All I could think of is Kirk, (paraphrasing) "The word is no. I am therefore doing it any way!"Good, there's some people in the audience that need that.
The beauty of it is that Ed has no problem looking insubordinate and stupid as long as Topa was given the treatment she so desperately needed and deserved. She had rights, and Ed, Kelly, Claire, and goddess help him Isaac, were going to see it through come hell or high water. A dressing down by an admiral hamstrung by politics is worth the price, IMO.This was a favorite episode of this season thus far. However, it was not without its flaws:
It was a bit (very) contrived that EVERYONE on the ship would take time off to see Bortus sing, leaving the entire ship abandoned without even a skeleton crew watching key systems apparently. (Remember, nobody including the Captain could "know" about the procedure, so this had to be a legitimate invitation which also somehow gave all people on active duty the night off to see some random officer sing?!?) The irony is that while they took great pains to show the ship essentially abandoned, they really wouldn't need to do this. Aside from the command crew, there wouldn't be a reason for the ship to be completely stripped of people. I can't imagine random ensign #3 who just happens to walk by knowing about or caring about a random medical procedure taking place in the medical bay.
Plus, the medical procedure still uses the ship's medical facilities, which still pins liability squarely on the Union. When they were discussing this, I honestly expected Issac to take the child down to the planet to complete the procedure (perhaps using portable medical equipment.) Otherwise, the admiral is right, allowing the procedure on the ship only makes the captain look insubordinate AND stupid.
That said, I did like the overall message and dilemma of the story. It also reinforces the unintended message of asking for forgiveness rather than permission.
Ugh, a Mochlun episode. They’re basically the Meg episodes of Orville.
That kid sure grew up quickly. I don’t think they addressed that.
That scene was really well shot and directed. The low angles on Isaac made him imposing af.
It's happened on Star Trek before. Usually for funerals. Everyone accepts this as a by-product of how advanced Starfleet computers are, and that the ship is located somewhere where there is no danger of imminent threat. Are you saying Star Trek can do this but Orville can't?
Hardly "some random officer." Bortus is third in command of the entire ship, he'd be a well recognized figure among the crew. And as mentioned already, his singing ability has been a running joke on the show since the first season, so yeah, if it were known that Bortus was going to put on a performance singing, I can easily see the entire crew taking interest in the matter.
The point is they wanted to prevent Random Ensign #3 from walking into sickbay and seeing something thus putting them in the situation where if asked about it later they'd have to either be a snitch or lie about it. This was done very much to protect the crew from consequences as it was allowing the matter to be done uninterrupted.
But since it's Isaac doing the matter on his own, it can be written off as unauthorized use of Union Medical facilities. At worst, Ed, Kelly and Claire can be reprimanded for not securing medical facilities properly thereby preventing someone from entering and conducting unauthorized surgery. And even then, their defense can be that as a Kaylon, Isaac could easily override whatever security precautions they put in place.
Again, I'll echo the above that the point was that Ed was willing to take the blow to his reputation in order to allow the right thing be done for Topa.
The problem still exists from a liability and image perspective. Isaac may not represent the Union, but he is still on board the vessel with permission from the Union. He then uses a Union Facility to perform surgery which the Maklan's and Union Central expressly denied. This would be like you buying a cruise ticket. One night the entire cruise ship staff goes to the aft to watch a movie. With nobody around, you meander into the bridge and decide to pilot it around, when shockingly, you crash into the dock, injuring a bunch of people. The Captain and the cruise line are both going to be legally liable for allowing you to pilot, even if you didn't have express permission to do so. Isaac is far more than a passenger. It would be VERY hard to tell the Maklans that a person who is authorized in all areas of the ship including the bridge didn't represent the Union when he used the Union Sickbay to perform a procedure expressly forbidden by the Maklans.
The episode The Red Angel from Disco's second season. The episode starts off with the crew attending Ariam's funeral, and there is a montage showing several areas of the ship completely devoid of people, including the bridge (where the monitors are even flashing "Automated Mode" on them) before finally showing the shuttlebay where everyone is in attendance.
*Sigh* It was a joke. You know what those are right? I mean, I know this season has more of a serious slant to it, and this episode in particular dealt with some pretty serious subject matter, but that doesn't mean they're not allowed to have a joke in it. You say it's silly, it's supposed to be silly.
Regardless, Isaac is still a Kaylon and it's well known that if he set his mind to something, there's very little the crew could do to stop him. Klyden even tries to do so in this episode, and Isaac easily overpowers him. Which is why he's the perfect person to carry out the procedure, everyone cam shrug it off as "typical Kaylon treachery" and Isaac's importance to the war effort even provides a ready excuse for why he's still allowed in the ship. Formal reprimands can be issued to him, Ed, Kelly and Claire as a means of saying "the forms have been obeyed" and everyone can move on.
How so? Even portable equipment is still Union equipment, it doesn't stop being Union just because it isn't bolted down.
