The Orville

[AndrewCrossett]

Finally caught up on the third episode. I thought that ep was on a par with the best TNG episodes, honestly. And extra points for not going with the predictable feel-good ending, like a Trek episode probably would have.

It may seem that Bortus's sudden change of heart just from watching Rudolph was a little silly and abrupt... but the rest of the episode also made it clear how much stock the Moclan put in stories.

I love how this show continues to make fun of the holodeck...

[mr_crisp]

How come they never brought up the idea of a boy being made into a girl?

[Jokerz79]

The Rudolph movie changing his mind didn't bother because they showed that his race was so conformative I doubt they have any stories like that in their culture so the idea of a deformity or handicap as they view the female gender could be beneficial.

[Jim Kelly]

I really liked the Rudolph story. Af first I was a bit unsure, but the Bortus actor (Peter Macon) played the scene so well, that I went with it. And it got me to thinking about the story of Rudolph. This is something we all grow up with, so we just don't think about the wisdom in that legend. It really does teach a powerful lesson. And it fits with Seth McFarlane's view of the world--he attaches importance to those things in our culture that we trivialize, like Kermit the Frog. And maybe he's got a point.

I find myself getting ahead of the story in each episode, because Star Trek has trained me to anticipate where these stories might go. But I usually go down the wrong road--which isn't a bad thing. There was something I thought this time that didn't quite pan out--but might still be true. Which is maybe the Moclan are really supposed to have two genders but almost every female gets converted at birth, so it only appears that they are overwhelmingly male. And following that logic, I expected the crew to find a whole society of females in that cave and not just one.

I was laughing and crying through this whole story and the ending really left me with a deep sadness. I think it was the right ending--yet not the one you would see in most TV shows. And it's going to influence how I see Bortus and his family from now on.

[Deadxman]

How come they never brought up the idea of a boy being made into a girl?

Because they are an all male society.

[Sighphi]

Finally caught up on the third episode. I thought that ep was on a par with the best TNG episodes, honestly. And extra points for not going with the predictable feel-good ending, like a Trek episode probably would have.

The Orville should've been just a straight up Trek ripoff because, yes, this was a super good Trek episode.

I guess the thing with the show it's that it's drawing from all of Trek and we go from TOS-level episodes to super serious DS9-like episodes from one to the next.

It may seem that Bortus's sudden change of heart just from watching Rudolph was a little silly and abrupt... but the rest of the episode also made it clear how much stock the Moclan put in stories.

I thought at first that he saw through what they were doing and he was just joking around playing along but when he went on with it, it did seem kind of strange. But the rest of the episode made up for it.

[Jim Kelly]

With all the good Star Trek TV shows and movies, I was always watching as much for the humour as for the drama. In my family, we called the part at the end of classic Trek "the funny." It wasn't always a funny scene, but quite often it was--usually some dialogue on the bridge between Jim, Spock and Bones that put a nice cap on the episode.

[AndrewCrossett]

With all the good Star Trek TV shows and movies, I was always watching as much for the humour as for the drama. In my family, we called the part at the end of classic Trek "the funny." It wasn't always a funny scene, but quite often it was--usually some dialogue on the bridge between Jim, Spock and Bones that put a nice cap on the episode.

Heh... yeah, when the "doot-dooty-doo" music plays and Kirk and Bones laugh uproariously while Spock looks confused. Also known as "the reset." A staple of strictly episodic 1960s TV drama. At least TOS didn't do a freeze-frame ending.

There was often some funny stuff within episodes, plus of course the three comedy episodes ("Mudd's Women," "The Trouble With Tribbles" and "A Piece of the Action"). I like that The Orville works it in as a co-equal part of the story. In places it kind of reminds me of Guardians of the Galaxy.

I hope they don't start ramping up the more Family Guy-like fratboy humor, like Yaphit and his "offer" to Dr. Finn. The show really doesn't need that, and it's time for McFarlane to aim higher.

[Qwerty]

I'm seriously in love with Alara Kitan and would let her beat me up any day of the week.

[MichaelC]

I thought at first that he saw through what they were doing and he was just joking around playing along but when he went on with it, it did seem kind of strange.

Same. At first I thought he was just pretending to be convinced, and when he left I was expecting him to double-down on his beliefs in some aggressive way. So when it turned out that he had genuinely been convinced, I was very surprised.

[Derek Metaltron]

I'm seriously in love with Alara Kitan and would let her beat me up any day of the week.

Yeah she's my fav character so far too, nice how she can be tough and yet adorable at the same time.

[David Walton]

I feel like this is exactly the kind of show America needs right now. Honest about its character's flaws, but optimistic about their ability to move past them. I was impressed that Bortus and his mate stayed together and committed themselves to the mutual good of their child, even after everything they'd been through.

[Jim Kelly]

Since Klyden was born female and had the procedure at birth, I can see how if they had decided not to have it for their daughter, then it would make him feel wrong about himself. Intellectually it doesn't make sense, but emotionally I understand it. Circumcised men feel like they want their own son to be circumcised and the same for uncircumcised men and their sons. One can't help but think about ones own experience when making decisions for offspring.

All this has me wondering what distinguishes a male Moclon from a female, given the males can reproduce and rear their young without the need for a female--can there be any biological difference? But we're probably not supposed to think about those things too much. And I don't think I want too much information about Moclon physiology.

[David Walton]

Since Klyden was born female and had the procedure at birth, I can see how if they had decided not to have it for their daughter, then it would make him feel wrong about himself. Intellectually it doesn't make sense, but emotionally I understand it.

I thought the show did a really good job of empathizing with everyone's emotional stake in the controversy. You can definitely see why Bortus' mate would have felt like his life experiences would be invalidated by allowing his own child to remain female. You can also see why a parent might not want their child to live with the prejudice the author did, which forced her family into seclusion. She was proud of her life experience, but would other people looking on from the outside think of it as a blessing? Even if you desire equality on a theoretical level, you don't necessarily want your own kids to have to fight cultural biases their entire life to get society to the place it needs to be.

But the thing that impressed me the most was their mutual commitment to the child even after everything that happened. That's why this is exactly the kind of Trek show I want, not a rehash of the Federation/Klingon conflict. There are so many controversies tearing our communities apart right now, and the only way we'll survive is if we learn to respect each other in spite of our differences. I get the feeling that if they are ever able to pursue the story that far down the line, Bortus' child will bring a unique and challenging perspective to the Moclon community. (It occurs to me that we don't know how quickly Moclons age, either.)

[Jokerz79]

Good episode and wow Charlize Theron next week.