I really liked the episode, especially the fact that Rudolph convinced Bortus to change his mind. I don't think it was better or worse than the previous two - I think they've all been around the same level, although this one was definitely more serious and less funny.
My main problem with this story was just that there wasn't any sense whatsoever of why the Moclans believe what they believe outside of dumb cliches - all of which was undermined by the fact that Moclan gender norms can't possibly be just a simple stand in for human norms, because the Moclans actually have a functioning society with only males. So it constantly begs the question - why do females exist at all? Is there some special function they serve that Moclan society is missing out on? Is this all the ultimate result of an age-old deliberate campaign of misogynism (engineering males so that females become unnecessary)? Is it just a persistent mutation that has no bearing on anything else (but then, why would it even be labeled 'female' at all)?
With a little bit more depth in the dilemma it would've been a fantastic episode. As is, it too often fell into generic arguments that were rather laughably oversimplified ('This genius pilot is an idiot', 'this female of a completely different species is stronger than you', etc) But it was still enjoyable and a touching character story, at least.
Also, for a ship so obsessed with 20/21st cen. pop culture, the Orville's board game collection is total crap.
And apparently, we need to stop boxing as a sport. Boxing and zoos are overdue for removal in our next step of cultural evolution. But at least we'll keep circumcision and fart jokes.
Well, zoos may very well be on the way out. There's been lots of controversy over them over the past few decades, and it only seems to be increasing with time. A lot of them are desperately trying to reinvent what it means to be a zoo to give themselves a better position. Boxing, I don't know - martial sports have been around forever, even though some social movements have actively tried to destroy them in the past. But, yeah, in a tng style 'everyone is friendly' future world, they wouldn't really fit in anymore.
It's the circumcision part that kind of confuses me - of all these things, it seems to me that that's the one getting by far the most flack today, and the one with the least amount of pushback, so in fact most likely to disappear.