The Orville appreciation thread - IE, the actual new Star Trek

[Guts Gets Some]

I just started watching this, about 10 minutes into the first episode and.

It Feels good so far.

Edit so short reviews

Episode 1 : They solved the major problem with Smarts and quick thinking, it was amazing 10/10

I love the cast, it feels even more like a "Union of alien worlds" than Star trek does in some way. Bort and Issac feel really alien, what with Bort only pissing once a year. And Yaphit(?) being a pile of slime.

Episode 2 : Not as good as episode 1, but Kitan being in charge despite being so young, and having to handle it while Bort has to sit on his egg was still wonderful..and again, creative solution..They are solving things without Violence.

Episode 3 : This was weird, I know this was totally about Troons, but the concepts were done well and not something stupid.

Episode 4 : This was the only one I didn't outright love so far, it was a little too in places.

Edit 2

"Somebody put out that fire."
"What happened to automatic fire suppression!"
"That is the panel that is on fire!"

Hmm, my opinions on all these are polar opposite to you. While I liked episode 1, especially after you see later episodes, it's a bit too much comedy for my liking. (It's understandable given how it was sold to Fox though).

Episode 2 was so much better the second time around, and it's an Alara episode, how can I not like it?

Episode 3 is far too simplistic to actually enjoy; and if it was my introduction (which was likely, given it's the most talked about episode), I probably wouldn't even have bothered with the series at all.

And 4 is when everything finally clicked for me.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

And 4 is when everything finally clicked for me.

REEEEEing about Religion is a pet peeve of mine.

It has been done, it has been done to fucking death and this show does it with the Krill, Episode 4 and ends the season with it. Like I get it Seth you hate Religion, Tattoo it on your ass cheek.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

REEEEEing about Religion is a pet peeve of mine.

It has been done, it has been done to fucking death and this show does it with the Krill, Episode 4 and ends the season with it. Like I get it Seth you hate Religion, Tattoo it on your ass cheek.

Interesting, see, I never saw it like that. It was commenting on it in the same way Trek also has many times in the past, rather than an obvious I HATE RELIGION, for me.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Interesting, see, I never saw it like that. It was commenting on it in the same way Trek also has many times in the past, rather than an obvious I HATE RELIGION, for me.

If it were one episode that would be okay, but Seth dedicated 2 episodes as well as your major antagonist group to it. It is a lot of time to dedicate to a single thing, if it were just the Krill I would have been fine with it.

 

[Quantum Diabetes]

The episode where Bortus and Klyden get hooked on Marlboros rang pretty true to nicotine addiction. If I were on the ship I'd have them try eating Juul pods, as it's established Moclans can eat anything. Bortus on the bridge just popping the pods like Skittles. They should've brought back Bortus's moustache for that episode.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

If it were one episode that would be okay, but Seth dedicated 2 episodes as well as your major antagonist group to it. It is a lot of time to dedicate to a single thing, if it were just the Krill I would have been fine with it.

With episode 4, I was more interested in the sci-fi concept of being on a ship without knowing it. And I didn't even notice with the Krill, as it wasn't really saying anything, so much as informing their motivations. I don't remember anything about it saying the Krill were bad specifically because they were religious, just that they were religious.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

I don't remember anything about it saying the Krill were bad specifically because they were religious, just that they were religious.

They snuck onto a Krill ship to copy the krill Religious book, and one of the scenes discussing the Krill was dedicated to how "Weird" it was that the Krill were religious because "All ENLIGHTENED" space faring people discard religion which is reinforced in episode 12 where Issac doesn't have to do anything to undo Kelly fucking up because they discarded religion when they became "ENLIGHTENED".

I was more interested in the sci-fi concept of being on a ship without knowing it.

That is only about ten minutes of the episode though, we don't see anyone's long term reaction to the ship opening up we just have evil priest man stare up at the sky with his mouth hanging open ready for a big black cock.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

They snuck onto a Krill ship to copy the krill Religious book, and one of the scenes discussing the Krill was dedicated to how "Weird" it was that the Krill were religious because "All ENLIGHTENED" space faring people discard religion which is reinforced in episode 12 where Issac doesn't have to do anything to undo Kelly fucking up because they discarded religion when they became "ENLIGHTENED".


That is only about ten minutes of the episode though, we don't see anyone's long term reaction to the ship opening up we just have evil priest man stare up at the sky with his mouth hanging open ready for a big black cock.

Oh well. You probably won't like the season topper either.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Oh well. You probably won't like the season topper either.

It isn't even that I didn't like any of it, it was all competently done. I was just bored (with the exception of the Krill because they are antagonists and thus part of a longer plot and will have the main characters in situations that are somewhat dangerous too them, They weren't gonna kill Issac or Alara like they did Tasha Yar, not in a rando filler episode).

I just wanted them to be done with it and get onto an episode where things I haven't seen a million times before happen, give me less Internet Atheism and more "we went to Pinball land"

 

[Guts Gets Some]

It isn't even that I didn't like any of it, it was all competently done. I was just bored (with the exception of the Krill because they are antagonists and thus part of a longer plot and will have the main characters in situations that are somewhat dangerous too them, They weren't gonna kill Issac or Alara like they did Tasha Yar, not in a rando filler episode).

I just wanted them to be done with it and get onto an episode where things I haven't seen a million times before happen, give me less Internet Atheism and more "we went to Pinball land"

Well, it is MacFarlane's series, not classic Trek, so his viewpoints are going to be a thing in the series. Your issues get a lot less relevant in season 2, but overall, I never found them obvious or intrusive compared to his other works. Except episode 3, that is.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Well, it is MacFarlane's series, not classic Trek, so his viewpoints are going to be a thing in the series. Your issues get a lot less relevant in season 2, but overall, I never found them obvious or intrusive compared to his other works. Except episode 3, that is.

Time for some Heresy

I am enjoying Orville more than I think I like Star Trek, the characters feel more like..people. Like when Borat goes to sing and everybody's face instantly goes "OH FUCK US."

 

[Guts Gets Some]

Time for some Heresy

I am enjoying Orville more than I think I like Star Trek, the characters feel more like..people. Like when Borat goes to sing and everybody's face instantly goes "OH FUCK US."

Not heresy at all. I feel the same way, for pretty much the exact same reason.
Trek has some great science fiction concepts, but the characters are either fairly flat or way too professional and not very relatable, barring a few exceptions.

Just about everyone on the Orville is likable to some degree (well, maybe not Klyden), simply because they feel far more grounded and realistic. And it makes such a cool opportunity that they have (exploring space) much more believable for the rest of us too.

It's why I think the comedy works so well; it's almost exclusively character based. And that's always the best kind of comedy.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Not heresy at all. I feel the same way, for pretty much the exact same reason.
Trek has some great science fiction concepts, but the characters are either fairly flat or way too professional and not very relatable, barring a few exceptions.

Just about everyone on the Orville is likable to some degree (well, maybe not Klyden), simply because they feel far more grounded and realistic. And it makes such a cool opportunity that they have (exploring space) much more believable for the rest of us too.

It's why I think the comedy works so well; it's almost exclusively character based. And that's always the best kind of comedy.

Them Watching Seinfeld on the viewing screen was great.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

Them Watching Seinfeld on the viewing screen was great.

I look forward to seeing you recap your thoughts on every episode you watch, so feel free to post here as often as you want. I wanted people to use this topic like that.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

I look forward to seeing you recap your thoughts on every episode you watch, so feel free to post here as often as you want. I wanted people to use this topic like that.

I was actually recapping them as I saw them last week..then got too invested in watching it and forgot. I finished season 1 so far.

Lets see.

Episode 5 - I loved this episode. One of the strongest aspects to the show is that these are the B-team. The Orville is not the flagship and of course it is crewed by fuck ups. Having a grifter come in, try to steal crap from the B-team is awesome and Pria knowing that Mercer is heartbroken and is going to die, without a fuller psyche profile I bet Pria thought he was a great mark. "I will fuck him and he will give me his ship."

Episode 6 - I really liked this episode even if I am not a fan of the religious stuff in this seires, having Mercer and Mallory doing a buddy cop bit inside of an enemy ship was great fun. The ending was fantastic with the lady Krill basically outright stating "No them kids are going to hate you because you murdered all of their parents."

Episode 7 - This one wasn't big for me, The concept was okay but the way it was presented was not great. They can hack into the World's Social Media but they couldn't check the planets social media and history before sending scouts (including the ones they were going to save) down?

Episode 8 - This episode was probably my favorite, Combining the trope of "Android gets stuck with children and ends up befriending them" and "Ghetto children" is pretty cool, this is the sort of thing that lets the show shine, Mixxing the tropes of "Future Star Trek" and sticking it with "Kids as they are today." is great. Issac just blasting the video game system was amazing.

Episode 9 - This episode was weaker, if only because of the plot with Darulio being resolved with his people having sexy touch powers. It is a bit of a stretch that beings like this are common and spend time on earth but we know nothing of them. Bortus pissing once a year is a good joke, because who is gonna ask about a species bowl habits, having sexy touch is something that would be noticed way sooner than this. Also it absolves Kelly of her cheating, that is bullshit.

HOWEVER...I forgive this episode for Yaphit, Yaphit is my favorite character.

Episode 10 - Alara's story here was pretty cool, it invoked the episode of TNG where Crusher was in a similar situation. It was okay, but having Alara in the spotlight is great she is in my top 3 or 4 favorite characters and her continued feelings of "not being good enough." make for a good character arc.

Episode 11 - Lamarr being promoted was a bullshit asspull, The dude was humping a statue 4 episodes ago and almost got himself lobotomized and now suddenly he is in line for a promotion because he tests well? The 2D space was great though, and the fact it looked like a giant pinball machine was great.

I've already discussed episode 12, it is probably my least favorite of the series. I am usually big on pushing plot advancement ahead but Mercer and Grayson could have had another season of working together before they attempted to reconcile. Hand waving the cheating away was a mistake, it is something that should have been handled slower and more naturally.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

Episode 7 - This one wasn't big for me, The concept was okay but the way it was presented was not great. They can hack into the World's Social Media but they couldn't check the planets social media and history before sending scouts (including the ones they were going to save) down?

It's interesting hearing the opinions of someone with almost polar opposite reactions I had.

This was my favorite episode and I loved how it was presented too. And it's pretty topical for 2020 and our outrage culture. A grim future we could be headed.

To answer your question: Remember the two scouts from the beginning? They didn't know much about this society and were waiting on their reports, so when the Orville had to find them, they had to learn as they went. Also, they would not have been able to hack into it without Isaac. Having a Kaylon helps out with all sorts of things, as you've seen numerous times.

Episode 11 - Lamarr being promoted was a bullshit asspull, The dude was humping a statue 4 episodes ago and almost got himself lobotomized and now suddenly he is in line for a promotion because he tests well?

That was the point. The "dumb guy without any sense of awareness" is a persona. A front he adopted at an earlier age to fit in with the rest of his 'normie' friends. I mean, it's flat out said in the episode. He's a genuinely intelligent engineer, that's why he got promoted. But that facade of his is now part of his personality since he's run with it for so long. "It became habit."

 

[Miller]

And it's pretty topical for 2020 and our outrage culture.

I think Seth said that he wrote that episode based on that current twitter "culture", more precisely the story of Justine Sacco.

The "dumb guy without any sense of awareness" is a persona. A front he adopted at an earlier age to fit in with the rest of his 'normie' friends.

Exactly. I actually knew a guy who was like that.

 

[Guts Gets Some]

I think Seth said that he wrote that episode based on that current twitter "culture", more precisely the story of Justine Sacco.

I've also heard people say there's something in Black Mirror like it too. I don't know anything about that show, but yeah, modern times are ripe for great sci-fi stories.

 

[A Grey Cat]

It's funny the Orville come about because Seth wanted to reboot star trek and try something different bit still in line with his usual brand of observational humor.


The same thing was said about his failed attempt to reboot the Flintstones for fox. It was an IP Seth wanted to try his hand at giving his own spin on while being true to the source material. Makes me wonder how that would have gone down had fox given the idea the green light.

 

[Miller]

The same thing was said about his failed attempt to reboot the Flintstones for fox. It was an IP Seth wanted to try his hand at giving his own spin on while being true to the source material. Makes me wonder how that would have gone down had fox given the idea the green light.

The sad thing about the Flintstones is that there's a remake in production by Elizabeth Banks for some reason.