THE ORVILLE S2, E4: "NOTHING LEFT ON EARTH EXCEPTING FISHES"

And...the return of proper episode previews:



The title of this episode, BTW, probably reflects MacFarlane's love of musical theater - it's a lyric from the song "A Puzzlement" in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King And I, wherein the King of Siam ruminates on the uncertainties a leader faces in making decisions:

 

BTW, over at Rotten Tomatoes, the Critics "Tomatometer" rating for season 2 is at 100%.

Now, that reflects all of nine reviews, thus far - the show accumulated 49 such reviews to achieve(?) its dismal 27% Critics rating for season 1 - so one can expect it to decline at least some.

Still, a lot better received by the reviewers than the first season was at any point.

 

Speaking for just myself (and I'm unanimous in that*) it kind of evokes "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" as well. I wasn't aware of the actual lyrical connection, thanks for that.


* with regards to Mrs. Slocombe

 

Yeah, that book was the first thing that came to mind when I read the episode title

 

I kind of feel like this upcoming episode is might the real, unofficial, start of Season 2. We had a low key episode, an episode that was held over from season 1, and an episode where we said goodbye to a character after a hiatus full of rumors about said character. This one coming up kind of returns to the season 2 status quo, and it can give us an idea of where the rest of the season will go.

 

So is the Elephant man the replacement for Alara, or are we still yet to see the full time replacement?

 

He's a one-off.

Alara's permanent replacement debuts next week:

 

No, she's actually being replaced by Jessica Szohr, rumored to also be playing a Xelayan named "Talla":







Seth's a tremendously imaginative guy, but not so much with the making-up-women's-names thing. He follows the schoolboy rule that if it ends in a vowel it sounds like a girl's name.

 

The new actress has my approval


If the name ends with “a” it’s a girl’s name, if it ends with “o” it’s a boy name, at least for most Italians.

 

Kelly questions why Gordon wants to take the command test. I guess we're getting that follow up to the "My family is garbage" comment from last week already.

 

That's the first place my mind went as well.

 

More likely building off the fact he's never been the most mature guy on the ship, so why is he suddenly interested in command?

 

So he can be Sulu one day.

 

Or Tom Paris

 

Maybe he's trying to impress the new K/r/i/l/l/ s/p/y/ cartographer.

 

Speaking of that,

Spoiler

is this going to be the episode where Jeffrey Coombs is rumored to guest-star playing a Krill Commander??

If it's confirmed, it'll add into the growing list of ex-Trek actors guest-starring in the show. Last week were were delighted by the presence of two Trek doctors (Picardo & Billingsley). And next week we might be visited by a veteran Trek actor whom has played a long list of characters (both 'saint' and 'villain') in the Trek-verse .

Seth & Co clearly pulls all their contacts (and $$) within the Trek-verse so we can enjoy seeing them in the Orville

 

I've been expecting the character's rehabilitation ever since they gave Lamarr an upgrade last season, and especially since the second season preview showed him getting very excited over a first contact opportunity. The reference to his low self-esteem and shame for his family likely foreshadows revelations of how he became a loser and the new interest in command likely represents at least the beginning of re-inventing himself-- possibly even inspired by Lamarr.

 

Or it's just picking up from unfavorable references to his family made by him in the first season.

 

The main plot of tonight's episode:

Spoiler

https://www.ibtimes.com/orville-season-2-spoilers-krill-are-back-episode-4-trailer-watch-2753264

Captain Ed Mercer’s previous mission that involved this alien race did not go well for the latter. And now, the enemy is back for vengeance.

Captain Mercer will be kidnapped by the Krill when he is out there in a shuttle. Killing or torturing the captain for what happened before is not the objective of the alien race. They will use him as hostage to make crew of the Orville to do something.

Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) is a strong leader. She will not give in to the demands of the Krill. She will instead try and find the captain to rescue him.

 

Well, that didn't take long. She's playing this to the hilt.