Well, this was not exactly the best episode of Orville, although many of the pieces of it were good. But the Moclans are beginning to remind me more of Odo than Worf in that they obviously didn't think through the concept before going forward. From an SF standpoint, the interesting concept of a single-sex species has been pretty much lost-- if so many females are born, they are not a single-sex species and if they have females why do the males lay eggs? Do females also lay eggs, or are they capable of reproducing like humans? Are males who lay eggs capable of impregnating females? Do males lay eggs and females have live births? How do the concepts of male and female even apply to this species? Ow, my head. And from a storytelling standpoint, with this episode in particular, rather than promoting a more subversive perspective as they usually do, they're not only feeding on pre-60s gender stereotypes, but validating them. In retrospect, if they weren't going to accept or explore the concept, it might have been better to either turn the concept on its head and go with a female-dominant species (which also would have made the egg-laying more sensible) or just go with an arbitrary SF division, like the half-moon people in "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield."
But the discovery of the Underground and sanctuary colony, followed by the rapid deterioration of relations between the Union and the Moclans, then the debate and ultimate compromise, were done really well. The previous episodes with the Kaylons made it all the more imperative that the Union find a way to keep the Moclans on board-- although, after this, they better be smart and start finding a backup source of weaponry. The Moclans are clearly not on board with Union values and act more like enemies than allies in debate-- although Bortus and the others represent the potential for change-- and there's only so far moral compromise can go. I loved the team of Admirals and the struggle between principle and practicality, and the acknowledgment of other points of view. While it seems like a pretty cut-and-dried situation, the show didn't make it easy with the Moclans painting the situation as child abduction and trafficking.
And the team of Admirals was pretty amazing. I love Victor Garber and Kelly Hu, and I'm surprised at the gravitas that Ted Danson has attained with age. F Murray Abraham as the president, or whatever, was cool, too. The entire Union Council sequence was both cinematic and stunning with its wide array of alien species-- classic SF on a Golden Age level there. I want to know more about all those alien people.
In terms of our own people, most everybody got to shine in this one. Ed, despite starting the series as a broken man, is now hobnobbing with the Admiralty and addressing the Union Council. Kelly got to take command and put her career on the line for a matter of principle-- as did Bortus, followed by Talla, who also took command and took the ship into battle with a superior enemy. Gordon got to save the day with his superior piloting skills, which haven't been mentioned in a while. Claire didn't get to do much, but Isaac got to speak, which he hasn't done since the Kaylon skirmish. But where was poor John? I don't think he even showed his face.
And then there's Dolly Parton. Not exactly my favorite artist, but the bit in the shuttle was cute, as was the dramatic reading in council. But playing "9 to 5" over the space battle was just wrong. I suppose it was better than all those contemporary action trailers that give us slo-mo hyper-violence overlaid with reedy Millennial vocals, but not much.
And just so we remember that it's The Orville, we had-- what? Ed's moment of misunderstanding Halsey's hint. Dolly Parton. I think that was it. This may have been the most serious episode of Orville to date.
