The Ark, “We Weren’t Supposed to Be Awake”, Review!

"We Weren't Supposed to Be Awake" has another danger for the crew of The Ark and their pasts come back to haunt them! The Ark-1 drifts in space. Angus waters his plants, others take showers, at the mess hall, morale is restored. The engines flare and Garnet announces that their mission has resumed. Lane appears with Strickland and clears the bridge. Strickland says there is murder evidence and Lane shows Lt. Garnet the computer pad with the bar scene from last episode. This where she slashes the neck of a man like the death of Jasper in the first episode! He takes her in house arrest. Lane says he is acting as commander. Strickland is not certain and doesn’t want Lane to make a shipwide announcement. Strickland walks out and then hears a baby’s cry. Other workers can’t hear the baby. At the farm, Agnus finds wilted cabbage, Brice finds it amusing that he has named the plants. He tells Angus to follow him. Angus sees the video of the crystal crushed in Brice’s astronaut glove. It has been put in the airlock, Angus examines it, and Brice wants him to analyze it to see what happened to the ship. 

THE ARK -- “We Weren’t Supposed to Be Awake” -- RYAN ADAMS, RICHARD FLEESHMAN, CHRISTIE BURKE, REECE RITCHIE  -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

Strickland questions Lt. Garnet in her quarters. He puts together what he thinks are the events, Jasper told her that he would leak the video, but Garnet refuses to believe it is her. She looks at a photo of herself and a doctor. Garnet says it was at Jacksonville, Florida and at that time she was at the launch site in London. Brice talks to Lane, he doesn’t want a murderer in control of the ship, he wants to eliminate her. A strange, three skeletal hand reflects in Brice’s eyes! Strickland sees a man in a tuxedo holding the crying child. He rushes towards it, but only finds a wall. Strickland enters Cat’s room polishing her nails. He tells her that he has seen a hallucination of Robert holding his daughter. He says he left his husband behind. I like that we find some of the background of Strickland! A patient tells Dr. Kabir that she looks tired, she takes her pill!, Dr. Hall (Jonathan English, also producer for the show and formerly The Outpost) advises her. He is an image from her past, they are all hallucinating? She argues with Dr. Hall, who was lost in the ship damage, in the washroom. She turns to find only a sleeping patient. Brice wants to “kill a traitor” with Lane, he is interrupted by Brice, another hallucination. What conversation and person is real? 

They rush over to a man punching a wall, a psychotic episode, they take him to the med bay. Dr. Kabir sedates him and admits she is talking to her mentor! I really like that the episode focuses on the doctor, a showcase for Shalini Peiris, and her casual mention of her hallucination is perfect. Nevins has a meal of the vegetables babbling to Trent who has asked her out. Nevins sees her mother (Ebony Feare) who says she is wasting time. Trent then sees Commander Ingram (Lisa Brenner) who says she’s too young. He asks her if they had a relationship just for her “secret mission.” What is this secret mission? He kisses his imaginary lover. She says Lt. Lane may be like them. Trent suddenly wakes from the hallucination. Nevins washes her face trying to deny that she sees her mother. Strickland is going through the personnel and tries to resist the crying of his child. He finds that the time of the video that Garnet was telling the truth. Dr. Kabir confronts Brice, he finds himself restrained, and she is about to inject him for an analysis! 

THE ARK -- “We Weren’t Supposed to Be Awake” -- SHALINI PEIRIS, RICHARD FLEESHMAN -- Photo: Aleksander Letic/Ark TV Holdings, Inc./SYFY

Brice then sees Nevins who tells them about the hallucinations. Strickland talks to Lt. Garnet, she tells him that she is going to tell him confidential information, Garnet says the woman is Denise Garnet, her clone! I thought she was her twin, now the question is who was her parents? They were tested with experimental DNA through the years. Dr. Hall tests oxygen dreprivation, then Denise turns psychotic! Garnet says that she went to Florida after the launch ceremony and found Denise died. She wants Strickland to keep her clone background a secret since it may compromise the mission. A genetically modified command officer? There is a bit of simliarity with Julian Bashir in Deep Space Nine. There must be a reason why the clone program was ended besides what happened with Denise. As we see Bad Batch, not all clones are the same. At the command room, Cat says the hallucinations are harmless, then Garnet walks in with Strickland. He says GSA classification that cleared her, but also closed the investigation?  Eva says her crew at med bay has made it impossible to get the ship to lightspeed.

Dr. Kabir and the imaginary Dr. Hall find that the patients are convulsing. In the shower, Eva turns to find her lover, Harris (Dominik Cicak). It has taken Eva some time to come to terms with his death and she has no fears now. It is also great to see Cicak in the show after his character's death and also Brenner. Cat talks with Eva and her hate towards Jasper. She realizes that Eva killed Jasper! Eva cuts her throat, a hallucination!, she runs and sees Eva with her hair down. Angus sees Garnet in a black dress, having fantasies of his commanding officer! She says the plants need water. It is the water! He runs to med bay and tells Dr. Kabir that the cause is the water and then collapses. She checks on him, unresponsive, and asks Dr. Hall if he said it was the comet water. Later, she is showing analysis of the toxin particle, resembling LSD, that slipped past their filtration system. The medical problem infecting the crew of a ship is like “The Naked Now” (1987) episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation which in turn was based on "The Naked Time" (1966), but it is treated here as a way to reflect character fears, desires, and past with dangerous consequences! The sci fi ideas may be similar, but this show makes them fresh and interesting in The Ark world. One by one crew members are lost and there is yet another complication! This episode of The Ark is a medical mystery to be worked on by Dr. Kabir with Garnet and her past becoming important!  

Five Compression Suits out of Five! 

#TheArk, #WeWerentSupposedToBeAwake, #ChristieBurke, #ReeceRitchie, #RichardFleeshman, #ShaliniPeiris, #PavleJerinic, #RyanAdams, #StaceyRead, #ChristinaWolfe, #JonathanEnglish, #DominikCicak, #EbonyFeare, #LisaBrenner