The Orville - Season Two -- SPOILERS

[Jim Gamma]

Whoa... that was one hell of a cliffhanger! O_O

Is it next week yet?

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Well, for us, yes. Beware spoilers!

And I got to see it, because it was actually available on On Demand, even though last week's episode still isn't. My technical problem this week was that it froze and restarted with eight minutes left to go. And you can't Fast Forward On Demand.

This was definitely a great episode, and it's hard to believe that it was only an hour long, but I have to admit to some disappointments. I was pretty sure that Isaac would turn, but it shouldn't have happened on a dime-- there was no (visible) process to it, aside from him previously objecting to the ensign's execution. We saw no reasons, just his presumptive attachment to the kids. The specter of Identity Politics was there, with the Kaylons' motivations and prejudices made clear, but I expected that Isaac would confront them with the hypocrisy of becoming what they hated. The message was implicit, but without it being made explicit this is the first Orville, I think, that is pure action-adventure without a clear moral. Also, the Kaylons were not really very sophisticated. I was surprised that the Kaylon guarding the guns (and the Primary) could be brought down without the rest of them knowing it instantly. And they're not very quick on the draw-- Isaac was able to drop bunches of them without any of them getting off a shot. The EMP pulse was a bit simple as well. Also disappointing was how easy Isaac was restored to his place on the ship-- I'm sure this story will result in a lot of friction on board, but I can't believe that Halsey would not want him on Earth to be endlessly debriefed, if not dissected.

However, there were a million things to love about this episode, the uppermost one being Yaphit getting his moment to shine. I love how he saved Ty by leaping onto, and into, the Kaylon, nearly making a fried egg out of himself in the process. Ty himself played a great role, helping to send the message and never giving up on Isaac. Claire spent most of the episode playing the worried mother, but had a nice moment with Isaac at the end with her words of forgiveness. And, of course, Gordon and Kelly got to go recruit the Krill as allies. The narrow escape from the shuttle bay and the life-or-death quantum jump were overkill, but I laughed out loud when Gordon appeared in that Krill fighter and made faces at the Krill next to him. And, just so we don't forget that this is The Orville, we have the pee wall and Gordon asking the Krill captain if he was high.

So, in the end, it was a game changer, like they said-- the Kaylons are now Galactic Enemy Number One and the Krill are potential allies, Avis willing, but it remains to be seen how things will change for Isaac. Will he feel more free to alter his own programming now that he is forever alone, as the head of the Primary said? Nothing was mentioned, but presumably the Kaylons can no longer turn him on or off at will. What will become of his relationship to Claire-- and will he have competition in Yaphit, now that Yaphit risked his life to save Ty? And we still don't know what motivates the Kaylons. They talked about expansion into the galaxy, but for what purpose? We know what turns them off, but what turns them on?

[scottydog]

Yeah, I agree that the resolution had its holes, and occurred too quickly. With only 15 minutes left in the episode, it looked like there had to be a Part 3 for there to be any reasonable ending. Things rushed toward closure.

I also agree with you and Lupy that the Kaylon aren't acting very rationally. There are giant gaps in their reasoning and worldview.

But overall, they've set up a fascinating universe, with the Krill now potential allies and Isaac's status on the ship now much more complicated.

Whoa... that was one hell of a cliffhanger! O_O

Jim, I hope you can catch up soon!

[RJDiogenes]

I also agree with you and Lupy that the Kaylon aren't acting very rationally. There are giant gaps in their reasoning and worldview.

They need to be convinced that their programming is defective. Kirk was good at that sort of thing.

But overall, they've set up a fascinating universe, with the Krill now potential allies and Isaac's status on the ship now much more complicated.

And what if the Kaylons start going after weaker civilizations that haven't joined the Union?

[Lupine]

I noticed that the Kaylon "Prime" frequently commented that Isaac was built after the extermination and used that as an excuse to dismiss his concerns about their actions. Makes me wonder if there will be a Kaylon rebellion.

[scottydog]

They need to be convinced that their programming is defective. Kirk was good at that sort of thing.

I wonder if Isaac is the person who can convince them of that. He's actually becoming like the character of Odo in DS9 -- a member of the enemy alien race who can never seem to go home.

Makes me wonder if there will be a Kaylon rebellion.

Could Isaac lead such a rebellion from afar?

[RJDiogenes]

I wonder if Isaac is the person who can convince them of that. He's actually becoming like the character of Odo in DS9 -- a member of the enemy alien race who can never seem to go home.

That would be great if he could become the Odo-- or Daneel Olivaw-- of the Kaylons. I hope Orville sticks around long enough to give us such long-term developments.

Could Isaac lead such a rebellion from afar?

It's very odd. The Kaylons were able to turn off Isaac from light years away, but they didn't seem to be in touch with each other at all while on Orville.

[RJDiogenes]

New episode tonight!

I suppose scotty will miss the next couple of these, too.

[Lupine]

Good if a little predicable. I figured there was something up with the daughter early on but wasn't expecting what they went with.

[RJDiogenes]

I was able to watch part of it, but I've still got a bit to go....

[scottydog]

I'll have a lot of catching up to do when I return home on the 17th.

[RJDiogenes]

Well, this was another very good episode, and Gordon got his moment in the sun for some serious drama. I suspect that this is another step in the long-term character arc that started with his odd admission of low self-esteem at Alara's homeworld and continued with his request to take the command test.

The story was somewhat reminiscent of the TNG episode that introduced the Cardassians in that the enemy aliens seemed to be falsely accusing one of our people of crimes, but are proven to be correct-- however there are a few substantial differences and twists. Most notably, the officer in Orville was not on active duty, but in fact had been a Krill PO(undeclared)W for twenty years; and the Krill, unlike the Cardassians, seemed to be making sincere overtures for peace. This led to a whole spectrum of moral quandaries, both on the personal and larger scales, that had no easy answers or satisfactory solutions. But while the presentation of the moral ambiguity of peaceful coexistence between conflicting ideologies was realistically disturbing, there was nothing ambiguous about Gordon's characterization-- his moral character, both in terms of personal relationships and patriotism, were shown to be solidly grounded, which was really nice.

The episode was essentially about Gordon being tortured, from the moment he found out his old friend had been in a prison camp all those years to the moment he had to let him die in the shuttle. It was painful to watch their quiet catch-up conversation slowly become Gordon's bitter realization of how deeply his pal was damaged, and to see him bewildered and conflicted over the guy's attempt to enlist him in a treasonous terrorist attack, to watch his face as the others on the bridge discussed his theft of the tube, to see him report their conversation to Talla, and to see him have to fight the guy who saved his life-- essentially a fight to the death. And that was one brutal TOS-style fight. Gordon is no longer the class clown.

They did fool me a bit when Gordon went to the guy's cabin, seemingly straight from his meeting with Talla, and agreed to help him. I knew that Gordon was setting him up, but I thought he was going to unilaterally try to keep him out of trouble, only to be implicated as an accomplice, so I was pleased to see that he had done the smart and mature thing for a change.

There were a lot of other great moments in this episode as well: Yaphit got a well-deserved medal, Talla got to be Supergirl twice, Claire got to save the day with a bit of arcane space knowledge, Ed got to broker a peace treaty, and Ed and Gordon got to reaffirm their friendship. And Gordon getting flung through space in his spacesuit was pretty harrowing. And the Sci-Fi gimmick of the girl with the explosive blood from "a distant part of space" was pretty cool. And just so we don't forget it's The Orville, we got urine tests and rubber gloves.

There were a couple of plot holes, like some fudging around the sensor scans and medical exams, and Gordon failing to just stun the guy in the shuttle, but overall this was another strong episode.

[Lupine]

And just so we don't forget it's The Orville, we got urine tests and rubber gloves.

That scene cracked me up.

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, that was a classic. Talla is fully a member of the crew now.

[Jim Gamma]

We get ep 10 this week, looks like we caught up as you don't have anything new until next week. Will watch later.