Network: Syfy
Episodes: Six (hour)
Seasons: One

TV show dates: December 15, 2014 — December 17, 2014
Series status: Ended

Performers include: Tricia Helfer, Gil Bellows, Brian Van Holt, Andrea Roth, Brandon P. Bell, Jacqueline Byers, Tiffany Lonsdale, and P.J. Boudousqué.

TV show description:      
This science-fiction TV show was inspired by the real-life Project Orion that was introduced under the administration of President John F. Kennedy. In the series’ alternate reality, 600 volunteers (men, women, and children) are launched into space on a century-long voyage aboard a self-sustaining ship.

Fearing that the rise of the Cold War would destroy the planet, the undercover space mission is launched. The mission’s aim is to inhabit a planet — one that orbits Proxima Centauri — to keep the human race alive.

The spaceship, the USS Ascension, is a self-sustaining ship that’s meant to serve as a ‘generation ship’; able to house many future generations of the families onboard. Now, 51 years after its launch, a mysterious crime is committed on board and this throws the mission into chaos.

A politician as well as a military man, Captain William Denninger (Brian Van Holt) is a natural leader. Rising through the ship’s ranks, he became captain of the Ascension as a result of his heroic actions during a catastrophic fire that nearly destroyed the ship early in its voyage.

While strong-willed and confident, Denninger and his wife, Viondra (Tricia Helfer), have a very public yet tortured marriage. Chief Steward on the ship, she is manipulative, dangerous, and a not-so-secret power broker.

The confident and capable First Officer aboard the Ascension, Aaron Gault (Brandon P. Bell) was born to maintenance workers on the lower decks. An honest and extremely capable Executive Officer, his mettle is tested when he’s ordered to investigate the murder of a young girl, a job for which Gault thinks he is wholly unprepared.

Smart, warm and intuitive, Emily Vanderhaus (Tiffany Lonsdale) is the murder victim’s older sister and the chief astronomer on the ship. Her rocky marriage with Safety Officer Duke Vanderhaus is put to the test by the family tragedy.

Harris Enzmann (Gil Bellows) is the son of Abraham Enzmann, the founder of the Ascension mission. A thoughtful man who is determined to continue his father’s work since he took over his position 20 years ago, Enzmann has grown used to working unsupervised. He’s annoyed to find himself with someone looking over his shoulder.

Smart but a little reserved, Doctor Juliet Bryce (Andrea Roth) is the head doctor aboard the Ascension. Her relationship with her daughter, Nora (Jacqueline Byers), has been strained and the murder on board the ship has made it worse.

A reluctant apprentice at the medical center, Nora no longer accepts her mother’s judgment and advice. She finds herself drawn to the Terraforming Department and the promise of building a new world.

Her budding attraction to “bad boy” James Toback (P.J. Boudousque) is scary and exciting for her, but Nora’s determined to follow her own path — no matter how much her mother wants to keep them apart.

What do you think? Do you like the Ascension TV show? Do you think it should have ended or been renewed for a second season?