The Orville

[stargazer01]

Loved the Star Wars vibe of much of the episode.

Didn't like that the Kelly/Ed stuff is clearly long-haul. It is now obvious that Kelly/Ed isn't some early subplot to be resolved in a season or two, but is intended to be central to the entire run, something that won't be resolved until the final episode of the final season. Which is just...*sigh*

Why? I like it. I think it works because it adds complexity to their relationship. I think they really care for each other, but it's not easy to be together due to their jobs. I also like it their weird romance/relationship is not the main focus of the show, but it's an important ongoing subplot. The mistake some shows make is when they focus so much on the romantic angst and it's just tiring. Show them working together and with the team and slowly put them back together when they accomplish other goals in their lives.

[Jim Kelly]

It's not a romantic plot. It's not just the absence of George's romance with Mary that changes Bedford Falls into Pottersville, that's simply one of the many dominoes that didn't fall that allowed other dominoes to fall, in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. A whole series of other (unromantic) dominoes fall when Kelly doesn't go on a second date with Ed.

[LordMikel]

My minor complaint, I would have preferred if the ship they had gotten was the Orville II, named after the first Orville which was destroyed. One of the earlier episodes had the person from the future who was going to steal the Orville since it got destroyed. Ed talked her out of it though. Without Ed at the helm the implication is the Orville didn't survive there either. A minor point which wouldn't have changed the plot at all.

I'm torn about character deaths during time shifts. On the one hand, a character death is impactful, but it then leads everyone to believe the timeline will change back anyway.

[Jim Kelly]

Yeah that Charlize Theron episode would have worked out differently.

To me, if we're shown a timeline then that timeline exists. It doesn't matter if someone travels through time to make a change, you can't destroy that timeline--you can only create another divergent timeline.

It's silly that Dr. Finn disappears just because she created a new timeline by her actions--she has to exist for her action to have any effect. The logic is inconsistent because if she disappears then so should the drug that erased Kelly's memories.

I'd prefer to think that the alternate Claire doesn't cease to exist, she's simply yanked back to her own timeline after she's succeeded in her mission--which sucks for her because the Orville has blown up so she's yanked back to empty space.

The story is actually tragic because everyone dies just for the sake of creating a timeline in which they never will exist and all the pain and suffering in their own timeline will persist.

By the same token, the original timeline should not have been destroyed--it must continue to exist. All time travelling Kelly has done is create another divergent timeline--the bad one--but original Kelly continues to exist in the good timeline.

In fact, everything they've done in their respective timelines is absurd and pointless, because they have no way of feeling the damage or enjoying the benefits in the other timelines.

[stargazer01]

like I said before, I don't like to overthink the sci-fi. Time travel is too complex to understand any way. I see it and enjoy it on a more emotional level, and if I like how the characters are written and the spectacle is good, I'm totally fine. I enjoyed the heck out of this finale. Pure bliss.

I just hope we get more..

[Jim Kelly]

To me it's not overthinking. It's enjoying the pleasure of thought and going along with it where it will take me. Everything I wrote in the previous post was pretty easy to follow for me and it's the kind of stuff I like to dwell on--not to tear apart the story but just because it's good exercise for the imagination.

Time travel doesn't need to be hard to unpack--it's lazy writing that makes it that way. I believe it's possible to write a good time travel story that makes sense inside its own paradigm--I just wish writers would try to do it. They seem to give up on the effort just as they're about to make a touch down.

And it looks like this is going to be the year of the time travel story. I wouldn't be surprised if GOT concludes with time travel to reverse the effects of the cold snap. Or if BBT ends with Sheldon time travelling into Young Sheldon to correct super asymmetry. Or if the Arrowverse has a time travel endgame for Oliver Queen in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Or if the Skywalker Saga ends with Force Ghosts time travelling into their own past and revisiting long dead characters.

[Malvolio]

I've seen a lot of lazy writing in time travel, too. The problem is that they treat other times as if they were other places. You'll hear a character say something like, "We have to go back in time, before it's too late!" But if you have a time machine, then it's never too late. You just program it to go to the exact moment you need to be there. As Doc Brown would say, "You have to think fourth dimensionally."

[90'sCartoonMan]

That was pretty epic. Great seeing Alara again! Ed and Kelly kind of break my heart when I watch them. I liked this alternate version of Ed learning how accomplished he was as a captain.

What was that other race as powerful as the Kaylons they mentioned?

It's silly that Dr. Finn disappears just because she created a new timeline by her actions--she has to exist for her action to have any effect. The logic is inconsistent because if she disappears then so should the drug that erased Kelly's memories.

I'd prefer to think that the alternate Claire doesn't cease to exist, she's simply yanked back to her own timeline after she's succeeded in her mission--which sucks for her because the Orville has blown up so she's yanked back to empty space.

Seth seems to like the idea that if someone goes back to the past and change things, their future won't exist, so they fade away. This has happened to Stewie and Brian a few times on Family Guy (although in the Family Guy movie, the past Stewie simply killed the time traveling future Stewie).

[AndrewCrossett]

Little late to the party here...

There were a LOT of Star Wars references in this episode, and most done surprisingly well. Playing chicken in an asteroid field... the patched-together ship whose hyperdrive keeps failing... the Kaylon stormtroopers who can't seem to hit a damn thing even though they must have super-advanced targeting technology. I even caught a Firefly reference... Gordon talking about scavengers who will remove your skin and wear it like a suit sure sounded a lot like Reavers to me.

Also a ballsy choice at the end to just fade to black instead of giving the expected "it worked and everything is back to normal" scene. What if it didn't work? If the show doesn't get picked up for season 3, we'll never know for sure.

[stargazer01]

This is a nice read. I really hope we get a season 3.

"Ultimately, it's how the writers develop the various interpersonal relationships that makes the series shine."


https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/...t-this-series/

[Jokerz79]

Renewed for Season 3.

[Qwerty]

Renewed for Season 3.

Beat me to it

[Ilan Preskovsky]

Renewed for Season 3.

Whooo!

I was getting worried there.

[AndrewCrossett]

Awesome. There's a comic book series starting up this summer, too.

[Kusanagi]

Renewed for Season 3.

Woo! Probably my favorite network show right now!