# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/81 "2019-01-05T02:07:03Z")
When the aliens were discovered, and there were only 70 of them, it reminded me of the episode “Hide and Q” from NextGen, when Riker became a Q. They go to the planet they have to save from a disaster and … there’s only a few, like six, left. Are there any more? Nope, just us, the heavily injured lady. Cause, you know, a bleeding incoherent lady knows whats happening on the whole planet. Or and the dead little girl, who Riker can’t raise from the dead, 'cause he promised Picard he wouldn’t. Which depressed Data, for some reason. Also reminds me of all the NextGen, “The Most Toys”, when the trader steals Data. He poisoned the water supply, in the most obvious method possible – just a few crystals, in one room. OK. I realize that set space is limited and expensive, and while I can’t suspend disbelief that far, I accept it. But there are probably too many episodes to count in tons of SciFi shows where a “planet-wide” calamity affects one room on camera. I let it slide in every other case, and I’m giving The Orville a gimmie. As for everyone else, YMMV. NextGen did the episode “Inner Light” where Picard gets his flute. We watched what happens, over the span of a humanoid’s lifespan, as a star goes to its more active phase and devastates the ecosystem. Remember it, and apply it to this planet in your head, before the escape action we saw happens. Probably there were other pockets of people. Probably on the whole ‘nother side of the plant, and their radios were dead. Do you have fresh batteries at home, just in case? Think about it. How are you gonna signal a passing starship if the sun goes nova unexpectedly? Don’t piss on these peopel’s plan, we all got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/82 "2019-01-05T03:19:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > > > Incidentally, according to one review I’ve read the season was originally supposed to open with an unaired 13th episode from season 1, with this ep slated to come second. That order has been swapped around, for whatever reason. > > My guess for the reason is that the plot of the unseen thirteen episode kicks off a story arc that continues into the season, while this was essentially a stand-alone episode that aired on a holiday weekend. No big deal if people missed it. Well, I guess I was wrong. I thought they held back this episode (S2E2, or production code 1LAB12) because it was a cliffhanger or began a story arc that was going to continue over the second season or was just awesome. But the whole thing was nothing special. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/83 "2019-01-05T03:31:20Z")
“The Inner Light” is so great. Maybe my favorite episode of Trek. Good call on the connection. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/84 "2019-01-05T04:24:24Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Two Bortascentric episodes in a row was not a good call. Yeah. First was Ok, 2nd was just too much. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/85 "2019-01-05T04:53:59Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Two Bortascentric episodes in a row was not a good call. Heh, what if it’s a running meta-joke and every episode this season has a heavy Bortas content - except for episode 8, when they slip in a plot [featuring Tom Jones playing, “It’s Not Unusual.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnkrL42R7gk) ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/86 "2019-01-05T06:06:51Z")
I love this show. Right now it’s my favorite show and I’ve really been looking forward to it coming back. That said I was not happy with these two episodes. I don’t care for the bad romance BS at all. Or any of the romance. I mean as a side plot maybe but both these episodes wasted so much time on it. I know we need character development and all but this is turning out to be more of a soap opera than a sci-fi show. My 14 year old liked it last year but today she said she didn’t even want to finish the episode. I thought it was the whole porn thing but she said it was “just stupid”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/87 "2019-01-05T07:06:35Z")
I loved this episode! Yeah, I understand why many of you didn’t, and that’s cool. But to me, this episode signaled the transition of “The Orville” from \*TNG \*status to \*DS9 \*status. And I reaaaaaaly loves me some DS9. I hope they maintain the transition. Give me some down and dirty, ambiguous morality, impossible to decipher morality, and I’m a happy interstellar camper. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/88 "2019-01-05T11:26:51Z")
I will give props to Peter Macon, the actor who plays Bortus, and maybe the most complex personality on the show. He’s managed to give independent life to a character that, as written, seemed basically a mashup of Spock and Worf, under about twenty pounds of makeup. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/89 "2019-01-05T16:14:25Z")
If the goal is to shed viewers they are on the right path. If it continues like this only the most hardcore fans will stick around. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/90 "2019-01-05T17:08:47Z")
I had no significant objection to the storylines/plots, but the “funny” lines were just…so…_not_. Mercer insulting Isaac out of the blue for the sake of a tired Speak & Spell joke, Kelly correcting Mercer’s pronunciation of the minister’s name (how awkward and stiff was that banter?!), etc. Some really bad “comedy” writing. And I’m usually good with MacFarlane’s sense of humor. ---
**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 5, 2019, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/91 "2019-01-05T17:40:48Z")
I don’t think it was out of the blue at all. The little insult session towards Isaac was my favorite part of the episode. Isaac always has an air of arrogance about him. It’s not just that he’s a superior being, but he has to gently remind us with every statement how much better it is and how it bothers him ever so slightly to have to deal with regular biological organisms. When Grayson said “he’s such a dick” it was totally justified and pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/92 "2019-01-05T17:51:35Z")
But Isaac can’t help being that way, and everyone knows it. I didn’t remember Kelly or Mercer ever expressing any real animosity toward him before – plus, he has proven to be useful (such as saving the life of the doc and her kids) – so I found it jarring and unfunny for them both to suddenly be mean, and dismissive of a member of their crew. _shrugs_ ---
**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 5, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/93 "2019-01-05T18:01:46Z")
I think he could help being that way. Part of his character is that he gives subtle hints of exasperation at human failings and talks down to people all the time. He likes to remind people of their inferiority. In terms of “office gossip” we’re talking about, talking shit about Isaac is funny to me. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/94 "2019-01-05T18:24:31Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Given all the erotic possibilities of a holodeck, I’m glad they did an episode on porn addiction. The idea of the porn possibilities of a holodeck was touched on in the documentary Trekkies, about Star Trek fandom. At the end, the film showed bits and pieces of stand-up comedy routines that were about Star Trek. One guy pictured a fourteen-year-old Wesley Crusher locked in a holodeck, as Picard stood outside, trying to talk him down. “Wesley, perhaps you should talk to Counselor Troi.” “She’s in here with me” as the comedian mimed sexual motions. And actually, in the previous episode, Marcus and his buddies used the holodeck as merely an empty room in which to drink purloined vodka. I can’t imagine having access to such a technology and not using it whenever I could. Even if they don’t want to have a porn experience with the other guys in the room (and I’ll bet that there are age restrictions on the technology) surely there are G- or PG-rated experiences that would be a hell of a lot of fun. How about a holodeck Disneyworld-type ride, or a scuba diving adventure, or rock climbing? ---
**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 5, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/95 "2019-01-05T20:06:56Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > But Isaac can’t help being that way, and everyone knows it. I didn’t remember Kelly or Mercer ever expressing any real animosity toward him before – plus, he has proven to be useful (such as saving the life of the doc and her kids) – so I found it jarring and unfunny for them both to suddenly be mean, and dismissive of a member of their crew. _shrugs_ Same here, especially considering that Isaac is willing to risk his life for other people. ---
**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 5, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/96 "2019-01-05T20:15:33Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Same here, especially considering that Isaac is willing to risk his life for other people. He is still a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/97 "2019-01-05T20:41:25Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > What a piece of drek. > > They never bothered to ask WHAT SIZE are the aliens, anyway? before announcing how many trips the shuttle would have to make. Suppose they were the size of squirrels, they could have taken the lot in one load. If they were elephant sized? Maybe only one would fit in per trip. You really shouldn’t assume every single sapient life form in the universe is exactly the size of a human in a rubber suit. This is the sort of criticism that drives me nuts - why would they waste screen time on discussions of the nitty-gritty details? I assume you were happy that they actually discussed Moclan urinary habits (since another standard criticism is “why no bathrooms on the Enterprise?”). Until the virus bollixed things up, they weren’t having any trouble talking to the planet. All of those questions (like can you breathe Earth normal atmosphere (real bummer if nitrogen is poisonous to them)) can easily be presumed to have happened. And not showing them gave us yet another opportunity to see sexy Moclans. ---
**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 5, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/98 "2019-01-05T20:46:30Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > All of those questions (like can you breathe Earth normal atmosphere (real bummer if nitrogen is poisonous to them)) can easily be presumed to have happened. And not showing them gave us yet another opportunity to see sexy Moclans. Star Trek could use sensors to examine the atmosphere; perhaps the Union has the same sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/99 "2019-01-05T22:55:41Z")
I’ll give them one more swing at bat but this season is disappointing so far. I’ll defend against many of the complaints voiced here. The porn addiction plot was the only plot and the saving the few, the lottery, so on, was there only to serve for its impact on Bortis and his relationship with Klyden. The impact of the conflict they had over such a major decision about their child was something that needed to be addressed. I am along with others fine with this being relationship focused. Problem is the relation focus so far has been trite and sophomoric. Falling into a porn addiction as a reaction to emotional distance? Could have been believable and funny in an absurd tragiocomic way. Instead it was neither belivable or funny. It came off instead as LAZY. Season one they succeeded in having relationships that I cared about, written well, with some solid amount of actual funny mixed in. I care less about the characters now (including Bortis) two episodes in to this season than I did during most of the first and the jokes are rarely striking me as funny. Instead they are just distancing me from the characters. It is not that it is not mission driven; it is that it is not resonating as characters clicking together. Please be better next ep! Last season was SO good! ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2019, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/100 "2019-01-06T00:42:11Z")
Thinking about the environmental simulator; it strikes me that they should have programmed limits, so that an individual could only use it X hours a week or whatever and would have to schedule a time. This could reduce the risk of addiction. Certain canned programs involving group activities such as sports, pool tables, bowling alleys, dance clubs, etc. could have higher limits as long as more than one crew member is present. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=6)