The Ark season 2 premiere recap: The Arks face death and betrayal in "Failed Experiment"

Many were surprised when Maddox allowed Garnet and her team to come on board Ark-15 after the planet exploded at the end of The Ark season 1. Well, it turned out that Maddox didn’t mean everyone. The Ark season 2 premiere, "Failed Experiement," opens with a few truth bombs and some betrayals.

Caution: This post contains major SPOILERS for The Ark season 2 premiere

The episode opened off the back of the first season finale. Ark-1 had been badly damaged after the planet exploded. Garnet delivered a powerful speech about how she didn’t grow up with a family and she was so grateful that the crew of Ark-1 had become a family to her.

After that, it was off to Ark-15 for safety. That’s when Maddox shared a disappointing truth, and we learned that not everyone would make it out of the damage alive.

There isn’t enough space on Ark-15 for everyone

Maddox allows Garnet and a small number of crew members to join Ark-15. There aren’t enough resources for the entire crew, which is something Alicia confirms in a moment of pessimism. In fact, Maddox says that she was going to have to pick people to kick off Ark-15 before the events of the season 1 finale.

Garnet doesn't like that answer, and neither do her lieutenants, Spencer Lane and James Brice. They need to save all of Ark-1. Spencer and Brice go back to Ark-1 to survey the damage and save people. Brice goes straight for Ava, who fortunately survived. Spencer runs into Strickland and the two of them find Angus and Cat. Strickland initially gets Cat to Med Bay, where he finds out that Dr. Kabir was seriously injured.

Things are not looking great, and it's made all the worse with the first major casualty of The Ark season 2: Cat dies of her wounds, with a devastated Trust by her side.

Strickland and Spencer know that they need to get the injured Kabir and Angus to Ark-15, where they can get medical help. Maddox is not happy about that considering her numbers on her ship. She also makes it clear that while Kabir is useful, Angus is not.

Kelly saves the day with her super blood

Angus needs a blood transfusion, but Maddox locks down the blood supply. It looks like Angus won’t make it, but then Kelly—who was trying to kill him at the end of season 1—steps in and gives him her blood. She says that she’s O Negative, but it’s clear that there is more to her blood than meets the eye.

At one point in the episode, Maddox calls Kelly a “failed experiment.” What does that mean? Nobody explains it to her, but it’s easy to put the pieces together when you see how she’s able to save Angus’ life. He recovers much faster from his wounds than he should. Kabir (who had to give herself two shots of adrenaline to remain conscious) can tell that there must be something in Kelly’s blood, but that’s a question for another day.

There’s still the issue of Maddox not allowing everyone from Ark-1 onto Ark-15. Garnet cannot leave her people behind.

The Ark-15 crew betray Maddox in The Ark season 2 premiere

Some of Maddox’s crew, including her doctor and her chief of security, make life on Ark-15 a little easier. They decide they don’t want to live under a tyrant anymore. They want to come to Ark-1. There are enough people coming aboard to replenish the crew lost in the accident and then help find new home for everyone.

Garnet is happy to take them, but Maddox isn’t exactly going to let them leave. Sure, this would solve Maddox’s number problem, but it’s not Maddox’s idea, and that’s where the issue lies. Maddox needs to make the choice, and she won’t remove anyone who is useful to her.

So Alicia takes over Ark-15’s system to lock all the doors. That buys enough time to get everyone back to the shuttle to get them to Ark-15, picking up Kabir, Angus, and Kelly along the way. This is when we learn there is even more to Kelly. As Maddox learns what Garnet is doing, she pushes a button that starts a beeping noise in Kelly. It turns out that she is also a weapon. If Maddox allows the counter to run out, everyone on the shuttle will die.

Garnet pleads with Maddox, making it clear that taking some of her crew solves her issue with people on Ark-15. It also allows Ark-1 to survive. They can both go in their own directions.

Maddox does stop the counter, but it’s clear that she has some other sort of plan. This isn’t over with Maddox, but for now, Ark-1 can focus on repairs, recovery, and finding a new home.

The Ark airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Syfy.

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