I thought it was okay. I'm guessing they did this episode for budgetary reasons? It would have been fine for a 90's Sliders episode. The Black Mirror episode was far better.
THE ORVILLE: S1, E7: "MAJORITY RULE"
- Thread starter Mudd
- Start date
So, I guess Halston Sage and Peter Macon look that way, naturally. And the spots on the aliens in "If the Stars Should Appear" are also natural, as well as all of the Klingons, I mean Krill. And what Pria and the crew did to get through that asteroid field, that was totally understandable and holds up scientifically.
Besides, we all know that every single episode of Star Trek is just rubber forehead aliens and technobabble...
This was surface level. Fun for ~45 minutes, but that's it. It has nothing that makes me want to re-watch it.
Whether it ripped Black Mirror off is irrelevant. What's relevant is that other shows have done this theme and have done it better. I commented earlier about wanting Kelly to down vote the PR guy. A scene where she confesses that she wanted to at the end of the episode and talked about how easy it is to get sucked into their way of life would have added so much to the show and her character, personally. This show is missing the codas that TOS had where McCoy and Spock would debate and Kirk would summarize. Actually, the more I think about it, the more a scene like that would have been great. Especially if Kelly said something about how if she could have down voted Ed, then maybe he would have figured out what was wrong before she cheated on him. Something to show the events affected the characters. Or even John going to tease Alara about her rotating boyfriends and stopping himself. Something to make the characters have more depth.
Because, ultimately, the characters are all still so bland. With his antics here, John is just another version of Gordon. They could have easily substituted Gordon for John without really changing anything, except his name. Seven episodes in and I can't remember most of their names. Hell, I even forget Ed's name. Bortus, Alara (when I can spelling correctly), and Isaac are the only ones I can remember without looking up.
I do get a slight nostalgic twinge when watching this show. Again, it's a not such a bad way to shut off my brain and get some enjoyment for the ~45. But, with each episode, I'm reminded of the things that drove me away from Trek in the late 90's. It wasn't the prosthetic make-up or the technobabble. It was the shallow plots and the fact that, except for a plot thread here or there, nothing that happened to the characters mattered.
Babylon 5 opened my eyes to this. Each episode was a building block and things that happened to a character in one episode changed that character on a deep level. It wasn't just a throwback comment to refer to getting a new leg, it was a change in personality. They were flawed and their flaws made them more human (even the aliens). I knew each character almost on an intimate level and felt for them. If John was corrected, I would have shrugged my shoulders and wondered if, given the very little characterization we've got for him (i.e. he likes to drink soda on the bridge), would I even have noticed.
For now, I'll enjoy it for what it is. But, if this is all we're going to get, I'm not sure I'll make it for the full season without it piling up on my DVR and me thinking, "Gee, I forgot I had all of these taped."
I haven't been much entertained by Discovery yet. It is the one that sits in the digital ether waiting til I get around to it. I've found The Orville to be appointment television. Discovery continues the Trek trend of treating itself too seriously for its own good. Which is something I'm simply not fond of.
All of which is fine. I get that. Hell, if we all wanted the same thing, life would be boring. But, what I don't like is using The Orville as a bludgeon against Discovery and all of Trek. It suits some people, others it doesn't. Vice-versa. Or, to put it another way, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.
Yes, this was a filler episode, BUT, I showed this episode to my sister last night who's really into social media, and having never seen another episode of the show, after the first 10 minutes she was easily able to understand what was going on.....After the ep was over she basically said she thought it was interesting and there was a "sting" of truth to it, that she was guilty of dislikeing things without knowing what it was or "liking" things because it was "cute" but having no idea what it was either....rather this ep will make a lot of people stop and think about the inherent dangers of "Knee jerk Judgements" is another thing entirely though
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Poster Ed Mercer must be a big Star Trek fan. You must have knowledge and high level of attachment to Star Trek to bring it into this thread. I'm a big fan and love Star Trek. He must love part of it and feel betrayed by Discovery in some fashion. It would be very strange if I was here in the Orville thread telling you in every other posts how The Orville is so much better than GoT. Let's face it. Jon Snow is boring.
You were too fast for me. I just edited it before reading your post. I always mix those 2 names. I really miss Stargate I guess. lol
I think anyone actually posting here over the long haul has knowledge and a high level of attachment to Star Trek. I know I do. I've been watching since I was four years old in 1975. @Ed Mercer probably has an even higher attachment considering his background, which I won't go into but is available in various snippets around the forums.
The comparisons between similar shows/movies is a pretty usual thing across any fandom.
So stop watching. I think the show is fun, the characters fun, and the stories interesting there's a lot about our own culture to discuss from this episode. What is there to discuss from DISC latest episode? How grim and angst so-and-so was when they made a tough decision? The previous episode had much to say on a battle between ideologies and how even acts of humanity can cause acts of terrorism.
Yeah, it's a bit clumsy and imperfect and could be better but I'm enjoying the hell out of this and getting more from it to speak about than anything Trek has done since the heights of TNG. Yeah there's been good episodes from the subsequent series but nothing that sparked in me discussion about our own society or events.
I think a coda with Kelly talking about get pulled into the culture she down voted the PR guy. It's more meaningful to me to see the barista girl turn off the TV without casting a vote because she'd not informed enough to make any decision
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Oh, he's very connected, on multiple levels. It's not strange to compare the two shows, because comparisons go on in every DSC thread, too. Right now we have two shows of interest: Discovery, the official Trek, and Orville, a Trek homage. It's going to happen every single episode.
Yes, and we are all big Star Trek fans.Oh, he's very connected, on multiple levels. It's not strange to compare the two shows, because comparisons go on in every DSC thread, too. Right now we have two shows of interest: Discovery, the official Trek, and Orville, a Trek homage. It's going to happen every single episode.
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Yep, and like @Ricky Spanish, I've been watching since I was 4 (though the year would be 1984). I have a lot invested in Star Trek: memories, laughs, frustrations, tears, and yes, money. I want Discovery to succeed. I also want The Orville to succeed, primarily because it does remind me of the Trek I used to love as a kid.
Yeah me too. Fan since 1966.
One like for the Dude clips.In the words of The Dude:
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I get it, you like The Orville better, but claiming your opinion as fact doesn't make it so.
I like both series, and look forward to both each week. After so many many years of no new TV Trek at all, official or otherwise, life is good again.
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I'm certainly disappointed by Discovery, yeah. It looks to me as if, from a creative POV, Trek is pretty much over - The new show slaps fresh paint on the same worn out cliches and notions while filing off a lot of the bits that gave the old thing some character. You can always satisfy a certain percentage of folks who are invested in a thing, but so what?
I was so hoping Alara was going to say that at some point.Unfortunate accident as a child, he caught his head in a mechanical rice picker.
