The Orville

[Gray Lensman]

Well I'll tell you. The earth is about 4.5 billion years old, the Universe around 14 billion, evolution is a fact and Global Climate Change is real.
If your Bible tells you something different, your Bible is wrong.

It can't be the Bible saying these things are wrong since I think even the Pope agrees with them - it's evangelicals in the U.S. who are flipping out over them.

[Kirby101]

It can't be the Bible saying these things are wrong since I think even the Pope agrees with them - it's evangelicals in the U.S. who are flipping out over them.

I guess I should have said, if you THINK your Bible is telling you these things....

[90'sCartoonMan]

This episode was light on the jokes, but I did love the bit where Ed made fun of Kelly Hu, thinking she had already hung up.

I'm kind of surprised they sunk the Ed/Kelly rekindled romance so quickly after the suggestion that maybe she wasn't at fault for sleeping with Darulio. But maybe we haven't seen the last of it. Ed is kind of a crappy captain, he only let things get worse.

Don't get too used to him... there are sexual harassment allegations.

Firing Yaphit would be a PR nightmare, though, and a lawsuit waiting to happen. He would claim that Ed is prejudiced against gelatinous beings.

Interesting concept. Only 11 days passing in one universe while 700 years pass in another. Has this been done before? And the idea that anyone could have become a deity.

Kind of similar to the Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror "Genesis Tub" where Lisa creates a society that worships her and moves along at an accelerated rate. Similarly, during Grant Morrison's JLA run, he had Zauriel travel to a dimension where the beings there moved much faster than he did, and they built a temple around him and worshiped him for generations before he had time to speak his first sentence.

As to science and religion, it's a mistake to talk about them as two contrary things. Religious interpretations of the world are really science. That's what science was. And the scientific method is trial and error. But if you look at a lot of cultural teachings aka religion, they are mainly instructions to help people be healthy and safe, based on observation and experience and then passing on that knowledge--sometimes in the form of a story, which is easier to remember, and sometimes through a rote list of things to do and not do.

These so-called religions wouldn't have survived if they didn't work for the people who used them. They were the best science at the time. Kosher food was food that was less likely to pass on disease. Invoking the authority of god made sure that people followed certain rules that tended to be better for society--like not killing each other.

It's not really the religion that's at fault--if people use the teachings for bad ends--it's the corrupt people who get hold of a religion and bend it to serve their own self-interests. Those who want to encourage good science should try to work with the ancient knowledge from different cultures, preserved in religions, rather than being confrontational. You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

And how do you explain a society that worships a talking doll that was left behind by a time traveler from the future?

[anyajenkins]

I generally like this show, haven't seen this episode yet. But minor personal gripe, science can be wrong. When my little nephew was born, his mom followed all the scientific advice from the doctors. One of which was no nuts or anything with nuts until he was two and absolutely no peanuts until he was four, because that could cause nut allergies. Well, he ended up allergic to peanuts anyway. Too bad, but sometimes that happens, right? A little while after that, the sceintists change their minds and say little kids not eating any nuts is really what causes nut allergies. The scienctist corrected themselves, great, but poor little guy still has a life threatening peanut allergy. His mom hasn't become an anti-science, faith healer type or anything like that. But she doesn't take the doctor/scientist's word as 'gospel' anymore (pun sort of intended. )

[LoganAlpha30X33]

My Dad always used to joke every time that we'd see on the news that scientists now said that this or that was dangerous to us that he should have died several times over if all of that were true...

[The Cool Thatguy]

This episode was light on the jokes, but I did love the bit where Ed made fun of Kelly Hu, thinking she had already hung up.

I'm kind of surprised they sunk the Ed/Kelly rekindled romance so quickly after the suggestion that maybe she wasn't at fault for sleeping with Darulio. But maybe we haven't seen the last of it. Ed is kind of a crappy captain, he only let things get worse.

Where do you get that Ed is a bad captain? He's the reason why his ship has survived two battles with the Krill while outgunned, and for all the jokes, the ship isn't run poorly.

[Nate Grey]

This episode had a lot in common with the Voyager episode "Blink of an Eye."

Isaac staying behind for 700 years also reminded me a bit of the TNG two-parter "Time's Arrow". Or rather specifically Data having to leave his head behind 500 years in the past and attach it in to his body in the present.

This episode is significant in that it seems to be saying "Ef it, we ARE Star Trek in all but name, dammit". It dealt with, specifically, a worst case scenario of violating the Prime Directive. Only here its called "Cultural Contamination". Plus, I'd be really surprised if the Union doesn't make use of that civilization's version of transporter technology in the future (when Isaac and the two representatives beamed on board).

A lot of other themes going on here that I loved. Kelly's horror at all of this happening in her name, the captain trying to be social, etc. The only complaint, small as it is, is that out of all the characters Malloy still gets the least development. Maybe that will change next season.

As for Ed and Kelly's resolution...it had to happen. MAYBE it'll be revisited when the show is winding down (season 5 and beyond), but for now, it was too much of a Damocles sword that I'm glad was finally taken down. We saw first hand how it effected both of them in command decisions now maybe that won't be the case. Plus personally I've always liked the various dynamics between a commanding officer and first officer, maybe now we'll get that instead of ex-lovers forced to work together.

Written by Seth MacFarlane himself, directed by Brannon Braga. Could be the new power team going forward.

Finally...first the 2D world, now how the representatives were dressed. I wonder if MacFarlane just really loves Tron? Not a complaint (I loved it too, I want a third movie dammit ) just something I noticed.

[Toreador]

This episode had a lot in common with the Voyager episode "Blink of an Eye."

Isaac staying behind for 700 years also reminded me a bit of the TNG two-parter "Time's Arrow". Or rather specifically Data having to leave his head behind 500 years in the past and attach it in to his body in the present.

This episode is significant in that it seems to be saying "Ef it, we ARE Star Trek in all but name, dammit". It dealt with, specifically, a worst case scenario of violating the Prime Directive. Only here its called "Cultural Contamination". Plus, I'd be really surprised if the Union doesn't make use of that civilization's version of transporter technology in the future (when Isaac and the two representatives beamed on board).

A lot of other themes going on here that I loved. Kelly's horror at all of this happening in her name, the captain trying to be social, etc. The only complaint, small as it is, is that out of all the characters Malloy still gets the least development. Maybe that will change next season.

As for Ed and Kelly's resolution...it had to happen. MAYBE it'll be revisited when the show is winding down (season 5 and beyond), but for now, it was too much of a Damocles sword that I'm glad was finally taken down. We saw first hand how it effected both of them in command decisions now maybe that won't be the case. Plus personally I've always liked the various dynamics between a commanding officer and first officer, maybe now we'll get that instead of ex-lovers forced to work together.

Written by Seth MacFarlane himself, directed by Brannon Braga. Could be the new power team going forward.

Finally...first the 2D world, now how the representatives were dressed. I wonder if MacFarlane just really loves Tron? Not a complaint (I loved it too, I want a third movie dammit ) just something I noticed.

Actually the suits remind me more of the Kryptonian outfits they wore in the first Superman movie (with Christopher Reeve).

[Jim Kelly]

Those futuristic outfits made me think of SUPERMAN also. It seems like fashion just gets worse and worse the further you go in the future.

I don't like the Star Trek transporter technology. I accept it as a budgetary shortcut, but either the technology should not work or if it does work then that means the science is so far ahead that everything else on Star Trek should be much more advanced. I could accept a different explanation for teleporting--for example, let's say they can open a gateway through space so you step through it and are immediately at a different point. That works with the idea of quantum drive and all that. It's still a bit far-fetched, but easier to wrap my mind around. But I hope they keep the teleporting out of THE ORVILLE.

The one good thing about the season ending so soon and having to wait nine months for the second season is that they will have lots of time to write new scripts and work on any production problems. The second series could be even better than the first--if that's possible.

Just because they have a non-contamination policy that doesn't mean they ripped that off from Star Trek. They probably did, but anthropologists already have this policy. There are many peoples around the world where scientists have agreed not to interfere. There are even places where only one survivor remains from an ancient group of people and that guy is left alone and studied from afar. So it's just common sense that a scientific people would take the same approach with aliens in the future. However, I think it would be very hard to get everyone in the Union on board with this idea--and there would be some capitalists who want to contaminate the alien culture for their own ends. That would be a good story to pursue--where a significant number of space explorers are intentionally interfering with aliens to acquire power.

[AndrewCrossett]

Didn't they introduce an alien teleporter device in one of the earlier episodes? Probably laying the groundwork for reverse-engineering it and introducing it later to the show. I think it's literally the only major piece of Trek tech the show hasn't swiped so far.

[Nate Grey]

Just because they have a non-contamination policy that doesn't mean they ripped that off from Star Trek.

...who said they "ripped that off from Star Trek"? I was the only one who brought it up while everyone kept talking about science vs religion and I didn't phrase it that way. Unless I missed a post...?

Didn't they introduce an alien teleporter device in one of the earlier episodes? Probably laying the groundwork for reverse-engineering it and introducing it later to the show. I think it's literally the only major piece of Trek tech the show hasn't swiped so far.

The only ep I can think of is the Charlize Theron ep. Her version of transporter looked like a video glitching.

I think its inevitable as well.

[Jim Kelly]

It's just the voices in my head.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Where do you get that Ed is a bad captain? He's the reason why his ship has survived two battles with the Krill while outgunned, and for all the jokes, the ship isn't run poorly.

Well, I said kinda. He makes good decisions in the heat of the moment, but he does have a couple failings. I was initially referring to him keeping Kelly's interference out of his report. He doesn't do well when it comes to commands from the admirals, and in some cases, he rewards people for going against them (like when Alara saved him and Kelly from the zoo).

But also, Ed isn't great when it comes to interacting with aliens. You can probably chalk it up to Plot Induced Stupidity (which I will defend, because without it, a lot of stories can't happen), but going undercover as a Krill, his actions with that family on that space ship world, a lot of that stuff could've been handled better.

[Toreador]

...who said they "ripped that off from Star Trek"? I was the only one who brought it up while everyone kept talking about science vs religion and I didn't phrase it that way. Unless I missed a post...?



The only ep I can think of is the Charlize Theron ep. Her version of transporter looked like a video glitching.

I think its inevitable as well.

Wasn't it used in the alien zoo episode?

[Osiris-Rex]

The only reason ST:TOS used transporters was they didn't have the money to create shuttle props. So it was a cheap way to get the characters down to a planet.
Obviously The Orville has enough money to use shuttles so the only reason to use a transporter would be for the nostalgia of ST:TOS. Even later versions of
Star Trek have had shuttles.