I found it strange that they got Jason Alexander to agree to do a cameo like that where he was buried under full makeup, but I guess he's just a big fan of the show.
There are an awful lot of celebrity Star Trek fans out there and Jason Alexander is one who really put his money where his mouth is by making it known he wanted to guest star on a Star Trek episode and then actually appearing in one. Alexander turned up as the alien Kurros in "Think Tank," a fifth-season episode of Voyager.
He even says he never wanted to be a human, but an alien, that is why it took till Voyager to get him on a Trek series.
There is a potential major spoiler about this new lieutenant that looks like will be the Captain's new love interest.
Might want to avoid some of the speculation out there, if you don't want it spoiled.
Spoiler!
The same actress played the Krill school teacher when they infiltrated the Krill ship in season 1. Possible this new lieutenant is the same Krill in human disguise.
Very strange but brilliant episode to say the least
Spoiler!
This was an episode that pushed a lot of barriers, some people might be really uncomfortable about it, but at the center of this episode there was a lot of strong writing, character study and most of all heart.
This was a Bortas episode. We find that the straight laced third officers private life was actually a mess as he went to the holo deck to run sexual simulations and actively cheated on his mate Klydan.
Now the first thing that came to mind was this, when I used to watch episodes of TNG used the holodeck for things other then playing cards with the most brilliant minds in history, or hiking through alien worlds and had hard core pornographic sex. The Orville answered that tonight as Bortas was indulging in hardcore sex fantasies and the imagery was all male.
Like I said, I think that this will bother some people that watch this series, and I expect that there will be a vocal group that screams out, "Gross" and "I hated it".
I will admit that I was uncomfortable with some of the imagery. The dungeon scene was probably a little bit over the edge, and I'm stunned that it got past the network.
The stunning thing was that this wasn't played as an expected joke until later in the episode.
But Bortas' actions lead to Klydan asking for a divorce by ramming a knife into Bortas' chest which is their way.
At that point this is where the episode took our pre conceived notions of this being light science fiction and kicked it right in the a$$.
In couples therapy we found out that Bortas carried heavy resentment over the decision to make their daughter under go gender reassignment and blamed Kyldan. It was an admission that was a long time coming and it lead to Bortas' cheating on his mate. This was a big emotional scene and the actors really pulled it off.
At the same time the crew was watching a planet being eaten by a star and they discovered at the last minute that there was a civilization in the planet and they had to effect a rescue. This is where two themes really collided.
Because Bortas in his thinly hidden porn addiction had ordered a hard core orgy program from a crew member the ship was infected by a virus that started to make the ship fail.
this is where the episode really ramped up the emotional timber of this episode for Bortas as he and Isaac went down to the planet to rescue the 75 last members of a society but only had one trip to do it in and had to leave half of the people to die. In that moment Bortas while watching the interaction of a husband and child who were selected had to leave the mother to die and she stated that there was never enough time in a relationship but they always had the time together.
Bortas and Isaac returned to the Orville which was being ravaged by the Virus and started spinning into the sun that we got the pay off of the joke as John and Isaac had to kill the virus on the holodeck while getting molested by the pornographic images and John Muttered that he was never going to watch porn again.
In the end Bortas reconciled with Klydan and promised to try to accept the decisions made.
All and all this episode was in a lot of ways ground breaking, it addressed male on male relationship and stuffed it full of imagery designed to create a awkward feeling with some viewers. It addressed porn addiction, the unhealthy ability for people to bury resentment without addressing it.
The writing and characters were strongly done. But this was a Bortas episode with a strong assist from Isaac who was amazing in this episode especially in the shuttle conversation with Bortas where he exhibited his self superiority and was rebuked by Bortas.
In a lot of ways this episode also stepped up in other ways.
I mentioned last week that the effects looked amazing, but this weeks episode stepped that up big time. The imagery on the planet being destroyed by the sun was amazing to look at.
The other thing that was amazing and where they Star Treked the crap out of this episode was that they really upped the music using a classical sound track that heightened the sense of jeopardy as the ship spiraled towards the sun desperate for the last minute fix.
But this episode still had some great comedy moments.
The Masturbation talk between Bortas and Gordon with Kelly replying that the ship was gross.
The couples counseling where Bortas asked the doctor if there was an injection to cure his porn addiction and Klydon grumbled that he'd had too many injections all ready made me spit my coffee out.
also the discussion between Bortas and the alien when he was looking for a hardcore orgy simulation and the alien asked him if he wanted some pills as well was hilarious.
I don't know, I loved the episode. The image of an hologram molesting Isaac as he tried to fix the ship was just so out there that you had to laugh.
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Another excellent episode last night with some very funny lines mixed in.
Claire: "Couples counseling helps married people, such as yourselves, discuss and resolve conflicts with the goal of improving your long-term relationship. I'm here to guide that process."
Klyden: "Will we select our own weapons?"
Claire: "No."
Gordon: "It's okay, dude. Everybody does it sometimes. I went to town on myself this morning. It's why I look so relaxed right now.
Kelly: "God, this whole ship is gross."
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I'm having a hard time enjoying the show as much as I did the first season. I don't know if it's getting stale for me or something else. The show would be much better if they had better actors, but it is what it is, still enjoyable enough to keep watching.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
Couldn't they have crammed more people into the shuttle? That could have even been a tension moment. Have Issac say that given the proximity to the sun the extra weight is dangerous, and have them just barely make it off the planet.
I did enjoy the episode, but I'm not sure I can take another Bortusode.
I do like how Moklin's are basically supposed to be like Klingon's but they made them gay and the weirdest aliens. Making fun of Klingon's is always good for a laugh. But I think I've had enough for awhile.
They could use a few more main cast so they don't get stuck writing stories for the same individuals over and over. What happened to Blob? I miss Norm.
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The shine is wearing off for me as well need more in depth stories and more science.
Same here. They've steered the Orville towards being a workplace comedy, and I'm not sure I need yet another Brooklyn 99. Looks like the idea of an episodic TV show about the exploration of space and problems posed by science is dead.
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Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
There isn't really a good science based science fiction show. Star Trek pretty much made it up on the fly. Orville has really always been about the people and personalities more then science.
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It used science as a jumping-off point for dramatic problems and dilemmas. Many of the writers were published sci-fi authors. While the Orville is entertaining, I'd guess the writers formerly worked on How I Met Your Mother.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fotze
If this day gets you riled up, you obviously aren't numb to the disappointment yet to be a real fan.
It used science as a jumping-off point for dramatic problems and dilemmas. Many of the writers were published sci-fi authors. While the Orville is entertaining, I'd guess the writers formerly worked on How I Met Your Mother.
Almost every episode has been written by Seth MacFarlane. There’s lots of Star Trek people involved in the show too.
The episode that aired on Thursday was actually a holdover from last season. Last year, Fox ordered 13 episodes, but then chose to just air 12 of them. As a result, this episode (which was supposed to be the second-to-last episode of season one) became the second episode of season two.
I don't if they made any big changes between seasons, but that episode shouldn't really be judged as a second season episode if they did.
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