Yes, but humor is what sets The Orville apart and it is lacking this season so far, IMHO.
My initial thought was that Malloy was going to infiltrate the anti-Isaac organization (that turned out not to exist), but apparently he was not lying in that scene.
No argument there, but I wonder if McFarland is still stinging over the criticism of juvenile humor in the early episodes and is trying to go darker and edgier to prove something to the supposedly more discerning streaming audience.
I’ve thought from the beginning that going “darker and edgier” was his plan all along. It was well-known that he wanted to do a Star Trek-like show, but since he was only really known for comedy, making it a comedy was the only way he could get his foot in the door. And really, the show as it’s evolved has pretty much followed that arc. How many episodes have been laugh out loud funny? How many in the last half of last season had anything funny at all? At this point, “Malloy acts like a normal “Brodude”” is about as close as they get to humor.
I preferred Season 3 ep1 to ep2 - ep1 had people acting in consistently understandable ways (it makes sense for people to fear and hate Isaac, it makes sense for the Captain to tell officers that they sometimes need to work with people they don’t like, and it makes sense that a kid is shocked when someone he tells to go away kills himself). It wasn’t as funny an episode as I would have liked, but it mostly made sense.
Ep2 had some stuff that made sense (a reluctant temporary alliance is not a solid one), but the foolish decisions regarding contamination made no sense - and weren’t funny either. There was room for jokes about uncomfortable personal protective equipment, or faulty emergency lighting or such, but instead it was played straight - and suggested that the crew were idiots (rather than goofy but not completely incompetent). At least the Admiral’s chat with Isaac had a few amusing moments.
Even the end of S2 had plenty of humor. The Moclan cigarette addiction B plot was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life.
I did like her character Cassidy Yates in DS9 a lot better.
“I feel as if I’ve been standing my entire life and I just sat down.”
I’d forgotten most of that. How does season three reconcile that?
I’m very, very glad that it is now science fiction with a bit of humor rather than a comedy set on a space ship. A vast improvement in MHP.
The second season closer was an alternate timeline where the Kaylons defeated the Union, because Kelly and Ed never got married. So the entire episode takes place in the ruins of Union planets. At the end of the episode they fix the timeline, so the events of the episode never actually happened.
Definitely!
Thanks Muldoonthief. I have the recordings on my Infinity DVD, but it will be easier to find them on Hulu. =)
But I’ll add that I liked her character Beverly on The Larry Sanders Show even more than that. That was her best role.
I’ve not seen that. She is a versatile actress to play characters that are not like each other.
I think that’s the essence of being an actor.
Certainly the essence of being a good actor.
I was also impresses with the different characters Lola Allbright of Peter Gunn could play.
Boy, are you in for a treat when you queue up Episode 3!
Or perhaps I should say “Q” up Episode 3. 
Yeah. (Some pun that relates to Tron.)
Also, I absolutely, positively did not see Randal coming. (Pun related to Three O’Clock High.)
Episode three was outstanding, but I wish Gordon had shot the bitch.