TV: The Orville - Seth MacFarlane's Star Trek

[Blender]

The bolded one had me going the most.

This was definitely the funniest episode so far for me. Another week another good episode

So many great bits in this episode on top of the car rental ones as well. Bortus eats anything, Isaac wanting to conduct "scientific research" with Alara, the brand new leg joke. Besides the humor that was really a classic Trek episode with all the parallels with real life.

 

[Mimsy]

The humor didn't do much for me this episode. I liked the dark turn at the end, where the female Krill rebuked Mercer while giving an ominous warning about the children. I thought the two might share some degree of understanding. It's better not to go there yet.

The Krill could be a decent recurring enemy, fitting somewhere in the Cardassian mold. Their prosthetic is convincing, and "space vampire" sounds like a cool concept, even though the description doesn't apply beyond the episode reference and the species' aversion to light.

 

[beowulf]

The humor didn't do much for me this episode. I liked the dark turn at the end, where the female Krill rebuked Mercer while giving an ominous warning about the children. I thought the two might share some degree of understanding. It's better not to go there yet.

The Krill could be a decent recurring enemy, fitting somewhere in the Cardassian mold. Their prosthetic is convincing, and "space vampire" sounds like a cool concept, even though the description doesn't apply beyond the episode reference and the species' aversion to light.

True space vampire has kind of been done in the Stargate Universe. with the Wraith

 

[Osprey]

The humor didn't do much for me this episode. I liked the dark turn at the end, where the female Krill rebuked Mercer while giving an ominous warning about the children. I thought the two might share some degree of understanding. It's better not to go there yet.

Yeah, the humor didn't do much for me, either. I laughed and smiled a few times, but it was overdone a little much, IMO, especially with the Avis joke being beaten to death. The humor worked better for me when there was less of it and it came out of nowhere (i.e. just as you've been lulled into taking it as serious sci-fi, a joke comes).

I was a bit surprised by the dark turn at the end, too. The baby episode had something similar. It catches you off guard, since you expect the episode to end happily, like most Star Trek episodes. It actually gets you to think. It's also a bit clever, since it allows the show to return to the topic later without it feeling like a rehash because the writers are out of ideas, as it might if it were nicely and happily wrapped up the first time.

True space vampire has kind of been done in the Stargate Universe. with the Wraith

Space vampires have been a recurring element in science fiction for over 50 years. There were numerous movies about them in the 60s, there was a popular novel named The Space Vampires in 1975 that was turned into the 1985 film Lifeforce and there was an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1980) about them:

 

[beowulf]

Yeah, the humor didn't do much for me, either. It was a little too much, IMO, especially with the Avis joke being beaten to death. The humor worked for me better when there was less of it and it came out of nowhere (i.e. just as you've been lulled into taking it as serious sci-fi, a joke comes).

I was a bit surprised by the dark turn at the end, too. It catches you off guard, since you expect the episode to end happily, like most Star Trek episodes. It actually gets you to think.



Space vampires have been a recurring element in science fiction for over 50 years. There were numerous movies about them in the 60s, there was a popular novel named The Space Vampires in 1975 that was turned into the 1985 film Lifeforce and there was an episode of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1980) about them:

Indeed I was just using the most recent one I could remember since it's most likely the one people would remember.

 

[tacogeoff]

Avis jokes were pretty hilarious. I kind of liked how they went all in with them. I have only watched the past two episodes and I have to say it is not bad at all.

 

[Guardian17]

So many great bits in this episode on top of the car rental ones as well. Bortus eats anything, Isaac wanting to conduct "scientific research" with Alara, the brand new leg joke. Besides the humor that was really a classic Trek episode with all the parallels with real life.

I thought she was his pet?

 

[KirkOut]

One worry I had is that this is such an easily exploitable flaw. The Krill are defeated by bright light and now The Union knows. Hopefully the Krill find a way to adapt or else all the Union personnel can just be issued a UV beam and never have to worry again

 

[Leafsdude7]

One worry I had is that this is such an easily exploitable flaw. The Krill are defeated by bright light and now The Union knows. Hopefully the Krill find a way to adapt or else all the Union personnel can just be issued a UV beam and never have to worry again

I don't know that it's easily exploitable. I mean, it's not like the Krill vessels have huge windows throughout their ships, so equipping union ships with massive high-beams wouldn't be effective, and I'd assume they have contrast control on their viewscreens so hailing them and pulsing them with lights wouldn't be effective either, even assuming they wouldn't catch on. And that's not even considering the fact that, generally, the Union is clearly not in the business of such extreme attacks in the first place, even against such a fervent force as the Krill.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Just have Avis build their ships with secret sunroofs.

 

[Blender]

Just have Avis build their ships with secret sunroofs.

Can you trust them to have the right model when picking up the reservation?

 

[RobBrown4PM]

Can you trust them to have the right model when picking up the reservation?

Avis tries harder

 

[Holden Caulfield]

I feel like this show keeps better. The last 3 episodes have been really good. The supporting cast so far has been really good, with the Grimes' character, Alara, and Isaac as the standouts. I think the doctor and...other pilot? having good potential but not really used much yet. I personally love seeing the characters sitting on bridge gossiping about co-workers as people are wont to do, and other kinda "behind the scenes" stuff you normally don't see in sci-fi shows. It's really hitting it's stride thematically and dramatically as well I think. The last line of the last ep (ie creating enemies) being exactly what I was thinking the whole time they were doing their mission but I wasn't sure they would go there.

 

[Killahpunk]

I have enjoyed this show so far and will continue watching. I like it more then Discovery at this point.

 

[NyQuil]

Best episode yet.

 

[Osprey]

I just got excited when I realized that there's finally a new episode tonight. It's been a long two weeks without my Star Trek fix. Why must they do that to us?

Edit: Blender likes the "Star Trek fix" part. What I did there, he sees it.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

So... I was originally pretty hesitant to give this a chance considering it's gotten absolutely lambasted critically and the few clips I've seen didn't do much to pique my interest.

Was going to check the first couple episodes out last night and decided to binge the first 5 or 6 episodes instead. I absolutely loved it. Don't get me wrong, I don't consider The Orville to be great television, but for what it is, a satirical take on Star Trek, it hits all the right notes and more for me.

Do have to say that sometimes the narrative can be jarring when the show decides to move between its more serious themes and its satirical moments, but I'm glad that it offers a blend of both. Finding myself anticipating new episodes now.

Pretty good ensemble cast of characters too. They play well off of each other which I think is the main reason this show is working for me so far.

 

[Blender]

Today I forgot that they took last week off and I thought that I had missed an episode.

 

[Blender]

An entire society run on likes.

"But what if anyone corroborates the stories?"
"don't worry - they won't"

"I think you’re confusing opinion with knowledge."

Great episode.

 

[Guardian17]

I agree, really interesting watching a society based on likes/dislikes.

 

[Osprey]

For the first few minutes, I was wondering "what in the world is this?" and whether I was even watching the right show or some teen show mistakenly put on in its time slot. I ended up loving the episode. It was like Star Trek IV mashed with numerous TOS episodes in which they visited planets at developmental stages similar to Earth history. Though derivative in that respect, it updated it in a modern-relevant fashion that TOS, TNG or even Voyager couldn't have done, since the whole like/dislike fad is a 21st century one. It was brilliant satire of our current society.

BTW, the fact that they had to bring the girl up from the planet in a shuttlecraft reminded me of an interview with MacFarlane that I read a week or two ago in which he said that he chose to not have transporter technology in the show. Honestly, I hadn't even really realized that it was missing until I read that. He said that transporters were a key introduction of Roddenberry's and that he wanted to respect that and not ape everything Star Trek. I liked hearing that, not just because it shows respect, but it shows restraint. MacFarlane can't just write his way out of any predicament, such as this episode's, by beaming the officer out of danger. Contrast that with Discovery, in which the ship has a special drive which allows it to appear anywhere in the galaxy instantaneously. It's nice that MacFarlane appreciates that science fiction is best when it has limitations.

 

[Soliloquy of a Dogge]

Um, am I the only one who thought that episode was incredibly derivative of the Black Mirror episode 'Nosedive' which explores a similar premise of the influence one's social desirability imparts in their every day lives?

I didn't mind The Orville's take on dystopian fiction and social satire, but it just felt very identical from the start.

Regardless, I love the exploration of a society whose entire essence revolves around one's own constant self-conciousness and the interactions there with-in that are primarily defined by likability. Being forced to conform to particular ideals at the expense of one's own individualism and free will is both an uncomfortable and inescapable exploration of the direction our own society seems to be rapidly progressing towards.

 

[Quack Shot]

Loved the episode!

 

[KirkOut]

Great episode. Definitely a modernized Farscape-y vibe at times. Also a little too real with some of the commentary haha

 

[Led Zappa]

Um, am I the only one who thought that episode was incredibly derivative of the Black Mirror episode 'Nosedive' which explores a similar premise of the influence one's social desirability imparts in their every day lives?

I didn't mind The Orville's take on dystopian fiction and social satire, but it just felt very identical from the start.

Regardless, I love the exploration of a society whose entire essence revolves around one's own constant self-conciousness and the interactions there with-in that are primarily defined by likability. Being forced to conform to particular ideals at the expense of one's own individualism and free will is both an uncomfortable and inescapable exploration of the direction our own society seems to be rapidly progressing towards.

I haven't watched it yet, but sure sounds like it. I was gonna comment about it even if I didn't see your post. No way someone on the writing staff hasn't seen it.