The Orville

[Nate Grey]

That was a good ep.

[Anthony W]

That was a good ep.

Yeah...but not what I was expecting.

[Jokerz79]

Fantastic episode. I like SNW and think Trek is maybe getting back on track. But damn I have to say Orville really does feel even with SNW more like proper Trek than anything CBs/Paramount is doing.

[gwhh]

Seth said he loved Gene Roddenberry and what to make a show just like he did. Gene had his girlfriends(s) on the original series left and right. And Gene was married at the time!

What is the matter with these people? I like the cast on the show, but behind the scenes they seem to have poor judgement about how to mix their professional lives with their personal lives. It was bad enough when Seth MacFarlane was dating Halston Sage. That seemed like such an idiotic move, given he's the boss--there's no way that was ever going to work out good for both of them.

Who do these people think they are, Fleetwood Mac?

[Thezmage]

I did expect a little more follow up to Lamont's issues. They sure made it seem like he had something he was trying to keep busy to avoid and then they never followed up. Maybe next episode

[j9ac9k]

As many have said, this show feels like what a modern version of ST:TNG might,(i.e. more complicated and morose) but it sometimes comes across as old-fashioned for how much it's like that old show.

It's not a show I think much about, so I can't put my finger on it but I still don't really care about the characters. The premiere episode didn't help since it was so story-focused, the rest of the cast only interacted with the story or Isaac and barely with each other. And most importantly, I don't really have a handle on the Captain and what kind of leader he is. He seems nice until he has to be stern, but after getting over the initial "I have to work with my ex" dynamic, I'm not sure if his character made enough of an impression on me that I've mostly forgotten what he is by now. The premiere ep didn't help much to re-establish it.

[Witchfan]

What I have seen of this show so far is better than the first season of TNG.

[Jim Kelly]

While I had a hard time remembering what had happened in the previous season--three years ago!--I still am deeply attached to the characters. Penny Johnson Jerald is the real stand-out in terms of acting. Before this series, I didn't realize how little she'd been given on CASTLE.

The stuff that felt dead to me was all the business with the refit and putting the new runabout through its paces. Having been in the navy and served on a large ship, I know about refit and also making improvements to the ship on the fly--there's a lot of funny stories (where I was the butt of the joke) that I could tell. But they made this material as dry as a training film.

Those boring bits aside, I was having goose bumps through most of the episode--I thought this day would never come and the Orville would remain stuck in dry-dock.

[j9ac9k]

I actually appreciated that alien lady culture's take on self-termination. I spent many years thinking that life simply wasn't for me - no harm, no foul and that I would just exit. I knew my mother would never be able to accept that reasoning, so I just went through the motions rather than put her through the pain.(my wish was always that I could exit and leave a simulation in my place for family functions to spare my mom's feelings) I feel better now, but I still think society needs to introduce a way for people to bow out gracefully. (and to address the argument the show presented, despite not feeling the same right now, I'm okay with the idea of exiting earlier if society had allowed it then - it would have been the path I'd chosen, no different than most other irreversible big choices in life)

[Nate Grey]

So I guess we now have Orville's version of the Q?

[Tofali]

I started watching this show from Season 3 because I've nothing else to watch and now The Q Continuum is here LOL! Episode 3 Mortality Paradox was nice but the show still feels like a parody of another show and OMG! the casting of this show is soo lackluster that it is criminal. No one has presence or charisma it feels like a fan-made show with its acting, writing and production but the funny thing is I'm still going to continue to watch just because I've nothing else to watch.

[j9ac9k]

I started watching this show from Season 3 because I've nothing else to watch and now The Q Continuum is here LOL! Episode 3 Mortality Paradox was nice but the show still feels like a parody of another show and OMG! the casting of this show is soo lackluster that it is criminal. No one has presence or charisma it feels like a fan-made show with its acting, writing and production but the funny thing is I'm still going to continue to watch just because I've nothing else to watch.

I pretty much agree, but I wouldn't put it all on the actors. (there's a reason the first 2 epis featured the Doctor, as she's the best actor in that cast) When watching "Mortality Paradox" I kept thinking there were so many missed opportunities with the writing in terms of giving us some character moments. I said before that I can't care for the cast and this episode showed why. Here was an opportunity to have them talk about their high school experiences, a line or two about how the non-earthers grew up as contrast -- something to help define these characters or at least how they interact as people. We got Bortus talking about his culture a bit, but that felt like exposition and there was nothing personal there.

And we have the most significant thing -- they were each thrown into mortal danger. A prime opportunity to show us how these characters face death! A chance to reveal something about them as individuals as they face that moment -- but, no. Their eyes glaze over for a second in the middle of the action, then they move on, like any other episode where we presume their lives are in danger. Nothing about the dialogue felt like it couldn't have come from any of the characters outside their surface level definitions - Bortus isn't human, whatsisname is a pilot. They're just cardboard. Was this episode written by that alien at the end, because the writers seemed to have no ability to imagine what it's like to be afraid for your life and to confront that moment.

(and in terms of ... "homages" this seemed a mash-up of that episode of ST:ToS where they go to that fake western to replay the OK Corral where they're facing their imminent deaths - where the illusion is so strong it can kill you, plus ST VI with Spock's Brother's mindgames)

[Anthony W]

I pretty much agree, but I wouldn't put it all on the actors. (there's a reason the first 2 epis featured the Doctor, as she's the best actor in that cast) When watching "Mortality Paradox" I kept thinking there were so many missed opportunities with the writing in terms of giving us some character moments. I said before that I can't care for the cast and this episode showed why. Here was an opportunity to have them talk about their high school experiences, a line or two about how the non-earthers grew up as contrast -- something to help define these characters or at least how they interact as people. We got Bortus talking about his culture a bit, but that felt like exposition and there was nothing personal there.

This is why I like The Orville, it somehow manages to be less professional yet somehow more professional than current Trek. If this was current Trek I guarantee you they would be talking about their issues crying and hugging it out. Instead they saw a problem and attempted to fix it while getting in some jokes that arose naturally from the situation and didn't feel forced. Bravo.

And we have the most significant thing -- they were each thrown into mortal danger. A prime opportunity to show us how these characters face death! A chance to reveal something about them as individuals as they face that moment -- but, no. Their eyes glaze over for a second in the middle of the action, then they move on, like any other episode where we presume their lives are in danger. Nothing about the dialogue felt like it couldn't have come from any of the characters outside their surface level definitions - Bortus isn't human, whatsisname is a pilot. They're just cardboard. Was this episode written by that alien at the end, because the writers seemed to have no ability to imagine what it's like to be afraid for your life and to confront that moment.

(and in terms of ... "homages" this seemed a mash-up of that episode of ST:ToS where they go to that fake western to replay the OK Corral where they're facing their imminent deaths - where the illusion is so strong it can kill you, plus ST VI with Spock's Brother's mindgames)

Malloy was grabbed by a giant monster. Kelly was grabbed by a sea monster. Bortus was being choked to death. Ed was in a plane that was about to crash. That doesn't leave much time for a touching heartfelt soliloquy. If you're going to steal, steal from the best. This was the perfect episode to watch after the awful Strange New Worlds episode where they went into pirate infested space on the word of "Captain Angel" without even running a background check and subjecting us to the CW style love triangle between Spock , Chapel and T'Pring

[Jim Kelly]

I imagine that when the writers handed in the early draft of episode 3, the line producer went through it with a blue pencil and crossed out most of the pages as being too far outside their budget. Then the executive producer said we'll shoot it as is and move some money around to pay for it.

Probably they'll have to do at least one bottle episode later in the season to make up for the cost.

[j9ac9k]

Malloy was grabbed by a giant monster. Kelly was grabbed by a sea monster. Bortus was being choked to death. Ed was in a plane that was about to crash. That doesn't leave much time for a touching heartfelt soliloquy. If you're going to steal, steal from the best. This was the perfect episode to watch after the awful Strange New Worlds episode where they went into pirate infested space on the word of "Captain Angel" without even running a background check and subjecting us to the CW style love triangle between Spock , Chapel and T'Pring

Who said anything about a solliloquy? I get that you don't like current Trek, but to compare it to old Trek, the point of the Kobayashi Maru was to reveal something about a person's character - how they behave or address a situation where they specifically think they're about to die.(which was the premise of the episode - otherwise, it's just another scenario where they face danger, which is every episode) We saw how Kirk handled it, and it gave us insight into his character. We got nothing like that here. Again, a missed opportunity for me to find a reason to like these characters or know them better. I'm glad you can appreciate their professionalism, but that doesn't necessarily make for good drama.