Spoilers The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Discussion

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by tomalak301, Jun 2, 2022.

  1. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I figured it would be great to start a new discussion thread for the new season. Just watched it and I need to think about it some more but man this show looks gorgeous. Loved the Sub warfare scene and the flying the new ship around the shipyard.

    I think Charley is going to be an interesting character this season. She was appropriately angry and it will be interesting to see how the season develops between her and Issac. I had some mixed reactions on the ending mainly because of how powerful some of the scenes were that said Issac doesn't belong on the ship (especially the meal scene and Gordon), but hopefully this is something that will continue to be addressed as the season goes on. It was a really good message show on suicide though.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2022
  2. thribs

    thribs Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Damn. Who would have thought we would get to the situation where Strange New Worlds is the more comedic, lighter show than this. :)
    It was a pretty dark episode. Reminded me of that TNG episode where Worf refuses to help save a Romulan. It’s a bit different here but it explored the same themes.
    Looks like Mercer and Pike have the same ideas when it comes with dealing with ships that pose a bigger threat to them. Go into a gas giant and fake their explosion.
     
  3. Bad Thoughts

    Bad Thoughts Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Good to see that Seth MacFarlane hasn't learned nuance during the lockdown.
     
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  4. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    Did we see ringships before?
    "A Rube Goldberg contraption" :guffaw:

    Hiding in a gas giant and making something blow up so your enemy leaves you alone. Hmmm, seems familiar somehow.

    Now the question is, do they go full TNG and never revisit the issues the crew has with Isaac?
     
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  5. Timelord Victorious

    Timelord Victorious Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Where does this stream?
     
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  6. Charles Phipps

    Charles Phipps Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    hulu.
     
  7. Q2UnME

    Q2UnME Commodore Commodore

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    Perhaps a MOD would be so kind to put a spoiler designation for this thread?
     
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  8. firehawk12

    firehawk12 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm totally fine with the show drawing inspiration from Star Trek, with this episode being their take on "Family" - but, I think more realistic. Add in a dash of Voyager as well. lol

    I know the show's fate is pretty much sealed, but I'm going to enjoy these episodes while I can.
     
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  9. Charles Phipps

    Charles Phipps Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The show's continuous slide to being serious drama over comedy means its something of a mercy killing.

    I like the Orville but it just has changed too much for me to remain a big fan.
     
  10. The Nth Doctor

    The Nth Doctor Infinite Possibilities... Premium Member

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    As a premium member, you can still add it. Go to Thread Tools to Edit Title and change it there.
     
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  11. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Thank You. :)
     
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  12. Athena28

    Athena28 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I like the more serious tone, but found the first half slow. Then it picked up for me.

    I can’t decide if the new single-pilot craft is supposed to be the Defiant or the Delta Flyer or some of each.
     
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  13. Enterprise is Great

    Enterprise is Great Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don’t remember last season all that well but wasn’t Isaac back on the crew after the Kaylon 2 parter? I don’t recall any crew having problems with him. It’s been three years since watching any of these episodes so I don’t remember all that much.
     
  14. tomalak301

    tomalak301 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No they didn't have an issue with Issac being back after Identity. I think this was a retcon, but I was wondering how long has it been since the initial Kaylon attack and the episode.
     
  15. Athena28

    Athena28 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I went back and read a recap from the season2 finale as I didn’t remember it at all.
     
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  16. asupackman

    asupackman Ensign Red Shirt

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    I will admit I liked the episode... but it also bothered me a bit. Now granted I will confess other than an episode here or there, I haven't watched this since it went off the air. I really enjoyed the balance it was striking between seriousness and comedy and was/am excited its back and look forward to seeing how the rest of the season develops.

    That said, from what I remember, and I will confess that I may be wrong, after Identity while Issac is reinstated and is in the episodes, he really doesn't have that big a part to play. I get with a relaunch them grabbing what most people would remember from the previous season as a starting point, but I feel like if you had had this episode and "The Blood of Patriots" in either order after Identity this episode would have landed better for me. Or maybe if in this episode they had explained some how that the end of season 2 happened, and these feelings about Issac had been simmering under the surface but people were just now feeling more comfortable about expressing them to each other or out loud. Maybe they did, I know Gordon confided in the new Ensign, I cant remember her name, that he felt the same way but hadn't said anything, maybe I missed other references. I totally understood every characters motivations in this episode and enjoyed the performances and interactions, but I really cant shake the feeling that story wise it was out of place. Maybe I'll feel differently after I rewatch it. That said, I really am excited the Orville and Crew are back and am still excited to see where this season goes.

    Now off to find out what Pike and crew are up to this week.
     
  17. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    Yep. Apart from one episode later on where Finn has a feel-good day with the others on how to cope with a breakup's aftermath, there was zero discussion about Isaac or Finn's kids. So, yeah, this episode is just a tad awkward.

    Disclaimer: I'd seen the teaser and read a couple spoiler-loaded reviews to get a handle, since I'm waiting for the DVD and wanted to see how much would be changed before bothering. and partly because the season 2 rewatch had more nitpicks stand out than I'd seen originally, though the nitpicks I saw originally were really glaringly bad ones (despite most of the episodes generally being genuinely impressive).

    I'll still see season 3 and am still eager overall, but am not as hyped compared to when the season 3 trailer that was released a few weeks ago. The teaser had that glaring issue about a race of robots hell-bent on exterminating all but they're demanding their enemy just surrenders (despite their prey being infinitely weaker... Voyager's cheesiest Borg episodes had far better scripting than everything I know of the Kaylon as presented since "Identity pt 2", an episode which also goes so far out of its way to stretch credibility to allow the heroes to win. ) Yes, season 2's finale hints at timeline changes causing some changes, but that's a bit of a stretch.

    This premiere is a tad late in the day with addressing the aftermath, but why not since wasting episodes on a lame star trek ripoff involving a fake personality created from video recordings isn't anything near an improvement on Barclay (quite the contrary, to be frank. It's the series' worst episode by far.) Or spending more time on playing "9 to 5" when they could have tweaked some scenes and wind down the Finn denouement with more deftness. Or deal with Issac as a season finale rather than a season opener...

    ... complete the usual triped-up trope of "backup system" - seriously, they were there. TNG did it for Data once or twice. Even Worf had a spare part right on cue (in an episode that comes across as **** for the same reason too. Even back then it was unsophisticated plotting. If you want a backup, try "Contagion" as they did a far better job with the trope in the first place. And by far than any other story saying "Oh look, we have a backup!!") I'd be more surprised if they actually do a spin and really say Isaac truly is deactivated forever, but that would be cheaper than to redo the opening credits to take Isaac's name out of it. And considering Isaac saved the crew and committed suicide before his sappy and unbelievable revival in "Identity 2", from what I've read I can't really swallow very easily what's been told about him deactivating himself out of guilt. It'd have been far easier if they didn't shoehorn the Finn/Isaac subplot to the side for what episodes and time remained in season 2.

    All that said, the opener had a few good scenes and a twist they needed to do (who wrote "MURDERER!" on Isaac's door), though the crew forgot that Isaac saved their hides from his fellow race and their reactions are arguably a bit uncalled for. Maybe a later episode will really drop the other shoe in a bigger and related issue, but I get the feeling they won't.

    Oh, Yaphit in the spacesuit almost makes up for every last nitpick because that was freakin' brill. :luvlove:

    But, yeah, it's a letdown - but maybe seeing the whole thing proper might change some of that. Am waiting to sign up until a few more episodes in. But after season 2's dropping the ball, some of what I've read sounds like par for the course - a mix of the good with the awful. But who knows, there could be another payoff later on that more than makes up for it.
     
  18. The Wormhole

    The Wormhole Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You do realize this episode was written and filmed before the Lockdown, right?
     
  19. Qonundrum

    Qonundrum Vice Admiral Admiral

    5 episodes between ID2 and the season finale to work on plot threads with.

    They had plenty of time to do a far smoother wind-down of Isaac/Finn and Isaac/crew, etc. Even individual scenes interwoven between episodes and not just "Hey Claire, what's it like now that you're broken up?" "Well it took a moment but I'm fine now." ...

    Especially with the godawful "Lasting Impressions" smartphone utter-filler-trash episode, which should now seem even more trashier once people realize that it's not just a poor TNG ripoff with no innovation, but given the plot threads season 2 was weaving and all that was shoved to the side for "let's take a few minutes of video recordings and make a fake personality to waste 50 minutes with".

    Ugh.
     
  20. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I liked this one. I haven't been able to say that with a lot of The Orville's run.

    I'll give Seth kudos for recognizing Penny Johnson is probably the best actor they have in this cast; so using her character to push a lot of this story's more emotionally driven aspects was a good move.

    I also like that they didn't wrap up the Issac situation with a nice little bow type ending.

    >NERD<The only other aspect I found somewhat ridiculous was conducting a live fire combat craft certification so near an active shipyard where repairs are taking place. There was debris created by the destruction of the Drones and that debris could cause damage and other issues to ships/personnel conducting repair operations so that it would be allowed in such an area seemed ludicrous.

    I also like their shuttle redesign so they no longer look like space borne sperm.>\NERD<

    For me this is probably the best episode they've done. Piqued my interest enough to watch the next one.
     
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