S02.E03: Home

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, marinw said:

 

So what dies Alara do now? Join the local police force?

Ironside  remake version 3.

[SmithW6079]

42 minutes ago, marinw said:

Xelaya is gorgeous, or at lest the Hampton’s/Vancouver part of it is. I aways wanted to live on a ringed planet with at least two huge moons, but with less deadly gravity.

Yes, exactly. I loved the "on location" shots. I'm a fan of space art, and usually some planet or spacescape is set as my computer wsllpaper. (One of my favorite space/digital artists is Ryan Bliss, whose website is http://digitalblasphemy.com/.)

While she wasn't my favorite character, I will miss Alara. I did wonder why she wasn't at a hospital or rehab facility.

I was also bothered by the graphic violence of the father's burned hand (and the potential mutilation of the sister's hand).

I suspected the neighbors would be bad guys.

[Danielg342]

So I guess Alara really is leaving. I mean, why go to all those lengths with the orchestra and the hugs and Alara certain her future is in Xelaya if we're just going to get a swerve the next week and she's back?

Which totally means that's what we're getting...because every now and then, the show has to mess with our heads, right?

Her final episode- if it is- wasn't exactly a bellwether episode. It took way too long to get going and the anti-vax storyline was awkward and poorly addressed. I certainly think there was more to the story that the show could have told if it wasn't so focused on Alara's goodbye. I also wonder why the initial reason for Alara to go back to Xelaya is to rescue her parents. Sure, it's a tired police procedural trope, but it would have at least given this episode a story it could have expanded upon.

Still, the hats have to go off to Halston Sage and Robert Picardo for providing characters that stole the spotlight and made everything so real. The tension between father and daughter was fun to watch, and seeing Ildis realize he'd been wrong all his life about his daugter was similarly enjoyable. Sage and Picardo put everything into their characters and it shone through, shining brightly through throughout. 

Maybe The Orville ought to spin things off and give Alara her own show? There's certainly enough about Xelaya to explore through a series, and Sage and Picardo really were magic together. We'll see- just spinning the old wheels.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Still, the hats have to go off to Halston Sage and Robert Picardo for providing characters that stole the spotlight and made everything so real. The tension between father and daughter was fun to watch, and seeing Ildis realize he'd been wrong all his life about his daugter was similarly enjoyable. Sage and Picardo put everything into their characters and it shone through, shining brightly through throughout.

My late father and I had some similar moments, so I did appreciate the performance of that story. However, I loathe scenes of mutilation or even suggested mutilation, so that kind of ruined it for me--especially since I don't think it was necessary to create the drama for the plot.

[GaT]

On 1/10/2019 at 7:02 PM, kariyaki said:

Well, the first half was insanely boring, where the most interesting part was that Caroline from Vampire Diaries was guest starring. 

It drove me crazy trying to figure out who the actress was for most of the episode because she looked familiar. I finally had to look it up on IMDB. This is the only thing I've seen her in since VD, so maybe the career isn't really moving along.

I too think it sucks that not only is Alara gone, but she's been replaced by an obnoxious male. That "scheduling conflict" thing is something Hollywood uses for anything they don't want to talk about, so I think there's a whole lot of story we're not hearing.

[EllenB]

On 1/10/2019 at 10:24 PM, phalange said:

No wonder Alara joined the Orville with parents as judgmental as hers. At least her sister seemed supportive. Her father realized he was wrong in the end, but it's sad that it took almost being killed by those "neighbors" for him to see Alara's worth. 

Shout out to the special effects team as always, because Xelaya really does look like a beautiful planet. And that animal, the ebax (?) looked really cool.

Alara's departure with the crew saying goodbye was well-done, with just the music playing instead of dialogue. It seemed, to me at least, like it wasn't just the characters who were emotional at her leaving, but the cast as well. I don't know the exact reason HS is leaving (I read she was filming a movie?) so it's hopefully amicable. And it's open-ended enough that she could always return in the future.

The departure reminded me of the final episode of DS9, as characters said goodbye to each other to Vic Fontaine singing The Way You Look Tonight.  Damn, it was years before I could hear that song without bursting into tears.

[ganesh]

On 1/10/2019 at 8:14 PM, HelenBaby said:

I actually thought it was well done and didn’t know Seth had it in him to do something like that.

I actually though it was a brave narrative choice. Honestly, this show is much more in line with Babylon 5 than Trek. This is one of the best episodes of the show. 

[ketose]

57 minutes ago, GaT said:

It drove me crazy trying to figure out who the actress was for most of the episode because she looked familiar. I finally had to look it up on IMDB. This is the only thing I've seen her in since VD, so maybe the career isn't really moving along.

I too think it sucks that not only is Alara gone, but she's been replaced by an obnoxious male. That "scheduling conflict" thing is something Hollywood uses for anything they don't want to talk about, so I think there's a whole lot of story we're not hearing.

I completely missed that Candice King was playing that part and I knew she was going to be in one of the episodes. She had a baby, so that's why acting roles have be scarce lately.

[thuganomics85]

The return of Robert Picardo's character and John Billingsley as well?  And they both share the screen a lot?!  I do love that!  Now, they just need to find roles for Alexander Siddig and Gates McFadden, and all of the living actors who played Star Trek doctors can join the party!

I haven't paid much attention to any behind the scene stuff, so I'm surprised that it looks like Alara is gone for good.  It sounded like she was a pretty popular character, but I guess Halston Sage didn't want to stick around anymore?  Or is all of this temporary and she'll be back?  Either way, I guess it kind of follows suite with the whole "homage" to The Next Generation, with the original Security Chief existing early on in the run.  But I will miss her.  And while I generally love Patrick Warburton, I wasn't feeling his character.  Just seems like another immature doofus like Gordon, only he's an alien.

I actually didn't mind the episode overall, because, again, it felt exactly like similar episodes from various character-centric Star Trek episodes.

The effects to create Xelaya were fantastic.  For once, I agree with Gordon!

[marinw]

10 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Yes, exactly. I loved the "on location" shots. I'm a fan of space art, and usually some planet or spacescape is set as my computer wsllpaper. (One of my favorite space/digital artists is Ryan Bliss, whose website is http://digitalblasphemy.com/.)

Thanks for the link! I love Spacescapes and Alien Planet Scapes!

[marinw]

So if the Xelanayn have contempt for the military, does that make them pacifists? If they need a police force, then no. The Xelayan Police may be like so many government, domestic or municipal worker in our own world, workers who lack social status yet are absolutely needed for society to function. Or perhaps there is no small degree of cognitive dissonance going on, as the Caretaker was greeted warmly and respectfully. It’s ok for people to be service workers, as long as they are not your own children.

And, we did only see a VERY small subset of Xelanayn societies.

Edited January 12, 2019 by marinw

[MorganSte]

I've got to say I did not enjoy this episode and turned it off at the "use your hand" part. I don't really do horror movies or shows and that swerved into horror show for me.  I really appreciate this forum since I can come here and read about the rest of the episode. So, thanks everyone!

[Ceindreadh]

Well that was unexpected. I had no idea the actor was leaving. Now I feel guilty that I was so annoyed early on when it looked like an Alara focused ep. 

I agree with everyone who wondered why send the one injured person to climb down and save Ed. Surely all three of Alara’s family should have taken the opportunity to get out while they could - just in case Alara hadn’t been able to subdue the bad guy. 

Then again, given that neither her mother or sister did anything other than sit there when Alara was fighting the woman, she probably thought they’d be useless. 

 

And another thing. If you’re sending to people to a planet where they’ll be crushed to death if they exit the ship, why not provide a suit for each of them? For that matter, they both should have been suited up on the journey in case they had to make an emergency landing. 

[Phishbulb]

On 1/11/2019 at 9:34 AM, shrewd.buddha said:

For a comedy, there was nothing very humorous in this episode.

 

I noticed this episode was written by a woman who's a "Family Guy" writer (she's the Asian woman with the really long name that they've made fun of several times on FG), so it is surprising there wasn't more humor in the episode. I don't know if there's any other crossover between the Family Guy and Orville writing staffs. 

 

Edit: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong 

Edited January 12, 2019 by Phishbulb

[Ubiquitous]

20 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Why didn't Gordon call local authorities to help? Presumably a Xelayan cop could get there well before 3 minutes and help.

They were on an island that was deserted b/c it was "off season".

[momo]

I loved Alara's outfits.

[SmithW6079]

On 1/11/2019 at 9:34 AM, shrewd.buddha said:

For a comedy, there was nothing very humorous in this episode.

That's because "The Orville" is not a comedy. It has comedic elements, and the humor -- when present -- is often (usually) sophomoric, but it's pretty much a straight-up sci-fi/action show.

Quote

Thanks for the link! I love Spacescapes and Alien Planet Scapes!

@marinw -- a membership is well worth it. I renew every year.

Edited January 12, 2019 by SmithW6079

[marinw]

22 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Why would Ed and Gordon only take one anti-grav suit instead of two?

Why does Ed even need that suit? If the portable gravity-shield thing could protect the shuttle and everyone in it, why not have a smaller, portable field that can protect a single person?

[Driad]

10 hours ago, ganesh said:

Honestly, this show is much more in line with Babylon 5 than Trek.

Hoping you will expand on this in the "Compare and Contrast" thread. Thanks!

[HeySandyStrange]

9 hours ago, marinw said:

So if the Xelanayn have contempt for the military, does that make them pacifists? If they need a police force, then no. The Xelayan Police may be like so many government, domestic or municipal worker in our own world, workers who lack social status yet are absolutely needed for society to function. Or perhaps there is no small degree of cognitive dissonance going on, as the Caretaker was greeted warmly and respectfully. It’s ok for people to be service workers, as long as they are not your own children.

And, we did only see a VERY small subset of Xelanayn societies.

I think Alara's parents only represented the intellectual elite of Xelaya, and it probably isn't a good idea to judge the general Xelanayn attitudes on theirs. Apparently not every Xelanayn is a genius intellectual, so assumingly their are average Joes out their who don't have doctorate's.

[Bort]

Except that last season, they made it a pretty big point about how Alara signing up was a big deal and she was fast-tracked because they don't get many Xelayans who want to join. Because of the intellectual thing. 

[HeySandyStrange]

56 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Except that last season, they made it a pretty big point about how Alara signing up was a big deal and she was fast-tracked because they don't get many Xelayans who want to join. Because of the intellectual thing. 

I mean, I'm sure that Xelaya is a very advanced planet, and that Xelayans are a very proud people who may, in general, look down on other species and are xenophobic. That doesn't mean every single one of them are intellectuals, since they do have people working in non-acdemic/ scientific jobs, like the police and the Kitan's groundskeeper. It's really hard to tell, since we know so little about their society outside of the Kiran family. It could be the have a sort of caste system, with people like Alara's parents at the top, they could be very isolationist or xenophobic, maybe Xelayans are in general scared or uncomfortable with the super strength the get by leaving the planet so most stay put, or any number of possibilities. I hope, if it gets expanded on, it will have a more complex explanation.

[Yeah No]

On 1/10/2019 at 10:53 PM, Lemuria said:

I thought there was a reason why she told her father to do it:  earlier, in her confrontation  with her father, she said he had always treated her as someone who was “challenged,” that he had never said “You can do it.”  He’d never shown any confidence in her, had never encouraged her  

 

And that’s what she gave him in that scene. In fact, that’s exactly what she said. “You can do this,” giving him what he had never given her and making him see what encouragement could do. 

Yes, that's what I thought.  I also thought it was no coincidence that her father had a hurt hand at the time - similar to her disability with regard to being less smart than the rest of her species.  It made her encouragement of him all the more symbolic.  

I just didn't understand why Picardo's character struggled so much to move Ed.  Is he less strong than the rest of his species or is that incredible strength only apparent when in an environment with less gravity as aboard the Orville?  I defer to those on the board more up on the backstory on this.

[shapeshifter]

38 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I just didn't understand why Picardo's character struggled so much to move Ed or is that incredible strength only apparent when in an environment with less gravity as aboard the Orville?

Yes, on Xelaya, Ed's weight would seem proportionately greater, just like our astronauts easily leaping on the lower gravity moon or floating on the ISS. Plus, Alara's dad had an injured hand, and Ed's anti-gravity suit might have been heavy.

Edited January 13, 2019 by shapeshifter

[AngelKitty]

I want to like this show, I really do. It has everything I would want in a show: spaceships, aliens, comedy,  and characters that I mostly like, but the stories come up short. This episode took a while to get going and, in fact, lost Mr. AngelKitty who only lasted about 10 minutes so I had to pause it and watch later. They just haven't yet found the right balance between comedy and tragedy. Making the father put his hand in the boiling stew was unnecessary and I can't even remember why the bad couple was torturing the family in the first place. Then he was the one who had to climb down the balcony? I get that was supposed to make him disabled so Alara could encourage him like he never did for her, but really, not the same at all.

I'll continue to watch but I don't have much hope since the biggest problem I see, that can't be changed, is that the actor, Seth MacFarlane, does not portray a convincing authority figure which is what a Captain should be.

[Spaceman Spiff]

On 1/11/2019 at 6:08 PM, shapeshifter said:

Oh! So that was the significance of the gift. 

That very end scene is what made this slow moving episode for me. When she came into Ed's office and stated she wasn't going to be taking the Doctor's treatment, my initial thought was, damn she is going to become more normal/human and I won't get Ed saying "Alara can you open this jar of pickles for me." It was my favorite phrase from season one. Then when she mentioned she was going back home, I was relieved but also realized, if she is not on the Orville Ed won't have a reason to say that with her gone. So when he got back to his office and touched the package to begin opening it, I kept saying to the TV it's a jar of pickles its a jar of pickles, so when it was a jar of pickles I was grinning like a fool.

[Cobb Salad]

9 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I just didn't understand why Picardo's character struggled so much to move Ed.  Is he less strong than the rest of his species or is that incredible strength only apparent when in an environment with less gravity as aboard the Orville?  I defer to those on the board more up on the backstory on this.

It’s the latter - anyone from Xelayah who leaves and goes to another place with a lower gravity will have superhuman strength.  If they’re gone long enough that trait will decrease like it did to Alara.   

[Affogato]

On 1/12/2019 at 10:09 AM, Ceindreadh said:

And another thing. If you’re sending to people to a planet where they’ll be crushed to death if they exit the ship, why not provide a suit for each of them? For that matter, they both should have been suited up on the journey in case they had to make an emergency landing. 

I wonder if it takes a while to suit up so there may be more suits but not time to get into one, especially when calling for help. In real life that might have been the case. 

[ganesh]

Plus it didn't look like there's much mobility in the suit so you might not be able to pilot the shuttle either. 

They could be super expensive and only have one. The Orville is a cheap ship. 

[legaleagle53]

On 1/11/2019 at 6:35 PM, Raja said:

Ironside  remake version 3.

Not necessarily.  Alara simply needs time to become re-acclimated to Xelayah's stronger gravity, just as the astronauts who went to the moon had to spend some time getting re-acclimated to Earth's gravity after having spent some time in the moon's weaker gravity.  She's NOT permanently disabled, as we saw by the end of the episode. Her muscles work. They're just not yet fully used to working in the planet's stronger gravity.  By the time she's ready to join the police force (which would indeed be a field that would fit squarely within her wheelhouse), her body will be completely normal (by Xelayan standards) and functional.

Edited January 13, 2019 by legaleagle53

[legaleagle53]

12 hours ago, AngelKitty said:

I can't even remember why the bad couple was torturing the family in the first place.

They blamed Alara's father for their son's suicide (because her father had thoroughly debunked their son's anti-vax research, and their son couldn't handle being publicly "humiliated" like that), so they wanted Alara's family (especially her father) to suffer the way they and their son had "suffered". Remember the parents of Marcus's juvenile-delinquent "friend" who refused to believe that their precious little darling was in the wrong until Isaac forced them to see the truth?  The bad couple in this episode was the extreme psychopathic version of those parents.

Edited January 14, 2019 by legaleagle53

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 1/12/2019 at 10:06 AM, Ubiquitous said:

They were on an island that was deserted b/c it was "off season".

Sure, but in a world with spaceships, it seems like getting the police on site within 2 minutes anywhere on planet should not be that difficult. And even if the cops would be too late to help Ed, they could help with the situation with Evil Phlox.

On 1/12/2019 at 12:04 PM, marinw said:

Why does Ed even need that suit? If the portable gravity-shield thing could protect the shuttle and everyone in it, why not have a smaller, portable field that can protect a single person?

The suit is the way to generate a smaller, portable field to protect a single person.

[Ubiquitous]

13 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Sure, but in a world with spaceships, it seems like getting the police on site within 2 minutes anywhere on planet should not be that difficult. And even if the cops would be too late to help Ed, they could help with the situation with Evil Phlox.

True, but I got the impression that it had taken awhile to reach the island.

[aemom]

On 2019-01-12 at 10:09 AM, Ceindreadh said:

And another thing. If you’re sending to people to a planet where they’ll be crushed to death if they exit the ship, why not provide a suit for each of them? For that matter, they both should have been suited up on the journey in case they had to make an emergency landing. 

Frankly, that force field could crap out at any moment and Gordon would have been crushed like a bug instantly. 

Everyone on the shuttle should be in a suit before opening the hatch - just in case. 

[TV Anonymous]

Just repeating what have been writing here, I do not really like the idea of Alara leaving, if only for the eye candy factor. Plus it is always hilarious that someone as small and as slim as her is depicted to be very strong. On a side note, it was Candice freaking Accola playing Solara. I like her a lot. She is pretty and funny. It is almost criminal to underuse her in such insignificant role.

[shapeshifter]

15 hours ago, TV Anonymous said:

Plus it is always hilarious that someone as small and as slim as her is depicted to be very strong. On a side note, it was Candice freaking Accola playing Solara. I like her a lot. She is pretty and funny. It is almost criminal to underuse her in such insignificant role.

"Hilarious," sure, but also, as a still-petite (and now senior citizen) female, I thought it was just really cool that she was so strong. To me it was like a physical representation of the potential strength of personality, character, etc. of a small woman or girl. Since Solana expressed interest in her sister's exploits as a security officer, maybe we can get her to apply for that job and get it?

ETA: Back in the 70s on Vancouver Island, a couple of young men saw me, a single woman, about to chop firewood, and offered to "help." They didn't know that the ginormous rounds of wood I was about to split were seasoned cedar (practically falls apart on its own and nearly featherweight) or that the axe I was using had just been sharpened by an artisan wood carver. Watching me toss the rounds on the block and quickly reduce them to kindling must have been like watching Alara working in Earth gravity, heh. They turned and left.

Edited January 14, 2019 by shapeshifter
Add adjective

[Emma9]

Firestorm was the episode I enjoyed most by far; this one takes second place (and was a good follow-up to it). So obviously I'm not looking particularly forward to the show without her.

But there were some interesting concepts in the episode. Being-from-planet-with-high-gravity-has-superstrength-elsewhere is common enough in sci-fi, but I've never seen prolonged exposure to lighter gravity being analogous to humans in zero-g done before - it makes sense, though.

What doesn't make sense is this being a known issue in Xelayans who leave the planet, but Alara had never heard of it and Claire either didn't know or didn't discuss it with her. I get that it struck her earlier than is typical, but the possibility still should've been on someone's radar.

Agreed with posters upthread that the dad having to be the one to drop off the balcony in such an urgent situation didn't make sense; they could have simply had the mom and sister flee to a separate part of the house to make it necessary.

Also that Alara leaving doesn't seem particularly meaningful in terms of what she's going to do now; I could see her becoming a cop, though. Maybe Xeleyah doesn't have a very experienced police force (it seems like the kind of society that would have low crime in general, so they might not be prepared for serious incidents like this one).

I knew what was going to be in the box, but I still said 'aw' like a sucker. I've always liked their rapport - though it felt like more of a substitute-father sort of thing (even before this episode made it clear that Alara was looking for that) than romantic chemistry, which shows you how good my radar is if the actors actually are/were dating.

Edited January 14, 2019 by Emma9

[djlynch]

I had heard something about Halston Sage not being available for this season of The Orville in particular, so I was kind of assuming that all of the "it could be a few months or a few years" and "the job is yours whenever you're ready to come back" was just setting it up for there to be some throwaway thing at the start of next season about how Alara is back now, but then the last couple minutes felt more like she was leaving permanently, so I'm a little bit confused as to what her status actually is. It kind of felt like maybe they had to re-do the end after she changed her mind on coming back.

[marinw]

Robert Picardo likes playing doctors!

[Affogato]

2 hours ago, djlynch said:

I had heard something about Halston Sage not being available for this season of The Orville in particular, so I was kind of assuming that all of the "it could be a few months or a few years" and "the job is yours whenever you're ready to come back" was just setting it up for there to be some throwaway thing at the start of next season about how Alara is back now, but then the last couple minutes felt more like she was leaving permanently, so I'm a little bit confused as to what her status actually is. It kind of felt like maybe they had to re-do the end after she changed her mind on coming back.

They could have a series of bad security officers all seaaon and be glad to have her back. I think that’s still open. Or someone could die so she could step in. 

[ganesh]

That would be a potentially funny plot line. 

[Andromeda]

On 1/11/2019 at 2:21 AM, shapeshifter said:

More often like Vancouver Island. I wasn't too impressed except with the CGI creature. I thought they must be oohing and aahing about the palatial homes (in Vancouver), which seemed a bit shallow.

As a Northwestern resident, I don't find the Vancouver atmosphere too gritty and dark, but it is vastly over used. I was thinking more along the lines of Blade Runner and District 9. It's nice to see a beautiful planet for a change. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 had one but they're not as common as I'd like. 

[Ilovepie]

Well that sucks. I didn’t get too emotional about Alara’s exit because I thought this was just a plot point. It’s hard to believe she would exit the show so early in its run, especially since this show operates more like a cable show with so few episodes. Makes me wonder what really happened. I hope they replace her with another woman because as Kelly said last episode “This ship is gross”. Too much bro culture.....Surely Puddy was just a guest, right?

Neither my husband nor I understood the pickles. I guess a call back to a joke that happened a year ago slipped our minds.....

Edited January 15, 2019 by Ilovepie
Spelling

[ganesh]

The pickles was already mentioned in this thread up further to refresh everyone. 

[Affogato]

On 1/14/2019 at 1:23 PM, ganesh said:

That would be a potentially funny plot line. 

Orville is to security officers as Spinal Tap is to drummers?

[ganesh]

Yes, totally.

Seth did the western movie where people were dying in the background left and right for all the silliest things, so it would be funny to see every few episodes that they all die from weird freak accidents. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

I'm sure that Xelaya is a very advanced planet, and that Xelayans are a very proud people who may, in general, look down on other species and are xenophobic. That doesn't mean every single one of them are intellectuals, since they do have people working in non-acdemic/ scientific jobs, like the police and the Kitan's groundskeeper.

If Alara is considered "intellectually challenged" among her people then that strongly suggests Xelayans as a species are more intellectually advanced, on average, than other species such as Humans. We haven't been given a whole lot of info about their economy so we don't know who works non academic jobs. It's possible most of them are automated and some of the others are handled by off-worlders or performed part-time.

[ganesh]

It seems the parents might think that because she didn't get a Ph.D. and went into the Union. When she went home here, I thought the dad said 'now you can finish your degree.' So it might seem they don't think that. They obviously disapproved of her choice. 

[Ilovepie]

5 hours ago, ganesh said:

The pickles was already mentioned in this thread up further to refresh everyone. 

Yes I know. I was not asking for an explanation; more that even when told what it meant I still did not recall that because it was so long ago.

[SmithW6079]

Did Alara resign her commission and leave the Union fleet or just take a leave of absence? In any event, it's not up to Ed to offer her her old job back; that's up to the higher ranks. 

If she did resign, doesn't that mean she'd have to go through the whole enlistment process again if she wanted to come back. 

I'm also a little confused about the reason for the actress leaving. Don't most actors want steady work? It sounds like she was doing not only movies but also some other TV shows while doing "The Orville."