The Orville

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
Just watched the episode. It was a good episode, but way too much pew pew for my liking. In my opinion, pew pew is a sign of unintellectual entertainment. Star Trek didn't need any pew pew. Sure, they had some of it, mostly in DS9. The Orville would be better without pew pew. I could say more, but since @YJ02 is not able to watch it, and he is one of the only three people left who mostly post here, I don't want to spoil it for him. I don't mean to count you out @Atlantis, but truthfully you don't really participate in discussions here. Your visits are appreciated though.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Domino is a very good episode and does tie some season long arcs together.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
Just watched the episode. It was a good episode, but way too much pew pew for my liking. In my opinion, pew pew is a sign of unintellectual entertainment. Star Trek didn't need any pew pew. Sure, they had some of it, mostly in DS9. The Orville would be better without pew pew. I could say more, but since @YJ02 is not able to watch it, and he is one of the only three people left who mostly post here, I don't want to spoil it for him. I don't mean to count you out @Atlantis, but truthfully you don't really participate in discussions here. Your visits are appreciated though.
yeah.. PEW PEW has its place in the right setting, some shows, it just doesn't fit in right

spoil away. .doesn't bother me! i always watch the shows anyhow to experience everything for my self :)
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
If you're talking about Domino while it had a major motion picture quality battle the focus of the story was much more on the characters, their decisions (and sacrifices) and what ended up as a pretty large rearrangement of the pieces on the galactic chessboard so to speak.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
ok.. so what is 'shadowmann' so excited about? :)

twitter is so shallow, no space for any depth of conversation

Shadow Mann
@ShadowMann9
·
21h

Fresh off #TheOrvilleNewHorizons S3E9 "Domino", and I just have to say that this episode was the most exciting, most powerful and most cinematic of them all. There is both joy and pain. We are talking Star Wars level stuff here. This may actually edge it out a bit. Its THAT good
@Joelist i wasn't talking about domino,,, 'shadow mann was

guess he got sucked back into the twitter maelstrom :)
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
Well, for one thing Charly is dead. They tried to redeem her. In my opinion that arc failed. She went from absolutely hating robots, to suddenly being friends with one, to suddenly sacrificing herself to save the entire robot species. What a nutjob! That wasn't believable at all. Anyway, I'm glad she's gone.

The Moclans are out of the Planetary Union. That happened in the before-last episode already. They have now allied themselves with the Krill. Speaking of Moclans, Klyden is back on the ship. Hoorah!
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
That was a nice finale! Tonally much lighter than the rest of the season but it still had an interesting science fiction subplot. Comedy is present in this one but it is a more mature brand than in season one and everything just feels natural. I REALLY hope this gets a Season Four as it has really hit a good stride.
 

Atlantis

Well Known GateFan
Well, for one thing Charly is dead. They tried to redeem her. In my opinion that arc failed. She went from absolutely hating robots, to suddenly being friends with one, to suddenly sacrificing herself to save the entire robot species. What a nutjob! That wasn't believable at all. Anyway, I'm glad she's gone.

The Moclans are out of the Planetary Union. That happened in the before-last episode already. They have now allied themselves with the Krill. Speaking of Moclans, Klyden is back on the ship. Hoorah!
Let's face it the only reason why she was hired because she is very pretty/beautiful. I didn't like her character though, I thought she was trying too hard.

I loved this though
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0MEu3emgg8
 
Last edited:

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Charly's character was okay and went through a good arc. Her personality did grate on people but that was also incorporated into the show when both Ed and LaMarr on different occasions called her out on being disrespectful. Ultimately, however, she did come to trust Issac and actually sacrificed herself to preserve the Kaylon race - an act crucial to convincing Kaylon Primary that these biologicals were not the same as the builders.
 

Lord Ba'al

Well Known GateFan
Let's face it the only reason why she was hired because she is very pretty/beautiful. I didn't like her character though, I thought she was trying too hard.

I loved this though
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0MEu3emgg8
Yeah, the singing was alright. She sang well. Gordon sings well too.

I liked this last episode a lot better than the previous one. Had a bunch of good laughs. Looks like Charly is being replaced with Lysella. Not in the same capacity though. Nice to see Alara again, if only for a brief cameo. Can't believe the season is already over. Need more!
 

Atlantis

Well Known GateFan
Yeah, the singing was alright. She sang well. Gordon sings well too.

I liked this last episode a lot better than the previous one. Had a bunch of good laughs. Looks like Charly is being replaced with Lysella. Not in the same capacity though. Nice to see Alara again, if only for a brief cameo. Can't believe the season is already over. Need more!
Yeah would have loved more episodes his passage of time track was excellent too. Looks like Lysella is replacing Charly.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Hi!

Been very busy with work, but now I have the time to work up a fuller report card of Season 3 of the Orville

The Positives

1) The higher budget allowed for a visual revamp of the show. This resulted in not only dramatically improved SFX but also the basic sets and uniforms and such were made more consistent with the tone of the show. Which leads me to...

2) The show did a better job in Season 3 of setting and keeping a consistent tone. And that tone was definitely less comical than either Season 1 or Season 2. Now it is true that Season 2 was less comedic than Season 1 - and Season 3 continues this trend. In tone and feel the show as a whole and Season 3 especially feel kind of like what would happen if Star Trek TNG and The Expanse had a child.

3) The writing was VERY sharp for the most part, yielding some memorable episodes and NO bad ones. The scripts were mostly actual Science Fiction and it was interesting that the writers room showed no hesitation in resetting the galactic table pretty drastically. At season start the Union and the Krill were allied defensively against the Kaylons. By the end the Kaylons are allied with the Union against a Krill-Moclan alliance.

Also, the characterizations were well drawn both of friend and foe. Time was also taken to color in a lot of blanks in the cultures of The Krill, Kaylons and Moclans. And individual characters were also well drawn.

4) GREAT acting across the board.

The Not so Positive

1) Hulu is a crappy platform. This is especially true in light of then adding it to Disney+ - if they were going to do this they should have done it from the start because as a streaming platform it is far better. It is more advanced technically and had no ads.

2) There were a couple of instances where they made a provocative point but never really followed through with it. For example, the Moclans made the accusation that the Union was paternalistic and interfering with their culture which was none of the Union's business. While it is true that the Moclans went beyond the pale in seizing Topa and torturing her it would still have been good to actually explore the question of the Union being busybodies.

3) Also while we are on Moclan things, how about actually explaining Moclan reproductive physiology? As presented it makes no sense. If they are a single gender species that lays eggs, how can Topa have genetic material from both Bortus and Klyden? If Topa possesses genetics from both then their reproductive cycle has to include some kind of insemination - in which case Bortus and Klyden cannot be the same gender. This of course leads to the issue of how "females" could even exist and why would the Moclans even comprehend the concept?

Here's hoping for a Season 4!
 
Last edited:

Shadow Mann

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Hi!

Been very busy with work, but now I have the time to work up a fuller report card of Season 3 of the Orville

The Positives

1) The higher budget allowed for a visual revamp of the show. This resulted in not only dramatically improved SFX but also the basic sets and uniforms and such were made more consistent with the tone of the show. Which leads me to...

2) The show did a better job in Season 3 of setting and keeping a consistent tone. And that tone was definitely less comical than either Season 1 or Season 2. Now it is true that Season 2 was less comedic than Season 1 - and Season 3 continues this trend. In tone and feel the show as a whole and Season 3 especially feel kind of like what would happen if Star Trek TNG and The Expanse had a child.

3) The writing was VERY sharp for the most part, yielding some memorable episodes and NO bad ones. The scripts were mostly actual Science Fiction and it was interesting that the writers room showed no hesitation in resetting the galactic table pretty drastically. At season start the Union and the Krill were allied defensively against the Kaylons. By the end the Kaylons are allied with the Union against a Krill-Moclan alliance.

Also, the characterizations were well drawn both of friend and foe. Time was also taken to color in a lot of blanks in the cultures of The Krill, Kaylons and Moclans. And individual characters were also well drawn.

4) GREAT acting across the board.

The Not so Positive

1) Hulu is a crappy platform. This is especially true in light of then adding it to Disney+ - if they were going to do this they should have done it from the start because as a streaming platform it is far better. It is more advanced technically and had no ads.

2) There were a couple of instances where they made a provocative point but never really followed through with it. For example, the Moclans made the accusation that the Union was paternalistic and interfering with their culture which was none of the Union's business. While it is true that the Moclans went beyond the pale in seizing Topa and torturing her it would still have been good to actually explore the question of the Union being busybodies.

3) Also while we are on Moclan things, how about actually explaining Moclan reproductive physiology? As presented it makes no sense. If they are a single gender species that lays eggs, how can Topa have genetic material from both Bortus and Klyden? If Topa possesses genetics from both then their reproductive cycle has to include some kind of insemination - in which case Bortus and Klyden cannot be the same gender. This of course leads to the issue of how "females" could even exist and why would the Moclans even comprehend the concept?

Here's hoping for a Season 4!
Great comments, Joelist!

Yes, Season 3 cemented The Orville firmly into the visceral slot that Star Trek TNG used to occupy. It has matured into a full-fledged, serious Roddenberry tone that suits it very well. I feel like we have gotten Star Trek back, only better. I am the same guy who sat in front of the TV on September 8, 1966 and watched the first episode of Star Trek air, and I am saying that The Orville is now better than Star Trek. I know this now because I have stopped rewatching it.

There are those on Twitter who complain it isn't as funny as it was in Season 1, but I am glad the comedy is gone. It has been replaced with nuanced humor like it was in original Star Trek. Leave the slapstick to Lower Decks and parodies like Galaxy Quest and Spaceballs. We needed a serious Orville! In my opinion, of course.

Now, we are in a holding pattern with the Season renewal. I agree with you about Hulu being a crap platform compared to Disney+, but now that it has been put on there it is getting even more popular than before. The production values and action and writing literally puts it in the same league as Star wars. Yes, you read that right! Star Wars has nothing on this show except a longer history and expanded lore. But Disney has derailed it. NuTrek is just LOL. The Orville makes it look like a CW show IMO.
 

Shadow Mann

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Yeah, the singing was alright. She sang well. Gordon sings well too.

I liked this last episode a lot better than the previous one. Had a bunch of good laughs. Looks like Charly is being replaced with Lysella. Not in the same capacity though. Nice to see Alara again, if only for a brief cameo. Can't believe the season is already over. Need more!
#RenewTheOrville!
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Hi there! Welcome back!

If you note I did detailed write-ups of both The Orville and Strange New Worlds. And while SNW is EASILY the best NuTrek The Orville is in another class. The Orville is polished, refined, VERY well acted and well written. Tonally it is consistent and it really does feel like a fusion between TNG and The Expanse. This is a show with a great writers room and it looks, acts and talks mature - the dialogue feels like professionals talking when it is that time and doesn't feel like a bunch of millennials at a bar.

SNW had good acting, charismatic characters (a first for NuTrek) and SOME episodes were well written. Tonally it is also a huge improvement. But it was EXTREMELY inconsistent, had some (thankfully only some) cringey woke moments and needs a different writer for dialogue especially on the bridge. It is handicapped however by Kurtzman but I sigh a bit at the potential - with a GOOD show runner and Kurtzman forbidden to intervene this could be so much more.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Yep!

Hopefully we get the Season 4 approval soon also. Interestingly Seth had the presence of mind to write the Season 3 finale in such a way that it both gives us threads to pursue AND leaves everyone in a good place if the need is to wrapup.
 

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Yes, I noted it in my review - Hulu is not a good quality streamer.
 
Top