, when Sanji [Shalini Peiris] is saving the day — I know everyone has their moment this season, but it’s been great to see her development.
I think that’s my favorite part.
I love seeing the crew blossom and get their moment.
As far as Garnet, I loved the clone stuff, playing all these different clones. Although it was challenging, it was really fun.
My acting coach, Bethany Caputo, and I created them out of my mind. [Production] said, “We need a lot of clones; go make characters,” and so we did.
It’s been cool to look at all my personalities.
Oh wow! So the individual clones weren’t written into the script as characters you had to adapt to? I found the clones of both you and Reece [Ritchie] fascinating.
What’s so great about Jonathan Glasner and Dean Devlin is that they trust us to do what we do. They hired us, and they know what we’re capable of.
The only thing Glasner told me about one of my clones, Jill, was that she was married to an elite billionaire. That’s all I got.
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So, I had so much fun thinking about what the opposite of Garnet would be: someone who has secrets, comes across as a bit dumb, and is girly and sexual.
For some reason, I thought Southern. I love Southern characters. I’ve played a lot of them.
But there’s something enchanting about Jill and watching the other cast members react to her on set.
All the background clones on the ship have their own stories.
I created so many clones so that if one didn’t work, I would have seven others to use.
They really gave us full control and trusted our talent. I’m really happy with the outcome, and I can’t wait to see more of them potentially.
Drake is still out there! There are all these questions about the Gen 3 issue and why you’re safe. What’s going on in Garnet’s mind right now?
The Gen 3 thing is such a childhood trauma.
In The Ark Seasons 1 and 2, Garnet would save people because of her trauma, because she couldn’t save her sister, Denise.
Now, finding out she might have been able to save her sister is a true identity crisis.
We see her, as a leader, questioning everything.
Does she love Ian because of her programming, because she’s programmed to love Ian, or because she actually loves him?
Ian and I see every version of ourselves love each other, so is it free will? It’s a real mental game happening with Garnet.
She wants to live her life, but can she even trust that her favorite color is purple? Was she programmed to think that?
How deep does this programming go? I think it’s an interesting conversation, and it’s what’s so cool about sci-fi, especially when you have someone like Jonathan Glasner.
It’s deep and philosophical.
As humans, are we being programmed to think something, or are they our own thoughts? Are we watching too much TikTok?
Garnet is trying to heal this childhood wound by going on this mission with Sanji to recreate this cure. Will they be able to save the other Gen 3s?
I will say that some of that is answered in the coming episodes, and I think the best is still to come.
I think [The Ark Season 3] Episode 9 is probably one of my favorite episodes. It’s pretty wild.
There are already some wild storylines, and they’ve created some heartache for Garnet. Can we quickly look back on what it’s been like for her to lose Brice?
I feel like Brice’s death is really a catalyst for everything.
I think Lane dying was difficult, but there is something more uprooting and destabilizing with Brice’s death.
Brice dies because she made a mistake. She made a bad decision.
When she looks back, it was a leadership error, and I wanted it to be different from any other death that had occurred. It’s the only place that hadn’t been explored yet with Garnet.
We find out he is alive, and there are still some unanswered questions, but I can’t even handle that right now.
His death triggers a crisis. She loses her center. What if she no longer knows how to lead?
She checks in with Kimi.
I think that’s why she wanted Hammond to be in charge. She’s passing off responsibility because she no longer trusts herself.
Over the course of the season, the question is, “Does she ever find that center again? What does that center become?”
It’s been a gift. I love emotional stuff, and they wrote some beautiful scenes, and I was grateful to see her be less of a machine or a clone and more human.
Brice was like a brother to her, a rock. Lane was too, but in a different way.
She loved him, but he really challenged her.
Brice was her rock. And for me, as Christie, Richard [Fleeshman] is such a giving and generous actor, and I could always look to him when I didn’t know what I was doing.
I could trust him in scenes. Then he was gone, and I didn’t know what to do.
I think that human element has also helped to bring forth her humanity in other areas, like giving in to her love for Ian.
I know you said there are questions about free will, but it’s been wonderful to see her try to balance her personal and professional life.
She deserves some happiness.
That romance storyline always makes me giggle, because I love love. I love when there’s a love story behind every backdrop.
I, Christie, feel the same way as Garnet does. I can still lead and still be me.
I’m exposing sides of me I don’t know I want people to see, so it’s convoluted and confusing for Garnet.
She’s battling her head and her heart, and as a woman, I’ve had that experience of “I like him, but I shouldn’t. Should I send this text? Should I not text back?”
Garnet isn’t well-versed in that. Besides Lane, I think this is her first love.
She’s mentioned being with others, but I don’t think that’s true. I think she said that because she was embarrassed about never doing that.
So, the Ian stuff makes her nervous. It’s new territory.
Can she still be a good leader? And is she programmed for this, or is it real?
And it doesn’t help that she has to focus on the work side of things with all these mysteries.
There have been way more mysteries this season than ever before. What’s been your favorite?
My favorite is Angus’s storyline. I think Ryan Adams is so funny.
He’s adorable.
He’s so likable. People always ask, if I wasn’t Garnet, who would I want to be? It’s Angus. I just wouldn’t do it as well.
I really love the cave stuff and shooting at that location.
We ended up playing some of the most ridiculous games, as we were down there for multiple days in a row with no sunlight.
In one game, we’d have to fit the word “helicopter” into a conversation so everyone could hear it. Sometimes, it was “jacuzzi.”
We’d go up to the directors and be like, “So, do you think a helicopter brought in all this dirt?”
We became loopy. Too much caffeine, sugar, and chips!
And we were all covered in dirt. The amount of dirt they put on Richard for [The Ark Season 3] Episode 5 was a sight!
I’m really excited for that mystery, but it’s all interconnected.
I feel like the writers do a great job wrapping it all up, and I’m excited for the next episodes because that’s when it really starts to get cooking.
I also love how there are separate storylines and new locations.
I think it’s been beneficial to the show.
Before, I struggled to watch episodes because it’s hard to watch myself while I critique myself.
This season, I’ve really enjoyed watching the other storylines. I’ve gotten to be an audience member, too.
My fingers are crossed for Season 4 to see where this can all develop.
Thank you! I have no idea where they could go.
Maybe they find a Stargate and travel to other planets.
Yes! I’ll pitch that!
The Ark Season 3 still has five more episodes to wrap up all the mysteries.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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While Sharon and the Ark One team get to the bottom of a contagious infection, The Ark Season 3 Episode 7 delivers heartbreak.
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The Ark Season 3 Episode 5 Saves Brice But Puts the Fate of Another on the Line
Just as Ark One saves Brice from his Ross predicament, The Ark Season 3 Episode 5 threatens another of the crew.
The post The Ark’s Christie Burke Felt Season 3’s Loss On and Off Screen appeared first on TV Fanatic.