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THE ORVILLE S2, E3: "HOME"

Alara was my favorite character, beyond the obvious, I'm not sure why but Halston Sage just really seemed to bring the character to life with her acting. It just somehow really, really worked. I don't see that easily being replaced with the eventual Xelayan female replacement.
I agree that Alara was a great character. The new woman character will need to be someone who brings something completely different to the table -- her own unique personality, quirks, strengths, & weaknesses.
 
I can see them going a route that's opposite of what Alara was, like Alara had some level of fun and quirkiness to her -fitting with this crew- but the new one I could see them going sort of..... A Dr. Pulaski route with her.

Like she won't be as ready to showcase her abilities like Alara did, the regular arm wrestling matches with Issac. Mercer will probably give her the "open this jar of pickles" line and she'll look at him like, "WTF is that supposed to mean?!"

I see that being the route as it'd just be too "obvious" to pluck her in there as a carbon-copy of Alara.

Alara just worked nicely. I watched a couple Season 1 episodes from my DVDs the other day and, well, Alara was just fun and she's been a stand-out character for me since the second or third episode where she had command.

It's just really heartbreaking to have her gone.
 
I can see them going a route that's opposite of what Alara was, like Alara had some level of fun and quirkiness to her -fitting with this crew- but the new one I could see them going sort of..... A Dr. Pulaski route with her.
Not a bad idea -- although Dr. Pulaski didn't exactly work out as a character. But I do like the idea of someone VERY different from Alara. For example, given that Alara had a terrible time dating, this new person could be promiscuous. Maybe she's always after Bortus or gets kinky with Isaac.
 
Whilst it was great seeing Phlox Vs. The EMH I didn't love this episode. That is, until the end. Very emotional goodbye to Alara. A real sense of sadness that she's gone.
 
Not a bad idea -- although Dr. Pulaski didn't exactly work out as a character. But I do like the idea of someone VERY different from Alara. For example, given that Alara had a terrible time dating, this new person could be promiscuous. Maybe she's always after Bortus or gets kinky with Isaac.

And when Halston is ready to come back, the new security chief falls down an turbolift shaft.
 
I don't know what to say about this episode. The segment featuring Picardo and Billingsley was interesting on its own. Otherwise, it was slightly better than the first two, but it still struck me as "meh". And Alara's good-bye almost reminds me of Neelix's departure from "Voyager" in one of the late Season 7 episodes.
 
I don't know what to say about this episode. The segment featuring Picardo and Billingsley was interesting on its own. Otherwise, it was slightly better than the first two, but it still struck me as "meh". And Alara's good-bye almost reminds me of Neelix's departure from "Voyager" in one of the late Season 7 episodes.

Yeah, I had similar "vibes" too with that comparison.

Not a bad idea -- although Dr. Pulaski didn't exactly work out as a character. But I do like the idea of someone VERY different from Alara. For example, given that Alara had a terrible time dating, this new person could be promiscuous. Maybe she's always after Bortus or gets kinky with Isaac.

That wasn't exactly supposed to be a "good" thing and was, pretty much, exactly my point. Pulaski didn't work out because she was too contrasting of a character to the others and too different from Crusher. (Among other problems I have with Pulaski but that's not here or there.)

The problem with going with someone very different from Alara is that they wouldn't be able to "replace" Alara so it'd leave this obvious hole in the dynamic. But, at the same time, they can't replace her with a with like a third-layer carbon copy because, well, it'd come out exactly look like what it is. A poor imitation.

There's a middle ground in there somewhere between it being an Alara clone ( a cute, plucky, little thing with a thirst for tequila shots and showing off her "powers") and the polar opposite as a hard-nosed person with no time for the "antics" on this ship who needs to be warmed to the crew.

Just not sure how it'll work. I hope it does, but, man... I'm going to miss Alara a lot.
 
Not a bad idea -- although Dr. Pulaski didn't exactly work out as a character. But I do like the idea of someone VERY different from Alara. For example, given that Alara had a terrible time dating, this new person could be promiscuous. Maybe she's always after Bortus or gets kinky with Isaac.

Pulaski didn't work out because she wasn't on the show long enough. Toward the end of the second season, the plan for her character arc was starting to become clear. She was building a strong friendship with Data, for example, whom she dismissed in the earlier episodes. In some ways it was too bad we never got to see her again.
 
IMO for me - this was the best of the three episodes broadcast this season to date. Still sorry to see my favorite character go; but that's Hollywood. :)
 
Pulaski didn't work out because she wasn't on the show long enough. Toward the end of the second season, the plan for her character arc was starting to become clear. She was building a strong friendship with Data, for example, whom she dismissed in the earlier episodes. In some ways it was too bad we never got to see her again.

The problem with Pulaski was that they started her out at, like, 11 and then tried dialing her down to a more moderate level as the season went on. It's silly to say she didn't have long enough to "work" since all of the other characters, even Crusher, worked just fine at the end of the first season.

The problem with Pulaski is that they too much wanted to have a Spock/McCoy dynamic between her and Data, but Data isn't the same thing as Spock. When McCoy would tease Spock or give him grief, Spock could handle it and even dish it back out. There was also a "friends giving each other grief" dynamic to it. It worked.

With Data.... It kind of felt like she was picking on a child. Not to mention the fact that her earliest interactions with him pretty much amounted to her dismissing Data's existence as a "living" being, going as far as to questioning Data's "complaints" when Pulaski said his name wrong.

Yeah, she mellowed as the season went on, taking to Data more and more, but it's hard to overcome her coming out of the gate at a full gallop, calling Data "it" and talking about him in third-person when he's in the same room, dismissing his ability to do his own friggin' job.

You don't endear an audience to a character by having her barge through the gate, dumping a kid's books while think herself superior for it.
 
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The problem with Pulaski is that they too much wanted to have a Spock/McCoy dynamic between her and Data, but Data isn't the same thing as Spock. When McCoy would tease Spock or give him grief, Spock could handle it and even dish it back out. There was also a "friends giving each other grief" dynamic to it. It worked.

With Data.... It kind of felt like she was picking on a child.

Yeah, I remember one of the TNG writers admitted that was a mistake, saying that trying to create conflict with Data was like trying to create conflict with a puppy dog.
 
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I was introduced to Trek during the 2nd season of TNG (The Dauphin) and actually liked Pulaski's character, who reminded me of my aunt in many ways. Diana Muldaur was quite pretty for a woman in her middle age. I read on Wikipedia that the writers had tried to emulate the dynamics between Spock and McCoy but it didn't quite work.
 
She also had the history with Star Trek that spoke to fans of the original series, or at least it spoke to me.
 
I definitely liked that they hired a TOS alumna for the role and I did like Pulaski, though I was not happy about them kicking Crusher to the curb. I always thought that it was a shame that she never got to reprise her role in later seasons or on DS9. I always kind of envisioned DS9 as a place where fringe characters might show up, like Pulaski or Lore or the Traveler or whatever, before they turned it into a war show.
 
Another weak episode IMHO. Still waiting for a good "whiz\bang" episode. Fingers crossed for this weeks Krill episode. While it had it's moments it was mostly just an hour long goodbye to Halston.
It was nice to see Phlox and the EMH, both good actors.
The Xelayahans were like Vulcans without the humility and tact, LOL.

Best line of the episode goes to Scott\Gorden:
"Y'know it's places like this that make me realize... God, I'm trash. My family's trash."
You would never hear that on ANY Trek show.
 
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