This isn't Star Trek. And...the entire six episode run of The Orville thus far probably features less technobabble than any ten minutes of Star Trek television produced since 1990. The only thing approaching technobabble thus far was them hitting the dark matter with some probably made-up particles in order to make it visible - in "Pria." Having their hologenerators go on the fritz because of some interference is not technobabble, just a garden-variety plot gimmick. Flooding the ship with ultraviolet light is not technobabble.
Yeah, if this were a Star Trek episode they would have used their tricorders to create an inverse whatsit tachyon gobbledygook to prevent the missile from firing while preaching the superiority of the human condition to the Krill which inspires the children and thus the adults are convinced to let the Starfleet officers leave alive. The original mission isn't accomplished, but everyone learned something and that's what really matters. Here they flash-fry the Krill adults, keep the children alive though probably hating humans now, and though the missile was launched they shoot it down before it destroys the colony. And the original mission still gets accomplished. IMO, this was the preferable solution.
James Horan (Future Guy from Enterprise, also had roles on TNG, DS9 and VOY) played Sazeron. Oh, looks like others already brought that up.
I gotta say, this show continues to impress. Even with all the humour, it's got a ton of depth, and the characters are fun to follow and learn about. I find myself really looking forward to each episode every week, wondering what they'll be up to. It's probably my favourite sci-fi on right now. Even though it's a Trek parody, I feel at times that it's original enough to stand on its own, and I find the world that McFarland created to be pretty interesting. We've also learned far more about these characters throughout these past few episodes than we have from Discovery. I'm not normally a McFarland fan either, but I think we're seeing a different side of him here, and it's refreshing. You know, I've been thinking. There's been talk of Trek actor cameos, but I'd love to see Tim Allen do a guest spot
Maybe the Public Domain copies of SEINFELD they watch include the original commercials. Like BUZZR 50s/60s game shows include them.
I haven't read the whole thread but the issue of taking photos of the individual pages of the Krill religious book....I'm 100% certain that was a joke. I'm really surprised it's being taken so seriously, because the way Ed was scanning the pages was so clearly ridiculous and intended to be that way.
There must have been digital copies, all over the ship, and especially in the class room... Hells, there was probably a digital copy in the shuttle they found at the beginning of the episode.
Another wonderful mess.... Ratings seem to have stabilized over the last 4 episodes, albeit with a slightly downward trend in overall viewership. Hope that's enough for a full season order, whatever that amounts to nowadays.
I think it'll struggle for the first season, but during the second season -- if it gets one -- ratings will improve. It might be a sleeper "hit", kind of like "Seinfeld" (only I don't think it'll ever reach those popularity heights). Not liking the hidden messages Seth has put in three or four episodes so far. It's one of the three key reasons tossed Discovery to the trash heap of viewing history. If he's going to keep doing this, I'll have to regulate the show to only skimming to hear the fantastic orchestral scoring.
I'm giving this episode 6.5/10, which is lower than the last few episodes, but still higher than any STD episode so far. I enjoyed watching it, appreciated the jokes, and liked where it was going, however I wish their religion was more complicated and not a straight copy of our abrahamic religions. Mainly the chapel, the one book. The coincidence of this being so similar in an alien world is not doing it for me, but to show religiously fanatic aliens is a cool concept and I already feel that the Krill are way more interesting and fleshed out than STD's Klingons.
By the way, I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but I think Anhkana is a reference to the Ancient Egyptian word "Ankh" which was one of the key sacred symbols in that ancient society and there are theories that it inspired the Christian cross when the two religions coexisted in Alexandria, one - dying, another - experiencing its birth. In any case, I wonder if Egyptian symbols or mythology is going to be used for inspiration for the Krill in any upcoming stories. The word ankh means life.
I have to admit, this was how I expected the episode to end, so I was pleasantly surprised that we ended up getting something different.
And no one's mentioned the "Captain held hostage" gag yet. I thought that was pretty good, albeit obvious.
You know one of the things that elevates this above the too-familiar schtick of skiffy spoofs - and this includes one of my favorite Trek movies, Galaxy Quest - is the portrayal of Ed Mercer. As the leader/Kirk/Picard character I sort of expected him to be a bit of a buffoon - probably egotistically involved with himself, certainly less clever and competent than he ought to be. Mercer is a perfectly good ship's captain. He's resourceful in emergencies, his crew likes and respects him, he has values other than "how does this make me look and feel." Heck, he's three for three at Krill-beating.
I think that is the implication from the pilot actually, that Mercer was always a really good captain who just became dispirited when his marriage fell apart. Now, we get a chance to see what the pilot was alluding to. In fact, it is probably a big reason why Grayson actually requested that the admiral give Mercer the Orville. She knows that Mercer is a good captain, capable of great things and did not want her mistake to jeopardize that.