Everything Happens to Moclans

The Orville's back with another sex issue episode about Moclans who may well be the Issue Species. Written by Star Trek: Enterprise and Family Guy writer David Goodman, "Deflectors" offered some bigotry rearrangement to give us perspective again on how hatred can be just as odious and destructive when it's heterosexual relationships that are out of the ordinary. It works well enough but mainly I enjoyed this episode for Jessica Szohr whose role in the story confirmed for me she's a more than worthy replacement for Halston Sage. This isn't like Dr. Pulaski replacing Dr. Crusher, it's more like Mila Kunis replacing Lacey Chabert as the voice of Meg Griffin.

Spoilers after the screenshot

Talla (Szohr) develops in the very organic way of being at the centre of an episode that's not about her. Instead, we learn about her through how she reacts to things, most of the development being therefore in Szohr's performance. I liked the moment when she decides to go out with Locar (Kevin Daniels), taking a confident step towards him in the conference room.

There's been little in dialogue so far to distinguish her from Alara (aside from the off-hand mention of her family having a history of military service) but her demeanour speaks volumes about her maturity.

Kevin Daniels as Locar is also really good, all the Moclan actors finding that tricky balance between comically stilted and truly three dimensional. Peter Macon continues to be a bottle of barely repressed emotion. He has a moment where he explodes a little when confronted by Talla. She says he ought to be more open minded because of what happened to his kid. It's easy to see why this hit a nerve--that's something that's probably on his mind every waking minute.

The subplot about Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) breaking up with her boyfriend was okay, I liked it mainly because it was a rare glimpse into Kelly's personal motives. We really need more of those.

I loved the backlot ambiance to the Simulator's version of the 1940s.

One Good Xelayan Deserves Another

Last night's new episode of The Orville, "All the World is Birthday Cake", sure looked like television. I'm so used to shows with what were formerly considered only cinematic production values that I was a little surprised by how cheap the action sequence in the episode's climax looked. The story itself, about a First Contact mission gone awry, reminded me a lot of "Mad Idolatry" from season one; both episodes have a good point about the dangers of superstition but I wish their arguments had been a little more complex. "All the World is Birthday Cake" had more novelty, though.

Spoilers after the screenshot

I thought about what's gained by having Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) and Bortus (Peter Macon) in such a cheap rendition of an internment camp. I guess it's helpful to be able to introduce these issues on a family show so kids can start thinking about them without having to expose them to graphic images of mutilation, death, and malnutrition.

I kept expecting there to be dissenters of some kind. Such an advanced society ought to have some people who question the pervasive faith in astrology. But that might've opened a whole can of worms regarding the ethics of the eventual solution to the problem which involved creating a fake star. The episode is certainly nowhere near as good as the Next Generation episode titled "First Contact" (not to be confused with the film), which explored many of the same issues in much more satisfying ways (and also included a cameo from a Cheers cast member).

Last night's episode also introduced Alara's replacement, another Xelayan, this one named Talla, played by Jessica Szohr. It seemed pretty clear she was just plugged into a script already written with Alara in mind, especially from the way Talla and Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) were hanging out together at the hospital, echoing Alara's relationship with Claire. But I think I already like Talla better, and not just because Jessica Szohr was on Twin Peaks (I'm a massive Twin Peaks fan).

She's 33, older than Halston Sage by eight years, so her position on the bridge doesn't feel quite as improbable. She just seems grittier somehow, too. I guess it's the slight rasp in her voice but I think she also has more of a military body language. I hope we'll see more to distinguish her from Alara in future episodes, though.

I love the understated running gag with Bortus whenever anyone casually uses the word "afraid", as in this case Gordon (Scott Grimes) suggests Bortus is "afraid he won't get as much stuff" if Kelly and Bortus have a joint birthday party. Immediately Bortus says, serious as a funeral, "I am not afraid."