The Orville - Season 2 (5 Viewers)

[Josh Steinberg]

That took an unexpectedly dark turn. I really enjoyed the episode on every level. Great dramatic storytelling that (for me at least) was deeper and more nuanced than the show usually is.

 

[TJPC]

We sat down to watch this, and about 1/2 way through there was some sort of glitch with the cable and it shut off for about a minute. Thank goodness, it resumed and we saw it to the end.

We missed the section during the party, when the strange alien was about to play the piano. What did he play, and was it significant?

 

[Carabimero]

One word after viewing tonight's episode: Wow. Never saw that coming. A great hour of television with the promise of more to come.

 

[Francois Caron]

It goes without saying that I’m very concerned about the future of The Orville.

Depending on how well MacFarlane negotiated the production and distribution contracts, it's always possible for another network or a streaming service to support the show.

As for last night's episode, youtch! That's big time trouble right there! The production was simply fantastic and at the level of what you would see in a movie theatre! Just how nice would this episode look like in 4K?

I have some ideas about where the story's going, but I'll hold back until after the next episode's broadcast. I often get everything wrong anyway. But I'm definitely sticking around to see what happens next!

We sat down to watch this, and about 1/2 way through there was some sort of glitch with the cable and it shut off for about a minute. Thank goodness, it resumed and we saw it to the end.

We missed the section during the party, when the strange alien was about to play the piano. What did he play, and was it significant?

You missed Scott Grime's singing abilities. https://twitter.com/TheOrville/status/1098900206869975042

One word after viewing tonight's episode: Wow. Never saw that coming. A great hour of television with the promise of more to come.

I did expect that there was another entity behind the Kaylons' existence, and I'm glad the production explored it. I just didn't expect it to be so dramatic!

 

[BobO'Link]

Jumping back a few episodes to "A Happy Refrain" which I just finished viewing.

I really enjoyed this one and felt the resolution with Claire and Isaac was done well. However I couldn't stop thinking about what all that water was doing to the consoles, electronics, etc. and just *why* is there a simulator on the bridge, much less one that would even do such a thing. I also like "Singing in the Rain" and feel its use was well done and made the whole "I'm sorry" bit work. However, ever since seeing A Clockwork Orange just can't get the imagery Kubrick used in that film out of my head when I hear the tune. Oddly enough, that scene on the bridge might just help in that regard as it, too, is rather incongruous.

The piano recital just brings more fake instrument playing. Something that annoys me no end. They did a good job with Ty at least appearing to play but they forgot to have him use enough fingers. Two fingers on the keyboard do not make the full sound we heard. At least the part actually showing him playing was short. The musical fakery wasn't nearly as obvious with the shuttle bay concert.

Bortus in a mustache. I laughed. Surprisingly, he looked rather good with it. And that "follicle stimulator" looked very much like a wireless bar code scanner.

Overall it was another good episode. I'm not at all bothered that it was another relationship episode although with such short seasons it does seem a bit premature as those are normally used as filler and to get the episode count where it needs to be. For the series to work we have to feel invested in and for the characters. This one gave insight into several even though its main focus was Claire and Isaac.

 

[Francois Caron]

Kai Wener's piano playing might not be very refined now, but give it some time. He's been taking piano lessons so that he could literally "play" the part.

As for the concert on the shuttlebay, that was real! The performers are the actual musicians who score the show's soundtrack!

 

[BobO'Link]

^And it showed. That's a nice touch - although they "fudged" by adding the full parts he wasn't playing. That's where things get annoying. I'd have rather heard him without embellishments.

The shuttlebay concert may have been real but it was edited poorly. There were several scenes that absolutely did not match what was being played. I'd have to watch again to be sure but I recall at least once where the conductor was off beat. It is almost imperceptible, but it's there. Similar to lip sync being off a bit.

And I'll be the first to admit that both "issues" are very minor and won't be noticed by the majority of viewers. It just happens to be one of my pet peeves with music on film.

 

[Francois Caron]

Unless the scene is filmed in a proper concert hall or sound studio, you do *NOT* want to hear the music played live! The acoustics in a cavernous filming studio are usually NOT very good! The music would have sounded like total crap and would have changed dramatically in tone with every scene cut!

You're just gonna have to live with the glitches!

 

[BobO'Link]

RE: "Deflectors"

Seriously? *Another* Bortus centric episode so soon?!? I like the character but I'm very tired of episodes that are primarily about his personal life and history. If you're going to continue to do bottle episodes dealing with personal lives then do an episode on crew members who've not yet received such treatment. There are several.

That said it was a fairly good and well done episode revealing more of Moclan culture. But I don't see the relevancy other than setting up yet another Bortus episode where he and Clyden divorce. It's coming. It's just a matter off it being a major story line, likely, or a simple side note, what I'd prefer.

 

[Francois Caron]

You've almost caught up! Prepare yourself for a massive payback!

 

[Jason_V]

Man, I wanted to be all in on "Identity." I really did. Aside from some really obvious green screen work, Penny Johnson Jerald has reverted back to an unbelievable portrayal of Claire. I'm not sure what happened to her over the last few weeks; she goes from being one of the more interesting characters on the show to someone who doesn't even look like she's trying.

And then, this episode happened. Okay, we've all said it before and I have no doubt we'll continue to say it...but enough with the Trek rips. This was a mish mash of a number of Trek cliches; the one I felt the most was the "Best of Both World" ending. There were shades of Voyager here (the Kaylon going through the ship reminded me of the Borg); Enterprise (the weapons on a direct heading to Earth are the Xindi spheres) and DS9 (the armada of ships heading off through space). Maybe I'm just too jaded for what this show is and I need to enjoy it for what it is.

 

[NeilO]

[QUOTE="Jason_V, post: 4709506, member: 283991"but enough with the Trek rips. This was a mish mash of a number of Trek cliches; the one I felt the most was the "Best of Both World" ending. There were shades of Voyager here (the Kaylon going through the ship reminded me of the Borg); Enterprise (the weapons on a direct heading to Earth are the Xindi spheres) and DS9 (the armada of ships heading off through space). Maybe I'm just too jaded for what this show is and I need to enjoy it for what it is.[/QUOTE]Yes, I think you need to enjoy it for what it is.

The big difference here is that we had a respected crew member who turns out to be part of a genocidal race.

My only problem with how things turned is the question of why are they going to Earth? I'm sure there are plenty of closer planets they could use. I guess that based on the information they have obtained already, they feared the Planetary Union would strike them in reaction to the genocide and they want to strike first.

 

[Jason_V]

Yes, I think you need to enjoy it for what it is.

The big difference here is that we had a respected crew member who turns out to be part of a genocidal race.

My only problem with how things turned is the question of why are they going to Earth? I'm sure there are plenty of closer planets they could use. I guess that based on the information they have obtained already, they feared the Planetary Union would strike them in reaction to the genocide and they want to strike first.

Entirely possible. With the string of episodes we've had this year which are seemingly ripped right from TNG plots, it's kinda hard to have the same grace as I had in Season 1.

Why Earth? Well, same reason it's always Earth. First, it supposedly helps the audience and the characters have a sense of purpose. Second, it's really, really easy. I mean, the show doesn't have to do any heavy lifting to make the ending be ominous. If we were in the 80s or early 90s, the stakes might work. Now? How many times have we seen Earth attacked or close to attacked?

 

[TJPC]

Isn’t everything written today a repeat of things gone before? I have been watching TV and movies for at least 65 years, and rarely see anything at all that is original.

When I began to be interested in silent movies, and classic movies and TV, I discovered that the things I thought were original growing up, really weren’t original at all either.

How many times do you watch the latest shows and movies and figure out the plot twists in the first 5 minuted? My wife and I often can recite the dialogue before the actors.

 

[Jason_V]

Same general ideas but the new version can have a different spin or add something new. I'll admit, the Kaylon invading the Orville looked cool as hell and reminded me of First Contact (did I just say that?). I really started wondering if all the officers who were shot were killed or just stunned. They looked pretty dead to me.

 

[BobO'Link]

Isn’t everything written today a repeat of things gone before? I have been watching TV and movies for at least 65 years, and rarely see anything at all that is original.

When I began to be interested in silent movies, and classic movies and TV, I discovered that the things I thought were original growing up, really weren’t original at all either.

How many times do you watch the latest shows and movies and figure out the plot twists in the first 5 minuted? My wife and I often can recite the dialogue before the actors.

Yep. I distinctly remember watching 60s TV sitcoms thinking I'd seen it before and growing bored with some of them for that reason. While there are shows I've liked over the years I've seen more that are mostly rehashes of better shows than I'd like to admit. It's the same with music. My wife gets irritated when I'll start to sing along with some "new" song getting the melody but not the lyrics.

The TNG callbacks in The Orville don't bother me as I've only seen TNG twice for most of the episodes so truly don't recall what's being referenced/copied.

 

[Gary Seven]

There are some parallels but sufficient differences in plot handling that I would not call them "ripped". Perhaps, inspired.

 

[Francois Caron]

My only problem with how things turned is the question of why are they going to Earth? I'm sure there are plenty of closer planets they could use. I guess that based on the information they have obtained already, they feared the Planetary Union would strike them in reaction to the genocide and they want to strike first.

Earth is the home planet of the Union. Get rid of the home planet and its billions of inhabitants, and you fracture the entire Union like a sheet of glass. It then becomes much easier to exterminate the rest of the Union's member planets.

It's not enough for the Kaylon to inhabit other planets, even those with environments hostile to organics. The organics themselves must be eliminated in order to rule out any possibility of retaliation by them.

The episode had another similarity with a sci-fi franchise: The Matrix. The landing pads looked like the drive units from the vessels in The Matrix.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

Man, I wanted to be all in on "Identity." I really did. Aside from some really obvious green screen work, Penny Johnson Jerald has reverted back to an unbelievable portrayal of Claire. I'm not sure what happened to her over the last few weeks; she goes from being one of the more interesting characters on the show to someone who doesn't even look like she's trying.

And then, this episode happened. Okay, we've all said it before and I have no doubt we'll continue to say it...but enough with the Trek rips. This was a mish mash of a number of Trek cliches; the one I felt the most was the "Best of Both World" ending. There were shades of Voyager here (the Kaylon going through the ship reminded me of the Borg); Enterprise (the weapons on a direct heading to Earth are the Xindi spheres) and DS9 (the armada of ships heading off through space). Maybe I'm just too jaded for what this show is and I need to enjoy it for what it is.

You can rip apart anything with enough comparisons to what has been done before.
At this point, prior to seeing the 2nd part, I'd say its a waste of time to prejudge it. So since DS9 showed a fleet of ships anything else is an rip off? Really?

I can't see any justification for crying "Trek did it already", its totally irrelevant. To compare 1 series, halfway through its second season to the body of work a franchise which has had over 2 decades (and growing) of episodes is ludicrous. What is next? A list of "approved SF tropes" that the Orville can use?

If you want to complain about the Orville in this respect, than I would expect as much outrage when Discovery/Picard/Lower Decks/Whatever they come out with next shows similarity to previous Trek, otherwise its hypocritical.

 

[Jason_V]

You can rip apart anything with enough comparisons to what has been done before.
At this point, prior to seeing the 2nd part, I'd say its a waste of time to prejudge it. So since DS9 showed a fleet of ships anything else is an rip off? Really?

I can't see any justification for crying "Trek did it already", its totally irrelevant. To compare 1 series, halfway through its second season to the body of work a franchise which has had over 2 decades (and growing) of episodes is ludicrous. What is next? A list of "approved SF tropes" that the Orville can use?

If you want to complain about the Orville in this respect, than I would expect as much outrage when Discovery/Picard/Lower Decks/Whatever they come out with next shows similarity to previous Trek, otherwise its hypocritical.

All true. And if you were in the Discovery threads, you'd know I've already done that. So step off.