This was definitely the "Comedy" episode of the season so far! Every other episode was for the most part, fairly serious, but merely peppered with some off colored comments and jokes, but would snap right back into serious mode after the comment. This one, showed to me at least, he could do comedy for a good bit of the episode and make it work.
Another interesting episode tonight. Makes me wonder if this episode was written and taped after the movie "It" hit the theatres. Regardless, I enjoyed it and it took an unexpected turn. Though, after what happened to Gordon in the episode, I had a feeling what was really happening and we find out at the end what I suspected at that point. But before that moment with Gordon, it had me on the edge of my seat. Nice seeing Robert Picardo (the Holo Doctor from Star Trek Voyager) make a guest cameo appearance as Alara's dad. I wonder if he will appear in more episodes?
I saw something on Youtube - Id have to find it again - some other series.....Space Command(?)....looks like a privately funded sci fi show or somthing.....but he is in that.....I also *just* figured out (Im sort of dense....but after going back and looking...its obvious) - that he was the robotic "Johnny Cab" in Total Recall..(!)..
I loved this episode.Halfway through it reminded me of that TNG ep where Beverly Crusher keeps noticing people are going missing, while those that are still around have no memory of the missing crewmen, until Beverly becomes the only person onboard. But then it became another TNG staple - Spoiler a holodeck simulation. It was a really gripping episode, helped a lot by the fantastic score. Also, the action/fight scenes felt really kinetic and the CGI worked well (loved how the spider crawled along the floor and some legs partly off the wall). Also good to see Picardo!
LOVED this episode! Action, Drama, Tension and thrills. Plus my favorite character, Alara Katan, gets to do a lot of exciting stuff and some backstory about her character. The ending at least "explained" how all these events were able to take place, and it made sense within the story they weaved. The Fight Scenes were done well, never looked obviously fake or induced any eye rolling and the musical Score was first rate! Possibly one of the best Episodes yet! That Scene with Alara in sickbay was truly unusual, unsettling, and a nice view of Alara in less than a full uniform The Scene with Dr Finn locked up was Entertaining and creepy!
I totally agree that the effects and the score helped make this a great episode. I was also impressed by Halston Sage’s acting, particularly the first third of the episode
I hate to say this, (I am a huge Star Trek Fan) but I think the Orville, in many ways has equaled or surpassed the quality of many ST Next Gen Episodes now.
The series has been solid from episode 3 on up, and I don't think any version of Star Trek has ever had such a long uninterrupted series of good to great episodes with the possible exclusion of season one of TOS.
No disrespect to Next Gen ( I love it also!), but Orville just has some magic appeal to me, like everything works as one entertaining show. The acting, the look of the ship, the characters, the Special effects, the light and fun atmosphere, and even the musical score is close to motion picture strong.
Yes, every version of Star Trek had poor episodes that just were hard to watch or good episodes that dragged in a few spots, but this series has never ever had a poor episode yet or even one that had parts that dragged for me. The pacing is excellent.
Hopefully if this becomes a big hit, next year will be a full season run. There are only a few more episodes left this season.
There were actually 2 nods to Star Trek in this episode. Molly Hagan, who plays Alana’s mother was in an episode of Deep Space Nine in 1994. Also, I just noticed Brannon Braga directed this episode, along with 2 others, and is an executive producer.
I agree, except that I find most TOS episodes unwatchable today, with a handful or so of notable exceptions. What this show has going for it is what most people initially thought would be the show's biggest weakness - Seth MacFarlane. For him, as a lifelong Trek fan, this is a labor of love, and it shows - from the exploration of Trek themes and philosophy, to embracing producers, writers and actors from previous Trek incarnations. It shows a respect for Trek history (without officially being Trek!) and spices things up with Seth's sense of humor. I'd love to see more eps in season 2 as well.
To me, the cast looks like it actually is enjoying making the show. It just comes though! I also like how they allow all the characters to have pivotal moments and a good bit of airtime in stories. Most stories seem to be rotating through characters, and they are all equally important. Not the old "Kirk, Spock, McCoy" does everything, and oh wait Chekov and Scotty will get one episode a year where they are the main focus. I originally thought "Seth" would be the main weakness. Now I see after my bias eroded away, he is able to play a captain fairly well. He can be serious when he needs to, crack a few jokes at times and come off as a normal guy that "got the chance" to be a captain of a small ship, and wants to make it work out, and appears to enjoy the chance. I had originally thought Next Gen. had the ultimate Star Trek cast ever, but no longer. I think Orville has a more fun/balanced/dramatic cast than even Next Gen. And to think, the show is just getting going finally, a great start! I tried watching a few Next Gen episodes on netflix over the last several weeks, and wow, season one and two are fairly questionable. Nowhere near the feel of smoothness of Orville at all, let alone effects or music and even Story lines.
These last two episodes have been pretty strong overall, and Firestorm felt like a good episode of TNG. I wouldn't say it's 100% solid just yet, but it's getting there.
Now is a good time. "Chapter 1", as they're calling it, is over now, so you have 9 episodes to get in before the show returns in January.
Yeah, decided to pick up CBS All Access this week and watch Star Trek Discovery. Watched the first four episodes so far a enjoyed them very much. Very different from Orville, but also very well done. The effects are truly movie level.
And sadly a cheap out for the writers. I was always puzzled when a mundane explanation was used in a science fiction show where imagination and creativity are expected by the audience. I was hoping for something in line with the novels Solaris and Sphere, where communication with an alien species doesn't match up with the human brain. Weird manifestations based on the subconscious mind. Come to think of it, that's what happened in Catspaw too.
Agree, Great Episode! I think with Next Gen, part of the excuse was they found that fans loved the Holodeck (I suppose mostly at first) so they got a bit obsessed with doing Holo Episodes. They also had so many episodes to make a year, I can partially imagine it was tough to come up with top notch stuff regularly, and a bit of filler was needed. With Orville, the fluff or filler seems far less, but they are dealing with a 13 (12 now) episode season. Perhaps that is the best way for Star Trek to be, a shorter more quality season, with less filler. I think what strengthened this Episode of Orville was that the whole narrative has a larger overall purpose. Spoiler: . It showed a character attempting to Grow, and learn and trying to overcome a weakness. The short Speech the Captain gave to her near the beginning ( Spoiler: . When she wanted to resign) and also at the very End, Spoiler: . (when she was in trouble) made it all seem very personal, and that he really cares about Alara Kitan, and wants and needs her to improve, and be her best.
Word is they're spending about $8 million per episode on Star Trek: Discovery, making it one of the most expensive shows on television. Can ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Help CBS Boldly Go Into a Streaming Future? I would bet The Orville's budget is barely half of that. I've been fairly surprised by Seth MacFarlane's show, and while it's easy to dislike the show for what it isn't, it's not that bad for what it is. No question, the actors look like they're having fun, which is something. I still think it's a silly show, but it does occasionally make me laugh, and they've gone in some really unexpected directions. BTW, did anybody notice that in this recent episode, they idly mentioned that they've now been in space for six months, so it looks like the Captain is growing into his position as commander of the ship. I though that was interesting. Aw, c'mon, the original Star Trek show was a classic. You have to consider what it was like in 1966-1969: that was a huge deal back then that they were able to make the show look as good as it did, and that the scripts and characters were as interesting as they were. I wouldn't say they're "unwatchable" at all, any more than I would say I Love Lucy or Honeymooners or Twilight Zone is hard to watch. A classic is a classic is a classic.
