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THE ORVILLE, S2 E12: "SANCTUARY"

Rena Owen did a really nice job as the female Moclan. She seemed kind of familiar to me but I couldn't place it but she's a recurring cast member on Siren.
 
What a terrific episode! This is the best of what I hope for from a good episode. We got some action, a great moral, moments of true heroism, and an outcome that, while not everything we wanted, was a great step forward for the women of Moclus. It is my hope that we also see Bortus and Klyden start healing their relationship, as Topa being agreeable with the young girl in his class may be a sign Klyden has seen some kind of error, or is, at the very least, willing to start listening.

Again, this episode touches on real events that happen now in our society, where the United States (or the U.N. if you wish) has these ideas they strive for, but tend to look the other way when they are dependent upon another culture for resources. Ed makes a great point that it is foolishness to put all of your eggs in one basket, and having to rely on a culture that transgresses the greatest ideals of our nation (or group of nations) in order to keep the gravy train rolling.

It asks us what do we actually believe, and what are we willing to defend when our ideas are put to the test. If we compromise our values just to get what we want, how good are those values and are they even worth defending?

Oh, and the use of "9 to 5" as the clarion call of the movement and battle anthem was just terrific. :lol:

All in all, terrific episode. A+
 
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Or Disney+
I don't really see this as the kind of family friendly content they are going for with Disney+, so if it was going to go to one of Disney's streaming services I'm thinking Hulu would be a lot more likely.
I liked the episode, but I kinda hated the ending.

They were setting up the episode as a no-win solution for The Union. Either they side with the Moclan homeworld for reasons of realpolitik, and completely jettison morality, or they stand for righteousness and The Union is sundered. They found some wishy-washy middle ground and the status quo was largely retained. Even the fight on the female colony planet was low stakes, with everyone seemingly stunned or knocked out.

Really the only lasting result here was character growth for Bortus, and the continued souring of his marriage with Klyven.
I've got to disagree, the ending was a perfect compromise for this sort of situation.
 
I don't really see this as the kind of family friendly content they are going for with Disney+, so if it was going to go to one of Disney's streaming services I'm thinking Hulu would be a lot more likely.

I've got to disagree, the ending was a perfect compromise for this sort of situation.
Exactly. They could do what the U.S. does and either pretend nothing is happening, or actually villainize the refugees. The solution presented by Admiral Halsey was pretty sound because it allowed Moclus to "save face" without allowing innocent people to be mutilated in the name of tradition, as far as I'm concerned.
 
Enjoyed the episode.

Was that Dann's species in the council? The pair seemed to lacked the colorations Dann had but otherwise looked the same.

I'm starting to hope season 3 would be less Moclan-centric if we get a season 3

Sometimes I think they just make up aliens on the fly, and sometimes they look like a previous one :lol:


Tony Todd! Tony Todd! Tony Todd! Warmed my heart to see the man pretty much solely responsible for my favorite TV episode ever (DS9's 'The Visitor') make a cameo. The episode itself I found fantastic. Wonderful, intelligent social commentary and genuine tension.

PLEASE GOD RENEW THE ORVILLE.

Yeah, Tony Todd appearing was fantastic. Recognized him right away.

That man's voice is as recognizable as James Earl Jones, at least to ST fans :) As much as J.G. Hertzler.
 
Very good episode. I liked that they gone this route, though it is obvious nowadays. Still something is missing, maybe the characters have not been explored that deeply yet, but that is what seven seasons are there for.

And as I never heard music from Dolly Parton, I was surprised, how good it sounds, being from Europe and having no clue about Dolly, only associating her with country and such.

And I had to watch the episode guest list twice, as Marina was seen right after the credits, but her name was bundled with two other names while Tony and many others all had single spots. That felt strange.
 
This episode had a lot going on, and at times I wasn't sure quite where they were going with it. Definitely really engaging, and Dolly Parton playing during the space battle was total win! Somehow, Ed's solution to convince the Moclans to stay with the Union and leave the sanctuary colony alone by telling them that the female colony probably wouldn't be noticed by the Kaylon meaning and Moclan survivors would be all female both illustrates how piss-headed Moclans can be, and comes across as a realistic scenario that I could see working in real-world politics.

Something I picked up on during the last Moclan episode that this one continues to explore is the rather interesting juxtaposition they have created with Bortus. Although arguably one of the more conservative members of the Orville crew, he is downright progressive by Moclan standards. And somewhat ironically given this episode's solution is all about finding a middle ground, there is no middle ground when it comes to Klyden. He is either used for comic relief, or his storyline is dark.

And considering all the hype that surrounded the casting of Marina Sirtis, her role really wasn't all that significant. Her character didn't even have a name.
 
I am feeling more and more that this will be the final season of Orville. I am picking up a tone, which I might be misinterpreting from their twitter account, of resignation, of people knowing this will be the final season and making the best of a situation.

If the next two episodes are as good as the lastest episode, Orivlle will have ended at a high, which is fantastic.

I have enjoyed this season and have seen all but one episode. I did not watch the episode with the cell phone. I do not like love story of the week episodes. It doesn't matter what show these episodes run in, they always seem to be among the more disappointing episodes.
 
Shows come and go, I enjoy them while they're here and lament when they're cancelled. However, I don't see any point in tracking them just let me know when they're done. I'm not going to do anything different based on prognostication.
 
And as I never heard music from Dolly Parton, I was surprised, how good it sounds, being from Europe and having no clue about Dolly, only associating her with country and such.

Dolly is a cultural treasure. It seems that ther are two things people think of when her name comes up- her looks and the fact that she sings country. In truth, she's an intelligent woman who made her name in a VERY misogynist culture. She's a successful businesswoman and she has done a lot for child literacy, moving millions of books into kids' hands for over 23 years.

If you want to see some true artistry, country that goes beyond dating one's cousin, go ahead and look up her songs "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You". You'll have to look them up with her name, because Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" is more famous, and Miley Cyrus' "Jolene" cover also has the top rank on YouTube.

As far as the episode goes, I loved it. I think it was a good place to leave the Moclans for now.

I really, really hope that either we get a season three, or a movie a la Timeless.
 
Going to agree, I suspect the show might not be renewed and there is more dimension and depth to The Moclan Show (to the point Klyden is going to get knifed by Bortis, if by nobody else) in terms of upping the ante for the current situations...

"Sanctuary" feels a tad rushed, but does a far better job at juggling so many complex and intertwined elements smoothly compared to "Identity PART TWO" (emphasis added, part one is a genuine masterpiece of buildup and part two is trying to move the arc forward but felt too by-the-numbers with too many conveniences and contrivances.)

A teaser for the season 2 finale did mention the continued repercussions of Kelly's actions. I was anticipating next week to show such an action, not this week. I'll try to find the source article, assuming it wasn't in a Wikipedia entry.

Also, it's been crickets regarding Isaac. Dr Finn and her kids have been conspicuously absent as well. Would rather have had some progression for Isaac's current situation, the girl from a couple episodes ago where her blood goes all boom boom splodey in an oxygen atmosphere as she's still locked up in her cabin there... as well as other sufficiently explosive plot issues lingering addressed with a little more buildup and pacing rather than having that cell phone filler episode waste 49 precious minutes, especially if the makers are trying to move forward on these arcs so fast out of fear the show would be canceled?
 
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