The Orville

[MichaelC]

Cool episode, but Isaac being allowed back on the ship screams of being one of those Hollywood things that only happen because the actors all have contracts. There is an excellent chance that some of the people killed when the Kaylons boarded had children. It's nice that the doctor's kids got their daddy back, but I doubt any of the children orphaned see it that way. I suspect that some future episode will milk this for drama, but it's hard to buy that he would be onboard long enough for there to be some confrontation between Isaac and some widow(er) and their kids.

[stargazer01]

At the same time, he also shouldn't get off the hook. He was at least partially responsible for a lot of deaths.

Is it just me or it seems like the Kaylons altered Isaac's memory? Otherwise I don't understand how he was willing to go against his new friends at the Orville. I really felt he wasn't acting like himself.

Is it just me who got that impression? But then something happened and he was able to remember again how much he cared for Ty and the rest.

yeah, it's going to be challenging to trust him again, but that will an interesting thing too.

[stargazer01]

Cool episode, but Isaac being allowed back on the ship screams of being one of those Hollywood things that only happen because the actors all have contracts. There is an excellent chance that some of the people killed when the Kaylons boarded had children. It's nice that the doctor's kids got their daddy back, but I doubt any of the children orphaned see it that way. I suspect that some future episode will milk this for drama, but it's hard to buy that he would be onboard long enough for there to be some confrontation between Isaac and some widow(er) and their kids.

I'm ok with Isaac being allowed back because the way I understand it, he wasn't totally responsible of his actions. And now he's all alone, plus he betrayed his own people. That means a lot.

[Captain Smith]

This show has really grown. It's great. It would make a nice episode to see somehow take a whack at Issac. I really got a kick out of the gun heads. Didn't see that coming.

[Kirby101]

They Kaylons had flawed logic and too much hubris. They could not conceive of any biological being equal to them, but really, computers could be built to rival their intelligence. And the met biologicals who matched their fire power.They also weren't advanced enough to build bodies that did not move like stiff robots.

[Jokerz79]

Those were movie quality effects. I can't recall ever seeing anything this good on Broadcast TV or basic cable. Maybe not even premium cable other than maybe Game of Thrones.



Can you really blame a toaster if it short circuits and burns the house down? Isaac wasn't even being that malicious. He was just doing what he was built for.

For their time period the Dominion War Battles and the B5 Shadow War/Earth Civil War battles were impressive like this was.

[Jim Kelly]

It probably would have been more effective to leave Isaac's fate hanging in the balance to be sorted out in the following episodes, but I think that Fox doesn't want the series to have too many continued episodes and this one was already continued from the previous episode. For people who just happen to watch an episode, and might see them out of order, it's best to wrap things up at the end. I expect that the decision to revive Isaac and keep him on the board the Orville will be the talk of the Union.

Given the sorry state of Captain Mercer's service record and the low expectations for the Orville when its mission began, Ed has more than proved his worth under fire--and I think the Orviille, despite battle damage, might be one of the best ships in the fleet given the upgrades to its deflectors and the advancements in its hyperdrive. I wonder if that will change prospects for Ed and the crew going forward.

[Osiris-Rex]

Given the sorry state of Captain Mercer's service record and the low expectations for the Orville when its mission began, Ed has more than proved his worth under fire--and I think the Orviille, despite battle damage, might be one of the best ships in the fleet given the upgrades to its deflectors and the advancements in its hyperdrive. I wonder if that will change prospects for Ed and the crew going forward.

In a real world navy Mercer would probably be given a larger ship to command. The Orville seems sort of the equivalent of a navy destroyer or frigate, if that much, based on the size of The Orville compared to other
Union ships. He would be given command of something like a battleship or an aircraft carrier, a top of the line ship. But being as the show is The Orville it is safe to assume Mercer will stay onboard.

[Cyke]

Man, the scale of this show jumped a huge bit. It started as a show about a captain and his 1st officer the ex-wife. It's still really uneven between its humor and sci-fi elements. But these last two episodes were some fun, epic television that just seemed to hit a lot of good buttons (I got suckered in by Yaphet). That battle was almost exhausting in a good way.

I flash back to Star Trek: Nemesis and how poorly paced and small scale that supposed climactic battle was supposed to be, and a sitcom in space outdid them. Then again, even DS9 and Enterprise outdid Nemesis in that regard (Nemesis was supposed to have a fleet battle, too. But the administrative urge by Berman to shave off $10 mil from the budget meant coming in under budget but a lot of things getting trimmed in the process).

Also, RIP Captain Tony Almeida

[90'sCartoonMan]

Another intense episode! I was worried about Ty there, but I'm glad Isaac came through for him. I was worried about Yaphit, too! When he came out of that one Kaylon looking all gross and stuff, I thought he was poisoned. I wonder how hard it was for him to clean himself after that.

So in a way Isaac is Data but with Odo's back story. Love it.

If the Kaylon are the Borg, Isaac has some Seven of Nine to him as well.

I did think they softened the Kaylons a bit, by establishing that their creators were bad folks who enslaved them and made them feel pain. That kind of lets the Kaylons off the hook, somewhat, rather than allowing them to be complete monsters.

But can we trust everything the Kaylons say? Apparently they have feelings. They could feel pain. And the Primary tells Isaac that he wasn't there to experience what they went through, so he can't know. But if they are just memory storage units, then it shouldn't matter whether Isaac was there or not--the experience of the event and the memory of the event should be one and the same. Yet it's not. So there must be some attachment to physical experience, which is more or less emotion by another name.

I liked that the Kaylons have emotions and had that backstory. If they were completely logical and had no emotion whatsoever, Isaac's turn would come completely out of nowhere.

[titanfan]

Another intense episode! I was worried about Ty there, but I'm glad Isaac came through for him. I was worried about Yaphit, too! When he came out of that one Kaylon looking all gross and stuff, I thought he was poisoned. I wonder how hard it was for him to clean himself after that.



If the Kaylon are the Borg, Isaac has some Seven of Nine to him as well.



I liked that the Kaylons have emotions and had that backstory. If they were completely logical and had no emotion whatsoever, Isaac's turn would come completely out of nowhere.

Yes, I think it also gave the situation hope. That things don't have to end in an all-out war. That the Kaylons could still be reasoned with one day and there was still hope for long term peace. Plus, Kaylon Prime is dead, and who knows that will happen now, maybe the next Prime could be more reasonable.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Finally got around to watching it. Damn good story overall, IMO.

Though I can't help but wonder how much of he show's budget that space fight cost, lol

[AndrewCrossett]

This two-parter was probably may favorite "Star Trek" episode since TNG. They must have gotten one hell of a budget for that battle scene.

I agree that Isaac being allowed to serve on the Orville again smacks of meta necessity rather than plot logic. I mean, how many hundreds of people died because of what he did? Everyone on the ship probably lost friends because of him. He is not going to be a popular fellow. I hope the show reflects that and doesn't just re-set things to normal with him.

I guess the Kaylons are being set up as this show's answer to the Borg or Dominion... the big bad external threat that forces the usual enemies to join forces. But it seems like the Krill haven't been established well enough as an enemy for this to seem like a game-changer. Hopefully the show will subvert expectations by having the alliance fail to happen, or fall apart catastrophically.

Since the Krill were able to decimate and drive off a Kaylon fleet with relative ease, why haven't they wiped out the Union long ago?

I guess the show isn't going to be much of a comedy anymore. That's kind of disappointing

[Tuck]

This two-parter was probably may favorite "Star Trek" episode since TNG. They must have gotten one hell of a budget for that battle scene.

Well, we were talking about how all the episodes before this story were character stories mostly taking place on the ship.

Sure they were saving up there.

[Cyke]

Well, we were talking about how all the episodes before this story were character stories mostly taking place on the ship.

Sure they were saving up there.

I'm glad the alien environments are getting more diverse, even just bit by bit as we go on. I'm kind of tired of visiting Planet SoCal.