The Orville

Feb 03, 2019 18:55

Most of the time when discussion of The Orville comes up, it usually devolves into it versus Star Trek: Discovery. I can understand why, with the former being a love letter to Star Trek in general, and TNG particularly, while the latter is the current entry in the Star Trek franchise. There's no real comparison between them, other than they have Star Trek in their veins, but not many sci-fi shows don't these days. The "argument" reminds me of the one that Babylon 5 being a ripoff of DS9 because they were both set on a space station.

Another thing that comes up is creator/producer/lead actor Seth MacFarlane. I'm not really a fan of his sense of humor, but The Orville isn't a parody, it's like TNG with a more overt sense of humor. Yes, there's potty humor sometimes (and in some cases, it's literal), but it reminds me more of how Galaxy Quest is often referred to as "the best non-Star Trek Star Trek movie". Before it was released, a lot of people, including some Trek actors, though it was making fun of their work, but it wasn't, it was a celebration of it. I feel like The Orville is the same, but it's a series instead of a movie.

I think one of the things I enjoy is there's a sense of TNG-era optimism, which is refreshing with so many sci-fi shows trying to outdo each other to be crowned Darkest and Edgiest. The Orville has touched on some serious subjects, but my main complaint (like with most of Trek) is it doesn't go deep enough into the ramifications of what happens after.[Spoiler (click to open)]They make first contact with a planet that takes your horoscope literally, jailing anyone born under a bad sign, then come up with a scientific way to trick them so they'll free two crew members born under one of those signs. But unlike most of Trek, they do actually raise the question of what their interference may mean in the future. And the opening scenes of the crew realizing they've received a signal from a planet that's making first contact shows everyone excited and literally saying this is what they signed up for made me as happy as they were.

One of my fave characters is Dr. Claire Finn. She's more than once referred to as the smartest, most level-headed person on the ship, and that's just from the captain and first officer. She's established as a doctor with multiple specialties who could easily be on any of the best ships in the fleet, but prefers to be on an average exploration ship instead. It's a few episodes later that we also learn she has her two sons with her as well, so her motherhood is part of her character but not the defining aspect of her character.

Back in season one, she and her sons were in a shuttle crash with Isaac, a robot crew member from a world that's considering joining the Planetary Union. He's sort of like Data in many ways, except he's studying humanity and the other aliens in the Union to report back and doesn't want to "be human" like Data did. They strike up an odd friendship, with Isaac eventually becoming her younger son's piano teacher. I was really hoping their friendship would expand to let us understand more about Isaac and his homeworld, without totally humanizing him.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
Wow, did they exceed my expectations. I kinda sorta crack shipped them, in the "wouldn't it be fun if" sort of way, not ever thinking they'd do a more than friends thing. In the most recent episode, Claire has a discussion with the female first officer, Kelly, about having feelings for another crew member. She's understanding, as her ex-husband is the captain and that's been an issue more than once. When Claire explains it's Isaac, Kelly rethinks her policy on day drinking, but says she trusts Claire's judgment, but reminds her that Isaac isn't human and Claire might be projecting.

Claire asks Isaac on a date, and when Isaac asks a human crew member for advice on human dating customs, he and his buddy literally race to the bridge to tell the captain about it, which had me cackling. The date doesn't go well, but Isaac asks for more help, and ends up using the holodeck simulator to create a human version of himself (allowing us to see the actual actor for the first time) and wipes his memory of Claire's details so they can "get to know each other". This date goes much better, and ends with Claire asking the computer to change the restaurant simulation into one of her bedroom, and bow-chicka-wow-wow.

There's lots more to the storyline, and in fact it was the main one for the episode, and I'm not sure how much we'll see of their relationship in the future, but it was interesting to see it play out.


The final scene had the pilot say "We are, without a doubt, the weirdest ship in the fleet." Yes, yes, they are, and that's why I like this show.

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