# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/161 "2019-01-12T03:53:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And a physics question. Gordon tossed what looked like an empty, uncapped aluminum bottle on the driveway of Alara’s family’s house and the bottle immediately crushed. If the bottle was empty and uncapped, would it have crushed, or would the atmospheric pressure maintained it intact? If the bottle was uncapped, then the pressure inside should be equal to the pressure outside regardless of gravity, so it wouldn’t crush. If it were capped, it might crush (depending on the strength of the bottle) because the pressure inside would be lower. (You can do that experiment right here on [Earth](https://youtu.be/CMplxEE4xdo?t=108), btw.) ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/162 "2019-01-12T03:59:56Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And a physics question. Gordon tossed what looked like an empty, uncapped aluminum bottle on the driveway of Alara’s family’s house and the bottle immediately crushed. If the bottle was empty and uncapped, would it have crushed, or would the atmospheric pressure maintained it intact? It wouldn’t be crushed due to atmospheric pressure. If the gravity was extremely high the can would rapidly accelerate towards the ground and pancake like a bullet hitting a wall. So maybe that could happen, but it’s a high gravity planet not a star. 4 feet of acceleration to that effect did not make sense. ---
**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 12, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/163 "2019-01-12T04:06:02Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And a physics question. Gordon tossed what looked like an empty, uncapped aluminum bottle on the driveway of Alara’s family’s house and the bottle immediately crushed. If the bottle was empty and uncapped, would it have crushed, or would the atmospheric pressure maintained it intact? It would have taken a \*lot \*of gravity for a bottle to compact that flat after that short a fall. I don’t know how much, but much more than merely 2 or 3 times Earth’s gravity. ---
**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 12, 2019, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/164 "2019-01-12T04:24:30Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Or a hobby. Or a goal. Something to be more than “Of Bortus” well - Kytus caught Bortus @ the Holodeck - why do you think Klytus was going there? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/165 "2019-01-12T05:13:04Z")
This episode was the first I’d seen. And, as a sci-fi fan, I was impressed. Even though I knew nothing of the characters, the writers\* gave us enough to quickly understand and feel for Alara. Though I was waiting for her to prevail through “superior deductive skills”. The sets and effects were well done, and Alana’s home planet was gorgeous. I thought the acting security guy was just the right amount of humor. I _may_ have blurted out “Hey, it’s Puddy! I mean, the Tick…” \*I’m assuming a good team, because I can’t believe that this was written by anyone immature enough to give us interminable Peter vs Chicken fights, and six minutes of Conway Twitty. Actually, my first comment was an amazed “Whoa, Seth grew up when I wasn’t looking.” ---
**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 12, 2019, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/166 "2019-01-12T05:21:02Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Even though I knew nothing of the characters, the writers\* gave us enough to quickly understand and feel for Alara. Yeah, but I don’t think any of the character development so far was enough to carry the length of that final hug-off. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/167 "2019-01-12T07:39:09Z")
> [@digs](#): > > \*I’m assuming a good team, because I can’t believe that this was written by anyone immature enough to give us interminable Peter vs Chicken fights, and six minutes of Conway Twitty. This episode was actually written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, a longtime Family Guy writer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/168 "2019-01-12T08:03:01Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > That’s not their beach house that was “broken” into – they somehow intercepted the caretaker, and took all his stuff. When Alara saw it, at their beach house, she didn’t know what to make of it either. Was their caretaker squatting at some random people’s house? Why? I’m guessing, it was all to make their story plausible. Alara and her sister went to the caretaker’s cottage, not the other couple’s claimed beach house. They found his stuff still in his own cottage. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/169 "2019-01-12T12:55:22Z")
A better episode but still not a great start to season 2. I hope next week delivers on the promised action and maybe a bit more humor. ---
**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 12, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/170 "2019-01-12T13:19:14Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > … > Alara’s family has always looked down on her as being mentally slow, and the resentment of that is a significant part of her character. And now she’s back on her planet, but she’s also weakened so that her physical abilities are rendered moot. But the show starts hinting early on that the savvy she has gained as a security officer has her more suspicious of the situation. > > So when it turns out they’re in danger, the obvious thing would be that she saw some solution her parents didn’t, and it turns out that while slow for her species, her experiences have given her a certain savvy in which she can come up with solutions that her parents couldn’t, thereby giving her parents a reason to have a respect for her mentally. > > … Except… the actual resolution we got was a fist fight. Crippled, can’t-get-out-of-her-chair Alara has her big redeeming moment which is a fist fight with the woman holding a gun to her. > … I was expecting a Rear Window riff myself but the she has is bravery more than street smarts. Dad needed her encouragement to find enough bravery to go out a window. The encouragement he never gave her. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/171 "2019-01-12T14:28:25Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Also, mentioning guest stars and not the fact that both the Xelarian fathers were doctors on Star Trek? I wondered if they had tried to get Gates McFadden, as well, for the episode? ---
**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 12, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/172 "2019-01-12T14:55:07Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Well it does seem like Klyden’s suffering from boredom. There’s no indication he had any kind of job even before the baby hatched. I wonder what life is like for the other dependent spouses on the ship? Do most of them civilian jobs? Is there any support system at all? Agree. It would be nice to hear what Klyden’s life is like. There are jobs that could be done from a ship - does he have one of those? > [@SenorBeef](#): > > So when it turns out they’re in danger, the obvious thing would be that she saw some solution her parents didn’t, and it turns out that while slow for her species, her experiences have given her a certain savvy in which she can come up with solutions that her parents couldn’t, thereby giving her parents a reason to have a respect for her mentally. That would have been nice to see. One could interpret what we see as her parents also disrepecting the toughness that Alara has, which allows her to take action rather than be frozen in fear. So when a weakened Alara manages to take action when her physically fit family can’t make themselves do so, it is showing her parents what Alara can do - not punching, but having the guts to do so. > [@JeffB](#): > > Alara and her sister went to the caretaker’s cottage, not the other couple’s claimed beach house. They found his stuff still in his own cottage. Yeah. > [@Arkcon](#): > > My question is, how did Mercer know Alara and her family went to their _other_ family house? Did Alara list all the possible places she might be while recuperating? The computer system in their home lets approved people know where you are if you’re out, just like servants in the 19th century would let people (of the right class) know that the master and his family were at their country estate this week. ---
**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 12, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/173 "2019-01-12T16:28:52Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yeah, but I don’t think any of the character development so far was enough to carry the length of that final hug-off. My god, yes. That scene went on forever. We get it already. I’m a little bummed Alara is gone; she was one of the more interesting characters. I kind of hope Patrick Warburton sticks around for a while now, though. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/174 "2019-01-12T16:59:52Z")
No. They should turn ‘Security Chief of the Week’ into a running joke. Like Murphy Brown’s secretary or Dilbert’s ‘Ted.’ Yep, they wear red shirts, right? Keep that tradition going. To the point future assignees beg and plead for mercy upon learning they’ve been sentenced to the Orville. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/175 "2019-01-12T19:24:55Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > My god, yes. That scene went on forever. We get it already. That reminds me, this was the second week in a row The Orville was “presented with limited commercial interruptions” according to the announcer guy just before the episodes started. I don’t think that’s a good sign. Every tv episode ever has extra raw footage that they edit down to fit the allotted time for broadcast. Both this episode and last episode had portions that dragged and could (should) have been edited down, but I get the feeling they were re-edited to extend the running time. I wonder if they’re having trouble selling advertising. ---
**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 12, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/176 "2019-01-12T19:44:45Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > That reminds me, this was the second week in a row The Orville was “presented with limited commercial interruptions” according to the announcer guy just before the episodes started. The latest one was 48 minutes (and maybe some change.) Apparently it is going to be that way all season? [Wiki lists 43 min per for season 1, 48 pin per for season 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orville). ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/177 "2019-01-13T00:23:16Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > I wonder if they’re having trouble selling advertising. The whole “limited interruption” seems a little odd to many people. First off, there seems to be just as many breaks, if not more. Seems like every scene change is a commercial break. Except … you get a commercial, an advert for an upcoming show, then _The Orville_ continues. People are complaining the there aren’t limited commercial breaks, but **Darren Garrison:** right here did the math – there are more minutes of showtime I’d vented about this sort of regarding _Saturday Night: Live_. For years its seemed to me that it had become skit…commercial…skit…commercial which really sucks when, as Edward Murphy once admitted, “Not every skit is hysterical.” I claimed the show was effectively shorter, and people here called me out on the logic…if that were true, the DVD would effectively be shorter, and thats not happening to SNL DVDs. Seems like, a long time ago, movies on TV were two hours long. A 90 minute movie, with a few cuts, was padded out to two hours with commercial breaks. Now tv showings of movies are longer and longer, there’s no shame, on the networks, to play 9 minutes of movie, 4 minutes of commercial, and run the whole thing for four hours. _The WIZ_, I’m looking at you. So we’re getting the “DVD on TV” version of The Orville (although Fox can’t call it that, 'cause that’s what TNT network calls it.) Lots of reasons possible for that: like you said, they could trim some scenes, but I guess they want to tell more story. Maybe they’re trying to add value to the show, so what commercials they do sell, they can sell at a premium price, because they can claim the commercial isn’t lost in the shuffle. Maybe _The Orville_ is like a loss-leader, and as long as people tune in, and keep talking about it, they’ll accept a smaller advertising income. Remember my link a few pages back, Season 3 is already ordered, and the article seems to strongly imply that Fox saves taxes by committing to the cost of the next season of The Orville now. ---
**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 13, 2019, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/178 "2019-01-13T00:42:31Z")
Just looked at the episode again, and 2x03 is 48 minutes, 26 seconds. So barely 11 1/2 minutes for commercials. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/179 "2019-01-13T07:00:36Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I don’t understand the plot lines where the super intelligent robot is put in some subservient role despite showing better problem solving capabilities. > > How many times did Data outsmart the entire crew on the enterprise? Yet he was 4th in command I think. Remember Spock in _The Galileo Seven_? 2nd in command, smarter than the rest of the ship put together? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2019, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966/180 "2019-01-13T11:42:23Z")
> [@sps49sd](#): > > Remember Spock in _The Galileo Seven_? 2nd in command, smarter than the rest of the ship put together? Command of a vessel involves much more than just intelligence. It demands the ability to lead. One of the recurring issues explored in the first season of _Star Trek_ was the ability of Spock to be a commander of men, given his inability to empathize with them (lack of emotions). The same issue was eventually explored with Data, specifically in the episode where he’s put in command of one of the fleet of ships trying to blockade the Romulans from getting supplies to their Klingon allies during the Klingon civil war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-orville-season-2/826966.md?page=10)