PopHorror Let's Get Scared
The pilot episode of a TV series is very important. It has to set up the stakes and world of the series and get the audience on board. Recently I had the chance to check out the pilot for a potential series called The New Ark. Did it get me invested and leave me wanting more?
Read on to find out.
The New Ark was written and directed by F.C. Rabbath (The Final Pact). It stars Cameron Diskin (The Final Pact), Ashlee Weber, Marina Von Stein (Huggin Molly), Henry Tisdale (Watch Over Us), Valerie Jones Rash (Mother Nature and the Doomsday Prepper), Zachary Boltz, and Emery Diskin. The plot follows a ship full of people who leave the planet due to an impeding disaster to start their life anew elsewhere and the problems and surprises they encounter along the way.
Going into The New Ark, I knew the budget of the pilot and I was highly impressed with the effects work they were able to pull off with a mere $2,500. There are a lot of digital effects here and they all look really solid. We’re talking about the start of an epic science fiction saga. We got space ships, technology and the far reaches of outer space portrayed on screen. Hats off to F.C. Rabbath and crew for what they were able to pull off on such a limited budget.
The story parallels the biblical story of Noah’s Ark. We follow a group of people who believe a disaster is going to wipe out all live on the planet. They gathered genetic samples from every animal they can with plans to leave the planet and start out life from scratch somewhere else. Things won’t be easy for them though as there are surprises in store that will make things harder than initially anticipated.
The story is interesting and has high stakes, being the survival of the human race. The characters, while not as developed as they would be in the future, are solid enough to keep my interest. I’m curious to see how these characters develop in the future and what their respective roles are. There are some twists and turns that cause the characters to reassess and change their mission and this keeps the story interesting. The ending is pretty satisfying for a pilot but leaves plenty of room for growth in the story. I’m very interested in where the story goes from here as there are so many possibilities
Final Thoughts
The New Ark is an epic science fiction pilot that does the most with limited means. The story and characters are interesting enough to have me invested and excited for potential future installments.
