The Ark 1×07 Review: “A Slow Death Is Worse”

The Ark’s discovery of another Ark leads to a few tragic revelations in “A Slow Death Is Worse.”

The crew of the Ark wastes no time in solving the mystery of the ship discovered at the end of “Two by Two.” After determining that the ship is the third iteration of the Ark model ships, Sharon (Christie Burke) attempts to contact the Ark-3 in the opening moments of “A Slow Death Is Worse.” When nobody answers, she sends the crew on a mission to get answers about the ship.

Those who venture onto the Ark-3 are horrified to discover that everyone onboard has died. The most heartbreaking part of the tragic discovery is that Felix (Pavle Jerinic) finds his husband among the bodies. Felix’s grief is the most powerful part of the episode, and really emphasizes the stakes of the situation. However, the choice for this awful tragedy to happen to the series’ (currently) sole gay representation is disheartening.

Soon after, the crew discovers one lone survivor on the Ark-3, Kelly (Samantha Glassner). Kelly seems like a potentially interesting addition to the cast, though it’s hard to determine if she is truly trustworthy or not. Through Kelly, the crew of Ark-1 learns that Ark-3’s mission was accelerated over their own due to worsening conditions on Earth. As Kelly recounts her last moments on Earth, Sharon and the crew realize that they may be the last surviving humans. In one last gut-wrenching revelation, Kelly tells Felix by the episode’s end that his daughter was killed by a stray bullet back on Earth.

Thankfully, there’s more to the episode than tragedy, as two potential romances begin to spark among the Ark-1’s crew members. After Cat (Christina Wolfe) tells Angus (Ryan Adams) that Sharon is out of his league, Angus seems to gain new interest in Alicia (Stacey Read) as they work together. Though the introduction of this possibility is a little heavy-handed, thankfully Angus and Alicia already had a nice dynamic in previous episodes so it doesn’t come completely out of the left field.

Meanwhile, James (Richard Fleeshman) and Eva (Tiana Upcheva) continue to grow closer after their heart-to-heart in last week’s episode. The two are among the crew that returns to Ark-3 to gather its supplies and fuel for Ark-1. However, they accidentally set off the ship’s self-destruct mode during the mission, putting everyone in peril. As the timer counts down, James and Eva nearly kiss as James admits that he might not be ready to die. Though it feels like this new potential romance is coming so soon after Eva lost her previous boyfriend, the chemistry between the two makes the potential romance believable.

Spencer (Reece Ritchie) saves the day by providing the code to stop the Ark-3’s self-destruct function. To solve the crisis, he wakes up William Trust (Paul Murray) from his cryogenic pod. The fact that Trust is now awake is interesting, particularly as the rest of the crew still doesn’t know that he’s on the Ark-1. Even more intriguing is that Trust doesn’t know where he is or why he’s there.

“A Slow Death Is Worse” has one more reveal up its sleeve, that the Ark-1 was attacked by yet another iteration of the Ark. Each mystery presented throughout the season has grown more fascinating, and this one seems like it will be no different.

Author: Jessica Wolff

Jessica Wolff is a graduate of Drexel University with a BS in Film/Video. She has a passion for entertainment and representation in entertainment. She currently resides outside of Washington, DC.

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