THE ORVILLE: S1, E7: "MAJORITY RULE"

We saw it on a building with "Planetary Union" written around it. But you could be right.

 

I collected the various MSDs of the Orville which have shown up onscreen so far and in the case of the last one attempted to combine the complete but blurry MSD from the top with the clear but incomplete MSD from the center. They didn't line up perfectly, but close enough.

(click to enlarge)




Sources:

 

I find myself rewatching this last episode a lot. I watched it the night it was on, Saturday night with a buddy, Sunday night with my parents (they missed it on Thu. night and they usually watch the show "live" directly through the TV as at the time the DVR tuners are occupied recording other things), and I watched it earlier this evening. It's an episode that just hits so much in my mind with all of the crap that goes on with the internet and social media I find it crazily compelling.

And yeah, it'd seem, other shows have done the concept as well so it's not new and the episode itself was, apparently, inspired by a book MacFarlane read, but I've not watched those other shows ore read those books/stories. This episode really shows MacFarlane's talent as a writer and that I just wrote a sentence like that stuns me.

The episode does remind me more of a "Sliders" episode, or a Twilight Zone episode or any one of a number of other TV shows that do a handful vignette stories in their hour run (Tales From the Crypt, Amazing Stories, Alfred Hitchcock Presents), much of what the episode hinges on to work kind of comes from those things (i.e. accepting an "alternate Earth" as another planet in the galaxy) but it's stuff I easily dismiss because the story was so compelling and good and I view like the several TOS episodes where the crew found themselves on an "alternate Earth." It was also the first episode where all of the humor fully clicked and none of it felt forced, out of place, or damaged the mood of a scene. The only "complaint" I have is Lamar's behavior while on the "Apology Tour," you'd think he'd better be able to come across as genuine and that at the end of the episode at least he would have learned something but it seemed it didn't impact him that he a couple seconds away from the EST-"lobotomy."

The thing I found interesting to do is to pause the TV whenever the "Feed" was show close-up (and I've been watching YouTube review shows and pausing when screen-caps show the TVs and the Feed) to read the comments scrolling past and, sheesh, the people who wrote this episode and made those displays fucking nailed the way people on the internet talk. Just some of the comments on it (from both sides) reminded me of oh so many comment sections on news articles.

From the red/down side: "We don't need people like him in our society. CORRECT HIM!!!!" "I don't care that he takes care of his grandmother, he disgusts me!"

From the green/up side: "What he did was wrong but not illegal." "He's kind of cute, I say let him go." "Oh! He was such a cute child!!" (as they starting spamming the feed with positive stuff. )

If you get a chance look at the shots it's just humorous and so.... The Internet.

And, I dunno, I can't get over how adorable Alara is in her undercover gear and the way she reacts to the guy in the cafe and further to the situation that's being created, now knowing what happens on this planet if you do something "wrong."

It's just crazy to me, as if we had this "absolute unstructured democracy" this is how fucking things would be going and how people would act even over simple, stupid, little meaningless things. How many NFL players would be sent off to "correction" from all of the downvotes they're getting for kneeling during the National Anthem. Something small and ultimately meaningless and harmless and people out there act like it's the greatest crime of the century.

It's just wild to see what our society has become (mostly through the anonymity on-line) and how absurd we'd look as a society if we operated like this in the real world and let it truly guide our society.

Well done, The Orville. I changed my vote above to "Excellent" as there's really not been a TV show/episode that's spawned this much thought, imagination, and reflection in me for a long damn time and it's that kind of thing TNG used to do for me but DS9, Voyager and Enterprise never really achieved. There were a couple close ones, but not to this level, those shows had some better dramatic stuff in them that was more emotionally moving but nothing that just spurred this kind of reflection on things, something it seems to me that "good" Sci-Fi should do in the vein of earlier Trek and those horror/suspense anthology series. I mean, that's not to strictly say The Orville is necessarily "good Sci-Fi" on the ranks of those other series as there's still flaws, but this episode really doesn't have too big of ones beyond, maybe, the stuff around Lamar but we are dealing with an episodic TV series that, presumably, is supposed to have our characters "reset" with every episode and never really change or grow which has with it its own problems but something plenty of other series have done. (Including TOS and TNG where the events of an episode wouldn't much impact someone beyond that episode aside from the occasional call-back. Picard spent most of a life time as entirely different person, had a wife, children and grandchildren and when he comes out of he very quickly re-adapts to his normal life and by the next episode he's perfectly fine, the events of the episode only touched on a couple other times.)

I suspect all of the episodes for the season have been filmed, so I'll be interested to see what happens if/when there's a Season 2 to see if the show changes any to take on a more serialized story telling and the atmosphere and humor of it strikes the good balance that there was in this one and the hopefully keep going with this allegorical story telling.

I only saw the aired episode of DISC and just failed to impress and everything I've seen/read on it since just doesn't give me those "good vibes" I want from a Trek series, it just really seems like it's the kind of stuff other space-based Sci-Fi series during a war/battle situation have done. (BSG, B5 to think of a couple) The looks of the show don't make feel warm and looks like they'd spurn the thought in me Trek did in the past. It looks serious, and I'm sure there's good story telling and dramatic moments but, I dunno, it just doesn't look or sound like it's what I'd want to see or have in a Trek series. Which is a shame.

I suspect at some point I'll watch Discovery, but I'm not paying for CBSAA to watch it over the course of a couple months or whatever. I'm not even sure I'm 100% motivated to buy it on DVD when it's released. But Orville I feel like is one I'll buy the box set for, because every episode seems to improve the show and, again, just makes me feel comfy. It's just nice seeing this kind of future and setting instead of grimness that's in most other dramatic TV series. I watch The Walking Dead, I don't need more grimness and angst in my TV viewing. Orville feels fun and just makes me feel a little hopeful. (Not on the same level Trek did, but it's close.)

 

This was actually a plot point in the Night Stalker episode "Horror In The Heights."

 

Finished watching this just now, although it was an interesting idea, I just found it really boring.

 

I literally addressed this two posts above yours.

That's *this* universe, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Eff the haters.

Nothing personal, and I know what you say is true, but this post made me wish we had an 'explode' button in addition to 'like'.

 

Nice to see a couple Treak alums in Ron Canada and Steven Culp in this one.

I liked the epsiode very much. I gave it 4 stars. A definite statement on the ridiculousness of our society, but a little slow developing.

 

There is literally more than one dictionary, but literally all of them seem to have gone this route. It still literally makes me want to literally puke.

Because it's an interesting place where society is very different than the rest of the world. Because it's so isolated from the rest of the world. Because seeing things first hand is better than reading or hearing someone's opinion of them. Because it's very difficult to go there legally and you take the chance when you get it.
In my undergraduate days I took the opportunity to visit Poland for 6 weeks. This is when it was a communist country, albeit one with a lot of anti-communist citizens. It was a much more fulfilling experience than going to Cape Cod for the summer.

 

Meh, I still suffer over "normalcy."

 

I found it weird that one a scene on the ship they did not know what money was. Yet, they all seem to know everything else from our time period, a bit to much at times. We know the are not a cashless society as they mention getting paid etc.. in the series.

 

"Getting Paid" might only involve credits. But you're right, a lot of other references.

 

They mention having money in Star Trek on more than one occasion, then also mention they don't use money.

 

This show deserves not only to be back next year but also to get a longer season. Really enjoying this.
PS- Anyone else feel like the Orville resembles a space going version of SeaQuest? Especially from the front quarter under, the resemblance is uncanny.
In other SeaQuest/ Orville crossover stuff- John Debney is still on his game musically.

 

I'm okay with the shorter season. It should help us steer mostly clear of turds and repetitiveness.

Always leave on a high note.

 

Other than than the nostalgia value and some of the character interactions, I don't think it has much going for it really and it shouldn't be given anymore episodes than it already does.

 

I think shorter seasons are better for these shows.

The Orville doesn't hit my "nostalgia" buttons, other than perhaps in a very narrow sense. I just find it more entertaining than any other hour-longs on right now.

 

Agreed about the nostalgia value. That's a big draw for this show and a longer season would probably be counterproductive for it--the nostalgia would wear thin after awhile.

 

I'll admit, given we know they play Monopoly on the ship, everyone should be familiar with money from that.

 

Yet another example of the Orville ripping off star trek

 

That's interesting. I've not really seen that opinion stated before.