Spoilers The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Discussion

[Romulan_spy]

One major glaring issue with the episode was the completely gratuitous fighter scene. I get they want to show off the $$$ they can spend now towards CGI, but it was a shakedown flight, meaning it was a literal no-stakes action scene. I was taken so out of the viewing experience I started wondering what the hell the writers were thinking. Particularly because there was a perfectly cromulant action scene later in the same episode where they could have found an excuse to show off the new fighter.

I think they just wanted to break up the tension in the ep with some fun action. My issue with the shakedown cruise is when they do target practice with the drones so close to the ship and the shipyard. Maybe the shots were set to very low power, enough to blow up little drones, but not enough to do any damage to the Orville or the shipyard but it was still a bit jarring to me to see the fighter shooting at the drones so close to other ships and the shipyard.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I really liked this episode, although to be honest I slightly suspect

Spoiler: episode

Isaac was playing the long game, and engineered an incredibly complicated sequence of events leading to his "forgiveness"

 

[thribs]

Yeah. I can see Charlie seeing Issac differently by the end of the season. He’s probably going to save her life, or someone she cares about

 

[Ghel]

So in addition to Charlie, who was a schoolyard bully, the more I think about this episode (having watched it yesterday) the more problematic it is. For example, the entire bedroom discussion about suicide as a "choice" is seriously troubling, even if this is played as an "alien" perspective. Given that (even our nascent) modern psychology would tell us that suicide is a symptom of anxiety/depression and a serious mental health issue, it feels almost irresponsible to have a character justifying suicide, especially after Isaac was continuously bullied for the vast majority of the episode. I understand what they were trying to do but between how tolerant the command structure was about overt bullying, to the overall attitude toward suicide, this episode feels somewhat cringy and I can't imagine it aging well.

 

[The_Baroness]

Yeah. I can see Charlie seeing Issac differently by the end of the season. He’s probably going to save her life, or someone she cares about

My money is on them finding out her friend somehow survived and Isaac being the one to save her

 

[The Wormhole]

I'm glad they are still using Norm Macdonald's as the voice of Yaphit this season.

I wonder how much he had recorded before he died.
Filming finished August 2021, so he could have finished alot of VO before he died.

At the time of his death, it was reported Norm MacDonald had only recorded dialogue for three episodes of this season.

My money is on them finding out her friend somehow survived and Isaac being the one to save her

That'd be one hell of an interesting trick. Isaac somehow rescued a woman off an exploding starship while he was deactivated on board another starship that was getting the crap pounded out of it.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

While it is certainly the Trek way to redeem him it would be intriguing if Isaac never has any feelings about it.

At the time of his death, it was reported Norm MacDonald had only recorded dialogue for three episodes of this season.

I saw somewhere that he had finished recording for the season. Not saying 100% that is true but I did read that.
EDIT: https://movieweb.com/the-orville-season-3-norm-macdonald/

 

[The Nth Doctor]

That'd be one hell of an interesting trick. Isaac somehow rescued a woman off an exploding starship while he was deactivated on board another starship that was getting the crap pounded out of it.

Not only that, but it would undermine the necessity of Charly facing and properly processing her trauma which, unfortunately, is the only interesting aspect of her character thus far. But that said, I hate seeing characters who are only defined by their trauma.

Yeah, she also has the crazy 4D spatial thought processing but, at the moment, that's only being used as a "Get Out of Jail Free" card than an actual character trait.

 

[thribs]

I agree that it was a very strange episode to start the season with. Reminded me of the season 2 premier which also had a “small scale” feel to it, but it didn’t have any funny moments like the drive-by scene. One of my all time favourite scenes from this show.

 

[1987SpaceGuy]

Nice to have the characters back. My fond feelings for the show haven't returned yet.
Have forgotten so much since it last was on air however, even some of their names!

big themes tackled with mixed results. (the Keylon conflict, Isaac's bullying and suicide, the Doc and her kids feeling very different about Isaac, Holodeck coping/loss)
Don't care much about Charly (yet). She felt more like a plot vehicle.

• Could have done without the Lamar's spikey alien ladyfriend's discussion.
• the little ship show off was suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper long and thus annoying, this is not a beauty shot or scene but almost it's own act... and who does training with real weapons next to the ships/yards... should have saved some of that $ for later episodes.

 

[Tuskin38]

should have saved some of that $ for later episodes.

Usually each episode has an equal budget, so that wouldn't have taken from any other episodes.

 

[JD]

My biggest issue with the episode was that it felt kind of weird that all of this was coming up so long after the battle against the Kaylon. At first I thought maybe that was the finale, and so this was the immediate aftermath, but I looked and there were a bunch of episodes between them.
This was also kind of a weird way to introduce Burke, it made her really unlikeable, and if they actually want us to like her, it's gonna take a lot of work.
This was not at all what I expected for our first episode on Hulu. I expected them go with a bigger episode to really draw in any new viewer who might not have seen the show before, but I can't really see anyone who isn't familiar with the characters and the whole Kaylon and Isaac situation enjoying it that much.

 

[dupersuper]

I liked it.

This, Strange New Worlds, Ready Room, Superman & Lois, Obi-Wan, Stranger Things...it was a very geeky week for me.

 

[thribs]

I liked it.

This, Strange New Worlds, Ready Room, Superman & Lois, Obi-Wan, Stranger Things...it was a very geeky week for me.

No The Boys?

 

[dupersuper]

No The Boys?

Not yet: only so many hours in the day...

 

[KennyB]

Never liked the Trek reset button episodes…..didn’t like it that much here either. Did prefer the more serious tone and no dick jokes. So that’s a plus.

 

[AntonyF]

I really enjoyed this episode. Yes it's ham fisted, but then Trek could be too. This has elements of shows like Ethics from TNG where they put these ingredients together to create the tension. Oh fancy that the only person who can help him... is the person who hates him. SHOCKER.

But I felt it was effective. It was their Family moment. I thought Penny Johnson Jerald was spellbinding at the end and it just felt there was something real going on here. I think Seth wrote the article – has this issue affected him in the past? It just felt like one of those moments where writing almost falls away and it feels like something real going on.

I'll be interested to see where they tonally go from here. I found the see saw between serious and comedy getting a bit jarring in season two. This episode sets out its stall that it's going to be a serious show.

 

[AntonyF]

hulu.

In US I think.

Disney+ for me.

 

[Bornin1980something]

I liked it.

This, Strange New Worlds, Ready Room, Superman & Lois, Obi-Wan, Stranger Things...it was a very geeky week for me.

It's certainly a lousy time to release a new Orville season if they need viewers. Internationally, it's up against Obi-Wan on the same service.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Seth certainly has hopes for more Orville

Asked whether Macdonald's passing means that Yaphit's tenure aboard The Orville will also conclude at the end of Season 3, MacFarlane suggests that fans may not have seen the last of the gelatinous lieutenant. "We do have a plan," he teases. "We would not do Yaphit without Norm, but there is a plan for how we are going to handle it if we are lucky enough to do Season 4." (As of now, a fourth season is up in the air as the cast's contracts have expired.)