The Orville Season Two - Thoughts?

[Zardnaar]

I like Mercer just less than the other characters.

 

[Orius]

Well it went like this:

[sblock]Without the second date, Ed and Kelly never married, and never got divorced. Without the chain of events that eventually made Ed the captain of the Orville, Isaac never bonded with Claire and her kids, and thus never developed sympathy for humans, and he stayed deactivated on Kaylon. So the Kaylons were able to take everyone by surprise. And it got nasty.

We got to see Alara again for a bit. Didn't see that coming. The detachable flying heads make thins even worse too. I got some more Star Wars vibes from this episode too, like Yaphit greeting them at the hidden base.

[/sblock]

It was a pretty good end to the season.

 

[Richards]

Agreed, except for the whole "let's hide our starship just inside the event horizon of a black hole" stratagem. I'm willing to accept quantum drives and such in a science fiction show, but to mess up how black holes like that work? Ugh. And to make it worse, when they left the black hole, their chronometers showed that days had passed... ugh again. Time would have passed for the chronometers at the same rate as for everything else on the ship: several minutes. (Unless their chronometers are constantly getting updated by a source in normal space and suddenly "caught up" once they left the event horizon.)

On other nitpicking fronts, I'm pretty sure the bottles of booze would have fallen off the shelves during the Orville's crash to the bottom of the seven-mile-deep oceanic trench. (The fact that they made such a point about the intense pressure under seven miles of ocean made ignoring the pressure from inside a black hole even that much more painful to stomach.) Unless Bortis made cleaning up the bar and restacking the bottles a top priority during his solitary stay.)

But still: an interesting episode, and it was good to see Alara again, even if only briefly. And I wonder how that removable head process works for Kaylons - are they able to maneuver their headless bodies when their heads go flying off to pursue enemies? Do they have sensory apparatus in their torsos equivalent to those in their heads?

Johnathan

 

[Ryujin]

So the alternate timeline of a Star Trek homage is a Star WARS homage? Who knew?

 

[CapnZapp]

Whelp, that didn't take long. To crush my dreams, that is.

Yes, it was the entirely predictable option that won out: Mercer is officially needed to save the universe.

On the plus side. Alara, yay! Kelly's cleavage. And I didn't mind the Star Wars homage.

On the minus side, the science made my head hurt, repeatedly. There's no need to talk about it because it was so needless. The black hole obviously. Speeding straight through the water's surface. Brrr...

This ep wins the award for Most Predictable Ep. As soon as Rebel-Kelly explained her plan, I knew exactly how the episode would end, and so did most of you too. At least the pace was zippy - they were clearly aware they had a lot of plot to cover, even if we've seen all the parts before. (Felt somewhat like Family Guy's Star Wars homage: you know everything that's going to happen but you watch anyway)

Still - this could have been the show's way of mixing it up for season 3. An opportunity lost.

Kelly should be made Captain. They should allow her to recollect glimpses of the alternative timelines. (A vague recollection of how cleave helps her be in command and be successful would be a nice start!) Mercer should be assigned whatever department that wears red shirts. Alara needs to come back. And so should all the silliness as well: Tharl. Blue Rob Lowe. John as God's gift to women (give him the Troy counsellor job, with Ensign Turco as his secretary). Yaphit deserves the Engineering promotion. And for the love of god, cut down on the universe-saving plots.

We'll see if there's a third season. Otherwise: it has been great having someplace to discuss the show. Thanks.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[MNblockhead]

I enjoyed it, but it was a weak ending for season 2.

 

[cbwjm]

I thought it was one of the best episodes so far, a lot more action oriented with a lot riding on their success. I also liked the the visual effects. The destroyed moon, the lack of sea life was a nice touch, and I thought it was awesome when the Orville flew again.

 

[CapnZapp]

Considering how bad things are in this episode, other than Claire, everyone's hair and clothing and face is all clean, etc.

Costuming/makeup did NOT do its job to reflect how bad things are on the characters.

PLUS:

If the Kalyon's are so superior, why were they so bad marksmanship and tacticians.

As for bad tacticians... why did the rebels leave their base to become living targets? And why was the base not covered from all sides from the Kalyons?

It felt like they rushed to get this strip written/approved/filmed without thinking it through.

Over all, this was one of the poorest outings for the Orville.

The answer to all your questions is spelled "star" and "wars" [emoji4]

 

[CapnZapp]

I thought it was one of the best episodes so far, a lot more action oriented with a lot riding on their success. I also liked the the visual effects. The destroyed moon, the lack of sea life was a nice touch, and I thought it was awesome when the Orville flew again.

I see your point. However. Since I was thoroughly convinced where this was headed, it all felt a bit like going through the motions.

I mean, the second I realized McFarland had chosen the most self-indulgent story possible, right when Rebel Kelly explained her plan after the opening action scene, no way he was going to delay that by adding failure to the plot.

So my enjoyment was lessened by the predictability and inevitability of it. Going through the motions, as it were.

Does that mean I disagree about the visuals? Heck no!

But it means my comparison to Family Guy Star Wars wasn't random. It was very much like that: following a plot you already know by heart. Pretty visuals keep you entertained, but you can't keep from wondering how much better it could have been if they had added even a smidgen of suspense, originality and unpredictability.

[emoji55]