The Orville - Season 2 (2 Viewers)

[Josh Dial]

The bottle episodes are almost always my favorite. Re-watched "Cause and Effect" last night and it's still fantastic.

Mine too! Cause and Effect is one of the best pieces of science fiction television ever (and science fiction directing, from Frakes).

 

[Francois Caron]

TNG, DS9 and VOY worked their staff ragged. The 26 episode seasons forced many to work 16 hour days for very long periods of time. That's way too much.

By cutting the episode count to 13, the staff can have normal lives.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

And that’s fine. But if you’re going to do 13 episodes instead of the modern network standard of 22 episodes, and if you’re going to take a 13 month hiatus instead of the modern network standard of 2-3 months, there’s really just no excuse for not being ready.

The 13 month hiatus resulted in The Orville shedding about a million viewers from the first season to the second. The show can’t afford to lose more viewers but this type of move can often result in bubble shows losing momentum that they can’t recover.

It’s amazing to me that Fox has taken the #1 new broadcast show of 2017 and turned it into something that will be lucky to make it out of its second season alive.

 

[Jason_V]

And that’s fine. But if you’re going to do 13 episodes instead of the modern network standard of 22 episodes, and if you’re going to take a 13 month hiatus instead of the modern network standard of 2-3 months, there’s really just no excuse for not being ready.

The 13 month hiatus resulted in The Orville shedding about a million viewers from the first season to the second. The show can’t afford to lose more viewers but this type of move can often result in bubble shows losing momentum that they can’t recover.

It’s amazing to me that Fox has taken the #1 new broadcast show of 2017 and turned it into something that will be lucky to make it out of its second season alive.

Agreed. I don't want a 26 episode season (or even 22), but when you have that long to get your scripts written, production completed and effects work done, there's really no excuse. If this was a scheduled week off for some reason, it would be a different story; most series have those. But this wasn't scheduled which says, to me, something else is going on.

If post production on an episode halfway through the season is behind, what does that say about the rest of the year?

 

[Philip Verdieck]

But they sound absolutely nothing alike!

Agreed. Anyone who thought it was Spiner needs to have their ears checked.

Its as if they can't separate the type of (logical) dialog the character has, or its pacing or mannerisms from the sound of the actors voice. If Nimoy or Lenard were still alive these people would probably think it was one of them.

 

[Carabimero]

Agreed. Anyone who thought it was Spiner needs to have their ears checked.

Its as if they can't separate the type of (logical) dialog the character has, or its pacing or mannerisms from the sound of the actors voice. If Nimoy or Lenard were still alive these people would probably think it was one of them.

I can speak for at least one person (of the many thousands) who thought Spiner was voicing Issac in saying they might need to have their ears checked, but they certainly don't need to have their manners checked.

The Orville was patterned after TNG is so many ways: set design, ship design, costume design, the music, the music spotting. I could on and on. Even TNG alums work on the show. And Jackson admitted his performance is an homage to Spiner's. Given all that, to not at least understand how someone might think it's Spiner voicing Issac seems to me to suggest a disability larger than questionable hearing.

 

[Matt Hough]

I'm all for episodes that stress the theme of the evil of prejudice, but, dear lord, are we going to have to go through the love lives of every single member of the crew to have jumping off points for episodes? And Bordus' private life has been tiresomely overused this season.

 

[Carabimero]

Yeah, I love that they're exploring great themes, but this episode would have played well later in the season because it seems like I just saw it, at least thematically, not very long ago.

Still, all in all, it wasn't a bad episode. But if they're already running out of fresh sand in their sandbox after so few episodes, it doesn't bode well for a season three.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Not to mention this was a mixed riff of the TNG androgynous planet episode. Orville is to me just warmed over Next Gen and despite being in the minority I find Discovery more interesting this season

 

[Carabimero]

Not to mention this was a mixed riff of the TNG androgynous planet episode. Orville is to me just warmed over Next Gen and despite being in the minority I find Discovery more interesting this season

THE ORVILLE is at its best when it does things the old school Star Trek couldn't because of The Roddenberry Box. With the exception of one character truly hating another and telling them to go to hell, this episode didn't do, IMO, what THE ORVILLE does best.

I agree. The tide is turning. DISCOVERY, at the moment, is the better show for this viewer, too. A year ago I wouldn't have believed it.

 

[Scott-S]

I did like one thing about this episode. At the end, Ed and Kelly brought up something that I always wonder.
Why does the Union have members that clearly have morals that do not fit in?. They at least mentioned that the Union needed the Moclans. Although I am not sure why. Was this mentioned in earlier episode?

 

[Francois Caron]

I believe the gripe was mentioned before, but no reason given as to why so many questionable species were part of the Union.

Then again, when facing a ruthless enemy such as the Krill, you probably need all of the friends you can get!

As for this episode, I did like it. It's good that we're reminded that not everything in life has a happy ending. But I do agree that it's time to move away from the human interest stories and get back into some sci-fi mayhem. MacFarlane needs to allow the show to find its own path and not pull a Roddenberry.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I did like one thing about this episode. At the end, Ed and Kelly brought up something that I always wonder.
Why does the Union have members that clearly have morals that do not fit in?. They at least mentioned that the Union needed the Moclans. Although I am not sure why. Was this mentioned in earlier episode?

The Union needs the technical expertise of the Moclans. I don't believe it has been mentioned prior to this episode, and it was likely one of the reasons why the Union accepts the Moclans, despite their societal differences. The idea of technical superiority makes me wonder if the show will ever explore the history of the Union, specifically the circumstances of first contact between Earth and aliens (who are presumably in the Union.)

I don't mind the idea of personal, character driven episodes, but I'm kind of burned out on the Moclans; at least for now. I did like the mystery aspect of the episode.

- Walter.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That chat at the end seemed to almost setup a possibility dissolution of the alliance with the Moclans. I wonder if they’re laying the groundwork for a conflict where Bortus will have to choose between his shipmates and his species.

 

[Francois Caron]

It looks like next week we'll get what we want.

 

[BobO'Link]

I need to get caught up with this series! I fell asleep on the 2nd to last episode so really have 2 to watch to be caught up - actually 3 after tonight as I'm not likely to get caught up before next week some time... maybe... My 3 Texas grandkids are coming in, with their parents, this Saturday for a week's stay. That always puts everything else on the back burner.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Tonight is the best night of the week!

It’s my birthday tomorrow; tonight my wife is taking me to see my all-time favorite play which is currently being revived on Broadway, then a sushi dinner, and then The Orville, and then Discovery.

Needless to say, I can’t wait.

And then tomorrow I’m spending all day making/eating homemade fried chicken and ribs and watching movies. And I’m sure I’ll be back here reflecting on the new episode.

 

[Todd Erwin]

And that’s fine. But if you’re going to do 13 episodes instead of the modern network standard of 22 episodes, and if you’re going to take a 13 month hiatus instead of the modern network standard of 2-3 months, there’s really just no excuse for not being ready.

The 13 month hiatus resulted in The Orville shedding about a million viewers from the first season to the second. The show can’t afford to lose more viewers but this type of move can often result in bubble shows losing momentum that they can’t recover.

It’s amazing to me that Fox has taken the #1 new broadcast show of 2017 and turned it into something that will be lucky to make it out of its second season alive.

Don't forget, the FOX network is being retained by News Corp after the Disney-Fox merger is completed, and they have already indicated it will be more news and reality-based programming and less scripted fare.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

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

 

[Matt Hough]

Tonight's episode set up something really exciting and intriguing. Good job!