S02.E04: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes

[Ottis]

23 hours ago, Toaster Strudel said:

Should I be concerned that a superior species like the Krills haven't figured out hats? Sunscreen? Umbrellas?

You should be more concerned that this show makes the Krill inability to withstand bright sunlight a major plot point, and then solves it by putting a jacket loosely over the Krill’s head. 

[shapeshifter]

On 1/20/2019 at 6:28 PM, legaleagle53 said:

She doesn't agree with Ed's decision because she knows how the Union is likely to react unless he can come up with an explanation that will satisfy them and keep him from being court-martialed for treason. She does understand his reasoning, however, and I think she hopes that he will eventually be proven right.

And maybe there's a twinge of jealousy WRT Telaya too?

Edited January 22, 2019 by shapeshifter

[Dobian]

I thought MacFarlane's facial expressions as Telaya left the Orville were great.

[ganesh]

I don't think Kelly was jealous. I thought she felt bad. She talked to Ed about moving on and was dating the teacher. So Ed started moving on too and he was betrayed. 

[legaleagle53]

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And maybe there's a twinge of jealousy WRT Telaya too?

Probably not.  She was the one who basically shrugged when Ed told her he was seeing "Janel" and floored him with the revelation that she had already known for some time that he was seeing someone else.  Besides, she's got her own boyfriend now, and even if she didn't, she's been the one to constantly remind Ed why he and she can never get romantically involved as long as they are Captain and First Officer aboard the same starship.

[Ottis]

On 1/19/2019 at 1:11 AM, ganesh said:

I can't imagine how this episode was boring. I thought last week was their best effort, and this topped it. The season has just been enjoyable.

I have found it aimless and largely uninteresting. It seemed like last season the show tried to be about something now and then, to take a position on hot button issues. THis season has been about how great Ed is. The holoporn episode came close to last season, and that's it.

On 1/20/2019 at 12:35 AM, ganesh said:

So I think the Krill overall have an interest in Ed. 

As a weak link? Not sure why else it would be. And the show is not depicting him as a weak link this season, so I'm guessing the Krill have an interest in Ed so that Ed can be a hero and broker a truce with the Krill.

On 1/19/2019 at 11:17 PM, Danielg342 said:

What I guess will happen is that in the finale Ed will get suspended or even fired, only for the S3 premiere to have him re-hired on the Orville. Maybe subordinate to Kelly...and Gordon, which could be an interesting situation.

IMO this is how the show should have started. Having the show's creator be the captain has allowed ego to make what was a very flawed character into a heroic leader. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 1/20/2019 at 10:08 PM, Toaster Strudel said:

Should I be concerned that a superior species like the Krills haven't figured out hats? Sunscreen? Umbrellas?

When we first saw them, they wore space helmets that protected them in normal light. Why an escape pod would not have multiples of those, along with rations and water, is anybody's guess.

[Colorado David]

UGH...a little Patrick Warburton goes a long way. Can't stand his character. Want my advice? Get Brian Posehn to do that character.

[Mr. Sparkle]

55 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

UGH...a little Patrick Warburton goes a long way. Can't stand his character. Want my advice? Get Brian Posehn to do that character.

Or just get rid of the character all together. Oh! An alien who acts like a bro! Totally funny the 10th time! 

[Colorado David]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

Or just get rid of the character all together. Oh! An alien who acts like a bro! Totally funny the 10th time! 

Everytime I hear him speaking, I get a teenage mutant ninja turtle flashback.

Edited January 22, 2019 by Colorado David

[SmithW6079]

2 hours ago, Colorado David said:

UGH...a little Patrick Warburton goes a long way. Can't stand his character. Want my advice? Get Brian Posehn to do that character.

Double ugh. I can't stand Brian Posehn. I don't find him funny in anything. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

7 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Probably not.  She was the one who basically shrugged when Ed told her he was seeing "Janel" and floored him with the revelation that she had already known for some time that he was seeing someone else.  Besides, she's got her own boyfriend now, and even if she didn't, she's been the one to constantly remind Ed why he and she can never get romantically involved as long as they are Captain and First Officer aboard the same starship.

Part of the tiresome will-they-or-won't-they with Ed and Kelly is that they have made it at least somewhat ambiguous as to whether Kelly does want to be with Ed.

With Pria, IIRC, Ed and Alara both wondered if Kelly's suspicions of Pria were based in jealousy, and I think it was at least possible that it was a mix of well-founded questioning and jealousy. 

Because it's Seth's universe and we're just living in it, I figure there will always be the door open to Kelly knowing that she's right to raise issues about Ed and her resuming a romantic relationship, and yet being jealous when Ed does have one with someone else.

[Dobian]

The Orville does borrow a lot from Star Trek and it's pretty obvious that the Krill is the Orville's version of the Cardassians and Telaya is the Gul Dukat of this show.

[Affogato]

On 1/20/2019 at 1:42 AM, ganesh said:

As much as T wanted revenge, I don't see the Krill as petty and vindictive. They wouldn't have green lighted her mission unless they though it would be good for them. Which means the Krill think collectively that Ed is somehow important. They could have infiltrated a flagship. 

They invested resources, and I would bet it's a lot to do this, so their target was some low level ship? 

If you go with that the obvious next step They may plan on taking over low level ships. Replacing middle management.

Replacing the kirks and picards would get noticed.

They could have done it now, ed and Janel could have returned from vacation, both Krill imposters. 

[AngelKitty]

I enjoyed this episode the best so far. It had space adventure with spaceships, space aliens, and an alien planet in space.

[thuganomics85]

So, Janel was Teleya from "Krill" this entire time.  It must have totally slipped my mind that Michaela McManus played her least season, but IMDB says that was also her, so I really should have saw it coming.  I've actually never been that impressed with her in the past (although I felt bad when she got nicknamed DA "Dead Eyes" on her season of Law & Order: SVU), but even looking past the prosthetic work, she actually did a good job with changing her voice and basically becoming a different person.  Not bad.  I hope we see her again, since it does look like Mercer did get through to her on some levels.

That said, Ed, buddy?  Maybe you should take a break from dating, because you seem to be having a rough patch.  It's pretty bad that being manipulated by pheromones to sleep with Blue Alien Rob Lowe might be the less heartbreaking one so far.

The stuff with Kelly and Gordon was fine.  I liked seeing Kelly being in charge, and while I figured Gordon was going to have other reasons for wanting to be a commander, I liked how it ending.  Although, even though we only saw her briefly, the actress playing the new lieutenant was insanely gorgeous, so I really can't blame him on that front.

Bortus' reaction to Patrick Warburton's character and him bluntly stating Gordon was going to fail was priceless.  Never change, Bortus! 

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

Bortus' reaction to Patrick Warburton's character and him bluntly stating Gordon was going to fail was priceless.  Never change, Bortus! 

It wasn't just his blunt assessment that made it funny. It was also his deadpan expression and delivery.  And if you noticed, Kelly didn't exactly disagree with him!

[lucindabelle]

Eyes truly are the window of the soul. As they said goodbye it was so clear that teleya and Ed are in love.

though Ed’s obsession with 20th century pop culture is hilarious as isnthe fact that many of the crew seem to be at least peripherally aware of it too.

seth is much better at continuity than original flavor Star Trek- Kirk had ex girlfriends from his academy days everywhere, all of whom seemed to be deeply invested in him (they were better at Star fleet stuff). 

[Biosynth]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 10:55 AM, marinw said:

Yul Brynner was hot! As I child and teen I admired him in The Ten Commandments. 

When I was a kid, my Aunt and Uncle took me to the Kennedy Center to see the play Ulysses.  Yul Brynner was in it.  When we were in the lobby during intermission, I saw him storm past, seemingly upset about something.  I remember asking my aunt why he looked so angry.  I don't really remember what she said, but it was still cool to see Yul in person so close!

[tv-talk]

I think Telaya would have vaporized Ed as soon as she realized it was a Union ship coming to rescue them. The fact she didnt means she has some feeling for him which obviously are going to pop up again in later episodes.

At the end of the day, just like so much sci-fi (ST, DW, etc), the overriding theme is going to be that humans are just so amazing every other species in the galaxy eventually comes around to doing it our way. Whether it's going to be Moclan's moving away from misogyny, the Krill rethinking their devotion to religion, or the Kaylons learning to have feelings- everybody ends up seeing the wonderfullness of humans. Secular, liberal humans that is- but humans nonetheless.

Given the platform he has here and how vastly his show has outstripped the utter crap that is ST:Discovery- going to be very interesting to see where McFarlane takes this. If he remains purely derivative or does something really bold.

[markx]

On 1/18/2019 at 4:43 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Interesting to me how the show gave a pass to the sexual assault aspect of Ed's relationship with "Janel." He never consented to sex with Teleya. By the end he'd just convinced himself that deep down inside Teleya is "Janel." Okay, Seth.

I'd say it was covered (although with him accepting it) - Ed said something along the lines that for him Janel did exist at that time.

In general changing your appearance or using a different name does not mean consent does not count - I'd argue Ed consented to sex with Teleya even though she'd had surgery and lied about who she was. There are some specific circumstances (e.g., impersonating someone's partner) where it does make a difference. She had clearly deceived Ed, so does that make the difference, I wonder? The obvious analogy with today's technology would be spies (or even police officers) who work undercover and form a sexual relationship.

Although whatever the legality, I do agree it was interesting that they had him be forgiving and still loving her, rather than hurt and betrayed.

Edited November 27, 2019 by markx

[Danielg342]

On 2/24/2019 at 8:46 AM, tv-talk said:

At the end of the day, just like so much sci-fi (ST, DW, etc), the overriding theme is going to be that humans are just so amazing every other species in the galaxy eventually comes around to doing it our way. Whether it's going to be Moclan's moving away from misogyny, the Krill rethinking their devotion to religion, or the Kaylons learning to have feelings- everybody ends up seeing the wonderfullness of humans. Secular, liberal humans that is- but humans nonetheless.

Though I agree with your point, in fairness, the audience for sci-fi are humans, so I assume creators may be worried that they will upset their audience if they don't make the humans the ones who are ultimately "right".

Although maybe it's time a creator mixes it up and doesn't have the humans as the ones that "have all the answers"- in today's age, audiences are likely more receptive to that.

[ketose]

At least in this universe, there are technologically superior species, some of which ignore the Union entirely. So, the Union is a subset of all the races in the galaxy. I tend to view shows like this as being an allegory for the human condition. So, the Moclans explore misogyny and the Kaylon represent the effects of an ever increasing technological society.