THE ORVILLE S2, E5: "ALL THE WORLD IS BIRTHDAY CAKE"

Well, I guess it's hard to argue that the birth of a child under the sign of a bright new star, heralding change is an accidental parallel. But...oof!

 

As I said, for someone who dislikes Star Trek so much you're in a strange place.

 

Now we know where this wonderful piece of music was used.

 

That is going in with NO research whatsoever, As a first contact situration, I would sit in the outer solar system, listening to tv, radio, etc to learn the customs, laws, faux pas, etc. If they done the most basic research, they would have seen that there socity is very astrological, and that if you have a bad sign, you go to an internment camp! I like the episode, shows some stuff, I really didn't like though, was Kelly and Bortus Killing people to escape! I mean, where are they going to go?? Just sit tight untill the diplomates take care of it, or they come in for them.

 

I earn money from it to this day.

I do love the thing, when it's being smart and energetic and worthwhile. Always have, and for a good deal longer than most of the folks who seem to find what I post so contrary (at best). I don't like much of what the corporation has done with it for quite some time, because it's not very good. * And a great deal of the online fan activity surrounding it these days looks more like some kind of pathology than a hobby.

TNG was a series made in the late 80s that for the most part imitated the dialogue and narrative styles of the 1960s. It was stilted, conservative in its approach to most everything, and served too often as a platform for the nonsensically utopian notions of its original creator. It often played as dated then, and the decades have not been at all kind in that regard.

But, to pararphase what someone once said of another work, "Well, if you like this kind of thing, then this show is the kind of thing you'll like." And that, in a nutshell, is true of a great deal of Trek fandom as it's expressed online now.

*But it sure is Star Trek. Yessiree, it is.

 

Yes, but honestly in no worse or convoluted a way (that really SHOULDN'T work as it's too low in orbit and close to the planet so that it looks that way from EVERY point on the planet) then they did here.

Plus here they make no mention of the fact Kelly and Bortus killed guards (which you would think might upset said Guards families at least and would call for some sort of comment from the Planet leadership.)

And 'official PD' on the books or not the Admiral's - "No, you can't go down and get them back even though our technological superiority would make that doable...' is taken right out of most TNG eps. with a PD situation where cast members are in jeopardy as a result - so yeah - different set up on the surface, but same tired result there too.

 

Well it's only like 43 minutes of TV.
His much could they cram in within 43 minutes?
And if they did cram more stuff like you mentioned in, everyone would complain that they crammed I too much stuff.

 

Closer to 48 minutes, this season.

Thanks, Fox!

 

Macfarlane's scripts are usually very clever, but not this one. There was too much stupidity on the part of the aliens:
They are strong astrology believers.
They apply those beliefs to aliens who are born on different planets with different constellations in their sky.
They decide to imprison 2 aliens instead of just deporting them.

 

...and our people, who would like to disprove the myth that people born under a certain sign are prone to violence, go on a murder spree.

 

They're not trying to disprove anything. They want out.

There really is an implicit - and completely bungled - parallel to our criminal justice system in the United States buried in this story. Here, if you are of a certain background or sometimes even from a certain zip code you are more likely both to be perceived as dangerous and criminal and to serve longer, harsher sentences for crimes. And once in prison, you know, people get awfully pissy about authority. Even violent.

 

I seem to remember early in this thread I made a point that I felt there was some subtext here that I just couldn't figure out.

I think you may have just nailed the subtext that I couldn't figure out.

 

I actually think it might have been interesting if instead of forcefully breaking out, Kelly and Bortus had led the other prisoners to do a peaceful sit-in protest to show that the people born under that sign are not inherently violent. Take a page out of the non-violent protests of Gandhi and MLK. Convince the society that they are wrong about this astrological sign by winning hearts and minds though non-violence. If society seems these people take abuse and not respond violently, it could convince them that the astrological sign does not make them inherently violent and criminal.

 

That would work in a serial long form (I’d say, minimally 4 episodes). In one episode, as a B plot, it would seem rather ABC After School Special-like.

 

However in the show ALL, EVERYONE that was "X" was put in the jail.
Not "harsher" or "perceived" or "if".

So the "parallel" isn't really parallel.
Therefore there is no parallel.

 

Yeah...you kind of ignored some key words, so you can pretty safely make any assertion that suits you...

 

Well I thought it was more about a dig at religion.
I saw it as a statement about his religion excludes people. I saw a subtext of Christianity versus Islam.
So I guess we can all subtext into our viewing experience whatever our particular emotion or background dictates.

 

Yeah, that is a pretty good point. If they had just deported Kelly and Bortus, they wouldn't be able to harm anyone on the planet and Ed wouldn't have kept bothering the government. My guess though would be that they have such an irrational fear of the Jilliaks (or however the hell you spell it) that they can't conceive any other fate for them other than imprisonment. Not too much a stretch for people who believe in astrology so strongly they build government policy around it.

 

Their leader said that it would cause unrest if they released Gilliacs.

So...it's nice that the writer dotted that "i" but doesn't make the situation any more plausible.