Finale Unknown

It was a cute little season finale for The Orville last night, possibly the series finale. It was a little odd following from a big, extravagant battle episode but I felt a little better about it when one character mentioned three months had passed.

This episode was written and directed by Seth MacFarlane and, despite the fact that it has a strong romantic comedy vibe to it, he faithfully maintains Isaac's emotionlessness throughout. Despite the fact that it's about him getting married to Claire.

Sometimes it almost feels like MacFarlane is playing a joke on the audience, especially during the wedding vows, when the best Isaac can still manage to say is that he prefers efficiency and seeks to avoid error. Claire says she believes, on some level, that Isaac really loves her. That's a lot of faith.

It was mainly a comedy episode, especially all the stuff with Bortus and Clyden. But, in addition to the surprisingly thoughtful stuff with Isaac, this episode also had a b-plot with the surprising return of Lysella (Giorgia Whigham). She's from a season one episode about a world driven mad by social media. Looks like she'll be the replacement hot party girl now that Charly's gone. This episode also featured a surprising return of season one's hot party girl, Halston Sage, at Isaac and Claire's wedding.

So it's nice to see MacFarlane stays on good terms with these young ladies, something that may bode well for his potential future relationship with Disney, and therefore a potential return of The Orville.

Lysella's story involves The Orville's version of the Prime Directive. The scenes where Kelly explains the nature of the Union confirms it is, essentially, Star Trek's Federation.

When she explained that reputation has replaced money in the Union, I wondered if maybe MacFarlane momentarily forgot that reputation is king on Lysella's world, too. Kelly needed to explain why the things in the Union were worthier of good or bad reputations. But those might have been tricky waters to navigate, which goes to show just how easy it is to slide into cancel culture.

I do hope Disney brings the show back. But more than anything, I'm hoping they took notes in the interest of improving their version of Star Wars.

Twitter Sonnet #1608

Surprising water waits in glowing glass.
Beneath the surface, ancient coins appear.
Competing kilts arrive in business class.
The scribble proved the map was insincere.
A dreaming woman plays the saxophone.
But ancient stones surpass the joys of sax.
Important time inscribed the fossil bone.
To ride the bull she paid a heavy tax.
A fragile glass supported yards of ore.
Recited spells were switched around the tube.
Reluctant phones would rarely ring for war.
A leading role designed a stagey cube.
Above, the palms resembled spiky clocks.
Another pack of guns has claimed the docks.

The Orville Against All Odds

On Thursday night, The Orville, the inconveniently popular science fiction series by Seth MacFarlane, finally returned after three years for its third and probably final season. And it was a really good premiere, directed by MacFarlane, with action sequences that were both lavish and composed with real tension. It also featured again the kinds of conversations Star Trek used to be best known for--using its remote, sci-fi setting to engage in discussions you really couldn't have with a story with a contemporary setting. In this case, mostly the conversation was about suicide and hatred.

Picking up after the brutal Kaylon war in season two, the episode finds the Orville's resident Kaylon, Isaac (Mark Jackson), finding many of the rest of the crew deeply resent him for his part in the conflict. He ended up saving the day but only after he'd collaborated with the Kaylons.

Among those who bear him a particularly potent grudge is a new character, Charly (Anne Winters), who replaces LaMarr (J. Lee) as navigator. Like Halston Sage, who left the show after the first season, Winters seems suspiciously like a young party girl who just possibly could be sleeping with MacFarlane. But I have no proof. Anyway, she's not giving a particularly interesting performance but she's not distractingly bad.

At first, Isaac takes it all in stride, seeing it as an opportunity to observe a new aspect of human behaviour. But then he very logically concludes his presence is too harmful for morale and decides to kill himself. His recorded suicide note is a laundry list of potential improvements to mechanical efficiency aboard the Orville. His character has always been modelled on Data on The Next Generation but in this case he's doing a much better job of coming across as a being totally devoid of emotion. So this provides a nice springboard for a very rational discussion over the ethics of suicide.

It leads to a scene that perfectly highlights the show's strengths. We find LaMarr in bed with a pretty alien woman covered with short spines. She casually mentions how in her culture suicide isn't stigmatised, that the decision that life might not suit one's tastes is regarded as simply a valid personal decision. The scene, which begins as comedy, unobtrusively slides into a real and provoking philosophical discussion. I mean, it's not Socrates, but it gets viewers thinking who otherwise might not bother thinking at all.

The episode is interspersed with some exceptional action sequences. I particularly liked a scene where Mercer (MacFarlane) uses what Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) describes as "submarine warfare" tactics.

The show really does feel like Star Trek: The Next Generation with better special effects at this point. It has many of the strengths and weaknesses of TNG, the latter being a general feeling of being too clean and easy. But its strengths are otherwise totally absent from television and film nowadays and MacFarlane succeeds in demonstrating that a truly great form of storytelling has been largely lost in the medium.

This is the first season to air after Disney bought 20th Century Studios and it's been recently announced MacFarlane has begun work on a Ted television series for Peacock, the NBC streaming service. This follows after many years of MacFarlane working for 20th Century Fox despite how vocal he's been about his dislike for Fox News. One would have thought he'd be happy to be working for Disney now so perhaps it's Disney who doesn't want to work with him. Maybe the company feels they're full up on space opera franchises having both Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy. Maybe MacFarlane wants too much creative control. Maybe he wants too much money. It could be all of these things.

All of this makes The Orville even more of an anomaly, a fly in the soup of the modern corporate smugness that controls the entertainment media. It's more popular than the ultra-expensive, zombified version of Star Trek that's somehow continued to lurch along at Paramount, and it's better written than Disney's Star Wars series. But somehow, this massive show has found a very precise crack to fall through. I suppose it will always stand as an edifying example of just how tough it is to get something interesting made for film or television.

The Orville is available on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in other countries.

Twitter Sonnet #1587

The silent voices push the helmet off.
Above the hill, a flying tree abides.
Polite but forceful corpses start to cough.
Beware the cut of apple whips on hides.
Above potato houses roots descend.
We checked the exit twice but lost it still.
On all the doors our rangers now depend.
With little hands we built the mental hill.
With burning flags the guard has held the fort.
The dusty slope was flat beyond the rise.
A heavy head was lightened thanks to port.
But sherry saves the driest apple pies.
With normal flowers floating down the stream
We try again to live inside a dream.

The New Old Orville

"The Road Not Taken", last night's season finale for The Orville written by David A. Goodman, followed up on the previous episode to explore an alternate timeline. It has some particularly nice chase sequences and a really credible premise, but conceptually it was a bit redundant and a let down compared to how good last week's episode was. Still, it wasn't bad.

Spoilers after the screenshot

We join an alternate Ed (Seth MacFarlane) and Gordon (Scott Grimes), scavenging and barely staying one step ahead of the Kaylons, who rule the universe because Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) wouldn't go on a second date with Ed. Lucky for them, the Kaylons seem to be worse shots than Imperial Stormtroopers--even worse than Imperial Stormtroopers on Rebels, and that's saying something.

I was surprised to see a few Star Wars references last night, including a door that looked quite a bit like the one belonging to a certain shield generator on the Endor Moon. And then Yaphit's (Norm McDonald) head popped out like the eye droid at Jabba's palace. That was maybe the funniest moment in the episode which was low on laughs.

Kelly chooses a sexy top to meet up with Ed. Coincidence? Maybe not, though obviously it's too late to fix things. Goodman comes up with a plausible explanation for why the Kaylons took over just because Kelly wouldn't go out with Ed--they didn't get married so they didn't get divorced so Kelly didn't get Ed a command so Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) didn't feel compelled to join the Orville crew (Ed being captain apparently being what made her feel she was "needed"). So Claire and her kids didn't establish the relationship with Isaac (Mark Jackson) that made Isaac betray the Kaylons. Which is the closest we've finally gotten to addressing Isaac's motive for that crucial action. He's always so certain about everything, I seriously want to know how he squares that with himself.

As plausible as it is, I thought it was a bit unfair of Ed to guilt trip Kelly over her decision to change the timeline. So she didn't want to pursue a relationship that was doomed to failure. Is that really so unreasonable? Though, then again, "failure" might not be the best way to describe their relationship.

Alternate timeline Alara (Halston Sage) makes a surprise appearance but doesn't stick around long enough to make an impression. I suspect the scene was shot much earlier in the season, probably before Jessica Szohr was cast as Talla, which would explain why she's not with the away team at that point. A confrontation between the two would've seemed like an obvious thing to have. But since, later, Ed uses the "jar of pickles" line with Talla, I wonder if it was the production crew's way of underlining Alara's been replaced.

The score was pretty good and I loved the shot of the Orville at the bottom of the ocean. But it proved once again the pattern of the season--really good episodes about relationships interspersed with poor to decent action/adventure episodes. Hopefully, if their new Disney masters permit them to return, the Orville will strike a better balance next season.

Twitter Sonnet #1229

With linking arms the people took themselves.
Beneath a cloak of coats the shoulder's bare.
In ancient limbs a tree supports the elves.
A loop of cookies circles round the stair.
A group of clues determined tact for now.
Above the sheets a message caught the wind.
Persistent spray engulfed the rocking bow.
And swinging lanterns canvas lit to mend.
A winding clock was silent near the cash.
A boat of wine conducts a standing cat.
Suggested breeze was spoken round the sash.
A gentle word was whispered 'neath a hat.
Beneath the garden ancient pools would flow.
At night a pair of waiting eyes would glow.

Talking About It by Not Talking About It

I liked last night's new Orville but I admire its intentions more than its execution. Written by Joe Menosky, "Sanctuary" combines and reconfigures many contemporary issues to allow the viewer to contemplate the fundamental ideas and concepts with hopefully as little prejudice as possible. More than ever, I feel critical thought needs to be stimulated and this is a very classic Star Trek way of doing it. Personally, though, I always liked it better when Star Trek writers avoided allegory entirely; I'm of the opinion fantasy fiction comments best on current issues when the writer just organically hits on them while trying to discuss personal preoccupations.

This is certainly the most Star Treky pedigreed episode of The Orville, in any case. Menosky has written many episodes of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, and has even cowritten an episode of Discovery. "Sanctuary" was directed by Jonathan Frakes and had two guest stars with a prominent history on Star Trek, Marina Sirtis and Tony Todd. Appearances by F. Murray Abraham, Rena Owen, and Ted Danson make this a very strong cast indeed.

Spoilers after the screenshot

The show finally comes back to the surgical sex change forced on Bortus' (Peter Macon) and Klyden's (Chad L. Coleman) offspring in an unexpected way when Bortus discovers another Moclan couple, visiting the ship, are secretly carrying an infant female Moclan they're taking away from their homeworld.

In a later scene where Ed (Seth MacFarlane) sits down with a group of admirals, the issues are thoughtfully explored--who are the people tampering with the children against their will, the ones forcing the sex changes on them or the ones forcing them to remain in a biological condition that will make them fugitives from their own culture for the rest of their lives? Of course, we all love women (at least me and all my friends do) so naturally we're going to be predisposed to side against the people who want to force an entire species to be male. This would seem like a no brainer except there are existing cultures that consider women to be biologically and mentally inferior. If the episode really wanted to discuss the issue, it ought to have included a real contrary argument--the boys' club Moclans just seem vaguely stubborn and ornery. Even in a scene where Klyden confronts Bortus while the latter's having lunch with Kelly (Adrianne Palicki), nothing is really accomplished except that Bortus points out Klyden's behaviour reflects his dislike for a two gender culture. There needs to be some discussion as to the value people like Klyden see in this tradition or it's not really going to be a conversation.

We're still long overdue for an episode that fleshes out Kelly as a character but I liked the way Frakes shoots her in this episode. Frakes shows again how adept he is at creating tension and excitement in cuts between bridge interiors and ship exteriors. Steadycams sweeping around an anxious Talla (Jessica Szohr) naturally flow with shots of the Orville nose to nose with a Moclan war ship.

It's nice how the conflict with the Kaylon continues to influence events--no controversy exists in isolation and any action the Union takes must take into account Moclan weapons are necessary to fight the Kaylons. Ed argues that if they don't help the Moclan women they would be ignoring their values. The counterargument isn't said, though--what good are those values if they get everyone killed? They're both vitally important points.

The Long Extinguished Light Illumines the Machine

Seth MacFarlane redeemed himself as a writer last night with "Lasting Impressions", a new episode of The Orville much better than the previous, also written by MacFarlane. This being another sweet relationship episode like "A Happy Refrain" I'm thinking, with some exceptions, MacFarlane's strength on this series shows in episodes where one or two Sci-Fi elements influence a romance between two characters.

Spoilers after the screenshot

Star Trek: Voyager's Tim Russ guest stars as an anthropologist who, for some reason, is opening a time capsule from 2015 Earth on the Orville. Amongst the assorted items is a cell phone in which is contained all the personal history you might expect of a young 2015 American woman. Even so, it's surprising how accurately the Orville's computer constructs a simulation of her life when Gordon (Scott Grimes) decides he wants to meet her.

I think there's a subtle joke here about how impossibly good the Enterprise Holodeck could be even though Enterprise crew members seem totally ignorant of many of the most basic aspects of our time. Tim Russ hilariously assumes "WTF" means "Wireless Telecommunications Facility" but the Orville computer effortlessly replicates 2015 locations and people. I'm not complaining about that, it's amusing, nor am I complaining that we still didn't get any follow-up with Isaac (Mark Jackson)--in fact, Isaac doesn't even get a single line in this episode, appearing only in the background of a few shots. None of that matters because the chemistry between Grimes and guest star Leighton Meester works so well.

But Isaac is mentioned prominently when Gordon argues with his friends about the legitimacy of his budding relationship with the hologram woman. As I pointed out in my review of "A Happy Refrain", one could argue that Claire's (Penny Johnson Jerald) relationship with Isaac is basically the same as Bortus' (Peter Macon) simulator sex addiction. Gordon points out, in a line strikingly similar to one Claire has about Isaac in "A Happy Refrain", if the artificial intelligence is convincing and satisfying in every way as an autonomous being, then what difference does it make? Even if human civilisation by the time period in which The Orville's set believed in the soul there's still no conclusive way of detecting its presence in another being.

It turns out Laura, Meester's character, is a singer and Gordon shows up to one of her gigs where I was pleasantly surprised to see her performing "That's All I've Got to Say" from the soundtrack to The Last Unicorn, a 1982 Rankin/Bass animated film based on a book by Peter S. Beagle (who also wrote a third season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Sarek"). The song was performed originally by Jeff Bridges and Mia Farrow, neither of whom had voices as well trained as Meester or Grimes, who joins her for the duet later in the episode. Apparently Grimes has been singing for a long time; here he is from 1986:

He's had a long career but as Gordon on The Orville I suspect he's done his best work.

"Lasting Impressions" is funny and sweet but there's a melancholy edge to it; there's always the reality that Laura is dead lurking in the background--it occurs to me now her name may have been taken from the 1944 film noir directed by Otto Preminger, Laura, about a detective who falls in love with a dead woman. The fact that she desires to be remembered while clearly knowing how hopeless that likely is is part of the bitter-sweetness of the episode's conclusion, leaning more towards the bitter when Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) echoes one of her lines, observing that the vast majority of people aren't remembered. Ed (Seth MacFarlane) and Kelly pondering a 2015 newspaper that seems unconcerned with the climate crisis adds another level to the episode's understated rumination on death. The reference to The Last Unicorn feels all the more appropriate because that film and book is about the impending death of human imagination or spirit or a certain sensibility that embraces the beautiful and the fanciful. A very good episode of The Orville.

Krill versus Hot Blood

There were things I enjoyed about it but last night's new Orville, "The Blood of Patriots", was my least favourite episode of the series so far. Maybe it's inevitable the episode to follow "Identity" would be a let down but this one disappointed me on too many levels.

Spoilers after the screenshot

I was hoping we'd get some follow up with Isaac (Mark Jackson)--some self analysis from him, figuring out why he made the decisions he made; some crew reactions--is everyone really still okay serving with Isaac?--maybe some further insight into the Kaylons. But Isaac only had, I'm pretty sure, one line in this episode and seemed to be reintegrated into the crew as though nothing happened.

I did like the awards ceremony with Yaphit (Norm Macdonald) who really was great in "Identity", something I failed to mention last week because I had so much else I wanted to talk about. And the premise of "Blood of Patriots", a possible treaty between the Union and the Krill, is a follow up to the conflict with the Kaylons.

"Blood of Patriots" begins with a Krill shuttle fleeing the Krill ship the Orville is scheduled to meet with. Ed (Seth MacFarlane) decides to allow the shuttle and its mysterious occupant to take shelter in the Orville shuttle bay. Orville crew enter the shuttle to discover the fugitives are none other than Gordon's (Scott Grimes) old friend Orin (Mackenzie Astin) and Orin's traumatised daughter (Aily Kei).

The episode begins to resemble many episodes of Deep Space Nine featuring Bajorans who can't understand why Bajor or the Federation want to work with Cardassians. Or the Next Generation episode "The Wounded" when Picard is surprised when a Federation captain decides to attack Cardassians against orders. All of these episodes worked better than "Blood of Patriots" because the Star Trek series did a better job establishing a history with the Cardassians and the complexities of their relationships with their victims. In "Blood of Patriots", we have one guy who was abducted after his family was murdered who managed to deal serious damage to his captors after years imprisoned, who dealt this damage apparently without even knowing there was a ceasefire.

I was waiting for Ed to say to the Krill ambassador--these were acts of war no worse than yours. I appreciated the idea and I think we should have fiction that talks about the challenges in getting past atrocities committed on both sides in the interest of peace but this plot just skipped over too much.

I did like the conversation between Gordon and Talla (Jessica Szhor), I liked how he awkwardly prefaced the talk with drinks. But the jokes in the episode mostly felt like the especially tired episodes of Family Guy. Seth MacFarlane wrote this episode and I would have said it's a sign he needs to hand the reins to more out of work Star Trek writers except he has written two very strong episodes this season, "A Happy Refrain" and "Identity part II". I could do with more episodes like those and fewer like this and "All the World is Birthday Cake".

Space Crowded with Energy Beams

What a wonderful episode of The Orville last night. Once again patterning itself on 90s era Star Trek--I was particularly reminded of "The Die is Cast", the 1995 Deep Space Nine episode, but The Orville hits the sweet spot of character and pacing that defies any attempt to explain it by breaking it down to the sum of its parts and influences. I guess you could say it's sentient.

Spoilers after the screenshot

That battle scene in the climax, wow. As it was happening I was brought back to how excited I was to watch a showdown between the Dominion, Cardassians, and Romulans on Deep Space Nine. I remember my friends and I in high school talking about how great it would be to see something like the Battle of Endor from Return of the Jedi on Star Trek but knowing a television effects budget would never accommodate something like that. Even in The Next Generation's "Best of Both Worlds", most of the battles were off-screen as the Borg cut their bloody swath to Earth--we didn't really get a sense of the scope of battle until a flashback in the pilot episode of DS9 years later.

Now we have cgi and we can have those large scale battles any day of the week but I realised it's more than the relative cheapness that makes such things generally feel less special. Too often we get the spectacle without the context that gives it any real weight, the established relationships with characters and their problems. Last week "Identity part 1", written by Brannon Braga and Andre Bomanis, presented a captivating sequence of events and this week, "Identity part 2", written by Seth MacFarlane, picked up with another set of linked subplots, all of them effective, building to that climax.

In one moment I really liked, Ed (Seth MacFarlance) tries to give a coded message to another Union ship while the Kaylons have custody of the Orville. It's one of those gambits seen from so many episodes and movies--in this case, it fails and Ed has to bear the burden of responsibility for his gamble; the loss of a whole other Union ship. Then the Kaylons decide to punish Ed by murdering another crewman, something that finally forces Isaac (Mark Jackson) to switch sides.

I said last week I didn't want Isaac to switch sides by suddenly discovering he has emotions. In the crucial turning point in this episode, when Isaac saves Ty (Kai Wener), I realised I didn't mind so much though it's worth wondering if it's really emotions that Isaac is discovering or if he simply decided the Kaylons have become irrational. Whether or not Isaac is capable of sympathy or empathy, he's the one who's stepped outside Kaylon 1 and breathed the fresh air of varied experience. The Kaylons are forever locked in the experience of their former suffering under their biological enslavers and are content evaluating all other potential relationships on those terms.

It's telling that Kaylon Primary (Graham Hamilton) refers to Roots, the 1976 novel by Alex Haley, for knowledge about slavery on Earth. Roots is a work of fiction--why not examine one of the many actual slave narratives from the 18th and 19th century? He could have examined the works of real former slaves such as Ouladah Equiano, Harriet Jacobs, or Frederick Douglass. For a species dedicated to decisions based on real data, they curiously prefer a work that is manifestly a commentary rather than a primary source.

Meanwhile, Gordon (Scott Grimes) and Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) are on a risky mission to Krill space where they deal with a people unabashedly devoted to an irrational religion. Despite my dislike for MacFarlane's unnuanced perspective on religion, I did like the idea of the more complex Union being caught between the two hostile factions of the extremely rational and the extremely irrational.

I wonder how much this episode will affect future episodes. There's plenty of material to digest now with Isaac, the Krill, and the Kaylons. With this episode, the universe MacFarlane created really feels like it's taken root. Happy Arbour Day.

The Artificial Supreme

"Identity, part 1", last night's new episode of The Orville, was a nice, eerie pleasure, playing on The Orville's own distinct, established virtues and introducing a new one. Written by writers from various Star Trek series (beginning with TNG), Brannon Braga and Andre Bormanis, this is another episode that shows they've spent the time since working on Star Trek thinking about new ways to interpret and deploy some classic devices. It was definitely time well spent.

Spoilers after the screenshot

The story veers wildly from one emotional tone to another yet it all works well, each section building surprisingly but organically from the other. Isaac (Mark Jackson) and Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald) are still in a relationship, there's a standard, heart warming moment of awkwardness as the kids roll their eyes at Isaac's typical arrogance. He's always so matter of fact about how the Kaylons are a superior species because of their intellect. You just get used to it.

Then, after Isaac mysteriously shuts down, the crew of the Orville decide to undertake a risky mission to Isaac's homeworld of Kaylon 1. They land and we're treated to one of the most beautiful landing sequences on the show yet.

The episode slowly builds towards what should be obvious--the Kaylons are a bunch of genocidal maniacs. Why wasn't it obvious? True, some viewers did predict it but no-one on the Orville did, even with Ed (Seth MacFarlane) compulsively commenting on the Kaylons' infamous racism when he first met Isaac. A charge Isaac never denies.

Why didn't Claire get any inkling? Obviously she's closer to Isaac than anyone. I would have liked more build up, frankly, with Claire getting some suspicions--I found their relationship more credibly written in "A Happy Refrain". At any rate, Claire should stop being surprised when Isaac fails to have an emotional reaction at this point. But watching her kids go through the heartbreak is really effective.

Particularly when it comes to the youngest kid, Ty (Kai Wener), which leads to the big revelation the episode turns on. Watching Ty wandering around the cold, Spartan Kaylon street I thought about how strange it is the little boy didn't seem more freaked out. Can you imagine just walking off a ship onto an alien world? But it makes sense--all Ty has known his whole life is safety and friendly people. That's the environment on the Orville. The adults aren't as innocent as Ty but they are a lot more innocent than the protagonists on other shows. They don't even lock the doors of the Simulator when they're using it. And this isn't the first time Ed and the crew have walked right into an unknown place in good faith. These people aren't cynical or even pessimistic, which is lovely and refreshing, but it has its drawbacks.

For them. For me, the contrast between the innocent Union folks and the sudden discovery of massive piles of bones under the city brought a piquancy to the recipe. These really are two very different cultures.

The Kaylons look a bit like Cybermen but, unlike the Borg, they're not a straight copy of the Cybermen. In fact they're more like the Daleks--they don't seek to assimilate, they seek to exterminate. But unlike the Daleks, they're not angry about it. The subtle irony the episode presents is that the Kaylons reproach humanity for its irrational wars but the Kaylons can't see the irrationality of their own action in wanting to obliterate the Union. It's good old fashioned ethnocentrism--they know they're the very model of good so anything else must be inferior and potentially expendable.

I look forward to seeing how this plays out next week. I hope the writers find a solution that doesn't involve Isaac discovering he has emotions.

Twitter Sonnet #1208

The yellow yarn adopts a human form.
The fabric sky was full of cloudy lint.
A field of wool contrived to make us warm.
But slith'ring scarf from lower drawer was sent.
A navy sailed together facing fog.
As timing liquid moved the eye along.
The floating place collects a grounded frog.
Some tails unite to make a switching song.
Amounts of sleep accepted run to time.
Suggested dreams include a swimming gin.
Consorting feathers sheets were pressed to sign.
Containers built for tea were kinds of tin.
Connected soups became the ocean's goo.
In only briefs the legs were cold but true.

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.