Poll If this was the end, would you be satisfied?
- Thread starter F. King Daniel
- Start date
This is a decent view point. The orville is by no means perfect; Seth macfarlane is actually the worst character and unbelievable as captain but the rest of the crew are good to great which is more than you can say for DIS. Yes it is a TNG rip off in both look and storylines, then last episode was a copy of the TNG episode “Second chances”, but DIS just rips off the abrams trek and feels less like Star Trek.
Season two of the Orville is a big improvement over season one so give it a try...
I'm serious. Oh, don't get me wrong, it's not really serialized, and (aside from one two-parter this season) didn't have much "epic" about it. But it reminds me of DS9 insofar as they've made a real effort this season to bring character development to the forefront and actually have what happens the episodes often has repercussions for the characters later on down the line. Basically, looking at it from a Trek perspective, there's only been maybe two episodes this entire season which you wouldn't call "character focus" episodes. They've abandoned the "rehash a Trek plot with dick jokes" and now mostly just have "let's have the plot this week get into the nature of a particular character or two.
Indeed, it's been a bit polarizing for some Orville fans, because the high-concept sci-fi stuff is basically gone, and it's kinda reveling in the more lightearted workplace drama aspects of Trek. But it's hitting way more than it misses now, and making me actually care about the characters.
Trouble is they aren't exactly recycled, more cut and pasted then filtered through Seth MacFarlanes cosplay dream and hollywood life experiences. As much as I disliked Voyager, it wasn't written and showrun by the guy who cast himself as captain and cast his girlfriend as security chief. It was conceived as a vanity project, IMO, and that it remains. But don't tell Seth that. He seems to think its an *important* show.
And they haven't stopped with the TNG stories. The latest one is a riff on Second Chances to the identical ranks of the current and past versions of the character.
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This, my friends, is how you pitch a show to someone who's skeptical. Everyone please take notes. He took something he knew I already liked (DS9) and explained how The Orville was like that, and addressed the key question I had.
Because of this, I might give some episodes from the second season a look at some point.
"I challenge you!" or "The Orville is better because your show is like Abrams Trek!" is something that's going to do the exact opposite of making me more receptive to the show and will only push me further in the other direction. The former makes me automatically want to pass and the latter puts me on defensive exactly because I'm really NOT actually a fan of Abrams Trek. Though I liked the 2009 film and Beyond as Summer Action Blockbusters, it doesn't go any further than that. I haven't seen the 2009 film in almost 10 years and I saw Into Darkness (which I didn't like) and Beyond exactly once. I don't even have them on DVD/Blu-Ray. Not exactly what I'd call the makings of a "Huge JJ Fan!!!"
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I am not in the pitching business. I hate selling anything and hate sales
If you check out this season, here's my 60-second review:
Watch:
Primal Urges - Bortus develops a holo-porn addition due to his failing marriage. Voyager level B-plot, but it's not given much focus.
Home - Alara's returns to her home due to a medical condition, and is written off the show. The end was a bit sappy, but effective
A Happy Refrain - One of the sweeter, sillier love stories in Trek. I unabashedly loved it, and had a goofy smile on my face by the end.
Deflectors - Introduces a "straight" Moclan in order to tell the allegorical story around homophobia that Trek always should have told, but never got around to doing.
Identity (Parts 1/2) - The Orville goes very dark, and very epic (think Seth's take on BoBW or DS9's Dominon War arc). The conclusion is predictible, but the setup was great
Lasting Impressions - Gordon falls in love with a holo-recreation of a woman from 2015. It sounds like a mediocre concept, but it works well because he concludes something by the end Geordi never did.
Sanctuary - Further development of the "Moclan arc" in The Orville. Not really focused on any one character - probably the only non-focus episode which is decent this season.
Meh:
Ja'loja - The season opener has no real plot, it's a bunch of low-stakes, character-focused vignettes which help set the table for the season.
Blood of Patriots - Gordon meets an old friend who was a POW of the Krill for 20 or so years. Plot provides some nice focus for him, but it's basically a Voyager episode.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow - Yet another rehash of Ed and Kelly's relationship, this time via a temporal anomaly which causes her past self from right after their first date to appear on the ship. A nice twist which in the final act which may set up for the season finale this week, but otherwise pedestrian.
Avoid:
Nothing on Earth Excepting Fishes - Mercer discovers that his new girlfriend is a Krill agent who was surgically altered (almost certainly a hat tip to Discovery). Again, Voyager-level plot. Very skippable
All The World is Birthday Cake - The lowlight of the season, where the crew discovers a planet governed by the principles of astrology. The episode seems to just exist so Seth can shit on people who believe stupid things. I loathe this one more than anything but the rape episode from the first season.
I thought this was one of the best of the series for Season 2.
Stay in the 23rd century dangit! I'd be fine with it ending if it means going outside that time frame.
Really sad there aren't more shows in the kirk era. It's TOS and DISC's 5 seasons vs what, 21 seasons worth of the 24th century? I'm more interested in fleshing out that frontier-era of the Federation, not its distant future. I was hoping the Discovery crew would help with this but if they must go forward... I'm sad to see them go, but I'd rather follow Pike's crew around in this era.
Really sad there aren't more shows in the kirk era. It's TOS and DISC's 5 seasons vs what, 21 seasons worth of the 24th century? I'm more interested in fleshing out that frontier-era of the Federation, not its distant future. I was hoping the Discovery crew would help with this but if they must go forward... I'm sad to see them go, but I'd rather follow Pike's crew around in this era.
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G
Gonzo
Guest
The only major loose end I would want to see resolved would be the origin of the probe and the circumstances of its launch into the past.
If they used a Short Trek to resolve that it would be fine.
If they used a Short Trek to resolve that it would be fine.
2262-2265 would be a good 3 year run, set far enough away from DSC and close enough to TOS?
If this was the last ever episode of Discovery, it would be a shame we never got to see what 950 years in the future looks like. Even fans who hate Discovery are probably intrigued by this if nothing else. An ending where it is decided to simply never to speak about Discovery, its crew or the spore drive ever again would also be very unsatisfactory.
Don't click tvtropes link... don't click tvtropes link.. dang... too late. There goes rest of my day
Same. That's the kind of thing I was afraid the show would be, and I was pleasantly surprised.
I gave it a try. It comes across as a fan film vanity project starring a charmless bro who thinks he's hilarious. It might be a little better with a different lead, but TBH I just was bored by it. The warmed-over TNG nostalgia was just the kind of thing I was worried DSC was going to feel like, and a very telling aspect of when Orville fans often implore to me how the show is the "real Star Trek." Meh.
Bingo.
With the push back I fear this is what things might become.
