The Orville. Anyone loving it?

I'm loving it. Best Trek reference drinking game show ever.

 

I'm actually starting to miss The Orville. Maybe I will do a rewatch of the series on Hulu this summer. We might also get a better idea of when Season 3 is.

 

Saw most of season 1....don't like it much to be honest...

 

I watched an episode when it first aired and thought it was a great mix of TNG and Galaxy Quest. I've only now started watching the first season after becoming a little disappointed with certain aspects of PIC.
I love the premise of the show. It actually feels like I'm in Earth's future, instead of some random SyFy show. I love the visual look of the uniforms and the technology. And I like the exploration aspect of it and the episodic nature. The Village-type episode? Ho-hum overall. But the build up of going to encountering this enormous ship that completely eclipses the Orville? That was great. Exploring different alien cultures and customs? Fantastic. And most of all, the characters are pretty likable.

 

To varying extents but not in all episodes... the one with the asteroid civilization was (IMHO) the worst offender, but then there are others like the 2D universe, which definitely was a thing no Trek ever did do. And Into the Fold, which doesn't hold up on repeated viewings as it's a visceral rather than intellectual experience, but it only needed to be seen once to really get into it. IMHO, YMMV.

Orville not having transporters helps immensely.

 

Show actually feels like they are spending money on it. Unlike Picard which feels very cheap.

 

Cheap in what way?

 

The bland set design, the reuse of sets, the lack of visual effects in the majority of episodes etc. I just don’t see where the money is going. Even in Discovery you could see where the money was going.

 

******SPOILERS****** for Season 1

"If the Stars Should Appear" was so-so.
I followed it up with "Pria." This episode was great.
1. The guest starring roles are great. Liam Neeson and now Charlize Theron? She was great in this role.
2. I loved the mystery behind everything. And then the revelation/cliffhanger that they were supposed to all die. Typical of an episodic sci-fi show like this, very TNG. It still surprised me though.
3. The personal moments between Mercer and Pria were done very well for a comedy/parody show.

"Krill"
This was a really enjoyable episode. This is supposed to be light and funny but the Krill church scene caught me off guard and generated a sense of fear and horror. And I'm used to Takashi Miike films. Then friendship between Mercer and the female Krill officer was good. Maybe she'll help them? Maybe she falls for "Chris"? Maybe Mercer gets her to rethink her indoctrination? Then the introduction of who the trainees were. That surprised me. The brief exploration of the Krill's religious beliefs? All of this was great. In a completely serious sci-fi show the Krill culture's depiction might be too thin and unrealistic. But in a Galaxy Quest-type parody/comedy show that carries itself like a sitcom? I guess that premise gives the impression that this depiction of the alien bad guys has some depth. Not just cackling alien villains with lobster legs on their heads.
The Krill are obviously supposed to merely be Klingon analogues, and yet the show managed to one-up the Klingon's reputation for savagery just with that church scene. It actually felt a little creepy while Mercer and the other guy were infiltrating the Krill ship. And while I'm aware they're supposed to be Klingon analogues, they already feel like their own thing. I like the world building involved here.
I was expecting that Mercer and the Union had a small moral victory at the end, showing the Krill children that humans weren't soulless bad guys. But no, the exchange between Mercer and the female Krill officer gave the ending a slight, bitter twist:

Why did you spare the children?
They're children. They're not our enemies.
After what they saw you do, they will be. They will be.

I really regret not following this show when it first started airing. This show is freaking great.

 

What sets have been reused in Picard?

When this episode first aired, many of us in the discussion thread actually viewed the Krill as American analogues, particularly because of the church scene.

 

I've never really seen the Krill as Klingon analogues, I've always felt that was more the Moclans, just with the added twist of the whole mostly male thing.

 

While Bortus' role on the ship resembles Worf's, I think the Moclans are much closer analogs of the Jem'Hadar than Klingons. I suspect the whole race was invented while McFarlane was joking about Jem'Hadar.

 

I see a bit of both, honestly, in both the Krill and the Moclans. The Moclans for the play on their culture, and the Krill for their militaristic attitudes, but they both have a bit of Jem'Hadar in them, but then you have the Krill's religion which stikes me as Bajoran-like. I think McFarlane just enjoyed riffing on a number of Trek tropes and I don't think he intended for any of them to be analogues. They're more mixes of different aspects.

 

This episode was incredible for me and I thought it was really well done.

The next, for me, just didn't keep me invested and I lost track. Moments of lightning brilliance in black night of forgetfulness.

 

The social media/upvote episode? I liked the message, but it felt more like a homage to the 90s Outer Limits than Star Trek.
I'm hoping we see Talera again. All the Krill were pretty interesting. Even the Captain of the ship, despite being the generic bad guy wasn't completely bwahahaha-evil. He actually likes Devin and Chris and kind of sticks up for them to the priest. He wasn't even a shades-of-gray villain, he was all bad because he was going to murder that farming population but I liked that he wasn't the one that was suspicious of Chris and Devin. He even compliments Chris on his expression.


********Spoilers Ep. 9 "Cupid's Dagger"********
I take it that this is the "rape episode"?
It was okay until the doctor character actually was having sex with the slime creature. The slime thing didn't know the doctor was under the influence but I found it actually kind of disturbing, and completely understand the criticism for this episode. I'm actually surprised that they actually went through with it. I thought the doctor was going to be stopped from actually going through with it. And in the case of Darulio, he is a rapist if he knows that Grayson is not in her right mind. I guess the excuse is that it's "pheromones" but c'mon. I can imagine if it's an episode where both parties are under the influence, like when Data and Yar hooked up, but this was just in poor taste.
The slime creature sexually harassing the doctor is just gross and really bad in the context of #MeToo and #TimesUp. You can see how entertainment and pop culture helps reinforce this kind of behavior by making light of sexual harassment and assault.
In fact, now that I think of it, it makes me not want to watch the rest of the series. Did the writer or creator apologize for it?

 

The slime creature you mean Yaphit. Didn't he and the doctor do the deed?

 

The one I think of like that is the season 2 episode where the blue guy Kelly had an affair with returns.

It's an unfortunate recurring issue with MacFarlane shows.

 

One thing I will opine - as much as I dislike small universe syndrome, I do want to see the 2D universe rise up and go after Mercer for smooshing all of those inhabitants of their universe in that 2D story...

 

That's the one @Trinity Gingerbread is talking about, season 1 episode 9 where guest star Rob Lowe plays Darulio, the alien Kelly is having an affair with in the pilot, who comes to the Orville. He then infects Yaphit with his pheromones, which causes him and the doctor to have sex.

 

That would be cool....

Dr. Who did that already with the episode Flatliners in their universe.

In the Dr. Who universe 2D aliens break into our universe to try and take over here and it was done rather well. I liked the episode.