Sowe did n’t especially likeAscension ’s first chapter , which seemed to assure one thing and then deliver another . Fortunately , the 2d and third chapters had better tempo and some great moments … before ending with another huge moment of WTF . Spoilers forward …
The first sequence of Ascension end with a reasonably rug - pulling reveal : the main character are not , in fact , on a gargantuan space ship ca-ca an interstellar journeying to a undefined “ new domain ” … they were the unwitting , unknowingly prosy subject field of a long - full term experiment . And now , we ’ve learned more about the purposes behind that experiment .
ascending ’s chapters two and three benefited from a story structure that split the action between the people in fake blank and the folks on the ground . Chief puppetmaster Harris Enzmann ( Gil Bellows ) has been carrying on his father ’s work , overseeing Ascension ’s “ flight ” and becoming creepily obsess with overseeing its resident .
He ’s none too proud of when his knob force him to accommodate advisor Samantha Krueger ( Lauren Lee Smith ) , brought in to help solve Ascension ’s first murder . Samantha — a taco - sleep with gay woman ( yes , they get there ) who immediately suspects Harris ’ pet project is move by a sinister purpose — soon becomes interview foster , playing Nancy Drew and bonding , as much as one can , with Stokes ( Brad Carter ) , the incorrectly accuse manslayer who plunged from Ascension to Earth at the end of chapter one . She also befriend a cabal - theory blogger who has intel on exactly what kind of go - Indian file Samantha is up against ; it plays out like a spy thriller as she realizes her police detective skills will be test by circumstances more complex than solving a exclusive murder .
The mogul struggles between Harris and his boss ( and the shadowy , deep - pocketed corporate entity that she symbolise ) are mirror aboard Ascension , as Tricia Helfer ’s ice - world-beater Viondra struggles to keep her husband , Captain Denninger ( Brian Van Holt ) , in his hard - come through leaders spot . The backstabbings and secret commitment are strictly Game of Thrones lite , with shipboard madame Diandra believe , belike correctly , that “ Sex is the true up-to-dateness of the ship . ”
Other subplots of interest ( including a stripling romance doomed by the ship ’s computing machine - matching system , which would never descend to arrange a marriage between kids from different social class - assort decks ) slicing into the desktop — even the opening murder becomes a MacGuffin of sorts — once Ascension commits to revealing why the mission was “ launched ” in the first spot .
Well , it kind of commits … so view your stone’s throw amidst the plot muddle .
The key physique that establish toward this reveal — the show ’s second doozy — are Harris and Christa ( Ellie O’Brien ) , a precocious child who was first introduced when she discovered the execution dupe in episode one . The next two episodes see her hinted - at clairvoyant gifts growing , to the puzzlement of her shipmate … and to Harris ’ diabolical delight .
mistily explain references to “ implants , ” exceptional vitamin shots , and eugenics are drop in along the way , but it ’s presently made clear that Christa , who stare at once into Harris ’ hide cameras and has dreams that teach her about JFK ’s assassination and 9/11 , is what Project Ascension has been trying to create for 50 years : a psychical weapon with the ability to … uh … teleport people around the galaxy by pullulate lightning bolt out of her eyes . ( Not exactly out of her eye , but some serious Carrie White - case pyrotechnic result whenever Christa ’s agitated . )
Yes , you interpret that right . The fake - spaceship has a girl who can teleport masses across the galaxy , using anger - lightning .
This fantastical finish , staring with “ choose one ” anointment ( should we be say too much Bible - cape into the show ’s title , and Christa ’s name ? ) , makes for a grampus final shot , as a hapless character who has never subsist alfresco of a spaceship find himself microwave to an alien man .
But there ’s a dissatisfactory lack of katharsis for the rest of Ascension ’s universe . The show ’s last bit has them surviving a shipboard cataclysm that threatens their O supply ( thanks for those uncontrollable lightning bolts , kiddo ) , but their space - change of location illusion stay on miraculously intact . There ’s a lunge for depth , and some deeper melodic theme , but it ’s up against dialogue like “ The principal child must be born ! ”
And of trend , the open - endedness of it all suggests this may not be the last chapter we ’ll get of this wannabe blank odyssey .
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