Seth MacFarlane's The Orville

The interesting thing about seeing this episode on a rewatch is that it's very much a goofy comedy episode. "An egg? Where's it come out of, the butt?" Knowing where this plot is going (no spoilers), this particular take is fascinating to see. I have to wonder how calculated the comedy focus was. I don't think anybody who reads this but hasn't seen later episodes would be too concerned to hear that the show leans less on comedy the further it goes, but the early marketing was certainly very "fRoM tHe CrEaToR oF fAmIlY GuY".

Whether this influenced the early episodes--either notes coming directly from Fox or just the creative team trying to play to the MacFarlane audience--I have no idea. It's a tough play, as I don't think the Family Guy/Star Trek audience necessarily crosses over enough for the show to be able to win over both. I'm definitely more in the latter half of that audience, so the show isn't entirely serving me at this point. That does make me curious how people from the Family Guy side felt about the show at this point and whether they stuck around as it tapered off.

Anyway, I guess this episode is kind of The Orville's Allegiance (TNG)? That's the episode where ...

I don't think it's served well by that comparison, as the Orville's episode is not as strong as TNG's. But at least it shows that the creators of The Orville have higher goals than "Family Guy in space", even if this episode does lean in that direction in its tone. It's a silly one, but at its core, this is a solid concept for a Star Trek episode. I don't think they're quite landing it yet, but it's promising that nothing explodes in this whole episode.

Fun fact, two of the Calivon (red alien) extras here are played by Tory Belleci and Kari Byron from Mythbusters. I forgot to look out for them, so I have no idea when they show up. Here's a Facebook post by Kari Byron showing them in their Calivon make-up and prosthetics. I've attached one of the pictures to this comment for people who don't want to visit Facebook.

Final note: I think the Kermit bit rides the line of comedy and seriousness well. It's funny enough, but also: Kermit is a worthy leader. It's valid for a starship captain to admire his character.

I always call this episode practice for Firestorm, I'll explain why when we get there. But I only say that because of Alara's subplot. Even when this episode aired, I thought they didn't go far enough showing Alara develop the confidence of command - just having a good idea that luckily worked out.

What I really like about this episode is that it establishes that transporter technology is rare, and the Union doesn't have it. In Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry used transporters to avoid making shuttlecraft sets to save money (something that eventually happened anyway). But in present times with The Orville, making a walk-in closet and installing six gamer chairs is financially trivial. The plucky little Union shuttle (which is now one of my favorite spacecraft designs) is a great design and it kind of sets the tone for how the Union operates. Likewise, the critical damage taken by the shuttle bay and the shuttles in this episode becomes far worse when you realize that it severely limits how people can get on and off the ship. (I don't see rows of lifepods on the Orville either.)

I remember watching this episode at the time, when this was one of two episodes anyone had ever seen, and feeling like it didn't try hard enough. The continuing insufferability between Ed and Kelly actually serves a purpose this time and their plot is interesting, but Alara needed to be better than walking around with a chip on her shoulder only to suddenly start hyperventilating anytime something unexpected happened. She is confident and competent as a security officer, some of that should have translated to her being a commander. Even if it was just bravado.

The repeated interactions with Ensign Parker don't make sense, because that was suppose to be the introduction to a romance between him and Alara before that arc was abandoned during production. Can't really tell if it was lost due to the reshuffling of the episodes that brought About a Girl forward or it was a separate decision. I think Alara mentions him in the past tense in a future episode.

There are a lot of little things I do like about this episode. There's a casual camaraderie with the crew that Starfleet is to sterile to exhibit. We get our introduction to Lt. Commander Newton, the every-guy Engineer. I like all of his interactions with Alara throughout the season because no matter how much Alara is at fault for something, he's just defers to her decisions and does his job without resentment (looking at you, Gordon). That no-nonsense attitude becomes more profound in the episode Firestorm, to which I keep foreshadowing.

I also like it when Alara announces she's disobeying Union orders to return to Earth, and the crew in the mess hall start cheering, you see a bunch of them leave immediately (in a sprint) to man their stations. Most of them just didn't need to be doing anything if the Orville was shuffling home, but they immediately respond to a "man your battle stations" order that Alara didn't even have to give. When you see a 20-something Starfleet officer excited to serve, it is always so muted. At least in The Orville, they act their age when their frustration gets replaced with affirmative action.

The silly things about this episode that my nerd brain can't parse are how Ed and Kelly are in a fully functional cell that is livable, while everyone else is in a Nordstrom's window display with no facilities at all. A dark explanation for this would be that Ed and Kelly would have slowly been transitioned to something similar like the music video for Bjork's Bachelorette. And Isaac ties previously unknown alien tech to the Orville's holo projectors... that... were apparently always there, because reasons. Okay, If you don't think about it too much, the Calivon plot works out, and leads to a genuinely funny ending. ...Until the final ominous scene with Bortus' egg.