The Orville - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[BobO'Link]

I've avoided this thread until I could finally make time for the last episode, "Firestorm." I did that Saturday night.

I apologize up front for the length of this post. I'm playing catch-up...

I'm with Alan in it being the worst episode so far. It, to me, just wasn't engaging and turned out to be a total cheat. Plus it was a dreaded holodeck episode (I hate almost all of those). I absolutely didn't understand why they put jump scares and a "horror clown" in the show. Neither fits at all. OK... if it were a Halloween episode, maybe, but it just went on far too long before there was resolution. I found myself not truly caring about half-way through the episode. It's the most bored I've been with an episode of The Orville.

I have never been a fan of Brannon Braga. Tonight's episode did nothing to change my opinion. For me, it was by far the worst episode of THE ORVILLE yet to air.

I can't believe they wasted one of their precious thirteen (oh, wait--make that twelve!) season one episodes on that.

I've always believed the shorter the season order, the better the episodes should be.

Exactly.

RE: Braga. I couldn't pick Braga, one of his scripts, or episodes of anything he's directed out of a group of two other than by chance. For that reason I absolutely couldn't tell you what, if any, impact I feel he may have had on this episode.

Lots of wandering around barren hallways for a lame payoff. It felt like one of those Jimmy Olsen comics from the 60's in its elaborate dumbness.

Hey! I read those Jimmy Olsen comics! They were rather... ummm... pretty much like you said. I bought them anyway out of a love for anything Superman.

It also suffered from the lame sets they use on this show. Nothing looks real or lived in. There's almost no set decoration to speak of. It looks really, really cheap to me. And all the shit that was falling from the ceiling in the beginning -- what exactly is falling, and why are huge chunks like that just raining down after a couple of hits to the ship? And why did those falling beams look like they were made of concrete? Is the Orville made out of concrete? Again, the sets are completely unconvincing and fake looking.

I wondered the same thing. Just where did all those heavy beams come from? Isn't this a star ship? They wouldn't have such construction or materials on board. Lame plot device #1.

I've always had two issues with Halston Sage's portrayal of Alara -- first, she has a flat affect in her speech that's fine when she plays teenagers, but comes off as immature as a chief of security. There was moment in If the Stars Should Appear where I though she had turned a corner, but that never came to be.

She's still light years ahead of the performance being handed in by Martin-Green on STD. I know people have argued it's because she was raised as a Vulcan but it's one of the most wooden readings I've ever heard.

I do agree that she is too tiny and maybe she’s supposed to look that way to make her enormous strength ironic.

That's what I've always thought. You just don't think of that deminuative girl as being able to pick up and manipulate such heavy objects.

I don't know that i have an opinion about whether the show was moral or not, but I feel that it was a worthwhile exercise. Alara comes from a planet of highly intellectual people, and on top of that, has super strength. Fear is a new experience for her and she doesn't know how to handle it. Failure is a new experience for her and she doesn't know how to handle that either. And she takes that out on herself; instead of lashing out at other people, as sometimes happens in TV writing, she turns inward. She believes that she's irredeemably flawed for having those fears and not being able to save her colleague, and that if anyone else on the crew had been in her position and had her skills, that they would have easily saved the day.

I'd not looked at it in that way. It plays better, but is still far too long. At best her issue should have been a sub-plot or, at most, only half the episode.

This show feels like it's run by C students. It has no polish or attention to detail...It mostly feels like, "eh, good enough".

That's exactly the feeling I get from STD. Other than this one episode, The Orville has had much stronger stories and, in spite of being a parody, feels more like Star Trek than does STD. And this is from someone who wasn't too impressed with the first couple of episodes from either program.

First, try to watch the first two seasons of ST:TNG and try to convince me it didn't have its own share of problems.

Second, I've have grown fond of the sets. Granted, I did find them a bit bland at first, but they do serve a purpose from both a scientific and aesthetic point of view. This was explained in a couple of the behind-the-scenes segments.

IMHO, The Orville is superior to TNG's first season (I pretty much stopped watching that one a couple of episodes into S2 and only saw it in its entirety when I purchased the full series BR ~8 months ago). The sets don't bother me at all. They look like they could easily be from a Trek series (unlike those of STD).

I can't hate-watch shows either. After watching the first two episodes of STD, I posted in the appropriate thread why I hated it and haven't watched any other episodes or posted any follow-up messages about the series. Life's too short to indulge in something that simply makes you angry or write about it incessantly.

Same here about hate-watching. Life's too short. I continued to watch STD in hopes of either:
a. Seeing and understanding what others do like about the series.
b. Seeing a few truly good episodes

Neither happened, although there was hope for a moment when one episode turned out to be rather good. Surprise! It was a "bottle" episode.

I'm done with STD. If they release it on physical I might make the purchase if the price is reasonable (not likely as it's Trek from CBS who, especially with the current distribution mode, continues to screw over the fans of that series). I also might cave and do a trail AA subscription at the end of the season to binge watch the ending and better know if I'd want to spend the few disposable $$ available on the series.

I'm glad I didn't bail on that show because while I thought the first two episodes were wholly unbelievable, the follow-ups have been a lot better for me. But that's not a recommendation to catch up on it. I think the show has an A+ technical crew and some very talented cast members, who are able to distract from the writing not being as good as it needs to be.

That's exactly what I've observed with STD. Unfortunately, for me, the talented cast members aren't the main focus of the show and the rather lackluster, predictable, soap opera style writing mostly turns me off.

The Orville's writing also isn't always as good as I'd like, and the technical elements aren't as good as Discovery, but it has this intangible thing that many of my favorite things have - it's greater than the sum of its parts.

And that's why I'll continue with The Orville while abandoning STD. Heck, I've pre-ordered that DVD set for The Orville S1. Coming from me, that's high praise as I rarely do that with "modern" TV series.

 

[BobO'Link]

I almost forgot...

I had to look up Molly Hagan because she looked so familiar. As soon as I saw her without the makeup I knew why. I know her from the old HBO series Herman's Head.

 

[Francois Caron]

"You know what? There was less crap in Bortus' colon!"

Is it me, or is Yaphit starting to become likeable?

As for the episode, it was pretty decent. The main drama was secondary to the many character developments that were happening at the same time.

Judging from the preview for next week's season finale, It looks like the broadcast order of the last three episodes of the season (including the one rescheduled for next year) has been shuffled around a bit.

 

[Matt Hough]

Really, really enjoyed it, and I'm going to miss it when it's gone. Yes, dick jokes and all, it was funny and I got involved in the adventure, too.

 

[JohnS]

"New Dimensions"
Another fun episode.

Still not warmed up to Yaphit.
I'm not sure why.

And whenever I have my private "alone time" I'm always going to wonder if there is a fourth of fifth dimension watching me.

 

[SamT]

The 2D-3D stuff was imaginative. It must have been a nightmare for them to figure out how to show it.

 

[Francois Caron]

I liked how they portrayed the other ship coming out of the anomaly. It started out in 2D and unfolded in 3D.

However, the episode did have a monumental mistake. Doctor "Who" and his phone "booth?" It's suppose to be The Doctor and his phone Box!

 

[Greg_S_H]

Pretty funny stuff. “There he is!” He’ll never learn that guy’s name.

 

[SamT]

I thought this episode had more Comedy than any other previous episodes. No other episode had this much jokes.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

It makes sense that the chief of engineering would be a Lt. Commander. But it does raise the question: If the chief of engineering is a Lt. Commander, why wasn't Newton ahead of Alara in the line of succession that time that the captain and first officer got kidnapped, given that's she's only a Lieutenant?

 

[TonyD]

I almost forgot...

I had to look up Molly Hagan because she looked so familiar. As soon as I saw her without the makeup I knew why. I know her from the old HBO series Herman's Head.

Yeah I remember her on that too.
But I think the show was on broadcast tv on Fox.

One more show then it’s going to seem like forever until the next season.

I liked when Isaac gave a subtle look over to Lamarr when he told the crew to get back to work.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

One more show then it’s going to seem like forever until the next season.

I don't think it'll "seem" like forever... I think it will be forever. A ten month break between seasons for a network show is ridiculous. Remember when shows used to run until June and then return in September? That's the way it should be.

 

[TonyD]

I don't think it'll "seem" like forever... I think it will be forever. A ten month break between seasons for a network show is ridiculous. Remember when shows used to run until June and then return in September? That's the way it should be.

Yup

 

[Scott-S]

Adam, Maybe it isn't a rank thing. It might be her position as Chief of Security? Just guessing.

If I remember Star Trek: TNG correctly, there were higher ranking department heads on the ship, but it was usually a bridge officer that was in command when the Capt. and First Officer were away.

In fact, Counselor Troy had to get "certified" to be a bridge officer in one episode which lead to the episode where command fell to her. (if I remember correctly)

 

[Clinton McClure]

After next week, I’m really going to miss The Orville until next year.

 

[Carabimero]

I thought the latest episode was very, very good. It dealt with multiple issues, seemingly disparate yet all structured beautifully. I feel like with this episode the show should be hitting its mid-season stride, not coming to an end next week.

The TV landscape is changing for the better in some ways, but these meager season orders is not one of them.

 

[Stan]

Interesting how this scores 93% with audiences yet only 21% with critics.

Glad fans are more important than critics and it's back for a second season.

 

[KevinGress]

I wondered the same thing. Just where did all those heavy beams come from? Isn't this a star ship? They wouldn't have such construction or materials on board. Lame plot device #1.

While it may be cliche, why wouldn't there be heavy beams in a starship?! You can't imagine a starship having a frame with plating on it?

It wasn't one of the better episodes, but if that's the low point of The Orville, I think it's doing very well.

As far as the latest episode, I thought it was pretty good. I actually don't mind Yaphit and when we, all of a sudden, see Isaac stroking Gordon, I actually laughed out loud!

 

[Francois Caron]

Interesting how this scores 93% with audiences yet only 21% with critics.

One common belief that I've read is that critics hate Seth McFarlane and will trash pretty much anything that has his name on it.

With such a wide difference between the critics and the audience, it gives the belief some merit.

Then again, I haven't seen A Million Ways To Die In The West yet.

 

[TJPC]

Any word on date for a Blu ray version?