Strange things happened on The Ark; we're not just talking about the hallucinations.

The Ark Season 1 Episode 4 greatly improved from the previous three outings.

Could the show finally have found its (space) legs?

The episode featured the usual chaos we've come to expect on Ark One, but it had a through-line that kept the show on track!

At first, the storyline seemed to veer into territory we were not looking forward to railroading Garnet for the murder.

While the story and an essential character (Lt. Lane, of course) did focus on the investigation into Garnet, Felix proved to be a respectable man of the law that conducted a thorough investigation.

Part of Lane's desire to place the blame solely on Garnet came from his hallucinations, guiding him to more anger. However, we do know that Lane doesn't trust Garnet to begin with.

The plot also led us to something we were dreading: the hallucinations. But they were done brilliantly, and each primary crew member had a unique experience!

The investigation into Garnet revealed an interesting fact about her life that she became forced to disclose to Felix (and, eventually, Dr. Kabir): Garnet's a clone.

Garnet: I need to tell you something. Something classified.
Dr. Kabir: Yeah, I figured this might've been more than a friendly stroll.
Garnet: I'm a clone.

• Permalink: I'm a clone.

She had an identical twin clone named Denise, who she claimed (and proved) was the woman on the video found at the end of The Ark Season 1 Episode 3.

Adding in this random clone plot point shocked us, but it didn't hold as much gravitas as the plot may have wanted,

The hour heavily featured Felix, the only law on the ship and the person who wanted to give Garnet a fair investigation.

It was interesting to explore his professionalism, as that added to his character, but his hallucination also gave us a personal side to Felix.

His hallucinations revealed he had a newborn and a husband at home and missed them dearly.

Other crew members' hallucinations featured close family/friends, deceased lovers, and cryptic interactions.

Alicia saw her mom, whose back on earth; Eva saw her deceased boyfriend Harris, while Dr. Kabir saw her old boss, the former head Doctor of the ship.

The hallucinations threatened to create an exciting plot device or something that would fizzle out and get tired very quickly: and luckily, the former won out.

Each crew member who got hallucinations (except for Garnet because of the cloning) had a unique experience that added to the plot instead of making it gimmicky.

With all of the severe and threatening hallucinations going around, there had to be at least one comedic one, and it ended up being quite funny, although a bit creepy.

Angus hallucinated a sexy version of Lt. Sharon Garnet, whom he has a major crush on.

This added some fun to the episode, while the mirage also helped him solve why the plants wilted and why everyone started to see things.

We could have predicted the solution from the start of the episode.

What was something new introduced to the ship? What have people been doing non-stop since the previous incident? It all came back to the water.

The comet water was found to have a unique atom that managed to evade the ship's filtration system, causing everyone to have an adverse reaction to the water (including the plants).

Alicia and Baylor embarked on their first date, but it became interrupted by their respective hallucinations, with Baylor's being quite cryptic.

It implied that he got put on the ship to enact a special, secret mission by one of the higher-ranking officers, but what that mission was didn't get revealed.

We also got more hints into what is wrong with Lt. Brice, and he's clearly hiding some medical condition from the crew.

It'll be interesting to see how the show incorporates these plot points without the aid of hallucinations!

The ending of the fourth outing leads us to wonder where the series plans to go.

At the end of the episode, Angus implied that he didn't think the substance that melted Lt. Brice's glove was manmade, or at least not HUMAN made.

This opens up many doors for the series, but it could be an element from an undiscovered part of the universe.

Brice: Right, I feel like you're keeping the punchline to yourself.
Angus: It could've been a meteor. Or some other rock formation. Or...
Lane: Or what?
Angus: It could've been a weapon.
Garnet: A weapon?
Angus: Engineered to take advantage of this dangerous element.
Garnet: But who could've attacked us? We're the only people in history to go this far in space.
Angus: I didn't say people.

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If the series adds extra-terrestrial life to the fray, it could pay off or easily implode on itself as quickly as they introduced it.

Despite its many issues, the series works independently because it's grounded in human life and the desire to live and explore.

While it would be interesting to see how the crew of Ark One would deal with a potential alien invasion, they would risk losing humanity and relatable situations.

Most people would panic in a situation like that. And while the panic has been a primary complaint since The Ark Season 1 episode 1, it's also what grounds the show in reality.

Angus: This element's not on the periodic table.
Lane: So are you any closer to knowing what hit us or not?
Angus: Well, it's made of something that hasn't been discovered on earth. Which means it probably doesn't exist on earth. That means it's found somewhere else.

• Permalink: Well, it's made of something that hasn't been discovered on earth. Which means it probably...

The crew's panic on the ship also gets grounded in (some sort of) reality: lack of water, dying earth, contaminated water, etc.

Adding in otherworldly life would be an exciting turn for the series, but it may lose some of its humanity and relatability. Only time will tell!

Would you want to see the crew of Ark One deal with alien life?

The final, albeit minor, gripe with this episode comes from the title.

The title would have worked great for the first episode or something similar, but a quarter through the season doesn't make much sense.

The titles got taken from quotes during the episode, and choosing Dr. Cat Brandice's offhanded comment seemed weird.

Cat Brandice: I think cabin fever has been rearing it's ugly head.
Felix: Cabin fever?
Cat Brandice: Yeah! We weren't supposed to be awake on this ship for this long. An extended period of time in a confined space like this? Of course we're all going a little cuckoo!
Felix: That actually makes sense.
Cat Brandice: Of course it does!

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That's a minor complaint when discussing the whole episode, but it doesn't sit right.

That being said, this is a significant improvement for Syfy's The Ark. The plot managed to maintain consistency and coherence while still embodying the usual chaos on the ship.

So Fanatics, what did you think of the fourth outing of The Ark?

Did you enjoy it as we did? Would you want to see more of this kind of improvement?

Sound off in the comments below, and remember to watch The Ark online here on TV Fanatic.

Michael Stack is a former writer for TV Fanatic..