The Ark 2×09 Review: “Cycle of Violence”

Ark-1’s encounter with the Eastern Federation leads to some surprising truths and a major death in “Cycle of Violence.”

Though the crew of Ark-1 was preoccupied with a clone uprising in “We Don’t Kill Our Own,” they can no longer avoid the Eastern Federation in “Cycle of Violence.” With the safety of her crew in jeopardy, Sharon (Christie Burke) manages to broker a deal, but the encounter leads to a huge loss for the crew.

With the Eastern Federation ship’s gun trained on them, the crew of Ark-1 tries to avoid the confrontation. When the attempt is unsuccessful, Eastern Federation Captain Avega (Daniel Fathers) asks for the crew to hand over Eva’s (Tiana Upcheva) brother. Though Avega doesn’t believe Sharon’s claim that Eva’s brother is dead, he then demands them to hand Eva over or they will fire on them.

Sharon and the crew have no choice but to have a long overdue conversation with Eastern Federation spy Eva (Tiana Upcheva). Eva reveals that she joined the Eastern Federation upon finding out that the Global Space Administration (GSA) was creating a bioweapon to kill a massive amount of people but swears that she remains loyal to the crew of Ark-1. Though the conversation was delayed, the crew’s questioning of Eva and her hesitation about leaving the people she cares about was worth the wait.

Trust (Paul Leonard Murray) confirms Eva’s statement that the GSA was developing a bioweapon to try to wipe out billions of people. Unsurprisingly, most of the survivors that would be rescued from Earth in this scenario would be the richest. This revelation has Sharon question if they’re really the bad guys and Spencer (Reece Ritchie) realizes that his father wasn’t as good of a person as he thought he was. Though I had suspicions the Eastern Federation wasn’t as bad as we were initially led to believe, the reveal still manages to be surprising. It also allows Spencer and James (Richard Fleeshman) to reconcile in a nice moment.

With Eva wanting to stay with Ark-1, Sharon and Avega agree to a peace negotiation aboard Ark-1, with Felix (Pavle Jerinic) and Jelena (Tamara Radovanovic) going to the Eastern Federation ship as collateral hostages. Sharon agrees to the deal and tasks Spencer’s clone Ian to lead the negotiations as a neutral party. Though talks get off to a rough start, Sharon convinces Avega to finish the negotiations in a moving speech that shows the strength of her compassion and leadership.

Sharon and Avega successfully come to an agreement, but Avega’s second-in-command is not on board. While preparing to return to the Eastern Federation ship, he stabs Avega and Spencer, who jumps in to try and stop the attack. Both end up in critical condition and Dr. Kabir (Shalini Peiris) and Dr. Marsh (Jadran Malkovich) struggle to save them.

The episode’s subplot has Angus (Ryan Adams) haunted by images of Kelly (Samantha Glassner), who remains in critical condition after her previous collapse. The images lead Angus to go to Kelly, kiss her with a bite, and have the nanites from Kelly’s blood in his system rejoin the rest of the nanites in Kelly’s blood. Kelly is revived by the action, but thankfully the bizarre subplot doesn’t take away from the better parts of the episode.

With the negotiations falling apart, the Eastern Federation plans to kill Felix and Jelena. The crew pleads with them to give them time to save Avega. Eva takes matters into her own hands and reconnects with her former Eastern Federation friend, pleading with her not to kill her friends. Though there is a lot that we still don’t know about Eva’s past, it’s great that she is able to prove her loyalty to her Ark-1 friends and how she is still the person we know and love.

Unfortunately, Dr. Kabir and Dr. Marsh report to Sharon that Avega needs a new liver and that Spencer’s chance of survival is doubtful. Though Sharon resists, she ultimately agrees to allow them to use Spencer’s liver to save Avega. Even though the crew has been able to solve multiple crises in the past, the decision to kill off Spencer comes as a bold and shocking decision.

Thankfully, “Cycle of Violence” decides to sit with loss rather than introduce another new crisis as many previous episodes have, with Sharon saying goodbye to Spencer’s body one last time. Though Ritchie currently remains a part of The Ark as Ian, Spencer’s death will likely set a somber tone for the remaining episodes of the season.

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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