The Orville

[Jim Kelly]

The Union seems to think they've gotten beyond the need for religion, yet Ed talks about his soul. I'm not sure what to make of that.

[Jokerz79]

The Union seems to think they've gotten beyond the need for religion, yet Ed talks about his soul. I'm not sure what to make of that.

Could had just Ditched organized religion.

[AndrewCrossett]

Yes, Ed even said that the kid couldn't see Earth's star. Ed just gave a general location.

I don't think he could have known its general location without consulting a computer, though. Traveling around the galaxy at warp speeds, its relative location would change constantly.

The Union seems to think they've gotten beyond the need for religion, yet Ed talks about his soul. I'm not sure what to make of that.

I'm sure they probably still use a lot of idiomatic expressions that had their origins in religion... saying "having no soul" to mean "having no empathy or moral center" is used today without necessarily having a religious connotation.

It looks like this show is indulging in a bit of Roddenberry-esque extrapolation of how things will be in the future, with space travel having eliminated belief in religions. I don't think that's how it would work at all. Atheism might become more common, but I don't think religion would ever go away entirely.

[Jim Kelly]

The little excange between Isaac and Alara at the beginning of the episode had me thinking this could foreshadow a sexual relationship between the two later on. After all, other than Bortis and Klyden (who aren't into women), Isaac is the only member of the crew that could be with Alara without getting broken. Which is in TNG territory, as in Worf's desires for a mate or Tasha Yar using Data's pleasure functions.

The Yar situation can be a bit controversial. One could argue she was exploiting Data for her own needs and he had little power to say No--being a computer subservient to humans. Isaac presumably has more agency but ought to have a sex education seminar first, before he agrees to a relationship that might have implications he hasn't considered.

[Sighphi]

The Union seems to think they've gotten beyond the need for religion, yet Ed talks about his soul. I'm not sure what to make of that.

chi energy, bro.

[tabo61]

Bortus sure does have a healthy appetite

[Qwerty]

Bortus sure does have a healthy appetite

I had a problem with that. Being able to digest anythi g doesn't mean you can bite or chew anything

[Toreador]

I had a problem with that. Being able to digest anythi g doesn't mean you can bite or chew anything

Well, they didn't show him chomping on an iron bar or diamonds so he might have exaggerated a bit about eating anything. Maybe he meant anything organic (we don't know what the plate ware on the Orville is made of, oil is possibly pretty rare in the future considering how we're using it up).

[feenix219]

Well, they didn't show him chomping on an iron bar or diamonds so he might have exaggerated a bit about eating anything. Maybe he meant anything organic (we don't know what the plate ware on the Orville is made of, oil is possibly pretty rare in the future considering how we're using it up).

He specifically said he can digest both organic and inorganic materials.

[LeslieH]

I agree with Derek. Orville is so true to the Star Trek spirit! The creativity, the bullseye social commentary, the humor. Although the juvenile humor is sometimes well below the Roddenberry bar. Oh well, that's the McFarland touch. I love it all. This show is a bright gem in a dark and sadistic sci fi world. (Have you seen ST Discovery??? Shiver!)

I almost didn't make it through the first episode. Too many 5-year-old bathroom jokes in the first 20 minutes. But at the end, when it turned out Kelly had pulled strings to get Ed back into action, that twanged my heartstrings. I gave it another chance - and now I'm hooked. Funny story - I knew there was a new Star Trek show coming out, so I invited the whole family over for the debut on Thursday night, all excited. My son wrote back, "Uh, mom, that's just a Seth McFarland spoof, not the real show." My daughter said, "I'm not into Seth McFarland." So my husband and I said, "Oh well, nothing else on," and watched it anyways. Thank goodness! Looking forward to the next episode. Do I dare hope for more than one season?

[AndrewCrossett]

I don't know if season 1 is a firm 13 episodes or if there might be a back nine? The ratings aren't great, hovering around the 1.0 mark... but that's pretty much where all genre shows on network TV settle nowadays.

[Exciter]

I agree with Derek. Orville is so true to the Star Trek spirit! The creativity, the bullseye social commentary, the humor. Although the juvenile humor is sometimes well below the Roddenberry bar. Oh well, that's the McFarland touch. I love it all. This show is a bright gem in a dark and sadistic sci fi world. (Have you seen ST Discovery??? Shiver!)

I’m still trying to come to grips with the fact that I enjoy the Orville much better than the actual Star Trek series that is being aired at the same time. It’s a surreal feeling.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I’m still trying to come to grips with the fact that I enjoy the Orville much better than the actual Star Trek series that is being aired at the same time. It’s a surreal feeling.

That feeling is hope and optimism. Your system simply isn't accustomed to digesting such a thing in sci-fi, that's all.

[Cyke]

I've seen people describe Discovery as people who want Trek with the official mythology, and the Orville as people who want Berman/Braga Trek with dick jokes. They both seem legit, and I'm not about to tell people what they should like over the other.

Personally though, while I'm loathe to compare Discovery vs. Orville, I do like Discovery more than JJTrek as a whole. I loved Beyond, but compared to the first two movies (and *especially* Into Darkness) Orville gets the humor and pacing better while Discovery is way more thoughtful about its character relationships.

[Jim Kelly]

The latest episode feels like a mash-up of a TOS episode and BLACK MIRROR.