THE ORVILLE S2, E9: "IDENTITY, PART II"

[imdbrefugee]

I am in tears with how much I enjoyed it. I wasn’t born yet during DS9s run. Maybe this is what it felt like?

This show leveled up so dramatically fast I still can’t believe it.

 

[Reyman]

Yes, most of the plot was predictable, but the execution was top notch.

The 2 parter is right up there with some of my favourite Trek episodes.

 

[ISS-Magnum]

Praise the Avis.

 

[thribs]

No Enterprise in that fleet? Must have been on its way.

 

[Cyrus]

I enjoyed it even though it was mostly predictable.

Seth wrote part II instead of Brannon and Andre (who did part I).

Now we know why the early season 2 episodes were low scale. They saved the budget for this one.

I was disappointed Isaac was named after Newton. Even though Newton is more famous I was hoping for Asimov.

 

[Finn]

I got the impression Issac was bullshitting the primary in that scene

 

[Reyman]

So is Isaac basically a cross between Data and Marvels Vision?

 

[thribs]

I get more of the robots from Doctor Who’s Robots of Death.

 

[Trekker4747]

I was referring to Gordon saying it was his first time attempting shuttle take off while in quantum drive. (Sulu landing the shuttle in the hangar bay.)

Ok, I think even the drawing connections to Star Trek thing is too far between this and the toilet/pee corner thing.

On why, Isaac didn't use his weapons in the past, they may have been deactivated per his programing while on his mission for the Kaylon. He couldn't use them or didn't "know" he had them.

 

[guyute03]

"I'm from New Jersey"

I ADORE this show. <3

 

[thribs]

That look Gordon have from the fighter. Someone needs to make a gif of it.

 

[Reyman]

I get more of the robots from Doctor Who’s Robots of Death.

Iron man creates the android Ultron to serve Humanity. Ultron decides to wipeout Humanity instead, he creates the Android Vision to help him, who then ends up turning on Ultron.

That's pretty similar to Isaacs arc.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Yes, most of the plot was predictable, but the execution was top notch.

The 2 parter is right up there with some of my favourite Trek episodes.

I don't really see why predictable is a flaw – there's, of course, yawn predictable, but there's also what you anticipate, fear or long for to happen, among others. Surprise and mystery are not the only things you build a story out of, and the surprise was last week. This week, we were dealing with it. Not that last week's one was not predictable, it carefully sewn into the Isaac persona from season 1. Isaac has been always frightening, and only reason I stopped short of saying he's going to kill everybody is that I ship Claire/Isaac. That the signs were there made it better when you didn't see it coming, because it kicked you on the floor better, even when they literally told you the Kaylons are building megaweapons for some purpose minutes earlier. Surprises that come completely out of nowhere suck, and there's little Part II could have done that didn't fit that description.

Isaac turning on his people and seeking the help of Krill were the two things they have been building towards – with Isaac surprising discovery of his own attachment to Claire last month, and Mercer's tendency to have unrelenting optimism and unconventional decisions with his interactions with the Krill. Not going there would have felt contrived at this point.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Outside of leaving Earth unscathed, which one may question as it subdued the dramatic potential of the battle, there's little that I'd liked more. The cliché “surprise” at the end of this one would have been a simulation, a test, or other kind of reset button – even if it was one you didn't anticipate, it would have been really disappointing. Personally I would have liked a little more in the way the discovery about the Kaylons reverberated, particularly with the Krill, or of the Krill arrival themselves, not that I didn't enjoy Admiral Halsey's reaction fully, but that's personal preference.

Besides, we only put a temporary stop on the threat, turned the set up of the whole show inside out, and are in uncharted territory. That's... something.

 

[thribs]

Iron man creates the android Ultron to serve Humanity. Ultron decides to wipeout Humanity instead, he creates the Android Vision to help him, who then ends up turning on Ultron.

That's pretty similar to Isaacs arc.

I mean more with they they spoke; with the calm voice.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Mark Jackson's calm voice sounds exactly like Paul Bettany's calm voice, and you know it.

 

[jbny67]

Did Gordon keep that Krill fighter?

No, the Orville had to send a shuttle to pick him and Kelly up

No Enterprise in that fleet? Must have been on its way.

I was waiting for a Star Trek reference in the name of the ships during the battle.
I didn't think they'ed go that far though. I was expecting something like USS Shatner or USS Nimoy.

 

[Mudd]

Be honest: who wanted to see Ty get blasted when he ran around crying for Isaac? (raises hand)

Absolutely not. I love Ty.

 

[Reyman]

I don't really see why predictable is a flaw...

Besides, we only put a temporary stop on the threat, turned the set up of the whole show inside out, and are in uncharted territory. That's... something.

Sci-fi is one of the few genres that can get away with making the unbelievable believable, so when sci-fi is predictable it can leave me feeling a little underwhelmed.

I agree there is a lot more they can do with the Kaylons and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what they do. I just hope they don't go down the BSG/Dominion route and start replacing high ranking Union officials with humanoid looking Kaylons and try take them down from the inside.

Maybe we might have some of the Kaylon creators somehow secretly surviving.

 

[Astra]

My only problem so far is "thirteen button salute". It's too obvious. Should have been something like "Say hi to your Aunt Ruth for me. I haven't seen her since that picnic."

That's certainly what I was expecting too, and it would have been totally in tone with Orville stuff.

The question I have at the end is, how did they distinguish Isaac from the others on the bridge at the end? They all looked the same to me once switched off. I was afraid they would dump them all together into a room and later not being able to tell which one is Isaac. I guess Ty told them where he was sitting.

Man, poor Ed. I wanted to hug him throughout this two-parter. They kept on piling on him. Glad the captain is back where he belongs. That shot of the guy in space was really hitting home. It's funny that you react more to one person being thrown out of a lock instead of a whole ship getting blasted up but that's how it works.

 

[Mudd]

Most commercial TV and movies are predictable by design. The only skiffy show in recent yearsthat has surprised me more than a couple of times is Westworld; it's my favorite for better reasons.


I hope the Kaylons don't become any more central to the show, week to week, than the Krill are. A couple of times a year would be fine.