# The Orville Season 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [December 31, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966 "2018-12-31T06:20:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/241 "2019-01-20T03:09:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In this episode, a new crew member turned out to be an altered alien enemy from earlier in the series. In last season’s _Star Trek Discovery_, a new crew member turned out to be an altered alien enemy from earlier in the series There was also a tng episode where an alien impersonates a starfleet officer to try to direct the enterprise to attack their enemies base. I forget the title though. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/242 "2019-01-20T04:01:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > There was also a tng episode where an alien impersonates a starfleet officer to try to direct the enterprise to attack their enemies base. I forget the title though. [Conundrum](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Conundrum_(episode)). ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/243 "2019-01-20T12:42:13Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Agreed. > > The Krill are fascinating and I’m intrigued by what their culture was like pre-interstellar travel. And forgot about the cellular transformation; what’s really unnerving is that they’ve already infiltrated the Union enough that they were able to create a fake military officer with fake transfer orders. :eek: Janel wasn’t just someone they found stranded in space or even a civilian scientist. Also there’s clearly already some kind of diplomatic back channel (likely a 3rd party) given that they were able to arrange a repatriation for Teleya (& presumably the Krill children). I just hope it’s not an ability that is used once and never again. It still pisses me off that on the old _Adventures of Superman_ show Superman had a couple of incredibly useful powers used once and once only. He developed the ability to phase through walls in one episode and in another he was able to split into two Supermen (Supermans?); each of whom could operate independently although they were weaker than the combined Superman. As long as the Krill retain the cellular transformation ability and use it when it makes plot sense I’m OK with it. I’m OK with the handwave that it’s agonizingly painful and requires a great commitment and a willing volunteer to make it happen, it shouldn’t be too easy, or you’d never be able to assume anyone was who they claimed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/244 "2019-01-20T13:37:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I kinda got the impression this species thought itself (or at least Alara’s father thought his family) had evolved beyond the need for anything resembling rambunctious physical activity, let alone violence, so his daughter being in the military would strike him as especially jarring, he himself would be hesitant to engage in something as demanding as climbing over a railing and jumping to the ground, and he would be utterly psychologically helpless when confronted with sadistic home invaders. Yeah, that was my impression, too. Regarding the most recent episode, I thought Ed should learn to duck or at least crouch when he’s in a shootout with blaster-wielding trolls. (Somewhere else on the web, someone asked why Teleya needed to turn the gun over to Ed - I figure that a trained officer is probably better at shooting than a school teacher who has had a few months of training at spying). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/245 "2019-01-20T13:44:46Z")
P.S. Another classic Trek episode with a similar theme is “I, Mudd” which starts with the infiltration of an android into the crew of Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/246 "2019-01-20T13:50:53Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > …(Somewhere else on the web, someone asked why Teleya needed to turn the gun over to Ed - I figure that a trained officer is probably better at shooting than a school teacher who has had a few months of training at spying). I think she was incapacitated by the sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/247 "2019-01-20T13:52:44Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I think she was incapacitated by the sunlight. That too. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/248 "2019-01-20T14:51:58Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I didn’t see the twist coming or realize it was the same actress. I missed the hints. > > Also isn’t a captain giving up codes, especially over a woman he only dated for a few weeks, court martial material? Jeez. This is a military ship after all. But he didn’t give up the codes. It was revealed later in the episode that they were fake. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/249 "2019-01-20T15:14:50Z")
But then he gave up the fact that the codes were fake, and that’s less explainable because it wasn’t even coerced. Now the Krill will know to be suspicious of any codes they get, and to torture any captured captains with the intent to driving them to give them the real codes. I remember thinking as soon as he let it slip that they were fake codes, he could never give her back to her people. But they just forgot that I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/250 "2019-01-20T15:42:05Z")
Just got caught up last night on the last two episodes. Sorry to see Alara go. When Ed was talking to Alara and saying that a Security Officer needs to be more than some one who can bust heads (or something to that effect) then rattled off a couple of other qualifications, I said to my wife “…Opening a jar of pickles…” So it was nice to see that she gifted him with one as a going-away present. I’m hoping they don’t keep the new Security Officer very long. I like Patrick Warburton but holy crap that character is annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/251 "2019-01-20T16:53:26Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Regarding the most recent episode, I thought Ed should learn to duck or at least crouch when he’s in a shootout with blaster-wielding trolls. I wondered why it didn’t occur to him to surrender to them. He’s obviously not a Krill (though this episode somewhat clumsily establishes that Krill can disguise themselves) so the trolls shouldn’t be after _him_, and this could be a valuable opportunity to make contact with a new space-faring and clearly advanced species who is a potential ally against the Krill. At it is, by engaging in a firefight with them and escaping in a recognizable Union shuttle, he may have just made the Union another enemy. It’s also somewhat annoying that the trolls (whose species name I clearly can’t recall) take such a plot-convenient amount of time to find Mercer and whats-her-face. This race has interstellar tech, but then engage in inefficient foot-patrols though the jungle at night? No aerial surveillance, no infra-red, no sci-fi “bioscanners” or whatever? They seem strangely determined to hunt down every survivor of her ship, but little ability to cross the finish line. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/252 "2019-01-20T17:03:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I wondered why it didn’t occur to him to surrender to them. He’s obviously not a Krill (though this episode somewhat clumsily establishes that Krill can disguise themselves) so the trolls shouldn’t be after _him_, and this could be a valuable opportunity to make contact with a new space-faring and clearly advanced species who is a potential ally against the Krill. At it is, by engaging in a firefight with them and escaping in a recognizable Union shuttle, he may have just made the Union another enemy. > > It’s also somewhat annoying that the trolls (whose species name I clearly can’t recall) take such a plot-convenient amount of time to find Mercer and whats-her-face. This race has interstellar tech, but then engage in inefficient foot-patrols though the jungle at night? No aerial surveillance, no infra-red, no sci-fi “bioscanners” or whatever? They seem strangely determined to hunt down every survivor of her ship, but little ability to cross the finish line. The valley they were in had some kind of thing that prevented the thing from doing the thing - which is why Mercer had to climb the hill and do the stuff. Why did Mercer leave whatshername with the gun when he woke up before her? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/253 "2019-01-20T17:37:39Z")
> [@simster](#): > > The valley they were in had some kind of thing that prevented the thing from doing the thing - which is why Mercer had to climb the hill and do the stuff. Even infra-red? That’s some dark valley, I tells ya! Besides, if the _Orville_ is nearby and presumably the troll’s ship is also nearby… why not establish contact? The ending of this was really really rushed and Mercer was so determined to protect and establish a rapport with the woman (who had had very clearly betrayed him, don’t forget) that he completely forgot his overall duty to the Union. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/254 "2019-01-20T17:41:29Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I wondered why it didn’t occur to him to surrender to them. He’s obviously not a Krill (though this episode somewhat clumsily establishes that Krill can disguise themselves) so the trolls shouldn’t be after _him_, and this could be a valuable opportunity to make contact with a new space-faring and clearly advanced species who is a potential ally against the Krill. At it is, by engaging in a firefight with them and escaping in a recognizable Union shuttle, he may have just made the Union another enemy. Someone with a Krill, having escaped in a Krill shuttle from a Krill starship is probably going to be assumed to be Krill-affiliated. Also, I think Ed suspected that even if he survived surrendering Telaya would not, and he is still working towards her being a bridge to some sort of accommodation with the Krill ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/255 "2019-01-20T18:37:58Z")
> [@simster](#): > > Why did Mercer leave whatshername with the gun when he woke up before her? She fell asleep with her finger on the trigger, and when she woke up she was still firmly gripping the gun. One might reasonably assume that Mercer decided it was too risky to try wresting the weapon from her. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/256 "2019-01-20T18:51:04Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > She fell asleep with her finger on the trigger, and when she woke up she was still firmly gripping the gun. One might reasonably assume that Mercer decided it was too risky to try wresting the weapon from her. Yeah. And it’s not a particularly trust-building move to get caught trying to swipe the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/257 "2019-01-20T19:01:37Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Someone with a Krill, having escaped in a Krill shuttle from a Krill starship is probably going to be assumed to be Krill-affiliated. Also, I think Ed suspected that even if he survived surrendering Telaya would not, and he is still working towards her being a bridge to some sort of accommodation with the Krill We don’t know what the reaction of the troll species would be. I gather we are supposed to _assume_ their reaction would be hostile based on their ugly appearance. As for the woman, frankly, _fuck_ her. There are reasonable limits to how accommodating Mercer can be and should be. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/258 "2019-01-20T19:38:17Z")
Maybe he _did_ give the real codes, and the very existence of decoy codes was itself a decoy, so that the Krill will be skeptical of any data they obtain from stolen or coerced codes in the future. My favorite part of the episode was that after they made a big deal about how Telaya will die if she goes out in the sun, they managed to get around this by _putting a jacket over her head._ So the Krill have never figured out that a piece of cloth will protect them from this mortal danger? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/259 "2019-01-20T19:38:57Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > We don’t know what the reaction of the troll species would be. I gather we are supposed to _assume_ their reaction would be hostile based on their ugly appearance. As for the woman, frankly, _fuck_ her. There are reasonable limits to how accommodating Mercer can be and should be. I’d wonder what they eat if I thought of surrendering to them. Mercer knows he will be rescued. Perhaps stun a couple of them to take back to the Union. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/260 "2019-01-20T19:43:45Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > We don’t know what the reaction of the troll species would be. I gather we are supposed to _assume_ their reaction would be hostile based on their ugly appearance. As for the woman, frankly, _fuck_ her. There are reasonable limits to how accommodating Mercer can be and should be. True. I’m explaining Ed’s likely reasons for what he did, not what he could or should have done. He could have run away from Teleya as soon as she was asleep and gone to find the other aliens, in hope that they would treat him well. Whether or not that’s what he should have done depends on a lot of factors, including being able to survive on the planet alone until he could surrender. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=14)