Spoilers THE ORVILLE S1, E12: "MAD IDOLATRY" - SEASON FINALE
- Thread starter Mudd
- Start date
These sf shows succumb to delusions of adequacy whenever they address religion. Trek has never done it well. No, DS9 did not.
nuBSG would be the exception I guess.
My main thought about the closing scene - the outcome of the romance was telegraphed early on - is that MacFarlane is a better actor than a lot of folks give him credit for.
nuBSG would be the exception I guess.
My main thought about the closing scene - the outcome of the romance was telegraphed early on - is that MacFarlane is a better actor than a lot of folks give him credit for.
I really liked the premise of the episode but had a hard time trying to wrap my head around how stupid Kelly was during the initial encounter. I get that the Orville crew aren't the best and brightest of the Union but I'm going to venture a guess that healing a child of a non-fatal wound is a serious offense of Union's equivalent of the prime directive which probably includes "don't mess with ancient civilizations". The cynic in me also thinks a 21st century society would be less than welcoming and accepting of an alien android showing up on their doorstep.
The crew just walked all over the prime directive trying to right their wrongs and make Kelly feel better which didn't sit right with me.
The crew just walked all over the prime directive trying to right their wrongs and make Kelly feel better which didn't sit right with me.
I am glad the crew went in the opposite direction. I watched TNG and it always was on purpose or mistake lets take the high road.
I think this took a TOS direction. We messed up and we will go try to fix response. It's a human response. Also they can do a story similiar to what is like to be the observer to now becoming the one being observed much like Q.
I thought it was excellent.
I’m almost afraid to state my opinion on this episode because of this boards demographic but I thought the message at the end was sledgehammer worthy. Basically the first season finale said religion really bad, logic and reason really really good. Whatever your attitude is on the subject matter, I expected a lot more for a season finale. This felt low key and kind of a dud.
Still, I’ve enjoyed this show a lot and the game of hot potato at the beginning had me cracking up.
Still, I’ve enjoyed this show a lot and the game of hot potato at the beginning had me cracking up.
I did love the changes you saw in the Planet. The visual effects on this show is really something.
Maybe if I look at this episode as religious extremism (I am a catholic but I don’t live and breath the church) I might accept it more. I guess my first impression was that of the message could have not been so spelled out at the end? I don’t know.
I did. That was interesting too.
Actually, it explicitly said otherwise.
I just watched the scene again. It basically said have faith in reason and the whole Kelly thing helped them flourish but it was almost implying they got out of the dark ages. How did you read it.
A wonderful episode -- perhaps my favorite of the season.
This episode was basically a "meh". The concept was neat, though as pointed out in another post, Voyager had already done something really similar, and dare I say, better. If I knew we had another episode next week, this would have been a decent filler ep. As a finale though, it was very underwhelming. (and no I wasn't expecting best of both worlds or tears of the prophets level stuff here)
I liked the alien with the purple hair
The narrative was that religion and mythology constitute a step along the way from savagery to reason, possibly even a natural one, at least in the context of parallel evolution in the Orville universe. That's anything but "religion is bad," even according to how the metaphor applies to the real world.
The Pope figure even tried to do the right thing. It was his power-hungry underling who both lacked religious faith and acted according to his base, greedy nature. That's not an indictment of religion per se, and it's hardly a total indictment of religion, since, if the underling had had the faith in Kelly that the Pope figure had, then the underling wouldn't have behaved so badly. Rather, it's an indictment of how people use religion as a tool or excuse to commit atrocities, something that also ran as a subtext through the 21st century-type TV programs the Orville monitored. Also fitting into that theme: the advanced alien representatives even pointed out that the specific religious symbol was not crucial,* suggesting if not implying that how religion was being utilized was in fact more central to the nature of religion than the particular religious symbols being employed.
The advanced representatives were even comfortable accepting their religious heritage.
This was a capsule summary of a collegiate critique of the good and bad aspects of human religion, with as much nuance as they could fit into the confines of the episode while also covering other things,** not a blanket condemnation of it.
* - interesting pun there
** - including that hilarious egg-tossing game
Yeah, I didn't take it as any slight or criticism of religion which is interesting since MacFarlane is an atheist, but we've see them on Orville to continually still use "thank god" and the like as general expressions of relief or something along those lines.
It was just more an examination, if you will, of how religion operates in a culture for good and bad. Some people wish to use it positively some use it for control. But it's something that's part of a culture and what helps one to develop.
It was just more an examination, if you will, of how religion operates in a culture for good and bad. Some people wish to use it positively some use it for control. But it's something that's part of a culture and what helps one to develop.