# 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:** 53
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1041 "2019-03-27T23:39:03Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > My eyes are still rolling at the ridiculousness of it, 18 years later. Made a real impression on you too, eh? ---
**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:** [March 28, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1042 "2019-03-28T00:25:31Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You obsess over crap like this, eh? How is that obsessing? I saw a clip from a show I had very little interest in because everyone said it was moderately bad, saw a clip of extended ass fanservice that showed what the show thought of its audience, and decided not to pursue it any further. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1043 "2019-03-28T00:32:50Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > A least T’Pol was no Gwen Demarco. Maybe not, but Johnathan Archer was no Jason Nesmith, either. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1044 "2019-03-28T00:36:53Z")
You say “_fanservice_” like it’s a _bad_ thing…😃 ---
**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:** [March 28, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1045 "2019-03-28T01:10:09Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Hmm. What season and episode might that have been—you know, in case a guy wanted to check out the banality for himself? LMAO, I’m glad it’s not just me. I agree with DrDeth that fanservice gets un undeservedly bad rap. > [@eschereal](#): > > Oh, I found _Enterprise_, with all its flaws, still better than the “preceding” canon, precisely because it was dirty. It felt more gritty, real, touchable than the overly sanitized TOS, SNG, DS9, Voy and most of the movies (except WoK, which I first saw while on acid and it was hilarious). I agree. It’s a good show (even the first season IMO), as long as you skip the atrocious Richard Marx-esque song that plays over the opening credits. > [@Scoobysnax](#): > > It would be nice to think that but the ratings for Voyager went up significantly after Jeri Ryan joined the cast as 7of9. Which is weird, because for my money Jennifer Lien was actually way hotter. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1046 "2019-03-28T03:34:20Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Which is weird, because for my money Jennifer Lien was actually way hotter. 😕 Whatever you do, don’t look up pictures of what Jennifer Lien looks like now. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1047 "2019-03-28T03:39:00Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I was always easy pickings to use future time travelers to make fun of the present. STIV:TVH did it, the ST:Voy episode set in the then-present day did it. There are probably a lot more. They make fun of our viewer’s time in ways they’ll never make fun of the turn of the 19th century with Mark Twain. Nice to see The Orville didn’t go there. > > I think I’ve found my new favorite episode. I really like how they handled every thing. Including hipster Talla. I like that they didn’t give closure by finding Laura in the history books and learning she’d become a famous pop singer. She was just…nothing special. She left “no relevant contribution”. Just like the majority of us all. I also like that they avoided those two common tropes. I would disagree though, that we don’t right now criticize how people lived. Any description of how violent, brutal and discriminatory the past was usually makes people shake their heads or feel pity. The exception is usually just if it’s a sanitized, costume-drama version of the past, or if it’s just something we’re so used to flagging as appalling that _this time_ no-one feels the need to express any opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1048 "2019-03-28T03:56:51Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > …During the Battle for Sol (Kaylon v. Krill & Human), I noticed that all of the ships seemed to have their weapons facing (& firing) forward only. Am I mistaken? > > Why not turrets? Yes, I believe they only fired forward. Turrets just aren’t a thing in sf generally, unless you’re into steampunk. Kirk’s _Enterprise_ had no rear-firing weapons; I think the first one to do that in ST was the Klingon battlecruiser in the first movie, retreating (er, advancing in another direction - these are _Klingons_, after all!) from V’ger. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1049 "2019-03-28T07:26:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, I believe they only fired forward. Turrets just aren’t a thing in sf generally, unless you’re into steampunk. Kirk’s _Enterprise_ had no rear-firing weapons; I think the first one to do that in ST was the Klingon battlecruiser in the first movie, retreating (er, advancing in another direction - these are _Klingons_, after all!) from V’ger. \ This got me curious about why real world fighter planes don’t have rear-firing weapons. From googling around, it seems the reason is because a pursuing plane is not necessarily following directly behind, so to be useful, a rear-facing cannon / missile launcher might need to cover a wide cone. And firing anywhere in the cone that’s not straight backwards would affect the direction of the plane due to recoil. So we can fanwank similar reasons for spaceships. (Though in sci-fi with powerful, light-weight laser weaponry, it’s hard to think of a reason why you’d only point such lasers forwards). ---
**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:** [March 28, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1050 "2019-03-28T08:32:11Z")
I figure it’s a tactical decision. They build one big weapons conduit throughout the ship instead of two smaller ones in front and back. Since they seem to be able to drive their main power basically through their weapons system, then it’s like having 2x firepower up front rather than 1x rear and 1x forward, since the same power source is driving both methods. So if your ships can engage in superior manuevering and keep the enemy ahead of them, they basically gain 2x their possible firepower in ideal circumstances. This is getting very into like, video game starship design and nitty gritty techie stuff. Not that it’s a bad thing. Just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1051 "2019-03-28T12:30:15Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Whatever you do, don’t look up pictures of what Jennifer Lien looks like now. You’re not the boss of me! (looks on google) Holy crap! ---
**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:** [March 28, 2019, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1052 "2019-03-28T14:39:10Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > It would be nice to think that but the ratings for Voyager went up significantly after Jeri Ryan joined the cast as 7of9. While her costuming certainly appealed to a certain demographic it is equally true that Jeri Ryan was amazing as an actor in that role and was given some fantastic writing to work with and a character arc that was more interesting than any other on the show … both of which contributed more to the show than her catsuit did. I recall some interview at the time in which Ryan stated something along the lines of “as long they keep writing for me like that they can dress me any way they want” … the closest I can come to finding it is [this one](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeri-ryan-body-of-proof-star-trek-voyager_n_1413141): > [@Jeri Ryan](#): > > I say the same thing now as I said then: I don’t have a problem with Seven’s overtly sexual physical appearance, if only because of the way she was written and developed. If it was a crappy character, then OK. But she was so nuanced and beautifully written. Seven of Nine was eye candy to be sure but the eyes stuck around because the character delivered otherwise with great writing and an actor who had the chops to pull it off. She was the Data/Spock for that show (holographic Doctor as the first attempt and while not a whiff not quite the character depth success either). ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1053 "2019-03-28T14:59:26Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I figure it’s a tactical decision. They build one big weapons conduit throughout the ship instead of two smaller ones in front and back. Since they seem to be able to drive their main power basically through their weapons system, then it’s like having 2x firepower up front rather than 1x rear and 1x forward, since the same power source is driving both methods. So if your ships can engage in superior manuevering and keep the enemy ahead of them, they basically gain 2x their possible firepower in ideal circumstances. > > This is getting very into like, video game starship design and nitty gritty techie stuff. Not that it’s a bad thing. Just thinking about it. The thing with fighters is that they’re going in one specific direction, and the cannon typically points in that direction, so that pointing it is easier for the pilot. Modern, off-axis air-to-air missiles don’t have to be pointed toward the target when launched, FWIW. But a Star Trek level ship is something far more similar to a naval ship, where the direction of the ship is not really that relevant to the targeting of the weapons, or shouldn’t be anyway. You’d think there would be maybe front/rear phaser batteries that each cover a hemispherical arc and maybe torpedo tubes mounted amidships and firing out the sides, since the torpedoes are going to be guided and self-propelled anyway, more like an autonomous drone or missile than a “torpedo”. And WoK-era Starfleet ships did have rear weaponry- in the battle in the Mutara Nebula, [the USS Reliant fires at least one rear torpedo at the Enterprise](https://youtu.be/RcEHM8GFSwM?t=407). Plus, the Enterprise clearly has sideways firing phaser banks- [they light up the Reliant with them in the same battle](https://youtu.be/RcEHM8GFSwM?t=460). I’d think based on those examples, it’s reasonable to assume they have rear-facing phaser and torpedo tubes on Starfleet ships. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1054 "2019-03-28T15:34:58Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > While her costuming certainly appealed to a certain demographic it is equally true that Jeri Ryan was amazing as an actor in that role and was given some fantastic writing to work with and a character arc that was more interesting than any other on the show … both of which contributed more to the show than her catsuit did. > > I recall some interview at the time in which Ryan stated something along the lines of “as long they keep writing for me like that they can dress me any way they want” … the closest I can come to finding it is [this one](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jeri-ryan-body-of-proof-star-trek-voyager_n_1413141): > > Seven of Nine was eye candy to be sure but the eyes stuck around because the character delivered otherwise with great writing and an actor who had the chops to pull it off. She was the Data/Spock for that show (holographic Doctor as the first attempt and while not a whiff not quite the character depth success either). Being married to Brannon Braga probably helped her career as well in terms of getting good storylines. He’s also one of the producers of The Orville, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1055 "2019-03-28T15:48:21Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > Being married to Brannon Braga probably helped her career as well in terms of getting good storylines. He’s also one of the producers of The Orville, FWIW. Jeri Ryan was never married to Brannon Braga, though the two of them dated for a time during her stint on Voyager, after she divorced her first husband, businessman and politician James Ryan. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1056 "2019-03-28T16:02:26Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Jeri Ryan was never married to Brannon Braga, though the two of them dated for a time during her stint on Voyager, after she divorced her first husband, businessman and politician James Ryan. And was unfortunately the model for a Roman à clef episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent called [Sex Club](https://lawandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Sex_Club). Her stint on Leverage was very good. She deserves more roles. But 7 could still have changed clothes after a season or two. Troi did. She got away from the “babe-counselor” look, eventually. The remaining Borg implants didn’t require skin tight clothes to keep them in check. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1057 "2019-03-28T16:05:44Z")
My point about turrets is that they would eliminate the need to run multple power conduits to multiple hull mounted weapons, and they also eliminate the need to roll/pitch/yaw the hull to bring the enemy into the firing arc of your weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1058 "2019-03-28T16:20:46Z")
> [@bump](#): > > …And WoK-era Starfleet ships did have rear weaponry- in the battle in the Mutara Nebula, [the USS Reliant fires at least one rear torpedo at the Enterprise](https://youtu.be/RcEHM8GFSwM?t=407). > > Plus, the Enterprise clearly has sideways firing phaser banks- [they light up the Reliant with them in the same battle](https://youtu.be/RcEHM8GFSwM?t=460)… Yes, and both of those were after the first ST movie, _ST:TMP_, as I wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1059 "2019-03-28T17:02:33Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes, I believe they only fired forward. Turrets just aren’t a thing in sf generally, unless you’re into steampunk. I don’t recall if either of these had actual turrets, but the Rocinante ship in The Expanse can fire in many different directions at once. and the Battlestar Galactica (in the reboot series at least) had rows of guns along it’s sides that could be fired simultaneously and in a range of directions. And of course turrets abound in Star Wars. > [@Slash1972](#): > > You’re not the boss of me! > > (looks on google) > > Holy crap! You were warned. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/1060 "2019-03-28T19:51:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Jeri Ryan was never married to Brannon Braga, though the two of them dated for a time during her stint on Voyager, after she divorced her first husband, businessman and politician James Ryan. It’s one of those oddities of history that we can somewhat thank Jeri Ryan getting divorced for the Obama presidency. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=54)