Ehmm what? You were having a casual conversation and she just mentioned it..?
THE ORVILLE S2, E11: "LASTING IMPRESSIONS"
- Thread starter Mudd
- Start date
Well, this was a nice episode. One great thing about Orville is that they don't feel compelled to have a token space battle or cosmic disaster in every episode. This was an actual Sci-Fi story about the effects of future technology on a person.
And for the second episode in a row, we get the continuing rehabilitation of Gordon from goofball to adult. I loved how his attraction to Laura began with his fascination at getting a glimpse into the life of a real person from the past. It reminded me of how I became fascinated with history when I was in grade school-- I'd look at ancient ruins and think of how they used to be somebody's house, and I'd wonder what they talked about and what they read and what jokes they told and so forth. With the technology available to make that come to life, a lot of people would be likely to get swept away in it (I can certainly think of at least a couple of historical women that I would really like to meet). In a sense, it was almost a classic Victorian ghost story where a living person becomes enamored of the dead. The odd thing about the story was the overreaction of the other characters-- I don't think, in a world where people have relationships with robots, that Gordon went over any line. He made one ill-fated attempt to change the parameters of the simulation, but he quickly saw the futility. Now if he had tried to continue the story beyond what was in the phone and compete with Greg, that would have been different.
The message of this episode was a bit more subtle than most, but Grayson was kind enough to spell it out for Gordon and the audience at the end. The Butterfly Effect is not an abstract concept. Every interaction with another human being can have almost infinite repercussions, for that person as an individual and, by extension, for society as a whole-- an idea made real by Laura having a direct impact on Gordon four hundred years after she died.
And just so that we don't forget that it's The Orville, we had Bortus and Klyden become chain smokers, a plot I found both repulsive and hilarious. I can barely stand to even look at people smoking, but I know several who do, so the satire of their addiction was appreciated.
And then there was LaMarr: "I know how you feel. Well, no, I don't...."
And for the second episode in a row, we get the continuing rehabilitation of Gordon from goofball to adult. I loved how his attraction to Laura began with his fascination at getting a glimpse into the life of a real person from the past. It reminded me of how I became fascinated with history when I was in grade school-- I'd look at ancient ruins and think of how they used to be somebody's house, and I'd wonder what they talked about and what they read and what jokes they told and so forth. With the technology available to make that come to life, a lot of people would be likely to get swept away in it (I can certainly think of at least a couple of historical women that I would really like to meet). In a sense, it was almost a classic Victorian ghost story where a living person becomes enamored of the dead. The odd thing about the story was the overreaction of the other characters-- I don't think, in a world where people have relationships with robots, that Gordon went over any line. He made one ill-fated attempt to change the parameters of the simulation, but he quickly saw the futility. Now if he had tried to continue the story beyond what was in the phone and compete with Greg, that would have been different.
The message of this episode was a bit more subtle than most, but Grayson was kind enough to spell it out for Gordon and the audience at the end. The Butterfly Effect is not an abstract concept. Every interaction with another human being can have almost infinite repercussions, for that person as an individual and, by extension, for society as a whole-- an idea made real by Laura having a direct impact on Gordon four hundred years after she died.
And just so that we don't forget that it's The Orville, we had Bortus and Klyden become chain smokers, a plot I found both repulsive and hilarious. I can barely stand to even look at people smoking, but I know several who do, so the satire of their addiction was appreciated.
And then there was LaMarr: "I know how you feel. Well, no, I don't...."
That’s a “kindness” I can do without. First, the “message” wasn’t that subtle. Second, We. Should. Not. Have. To. Be. Spoonfed.
I enjoyed the episode overall, but that scene was an irritant, not a benefit.
I overheard a conversation between her and her friend (also riding that bus). I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but they were sitting right in front of me, and you try minding your own business when something like that is being discussed.
I understand what they were trying to do, but the episode is boring. Only the comedic moments between Bortus and Klyden stood out (and even then it's nothing really great).
Once a season two set of scoring is issues by La La Land Records one day, there will be no reason for me to ever see this episode again.
CinemaSins: "Skip!"
Once a season two set of scoring is issues by La La Land Records one day, there will be no reason for me to ever see this episode again.
CinemaSins: "Skip!"
Definitely felt like it was missing that 2 minute coda at the end where he looks Laura up and finds out how her life ended up...
But overall enjoyable. Didn't like that the rest of the crew were acting like assholes to Gordon at the party, though. For a pop-culture obsessed group of people, they had zero interest in this and were kinda dicks. They didn't do enough to establish that it was a weird obsession for Gordon before they jumped to this overreaction, i guess...
But overall enjoyable. Didn't like that the rest of the crew were acting like assholes to Gordon at the party, though. For a pop-culture obsessed group of people, they had zero interest in this and were kinda dicks. They didn't do enough to establish that it was a weird obsession for Gordon before they jumped to this overreaction, i guess...
When people are having conversations in a public place, you aren't invading their privacy. Writers do it all the time.
I really don't see how that would be possible. Laura likely lived a quiet life and died a quiet death. There likely wouldn't be a record of her four hundred years later.
Or even if there was, it probably wouldn't provide any further sense of closure for Gordon.
Gordon used to take real women to the holodeck. (Deleted scenes from "Evolution" episode 3.01) 
I enjoyed this one. A whole fuckton more meaningful than either "Booby Trap" or "Galaxy's Child."
I loved seeing the crew in present-day garb.
I loved seeing the crew in present-day garb.
^ his hair looks the same
And Wil Wheaton can guest star as Gordon's old pal.
Wasn't expecting to find enough for later simulations or find out she was President of Earth or anything, or even much detail. Just some sort of 'ended up marrying the bf (or not), children, age/cause of death, whether she ever made it as a singer', that sort of thing. Assuming no random 'WW3 that fragmented the records' excuse like TOS used, most of that should be public record and could have survived. It's harder to do today because digital is fairly new, but people can trace basic genealogy today back hundreds of years (or more in some cases). If we're only trying to go back to 2015 (yes, plus 400 years, so time and loss of records is a factor), we're starting with digital records as a baseline, so much more likely to still exist into the future.
Given that the crew seems to be 2000's pop culture junkies, seems like a lot survived from that period. Didn't need a drawn out scene of the rest of her life or aging, any of that, just a 30 second clip of Gordon doing some digging, finding out she made it as a singer, ended up marrying the guy that she "dumped" Gordon for, lived to be 85, that sort of thing. Allows the scene some closure, so that he finds out how the story turned out without him instead of just quitting once he realized he couldn't have the real thing and it was wrong to game the simulation and ruin what was real about it.
I dunno, it would have been nice to discover she ultimately ended up being a mildly successful singer.
I was hoping for that too. Mainly just because I was curious what became of the real Laura after 2015.
From one perspective, it is certainly a testament to the writing and acting that Laura was such a memorable character after just a single episode. I remember Leighton Meester from Surfacing (???) but not much else and I was really impressed with her acting here.
