I fell behind on The Orville when Star Trek Discovery won over my attention. Then a bunch of new movies hit like this under-the-radar flick called Star Wars? Maybe you heard of it? Anyway... I suddenly felt in the mood for some sassy Seth MacFarlane and decided to catch up and see what I missed... Episode 7: Majority Rule
This was a great episode to come back to. At first it's just a basic knock-off of that Black Mirror episode where society judges everyone based on Up and Down votes. It's already a pretty blatant metaphor (is it even a metaphor?) for how social media and public opinion is getting out of hand, but The Orville takes it a step further: This society has no government or justice system except public opinion. Too many Down votes and you are by definition a criminal. Truth and Facts are determined by the vote. An "Absolute Democracy" that votes on everything. Anyway, Lt. Lamar gets in trouble when he humps a famous statue and it goes viral, earning him millions of Down votes. He has to go on a publicity tour to earn empathy but just gets hammered on the talk shows because he's kind of a chump. Basically he's saved when they hack the "feed" and he gets off a few votes short of earning a lobotomy ("correction") and one naive native learns the value of just turning off the TV instead of participating in mob rule. It's a simple plot and a cheat of an ending, but it works in spite of itself because of how annoyingly 2017 it is. If it seems on the nose, it's only because it hits closer to home than it should. It would be chilling if the humor wasn't so naturally built in to the story this time. A fun and amusing episode with something to think about... if you're in the mood. Episode 8: Into the Fold This was another surprisingly strong episode proving I dropped the show as it was just getting in a groove. Like the last one, this episode's strength is it's reduced cast and focus on just a couple characters. This week we find Dr. Finn on shore leave with her two aggravating adolescent sons. Nobody gets along and it's another of those Orville moments when the characters act almost so down-to-earth that it's clearly some form of deliberate social commentary. I mean this could be any single mother with two boys out of any major city. The pilot was reassigned so they have to fly with the robot, Isaac, who instantly observes that the doctor's parenting style appears to be ineffective. Then of course they crash and the kids are stuck with the robot, suddenly pining for the mother they previously hated, and Isaac has to put his money with where his superior intelligence mouth is. He tells them there is no evidence of their mother's survival, gives the older boy a laser pistol and tells them a bedtime story which merely recaps their predicament. The humor here writes itself rather than needing to be pasted in amidst more relevant dialogue. The acting is also stronger, utilizing their most experienced actor in Penny Johnson Jerald (veteran of Deep Space Nine) and a pair of talented young kids who put The Next Generation's Wesley to shame for their natural authenticity. Playing off the straight-faced (actually he doesn't really have a face) Isaac proves to be a compelling dynamic. Ultimately it's a survival story while they wait for the Orville to rescue them, but it does it's job well and even manages to sell the mother-torn-from-her-children drama at the heart of it. Episode 9: Cupid's Dagger Featuring Rob Lowe! 'Nuff Said. This episode returns to the original crux of the premise. Seth MacFarlane's character, Captain Ed Mercer walked in on his wife with a blue-skinned alien. Eventually he ended up captain of the Orville and she is first officer. Lo and behold, the blue-skinned alien is back. And he's Rob Lowe. And it's awesome. Remember The Next Generation (of course you do!), how every other episode was some diplomatic dispute between two historically belligerent enemy races? Well, so does MacFarlane. The Orville has to try to solve their dispute based on archaeological findings and the galactic archaeologist assigned is none other than Darulio, the blue-skinned betrayer from the pilot (did I mention he's played by Rob Lowe?). He's immediately a cool and casual guy, like everyone on The Orville, and doesn't want any trouble. It's all a random coincidence. Until Kelly starts to flirt with him again. And then sleeps with him again. And Mercer walks in on them. Again. You think you know this story until Mercer goes to give him a piece of his mind and... starts to flirt with him too? And lots of other characters start to get a little amorous with others they didn't otherwise care for. It just gets weird from there as we realize Mercer isn't just fond of Darulio as a buddy, it's just as sexual for him as for Kelly. Comedy ensues funnier than any previous episode. There's a running gag on the elevator with an awkward crewman who wants to put in some music. And don't forget Bortus singing My Heart Will Go On at karaoke night. Almost. A diatribe from Mercer about labels and boxes, "Why do we have to put people in boxes? Why even call a box a box?" "I think it's just easier to have words." And Dr. Finn finally gets together with Yaphit... The gelatinous goo pile voiced by Norm MacDonald who's been hitting on her all season. Overall this episode felt like the payoff to numerous subplots. It's also nice to see them continue with high-profile guest-stars, such as Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron. Long story short, Darulio is in heat (for his species) which makes everyone a little bit... excitable, and they ultimately use it to solve the problem with the two warring species. By making the two warlords... fall in love and get married? Hey, there's comedy for ya! Episode 10: Firestorm Lt Alara must face her fears -- and everyone else's -- when they begin to manifest themselves around the ship. But mostly clowns. Vampire clowns. It's another riff on memorable Star Trek plots (minus the clowns). I'm sure there's a reddit forum somewhere which connects each episode of The Orville to its' Next Generation inspiration or equivalent. I could almost put one together off the top of my head but not quite. It adds a layer of familiarity that also smells of unoriginality. On the other hand, it's all about execution. And this episode... is mostly benign. There's one good twist when we realize it's all on the holodeck and Alara is trapped inside, unaware that's why/how all these fears are manifesting. Structurally it all ties together with her fear of failure after... failing to save a crewman due to fear. An average but forgettable episode that rises and falls on how well you simply enjoy the characters at this point. Also a brief cameo from Robert Picardo of Star Trek Voyager that I enjoyed (he was always the best part of that show!). Episode 11: New Dimensions This episode follows up on the larger story of the ship and it's crew again. Kind of like Episode 9, it addresses some of the loose ends from the pilot, in this case, Kelly's decision to put in a good word to the admiralty to get Mercer his chance at command. Of course he's pissed and spends the episode whining about it because now he can't trust his judgment or something as a Captain. The logic is junk but this is all just a backdrop for the main plot. Turns out Lt Lamar is super smart according his file, but he prefers to be just a dumb slob and not apply himself. When the chief engineer takes another job, Kelly wants to give Lamar a chance at the position because she sees his potential. When they get stuck in a two-dimensional spacial anomaly, she not only assigns him to the team to solve it, she puts him in charge. He hates this, because he's never been in charge of anything and doesn't want to be. His silly attempts to break the ice with gumdrops provides some fitting comedy. The jokes in general are continuing to improve as they meld more naturally with the story. In the end he saves the day not by being super smart so much as turning out to be a natural leader, despite his unconventional approaches. There are some neat visuals as the ship flies through 2D space, and even though it's a bit blunt at times, there's a good theme about how no one gets anywhere without help from others, one way or another. It's a little didactic, but then so was Star Trek, and like Star Trek, it works when it's a lesson worth considering, and the execution of the story is entertaining enough to gloss it all over. The idea that everyone's success is dependent on the small and subtle assistance of outside factors is humbling and poignant, and necessary to shatter the fallacy of the egotistical self-made man. Sometimes The Orville can fall into some of the more simplistic "progressive" messages of the day, but I'm surprised how often they attempt to tackle a meatier issue head-on and actually dig into it. This one worked for me. Episode 12: Mad Idolatry Kelly accidentally exposes herself to a primitive culture who begin to worship her as a God. The planet in question goes in and out of another universe and jumps 700 years for every 11 days that pass, giving us a glimpse of how their culture is affected over time. Hint, it's just like mainstream religion in our own human history. Surprise! These aliens don't even have makeup or forehead prosthetics to soften the metaphor. I can definitely name the Star Trek episode this one borrows from. Of course Kelly is devastated to watch their society devolve into religious tyranny using her name and it puts a serious damper on her recent relationship rekindling with Mercer. They'd been "seeing" each other now that they've finally had some closure on their marriage troubles, and it's nice to see Seth MacFarlane play charming for a change, instead of his usual pettiness and snark. The episode ultimately sees Isaac go live on the planet for an entire 700 year period (as a robot, he doesn't age) in order to course correct their society, resulting in a super-advanced utopia, of course. Not because they worshiped his robot technology as you might initially assume, but because, as they explain it, this is always the course of society over time, and Kelly could never cause nor prevent it from following that same arc of development. That it's always progressing upward on the large scale, nearing ever closer to inevitable Utopia. It's very modernist, of course, and more than a little trite, but it's what many people really do believe about human history. Especially the people who make Star Trek and shows just like it. Conclusion: The Orville ain't so bad afterall. It's most obnoxious quirks have either subsided or just become invisible over time. The premise, the aesthetic, the off-beat casual tone and the screwball comedy have all found their groove to produce an endearing, sincere and fun riff on a television format fondly loved in decades passed but fallen to the wayside in recent years. Until now. And I for one am glad it's here. Now... When does Star Trek Discovery start up again... Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Star Trek Discovery Season 1 Star Trek Discovery Season 2 Don't forget to Like and Subscribe!
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