Spoilers The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Discussion

I hope it gets to number 1!

I can't help because I don't have the greedy mouse

 

Stream early, stream often!

 

My philosophy after a party.

 

That is the kind of thing I was thinking of earlier. In a society like the Orville or Trek, I imagine most people go about doing what many would consider "hobbies". It sounds like your wife has a thriving business, but I know a lot of people who love to do things like make soap on the side. It is likely that most ordinary people in the world do things like make soap and distribute it to others who enjoy/appreciate it. I can see a world where everywhere you go, people are out on the street playing music or offering their jewelry or painting to those who want it.

Of course, that is the artistic side. There are probably millions of people who like to putter with tech things and their jobs are fixing replicators or other equipment as Guy joked about earlier. Many people would want to be doctors, lawyers, and engineers not for the paychecks but because they enjoy it. Boards of what are today big corporations are filled with people who are CEOs because they've earned the position and truly believe in their work.

Of course it is a Utopic fantasy, but that is why Trek has always been inspirational.

 

I’ll add that if there is a shortage of a certain profession being a practitioner of such profession will being status, so people will be interested in becoming one.

 

I would like to add that in a highly automated future it is simply difficult for everyone to have jobs. And not everyone has the skills to do something useful for the community.

 

Depends on how you define useful. Even just learning about relatively trivial stuff improve an individual, making them better part of society.

 

We are living in a world where being at home taking care of household and family doesn’t qualify as a job… just saying.

 

For some.

Thriving? Nah, but able to do it so it's worth it.

 

I wonder if The Orville might get another season just so maybe they can get Seth McFarlande to do other projects with them..

 

Disney want's Seth to direct a new season of Goof Troop.

 

Ouch. Killed some time today watching some of the first season today, and I'm reminded why I was so initially turned off by the show.

It wasn't just that the supposed humor was often vulgar and inappropriate, some of it was just silly and I very rarely found it funny.

And I'm reminded of the fact that I intially really, really disliked Gordon and Lamar at the beginning. I remember at the time, someone commenting that they liked Gordon and Lamar because they knew people just like them in the real world. My reply was that I knew people like them in the real world as well, and I didn't like them here either. I know they do a lot of work with both characters down the road, and I've actually come to like Gordon, but Lamar is still an ass.

I am, however, endeavoring to focus on the good, and there is much to admire.

 

Wasn't that your project?

 

I've been rewatching starting with season 1 on Disney+ and I'm finding the humor less irritating the second go around. Maybe because I know it'll temper out some? Or it could be the lack of commercials letting it flow from the meh joke right into the next scene. Either way, better the second go around. I'd forgotten about the 2,000 year old disabled starship drifting (or that Liam Neeson cameos and the CAG from Space Above and Beyond was in it) and have made it into the Charlize Theron guest star episode.

I'm also glad that they figured out what they wanted to do with Kelly's hair later on. It's not ... great the first season. Her or Alara's.

 

I loved the series. They did good, and they were there in the fallow years before Trek returned.

All good things...

 

Just finished S3 after starting the show a few weeks ago.

Wow, has this show just gotten better and better as it's gone along! The dick jokes and cringe-humor of the early first season has given way to some scene-appropriate, genuinely funny moments, but over all the show just gets more and more serious as it moves forward. Productions values are through the roof in the third season, and this show is NOT afraid to take the social issues head-on!

I hate to draw a broad comparison like this, but this is 'Adult Trek' that does the same things ST does but doesn't sugarcoat it or hit the reset button at the end of every episode. I wasn't a fan of McFarlane before, but I really like what he has done with this production.

You could tell the final episode of S3 was written to be a finale if need be, and Gordon even got to recover and eat the sammich he launched forward in time!

I sincerely hope they get a S4. I freely admit that I enjoyed this even more than SNW.

 

And bad ones too. To everything there is a season.

 

Overall
I watched all three seasons of The Orville over the span of two to three weeks and it was like watching a show grow up. The first season was littered with bad, college dorm room humour like calling a spatial anomaly a “gloryhole” and Gordon asking if there was bars or strip clubs. Luckily, season three got rid of that.

The writing, while solid, is fairly predictable. You enjoy the ride, but like TNG, you know where it is going to end up. Charly, the new character this season, was not written to be more than a one-dimensional character to introduce conflict. Her PTSD is never really dealt with and she just kind of forgives Isaac after learns the Kaylon history from Temis.

As much as the words given for him to speak are silly, I give Peter Macon a lot of credit for stoically saying them.

Electric Sheep
It was a quiet season premiere that was really stretched out by a lot of unnecessary glamour shots of the ship and their new attack shuttles.

It was a good idea to have the premiere deal with Isaac’s previous actions instead of allowing it to go unanswered across the season.

A solid opener to the season.

Shadow Realms

Having been two or three years old when Best of Both Worlds originally aired, I knew Picard was going to be assimilated before viewing the episode. I feel like seeing the admiral and the one security guard being altered and then seeing the altered crew leave the ship because of the parasitic DNA’s hold on them is something similar.

John Fleck is awesome. That voice is recognizable anywhere.

There isn’t a real coda to the episode and it is never really mentioned that a number of people were changed. You have to think about how much of the host survives. The admiral was lucid in the beginning stages and he did reply “not Paul, more.” It makes you wonder if they were being held captive in their bodies, like a Borg drone.

This was one of my favourite episodes of the season.

Morality Paradox
Where did the aliens find a 21st century high school and plane in the minds of three humans and a Moclan from four hundred years in the future? They had been observing, but it seemed to be so niche.

The callback to the planet where Grayson was mistaken for a God was a weak attempt to link it back when it really could’ve been any alien race.

Gently Falling Rain
This was a missed attempt to really give another definition to the Krill. Their planet isn’t really given any screen time. The holographic child scene was also a corny attempt to make them eviller. The writing goes for a sledgehammer instead of being more subtle in that moment. It also takes time getting Ed from the cell to see his daughter and then back to confront Teleya, time that could’ve been put to better use.

Whichever Union planner decided seeing Annie would be a good show to see with an alien race that literally melts in the sun. It again seems to be a ham-fisted joke.

A Tale of Two Topas
I’ve read earlier comments about the entire crew going to Bortus’ concert and that it wouldn’t have happened or it was forced. I bet most of, if not all of the crew, had an idea of what was going on with Topa and went to make the plan “work.”

The writing shows strength in the fact that Klyden didn’t immediately come around to the good side. His actions and comments during the storyline show how strong the indoctrination really is.

Twice In a Lifetime
It was a great idea, but it wasn’t written strongly enough or acted well enough by Scott Grimes. There was no emotion in the scene where he knows his family is going to be wiped from history. I’m also confused why Malloy was so super okay that his family was wiped from the timeline, even if he never knew them in this timeline.

Outside of the scene in the basement, the time with Charly & Isaac was wasted time. I didn’t find it to be particularly funny.

From Unknown Graves
Beyond being a monumental prick, the alien father treats his Kaylon like a broken Alexa. He is trying to correct it like a dog with a shock collar. The kids, however, are sadistic.

That being said, there was something chilling about the Kaylon waking up and slaughtering the entire family.

Midnight Blue
It was about time that Moclus got booted and like the crew, I was wondering why it took the Union so long, why they kept bending over backwards.

The torture scenes, outside of course of being a child, were cookie cutter and not incredibly compelling.

Haveena gets character assassinated even if the Union gave her pretty shitty terms to agree to. She goes from not giving a moment’s thought to allowing Topa to be tortured, but a holographic Dolly Parton fixes all that.

Domino
It’s pretty easy to steal a weapon of mass destruction from the Union.

Back to the average writing of Charly, her sacrifice doesn’t pack the emotional punch it should have. She’s a one note character that never evolves. I’ve also trying to follow the Kaylon logic regarding joining the Union. They have overwhelming superiority outside of that new Union weapon. The weapon could be a deterrent, but what is their thought process about seeking membership?

I did have a good laugh at the banter between Klyden and Bortus over cracking the nut. They do have the old married couple banter nailed down perfectly between the two of them.

The battle scenes were well done, but those fighter shuttles get that big introduction in Electric Sheep for this one moment.

Future Unknown
The opening scene of Bortus chasing Klyden through the forest half naked was just alien enough to avoid being a return to the season one silliness.

I liked the return of Lysella, but her flip flopping on whether she was going back to her planet or not became tiresome. Like Ed, I was frustrated by her inability to make a decision.

With the renewal of the series up in the air, the wedding was a nice bookend to either end the series or launch off a new season from.

 

Holly Parton

 

I missed The Orville so decided to subscribe to Hulu for a month. To my pleasant surprise they offered a free month which was great.

I binged watched all 3 seasons. The older episodes hold up great on rewatch and the new season was fantastic. This is Star Trek at its best.