The Ark season 2, episode 4 review, "The Other You": What happened to Brice?

We take a break from fixing Ark-1 in the latest episode of The Ark season 2, "The Other You," to deal with the missing Brice situation. The episode picks straight up from where the previous one left off, and explores an exciting new mystery.

Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from The Ark season 2, episode 4, "The Other You"

The episode wastes no time in getting into the mystery. Not only do we see Brice just disappear in front of everyone’s eyes, but we see Cat reappear in a cryo chamber. Wait? Cat? Isn’t she dead?

Well, yes, in our reality she is. It turns out that this Cat is from another world, Kelly is able to work out that Brice is still alive but in Cat’s world. When dropping out of FTL, it seems that two versions of Ark-1 crossed paths with each other.

We'll call the universe we're used to Ark 1.0 and the alternate reality Ark 2.0. Gotta love alternate realities!

Cat comes over to this world because this version of Cat is dead. Brice goes to the other world because their version of Brice is dead. It’s a great look at “what could have been,” but not just if Ark-1 wasn’t hit at the very start of the series. This is “what could have been” had various characters’ lives gone in different directions.

Figuring out the situation in The Ark

For once, everyone just listens to Alicia. It’s a great recovery from the previous episode which saw people insinuate that Alicia was just suffering from trauma rather than seeing what she was seeing. Trust tried to argue with her sometimes, but he did have to admit that what Alicia was saying about the two alternate realities was possible.

Naturally, Eva isn’t too happy about Alicia’s idea of how to reset the timeline to get Brice back. What if Brice doesn’t come back? She can’t live a life without him. Trust doesn’t want to lose Cat, but this isn’t his version of Cat. Plus, he isn’t her version of Trust—not by a longshot!

While Alicia figures things out in her world, Brice needs to find someone to figure it out in Ark 2.0. After finding Garnet—and learning they were engaged in this universe—he heads out to find Alicia. She’s not the genius that she is in Ark 1.0, so Brice has to find this version of Trust and hope he has the answers. In this universe, Trust has Klampkins, but he was the only one to get it. He’s supposed to remain in cryosleep until there is a cure, and it’s perfect that Brice is there because he can give them some of the ingredients for the cure in return for help getting back home. Of course, this Trust wants his Cat back, so he does everything he can to figure it out.

Trust 2.0 and Alicia 1.0 manage to fix the situation. I adore Alicia turning to Trust 1.0 to ask him which direction to travel when Trust 2.0 forgets to send that in the message. As Trust 1.0 gives his answer, Alicia tells everyone to go the opposite direction. The two Trusts are likely to say the same thing, so it does make sense. And it works.

Part of me feels for Trust 1.0 at the end of the episode. In Ark1 2.0, Garnet finds Brice again. While she knows this isn’t her Brice, she does say that this situation has given her the chance to say goodbye. She couldn’t do that considering he went off to war and died a hero. It’s the closure she needs. Trust 1.0 doesn’t get that opportunity with Cat. She just disappears again, and it is heartbreaking for him to see him grab the clothing she left behind and cry. He is still mourning Cat’s death, and this just set him back.

Details from the alternate world that could play a part in The Ark season 2

With Brice back, Spencer goes to see him with a question: was his father in this alternate world? Sure enough, Captain Lane was there, and Spencer was often overlooked and beaten down by his dad. I do think Brice did the right thing in telling his Spencer that Captain Lane was proud of him. However, I wonder if this will come up again. I hope that Brice just keeps the truth to himself. That’s a good white lie, and it shows us just how far the friendship between Brice and Spencer has come over the course of the series.

Then there’s the moment between Strickland 2.0 and a man on Ark 2.0. We find out that they are dating. This guy is nobody we’ve seen before that I can remember, but his counterpart is also on Ark-1 1.0. We see him at the very end of the episode when Strickland bumps into him. Could we see love for Strickland? While he’s still in search for his daughter, he’s had some time to grieve the loss of his husband. He deserves to find love again.

There is a cute moment between Spencer and Garnet in this episode. I’m starting to ship these two together and I hope that the two of them were matched with the Juno Project. Spencer has become such a team player and realized Garnet is a better leader than he is, and I love that he’s stepped back to allow her to shine. But she still listens to and respects him, making their partnership great to watch.

Cat 2.0 was surprised to find out that Kelly didn’t have control over her own additional abilities. There are many more like Kelly in her reality, and they have control over everything. Cat left Kelly the ability to control things, and this is sure to turn the tables in some sort of way. I just want to see Kelly act to help the people of Ark-1, likely as Maddox comes back for revenge.

Finally, let’s talk about this battle that Brice 2.0 died in. Brice’s death prevented the deaths of many others. Kimi wanted to know if Brice was there in this reality, and he confidently says that he wasn’t. If he was, nobody would have died. Only, we know Brice had Klampkins and lied about it. Is it possible that he was there and he had some symptoms that led to the deaths of many? Maybe someone Kimi was close to died? I get a sense that this is going to come up again.

This was a fun episode that took the focus away from the main storyline for an hour. It goes to show that not everything in The Ark has to be a life-or-death situation; sometimes it's enough to have a fun mystery to solve, especially if Alicia gets time to shine.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.