The Ark

Hoping for better and expecting worse. The premise is good though hardly original but there the good part ends. I have to wonder if after watching the finished product the creators looked at each other and said " Hey this is some good stuff ". They must have because somehow this is now a tv show.. the sets look like they were filmed at a high school, the acting and CGI are subpar but not awful. Where the show truly fails is the characters. Remember the pilot of Lost and TWD where you were quickly invested in the characters? Definitely not here. Nobody stands out . I guarantee that after this you'll never hear from 80% of these actors again. A couple veteran actors would have gone a long way but nope; just a bunch of uninteresting faces. A strong lead would have helped too. The characters are not particularly whiny and a couple worked well together but I don't remember a single name. Will be flabbergasted if this gets a second season.

The premise is interesting, though I've seen this idea before. The first episode wasn't very good because of poor acting. But we've continued to watch it (finished 4 episodes so far) and I have say it's both growing on me and the acting is better - most of the actors are growing into their characters and becoming more believable, and evoking my own emotions such as finding some likeable, some irritating. I was glued to my seat during episode 3 and worried about what was going to happen next. The crew seems to be in one crisis after another, which can be tiresome as a continuous plot device. I am being entertained now, though I can't give it more than a 6 at this point.

It's hard to get through this show. The pilot runs through a basic story background and the crew introduction so fast along with a constant crisis mode that it is actually stressful to watch.

The following episodes include more personal drama and it sometimes feels they bought a crisis pack at a bargain. A lot of cringy moments that made me think: Really? Yes, really. The acting is ok I guess considering how the characters were created.

Special effects and setting are on the lighter side. Meaning, it's usually bright. They don't try to scare you. However rhe look is somewhat "to clean". Elements of the setting look 3D printed.

Don't expect any science. There rarely is any. And if there is science one character explains the most basic things to another so that really every member of the audience gets it. The core audience seems to be people without any technical background. Sci-Fi first timers I guess. If you seen science fiction before: disable the memory of that in your brain.

There is some hope though. Episode 7 is the first that uses the potential of that universe. Still some cringy moments and personal drama but at least the storyline is set in the right way and you get additional context (way to late in my opinion but this seems to be a choice by the makers of this show.

Hope that helps. The ratings of each episode is going partly up, because a lot of critical people just give up. But there is actually improvement, albeit very very slow.

Yes, it is a cheaply produced show, but all the culture snobs who write reviews after 15 minutes watching the pilot are simply that: unreliable snobs who have no clue about anything and you shouldn't listen to.

The show's characters are loveble enough to keep watching the first few episodes.

At latest in the 5th episode it starts getting interesting and at the 7th episode the mytery is pretty exciting to wait eagerly for the next episode.

This show at least doesn't try to pretend being an oscar winning drama by getting into politics and intrigues "in medias res", making you just turning your head around, wondering who is with whom. You also don't need 3 seasons to watch for finally learning to distinguish the two asian women from eachother, like so many shows do nowadays, like Star Trek Discovery or Star Wars Andor, just to name a few from the sci-fi genre.

This is a show for relaxing. It doesn't want to change the world nor tries to win anything, it just wants to entertain you and it does the job well.

Yes, there were lots of plot holes. Yes, the CGI was bad. That's all true... But if you're looking for simple storytelling, this show is definitely enjoyable enough for you to pass your time with.

It's much better than the new Saved by the Bell, or the new Gossip Girl if you want my honest opinion, and even those shows had positive reviews. What about Will Trent? Does it have anything interesting, or intelligent? Yet, it has a strong following too.

For a non-sophisticated person like myself, I would give this show a few more episodes before declaring that it's moronic and beyond redemption.

And to that someone(s) citing Newton's First Law of Motion, if you have to travel like a million lightyears, relying just on inertia alone isn't gonna take you anywhere, you'll need thrust (for both the speed and navigation).