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THE ORVILLE - S1, E6: "KRILL"

Rate the episode:

  • ***** Excellent

    Votes: 29 33.7%
  • ****

    Votes: 42 48.8%
  • ***

    Votes: 10 11.6%
  • **

    Votes: 3 3.5%
  • * Where is the garbage?

    Votes: 2 2.3%

  • Total voters
    86
You know, if there's a recurrent observation so far by the writers of this series - I don't want to say "message" - it's that people are largely unwilling to change long-held beliefs when presented with contradictory evidence. It's there in the Moclan verdict, the unwillingness of the world-ship government to accept help, and it's evident in Teleya's reaction to what happened.

One might suspect that McFarlane thinks the tendency underlies a lot of human problems.
That's a great observation and I retract my complaint because I think you might be right.
 
I didn't realize that the guy who wrote the Orville theme was the Silverado composer. Wow, I just caught a bit of that soundtrack and it was obvious.
 
Really enjoyed this one. It was nice getting to see more of the Krill, and even getting to learn a bit about their culture.
I liked the way the mission evolved from just getting the information on the Ankhana (not sure if I spelled that right) to stopping the missle, to stopping the missle without killing the kids. The stuff with the kids was definitely a nice little moral dilemma for Ed and Gordon.
I was surprised just how dark they actually did go with this one, with the priest and the human colonist's head, and then when they actually fried all of the adult Krill crew. I liked that they gave us the bit witht the female Krill and the bit about kids at the end, it was nice to see that this wasn't a clean ending.
I do agree some of you guys that Gordon's behavior did see a bit to goofy at time, especially since the real Krill were so serious. I kept expecting someone to say something about how differently he was acting from the real Krill, but they never did.
The scene at the beginning with everyone making Bortas eat stuff was funny.
 
The names are interesting. "Krill" (small crustaceans with a huge biomass) and "Rana" (frog genus). Are the names chosen for a reason or just for laughs? Sorry, former biological science major.
 
Seemed an awful lot like American Christian fundamentalists in almost every detail.

Here are the reasons why I am of the opinion that the Krill religion is a statement about radical Islam, and not about Christian fundamentalism.

Paraphrased quotes from the episode, along with the video time stamp for each:

In most cultures, adherence to religion declines with advances in technology, but the opposite is true with the Krill. (7.25 minutes)

The Krill religion places the Krill above all other forms of life.
The Krill see attacking people as their divine right.
The Krill view war as a holy crusade. (7.40 minutes)

The Krill Call to Prayer is signalled. (14.50 minutes)

The religious script used on the 'chapel' walls and in the Krill 'bible' is similar to Arabic script. (16.00 minutes)

The Krill chant 'Hail Avis! Hail victory' - similar to Allahu Akbar! (God is Great!) when Muslim combatants achieve a victory.
The Krill also chant 'Ameem amadeen!' in the chaple when the 'priest' chops up a human head with a knife, which is also similar to the Muslim chant 'Allahu Akbar!'. (18.32 minutes)

The Ankana teaches that anyone not Krill doesn't have a soul. (26.25 minutes)

Other indicators that radical Islam is the inferred religion:

'Ankana' sounds similar to 'Koran'

Both Allah and Avis begin with the letter 'A'

The Krill priest wears ceremonial robes. Fundamental Christians don't, but Muslim clerics do.

The Krill behead captives.

The Krill use the severed heads as 'trophies'.

Now, I would like to see you post your own *detailed* explanation as to why you think the Krill religion is an 'attack' on Christian fundamentalism, and not one attacking radical Islam.
 
You know, if there's a recurrent observation so far by the writers of this series - I don't want to say "message" - it's that people are largely unwilling to change long-held beliefs when presented with contradictory evidence. It's there in the Moclan verdict, the unwillingness of the world-ship government to accept help, and it's evident in Teleya's reaction to what happened.

One might suspect that McFarlane thinks the tendency underlies a lot of human problems.

He might be onto something......you have 6 billion people being told by media that they (individually, not collectively) are the center of the universe, that they shouldn't settle or compromise, and that the world should change to fit their needs, not the other way around.
 
I really enjoyed this one. I thought Scott Grimes was hilarious and I was impressed with just how dark they went on the mission and how they didn't cop out with the end (establishing the children would likely never forget what they did). I never thought I'd be enjoying this show after the first two weeks.
 
But Picard could have given just such a speech!!

Which works for the inspiring, dramatic and "bigger" tone of Trek. This one seems to be taking a more.... "cynical" approach and, dare I say, "realistic" one as, in all reality, civilizations don't change overnight due to some grand speech or gesture. If it did, then we would have achieved true world peace centuries ago.
 
Gordon was probably the worst undercover operative ever, continuously yapping and drawing unnecessary attention. They were lucky that the krill don't seem particularly smart. But it was funny.
 
It's.... "possible" such behavior isn't unusual for a Krill. Uncommon, unorthodox and misplaced in the situation but, again, if we're to assume they're a dynamic people and not a monolithic culture Gordon just may have been a "one of those guys" Krill.

I wonder how the events in this episode will impact their future encounters with the Krill and how it'll make them reflect on their previous encounters. They've previously been pretty quick to destroy Krill ship when attacked, I wonder if they'll be less destructive now knowing there's likely children on board the vessels.
 
I'm rewatching this episode right now, and I have to say that the actors who played Haros and Severon were awesome. They weren't as on point as Marc Alaimo, but there is lots of earnestness in their deliveries. It's too bad the characters were killed off.
 
When I heard the phrase "polishing my chin horn", I suddenly thought that it could be a Krill euphemism for...............well, how should I put this? I think you know.
 
When I heard the phrase "polishing my chin horn", I suddenly thought that it could be a Krill euphemism for...............well, how should I put this? I think you know.

It *is* Seth MacFarlane so it's entirely possible that went through his head too.
 
Some thoughts.

- They should use a slight camera soft lens to hide imperfections of the sets and give it atmosphere. The Krill ship sets were too sharp.
- The music reminded me sometimes of "Alien"when they entered the Krill ship.
- One of the Krill kids knows the position of Earth. If they didnt know already, after the kid is send back, the Krill know then and maybe could plot an attack on Earth later in the show (as response to the "human terrorists").
- Gordon's behaviour did hurt the realism of the show and could distract viewers from the story (due to irritation).
- 21th century pop culture references still dont work because they dont come from a distinct character motivation (like Tom Paris' love for vintage pop culture or Peter Quill's childhood during the early 80s). It was a mistake to not use a character motivation as jump point for the references and instead have it always come out of nowhere.
- The show already goes deep into the technobabble territory to solve problems. Me not likey likey.
 
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When I heard the phrase "polishing my chin horn", I suddenly thought that it could be a Krill euphemism for...............well, how should I put this? I think you know.

I didn't pay close attention, but the female krill didn't seem to have the chin horn. Do all the males have it?
 
Here are the reasons why I am of the opinion that the Krill religion is a statement about radical Islam, and not about Christian fundamentalism...

Nonsense.

The defining behavior of the Krill has nothing to do with spreading their religion. It has nothing to do with glorifying their God Avis.

Their defining behavior is that they take what they want. They justify this by reference to their religious belief that only they matter.

This is very like the way Europeans and Americans justified their colonial and territorial expansion.

I mean, the Krill are *literally* white people. How on the nose does it have to be, for folks to get it?:lol:
 
- 21th century pop culture references still dont work because they dont come from a distinct character motivation (like Tom Paris' love for vintage pop culture or Peter Quill's childhood during the early 80s). It was a mistake to not use a character motivation as jump point for the references and instead have it always come out of nowhere.
Well, we've seen them watching 21st Century entertainment on the viewscreen so there's some interest shown there. Maybe by the time of The Orville cable rates have become so outrageous that no one can afford to watch so they've resorted to public domain entertainment which means they have to watch entertainment from 500 years back because copyright law has also become so excessive.
 
The Krill do not need to justify their actions, because they are not doing anything wrong( according to their own moral compass).

I think I can explain Human Beings on the Orville.

The Matrix won in the early 21st century, when Earth tech was ####, so the Matrix's ability remeatify a blandly digitized personality is a little two dimensional even after propping it up with old re-runs of 20th century TV.
 
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