THE ORVILLE S2, E6: "A HAPPY REFRAIN"
- Thread starter Mudd
- Start date
This was definitely one of the better episodes this season. The acting from Penny Johnson Jerald and Mark Jackson was very good.
To be fair "Orville" has a run time of about 48 minutes when "TNG" would only have 42 minutes I tihnk to tell their story.
Jason
I loved this episode. I think it might be the best of the series. Have to think on that for awhile.
First off I never laughed so much in an episode of this show. When I saw Isaac sitting there with a wife beater and a beer and then his dialogue! I almost fell off the chair laughing.
I was also touched by this episode. Overall great! 9/10
First off I never laughed so much in an episode of this show. When I saw Isaac sitting there with a wife beater and a beer and then his dialogue! I almost fell off the chair laughing.
I was also touched by this episode. Overall great! 9/10
I must have missed the episode of Friends where Ross has interspecies sex. Was it called "The One with Wild Moclan Love?"
So the bridge did not get wet, just the actors:
https://twitter.com/TomCostantino/status/1091215661605552128
https://twitter.com/TomCostantino/status/1091215661605552128
Damn, this was a really fine episode! Though superficially similar to TNG In Theory, it really came at the material in a fresh and enjoyable way. And I got to say, Isaac in underwear on the couch with a beer is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.
The new Xeleyan really needs some character development. I know it's only her second episode, but one of Alara's most pivotal episodes was the second of the series. They are laying some groundwork on how she's different from Alara, but that really needs to be expanded on.
Oh, wait a moment...
The new Xeleyan really needs some character development. I know it's only her second episode, but one of Alara's most pivotal episodes was the second of the series. They are laying some groundwork on how she's different from Alara, but that really needs to be expanded on.
Hey, let's nitpick what an operational disaster rain on the ship's bridge would be!
I know right? It's this sort of idiotic cutaway gag that MacFarlane pulled right out of Family Guy that has no place in Real Science Fiction. I mean, really? This guy expects to be taken seriously and he's having weather taking place on a starship bridge. I can only respect proper science fiction, like Star Trek which would never do anything as downright silly and insulting as raining on the bridge. Star Trek knows there's no weather on board a starship.
Oh, wait a moment...
If anything it always irritated me when TNG (or any Star Trek, really) had a perfectly serviceable character oriented character piece that got a sci-fi/space subplot sandwiched in because "it has to be science fiction. It has to have space stuff." If Orville wants to have plain ol character drama in space, that's both fine and encouraged.
I could sworn I saw water hitting and pooling up on the panels, but maybe not then.
I find a little funny that after all the big sci-fi stories they've done, one of the best has ended up being an episode about two characters dating. One of the characters is a robot who is clueless about that kind of thing, so there is a bit of sci-fi to it, but not as much as some of the other episodes.
How many people consider their interpersonal relationships to be low-stakes really?You sir, have no soul.
Seriously though, this was a SFnal episode. While it centered on low-stakes interpersonal drama, it would have been impossible to do on a non sci-fi show, because so much of it was wrapped up in the "fish out of water" status of Isaac.
I'll take this over "anomaly of the week" any day. Largely because there's a finite number of sci-fi plots you can really do, and Trek has done most of them to death already. What makes plots interesting is the characters embedded within them. And this episode had character in spades.
I thought of that TNG episode right away, but much funnier and more engaging here. We never got an episode of TNG where Data was turned into a human (though at least one novel covered that). Maybe Isaac will get transformed at some point, even for one episode (see Red Dwarf
NA).
This is one of the better episodes and one of the ones that seems like it's calling BS on TNG's view of human nature.
By logic of TNG, a human could never date an android, because the android can never love back.
But this episode makes the point, so? It's delusional to think even two humans know what the other is thinking about them, and what makes a relationship work isn't two people feeling exactly the same way, but two people fitting into each others' lives, being honest and having compatible goals.
By logic of TNG, a human could never date an android, because the android can never love back.
But this episode makes the point, so? It's delusional to think even two humans know what the other is thinking about them, and what makes a relationship work isn't two people feeling exactly the same way, but two people fitting into each others' lives, being honest and having compatible goals.
I've been underwhelmed by The Orville this season, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed this episode. I might even go so far as to call it the best episode of the series (though I wouldn't call that super high praise since I'm still not a huge fan of this show overall). It helps that Singin' in the Rain is one of my favorite movies. At first I might have been disappointed that we were getting another episode about characters' love lives, but one of the characters being a robot automatically makes it more sci-fi and more interesting to me.
Also, I feel stupid for saying this, but I only just realized why the robot is named Isaac.
Also, I feel stupid for saying this, but I only just realized why the robot is named Isaac.
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Unfortunately, I feel a little left out. I thought the episode was charming, but I didn't think it was strong as other episodes this season, notably Primal Urges and Nothing Left On Earth Excepting Fishes. The story was fine, with just enough crassness to keep it from being too serious, but not exceptional. Where the episode excelled--and this is true for the entire season--was in acting and directing. Penny Johnson Gerald was phenomenal as usual (for almost twenty years I've argued she should have been made part of the main cast in season 7 of DS, and I think just won all those arguments). Mark Johnson made me feel like the mask was still there, even being out of costume. I was also happy to see more input from J Lee.
BTW, is there some reason that wasn't the studio orchestra?
BTW, is there some reason that wasn't the studio orchestra?
I'm not a fan of the new security officer, the show doesn't need another detached wisecracker.
Also Alara was right, they use the alien characters as a circus act. They go to the "It's funny when Bortus does it" well way too often.
Also Alara was right, they use the alien characters as a circus act. They go to the "It's funny when Bortus does it" well way too often.
A
Amaris
Guest
That's because it's funny when Bortus does it. Bortus is a straight laced character who takes things way too literally sometimes, so it's nice to tweak him. Look at how Malloy is represented, and he's fully human.
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