THE ORVILLE - S1, E4: "IF THE STARS SHOULD APPEAR"...

[Trekker4747]

Yep, see it all the time. And in my work, not only do we work a 24-hour clock but also use Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time). I see people screw up that math every day.

"Military Time" used to screw me up as well but then I realized you just subtract twelve and you get the 12-hour clock time.

GMT/Zulu/UT only screws me up when the US is (or isn't) on DST and the rest of the world is the opposite. But if I know where both are in relation to one another I can more or less figure it out.

So, a friend of mine noted how this past week I posted on FB that this week's episode was "the best episode of Star Trek I've seen in almost 20 years and it wasn't an episode of Star Trek," and I talked to him about the show and we just watched the first two episodes.

Sort of like me he mostly feels but the humor doesn't always land for him (like with me, in particular the anachronistic jokes. Like the navigator mentioning "Compton" which is a reference I doubt would make any sense, even to humans, in the context of their century.) but he said the show is much better than what he thought from the previews and he can see the appeal in it, liking the "bright" and welcoming look of it and the ship as opposed to the "darker" look seen in the later (and latest) Trek series. He wondered what the joke was on Bortous (?) sitting on the egg, if it was just because it was "funny" to see a male character, naked, sitting on an egg. And I told him it actually plays into the plot of the following episode and maybe serves to a running arc in the season/series.

So, he's interested to watch more of it. I told him that the humor seems to taper off and find some balance as the show carries on and the anachronistic references/pop-culture usage is done very well in the story of the next episode.

He's also not quite feeling the 'banter" between the crew yet, likening to the cheeky/sarcastic way the Firefly crew would speak to one another) but chalks it up to it still be early in the season.

So, he's sort of feeling it. It was interesting watching the first episode again where the humor and stuff was so much stronger than it even was in the second episode. (Usual pilot/production differences.)

So, again, I'm interested to see how the show grows and progresses. I've already told friends at work about it and for them to check it out OnDemand if they get a chance. For them mostly because I know they like MacFarlane's other work.

Sigh. Who'd have thought, you know?

(After watching the first episode he also laughed and agreed that the show isn't even trying to pretend to not be Star Trek/is being "Star Trek with the serial numbers filed off." Noting it's a "quantum drive" and not a "warp drive" and other little name and noun adjustments. He does like that it doesn't have a transporter in use to prevent an easy-out solution to problems. (Like in the second episode it'd be easy to say "just beam them out of the zoo" and/or have to make up a reason why they couldn't do just that. Make it narratively harder and have the characters need to try and work to reach their goals.

So, well done Seth MacFarlane/The Orville.

 

[BillJ]

The show just gets better and better. Kelly Grayson can take a punch!

 

[jbny67]

Adrianne Palicki does tough really, really well. I can see why they wanted her for Wonder Woman.

Her casting was one of the few good things about that pilot.

 

[O'Dib]

It'd also seem it has to come out of "warp" in order to change course. (In the second episode when Alara decides to go rescue Ed and Kelly instead of go back to Earth the ship drops out of the quantum drive, changes course, and then re-enters quantum/subspace/whatever.)

I feel like otherwise you end up going many light years in the wrong direction while looping back around.

 

[RJDiogenes]

It takes you a second or two to subtract 12?

I may have rounded up a fraction.

That's okay, it still feels more honest than a reboot and less dirty than doling out a new series like a sleazy drug dealer in the park, giving you the first fix for free before trying to sell you access to a subscription where no man has subscribed before.

Harsh, but true.

It's an okay show. A bit of lukewarm fun.

It's a show with some good stuff on it, and the potential to be a good show.

 

[Salinga]

I will be honest: I want to like the show, but the comedy and the drama doesnt gel for me. When I see someone beaten to death, kicked in the face, by a mob on the street or a woman tortured, I have no space for jokes or funnies around such scenes. It comes across as immature and distasteful. It hurts the characters integrity for me.

I will give the show a couple more episodes, but if this doesnt change much, I am afraid I have to say, the experiment SciFi-Dramedy a la MacFarlane doesnt work for me. As much as I am a TNG fan and appreciate someone wants to do a show highly influenced by it.

 

[BillJ]

I will be honest: I want to like the show, but the comedy and the drama doesnt gel for me. When I see someone beaten to death, kicked in the face, by a mob on the street or a woman tortured, I have no space for jokes or funnies around such scenes. It comes across as immature and distasteful. It hurts the characters integrity for me.

Not a fan of MASH?

 

[Arpy]

Just started reading through this thread.

1) Yaphet Kotto is the man. I wish he'd show up in some golden cameo somewhere before he passes -- he's 77!
2) Yaphet is great, but he needs to get out of sickbay. They should do an episode where everyone starts acting funny and he goes all Yoda and saves the day.

 

[Salinga]

Not a fan of MASH?

Nope.

 

[Shawnster]

It'd be great at some point if they go to get the Doctor and Yaphit is seen leaving her quarters.

This episode takes place before Bortus lays an egg?

No the baby is in what looked like a bassinet at the foot of their bed. They also mention him during their discussion.

These little points are the evidences this episode is out of production order. Wiki lists this as the second episode produced, but that doesn't make sense in light of the Bortus scene. It's clear the baby has hatched and Brotus and Kylen are discussing the "situation." Yaphit is in seeing the doctor over some kind of "ailment." Last week we learned that Yaphit had been doing this for weeks just to get to spend time with the doctor. It look like this should have been between the last two episodes "Command Performance" and "About a Girl."

 

[Photoman15]

Maybe production order is different because they only had certain days to shoot at wherever they shot the outdoor stuff. Everything gets rearranged....production order and aired order don't match... viola

 

[BillJ]

Maybe production order is different because they only had certain days to shoot at wherever they shot the outdoor stuff. Everything gets rearranged....production order and aired order don't match... viola

Or they could've simply inserted a scene shot for another episode into this one. To make it seem like the narrative was moving forward.

 

[tenmei]

Were there any references to Ensign Jackson last week - because this week they mentioned he and Alara had broken up, and they only seemed to hook up in 'Command Performance'. I think that would be the tell if they had shifted the episodes somewhat.

 

[JD]

I will be honest: I want to like the show, but the comedy and the drama doesnt gel for me. When I see someone beaten to death, kicked in the face, by a mob on the street or a woman tortured, I have no space for jokes or funnies around such scenes. It comes across as immature and distasteful. It hurts the characters integrity for me.

I'm the complete opposite, I think those scenes need jokes more than any other. It keeps things from getting to depressing, especially when the show isn't meant to be RDM BSG, or Walking Dead or something like that.

 

[StCoop]

Were there any references to Ensign Jackson last week - because this week they mentioned he and Alara had broken up, and they only seemed to hook up in 'Command Performance'. I think that would be the tell if they had shifted the episodes somewhat.

Given all the references to Mercer and Grayson's past relationship it would have made more sense as the second episode.

 

[fireproof78]

Yep, see it all the time. And in my work, not only do we work a 24-hour clock but also use Zulu time (Greenwich Mean Time). I see people screw up that math every day.

So many jokes...and I can't find the pictures I want.

Not a fan of MASH?

Or Star Trek.

 

[Borgminister]

Nope.

I sure am, but I take your point. MASH meshed the horrors of war with irreverent smart-assery on a far higher level than the Orville (so far).

 

[Salinga]

I am watching Guardians of the Galaxy II right now, and I think: For the Orville to work for me, it needs to become less Star Trek, and more Guardians of the Galaxy. The comedy in the dialogue, situational comedy and 20th century pop culture refences work so much better in Guardians. It gels perfectly. "Star Trek: Beyond" already went into the direction.

 

[Farscape One]

I sure am, but I take your point. MASH meshed the horrors of war with irreverent smart-assery on a far higher level than the Orville (so far).

M*A*S*H* worked because you can definitely see snarky humor littered between the moments during a war. For many people, myself included, that is their coping mechanism. It made it more realistic, which was one of the reasons why the show lasted so long.

 

[arch101]

Another really enjoyable ep. I SO look forward to my Monday evening viewings on Hulu. This ep had a bit of Rendezvous with Rama and a bit of The Starlost. OK, a LOT of The Starlost.