The Orville - Season 2 (1 Viewer)

[Francois Caron]

The Kaylon's biggest failure as an AI species is that they make rash decisions based on limited research, minimal evidence and a serious lack of understanding brought on by their prejudices instilled by the one and only catastrophic experience they've ever had with organics. "This species does this one bad thing, so all species must all do the same bad thing because they are all made of similar organic substances."

Now the Kaylon have a reason to worry about all organics wanting to destroy them, but they won't accept or even be aware that it might be due to their recent attempt to exterminate the human species. They'll keep thinking to themselves that the upcoming war against all organics has to be someone else's fault and not their own.

In terms of creative writing and what we know about computers today, all of this is perfectly plausible. Just look at how YouTube and Facebook computer algorithms inadvertently push hateful and misleading content to the top of the list simply because it brings in more ad clicks and more revenue to these corporations. The nature of what's being pushed isn't being taken into consideration by these algorithms because there's no awareness whatsoever of the content with the possible exception of sex and nudity, and again regardless of the actual content.

What we're seeing with the Kaylon could very well become our own future if we don't program AIs properly.

 

[Matt Hough]

This week featured a VERY good adventure tale. I could understand being torn between duty and friendship, and the resolution was fine. Good episode.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think I enjoyed the episode’s story more than its execution. I can’t quite put my finger on what wasn’t working for me. I don’t know if it was the line readings, or that everything seemed telegraphed in advance or what....

I liked it. But it felt ever so slightly off to me.

 

[Francois Caron]

A bit predictable, but I was happy with this episode, especially that everyone was clearly suspicious of the unexpected guests.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I liked the blood thing, and the way Dr. Finn immediately understood what she was looking at and how she took control of that situation.

 

[SamT]

2x03 Home:

I remember I had read somewhere last year that she was leaving, so it was not a surprise. What I really liked about this was that just because Halston Sage had to leave, they didn't kill her character. Remember killing Tasha Yar in season 1 of ST The Next Generation? That was so jarring. To me it feels cheap that whenever someone has to leave, the only thing they can think of, is killing the character. In life thousands of other things can happen than death.

 

[Carabimero]

I liked it. But it felt ever so slightly off to me.

What was off to me was some of the dialogue, which would often beg a question, which never got answered. So I didn't buy that the characters were operating at maximum capacity to solve their problems. For example, if someone vouched for their best friend, but hadn't seen him for twenty years because he's been a POW, the first thing I'd say is, "Twenty years can change anybody, but stick them in a POW camp for two decades and I guarantee you, they're not the same person anymore." But logical responses in dialogue--like that one--have been sorely lacking this season.

 

[Jason_V]

I think I enjoyed the episode’s story more than its execution. I can’t quite put my finger on what wasn’t working for me. I don’t know if it was the line readings, or that everything seemed telegraphed in advance or what....

I liked it. But it felt ever so slightly off to me.

I want to emphasize this isn't a problem specific to The Orville, but storytelling in general. When you have a group of main characters, you know it's going to be pretty bizarre for someone to die, nine time out of ten. The regulars will always be okay in the end and the story will reset itself with no real, long lasting consequences. There are exceptions, but by and large, this is what happens.

So how do you have stakes? You introduce a guest star or recurring character and have them not be what they purport to be. That was the issue here for me. I liked the episode and it had some great moments. But from the beginning, I knew not to trust anyone outside the main cast. I knew how this episode would end. It was pretty impossible not to know at the beginning. Could that have been what was off? Just waiting for the other shoe to drop and the regulars to fully catch up with what you were pretty sure would happen?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think Alan might have nailed it - the dialogue wasn’t well written, making it seem that characters were too accepting of questionable situations, which (to my ears anyway) led to some of the actors sounding dumb when they delivered it. A lot of the lines seemed to fall into the category of, “you should be too smart to just believe what you said without wanting any follow-up”

 

[Francois Caron]

The only thing that really puzzled me about the episode was:

How does a gelatinous life form go to the bathroom?

Kudos on the show for acknowledging the existence of bathrooms on the Orville! Everyone on the Enterprise had to hold it in, and it often showed!

 

[TJPC]

Is there a reason why the show is not on this week? Is it going on hiatus?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Fox is showing a broadcast of the IHeartMusic awards, whatever that is. Doesn’t appear to be a case like earlier in the season where they just weren’t ready in time.

 

[Malcolm R]

Fox is showing a broadcast of the IHeartMusic awards, whatever that is. Doesn’t appear to be a case like earlier in the season where they just weren’t ready in time.

I'm not sure it bodes well for The Orville that the iHeart Awards pushed FOX up to second place in the ratings last night, with a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo. Last week they were fourth place with episodes of Gotham and The Orville each earning a 0.6 rating.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ve been worried about the show since they came back. Premium cable can get away with year-long hiatuses but I’m not convinced broadcast can.

 

[Malcolm R]

I’ve been worried about the show since they came back. Premium cable can get away with year-long hiatuses but I’m not convinced broadcast can.

Similar circumstances also contributed to killing one of my favorite shows years ago, Pushing Daisies.

The show was a moderate ratings hit (9.5 million viewers) and had just received a full season order when the writer strike happened, and the first season was cut from 22 episodes to 9. The show's first season ended in December and the show did not come back until the following October, losing nearly 40% of its audience (6.1 million viewers) and causing ABC to cancel the series.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I'm not sure it bodes well for The Orville that the iHeart Awards pushed FOX up to second place in the ratings last night, with a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo. Last week they were fourth place with episodes of Gotham and The Orville each earning a 0.6 rating.

Meh.

American Idol outrated The Goldbergs, Schooled, and Modern Family a week ago in their slots, but I don't think ABC's canceling Wednesday nights.

Live award shows will almost always outdo regularly scheduled shows. Honestly, I think it makes Orville look good since the iRuinedRadio Awards barely did better than a regularly scheduled episode.

Also, if we're looking at the other networks, they're all pretty much in the 0.8 to 0.6 range. That's the new normal, so it seems.

 

[Francois Caron]

The one thing that can kill the show is the production costs. If they're not kept in check, the show could easily got from profitable to a loss. It's a good thing they already get generous tax breaks in the TMZ. That helps a lot.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Did some checking. There are rumblings that there will be a Season 3 for The Orville but nothing definite yet. This article on TVSeriesFinale has the latest info.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I have heard that Fox will announce the renewal during the airing of the final episode this season.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Here’s hoping. It had been indicated that the Fox broadcast network would be phasing out most scripted programming once Disney took ownership of Fox Television. (Murdoch’s group is keeping the broadcast station that airs The Orville, but is not keeping the studio that actually makes it.)

On that basis alone, it seemed possible that The Orville could get the ax, without even considering sinking ratings.

I do love this show and any hints that it’s not totally doomed are always appreciated!