Aaron Sagers \/ Blastr<\/p>\n
When the journey on the spaceship Ascension<\/em> begins this December on Syfy, viewers will find themselves on a blast from the past that takes place in an alternate retro sci-fi timeline, and one that might just recapture the network\u2019s previous success with\u00a0Battlestar Galactica<\/em>.<\/p>\n Loosely based around the actual atomic-powered spacecraft of Project Orion, the 6-hour miniseries (and likely ongoing series) is about a covert craft that was launched by the U.S. in Kennedy-era 1963. The\u00a0U.S.S. Ascension<\/em>\u00a0was to carry the smartest men, women and children to populate a new world, and 50 years into the journey, a mysterious murder — the first on board — takes place.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s Mad Men<\/em> meets Star Trek<\/em> meets Lost,<\/em>\u201d summed up actor Al Sapienza at this week\u2019s Syfy press tour in Orlando, where he was joined by costars Tricia Helfer, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth and Brandon P. Bell.<\/p>\n Premiering Dec. 15 at 9 p.m., and airing over three nights, Ascension<\/em> is a big-idea kind of show, and the return of Helfer to the network makes it feel like this could be Syfy\u2019s next BSG<\/em>.<\/p>\n The world on the ship is a small microcosm of what U.S. society looked like in the early \u201960s, with the intention of preserving that.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very excited about the concept of this show, and the parallel society, not influenced in any way by what\u2019s happened on Earth in 50 years,\u201d said Sapienza, who plays Councilman Rose. \u201cWe don\u2019t know John Kennedy got shot, we don\u2019t about know the civil rights movement or women\u2019s lib; our input from Earth stopped in 1963.\u201d<\/p>\n But to maintain balance, there is genetic pairing, arranged marriages and limits on how many children can be born — which looks to be part of a major plot point.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a birthless ceremony every year, so it depends on how many people have passed away as to how many children can be born,\u201d said Helfer. \u201cSo many couples on the ship will never have the right to have a child.\u201d<\/p>\n She teased that her character, Viondra Denniger, and her husband, Capt. William Denniger (Van Holt), have opted out of having a kid.<\/p>\n Additionally, a self-created caste system is in place. It was not initially established when Ascension<\/em>launched, and it consists of the upper decks and lower decks. But the system allows for a lower-decker like Bell\u2019s African-American character Oren Gault to achieve second-in-command status despite the civil rights movement never happening on board.<\/p>\n Gender equality is also skewed in this timeline, and Helfer\u2019s Viondra has gained behind-the-scenes power through her sexuality and position as the captain\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n \u201cShe stands behind her man, but is the steel in his spine,\u201d said Helfer. \u201cShe works hard to stay in power; she grew up in the lower decks and made her way up, and is determined to stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Roth\u2019s Juliet Bryce is the Ascension<\/em>\u2019s head doctor and has a job of importance. But Bryce\u2019s teenage daughter is flexing her muscles and trying to push beyond the restrictive rules of their on-board life.<\/p>\n Speaking to this, Helfer said their world has evolved in the 50 years since they launched.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not exactly like Mad Men<\/em>; it is its own society that has evolved in its own way, but a society of 600 people evolves much slower.\u201d<\/p>\n Sapienza said he thinks that evolution is any human culture, but on Ascension<\/em> \u2013- and anywhere that the status quo is challenged \u2013- \u201cthere are always those forces that are self-serving, with their own reasons to keep things unfair.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the other threads the series follows: A ground government is tracking the starship, and the craft is nearly at the point where they won\u2019t be able to turn around and head back to Earth. In conjunction with the first murder on board, people are starting to panic.<\/p>\n He revealed that, aside from his character, most of his co-stars play the first generation born on the vessel. And their children mark the second generation. So the brain trust of Ascension<\/em> may be deteriorating.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Kennedy picked the smartest people, and most qualified, to take this journey,\u201d he said. \u201cWell, as you know, you could get a perfect score on your SATs, but your kids may not be so bright.\u00a0This is the second generation, so you don\u2019t have (what was the phrase Kennedy used?) the best and the brightest.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, some things never change, even in an alternate sci-fi timeline.<\/p>\n \u201cInterestingly enough, even though we\u2019ve had no influence from Earth, politics have evolved in the same way as on Earth,\u201d said Sapienza about his character. \u201cI\u2019m self-serving, put myself ahead of the good of the ship and am having an affair with the captain\u2019s wife — I\u2019m the perfect politician!\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of the captain, Van Holt introduced his character as a natural-born leader in charge of 600 passengers but \u201cdefinitely not Captain Kirk,\u201d and referred to Helfer\u2019s Viondra as \u201cthe real captain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not without his moral ambiguities,\u201d he said. \u201cHe deals with his demons, and his outlets are morally questionable.\u201d<\/p>\n Wrapping up the panel, Bell said the purpose of the Ascension<\/em> mission is \u201csuper righteous\u201d because they\u2019re leaders on a new frontier.<\/p>\n He added, and his co-stars agreed, that a show compared to Mad Men<\/em>, Star Trek<\/em> and Lost<\/em> has the makings to be the focus of social media conversations.<\/p>\n