S02.E11: Lasting Impressions

[Bort]

The Orville crew members open a time capsule from 2015.

Airdate: Thursday, March 21, 2019

[Bort]

Two Gordon episodes in a row? Ok then.

I wasn’t that crazy about this one. Way too much time spent on the dead girl simulation and Leighton Meester singing. I did like Kelly’s talk to Gordon at the end and who knew Adrianne Palicki could do that trick with her eyes?

I did love the Bortus and Klyden extreme smoking addiction plot. I knew it was coming but when Bortus dumped out the pillow full of cigarettes, I died.

We were off for two weeks and now we’ll be off for three? Why does FOX hate us?

[EllenB]

Tim! ❤

As someone who quit smoking just over six months ago, I was dying of a mix of laughter and jealousy at Bortus' hiding places.

And smart to move this from Comedy to Genre.

[Chaos Theory]

Damn time capsule.  Nothing but trouble.

i love Bortus and Klyden’s marriage.  It is just so real.  The cigarette,  the mutual addiction and trying to quit,  and the fight at the end was the best,

Poor Gordon falling in love with someone who has been dead for hundreds of years.  But it was a nice story.  

[marinw]

Weird episode. Why didn’t Gordon look up what happened to Laura after 2015? So as not to ruin the fantasy?

Tim Russ!

[ketose]

Very similar to "Booby Trap," where Gordi, er, Geordi fell in love with an incomplete simulation of a real woman. I wasn't really a fan of the episode tonight, which was actually not as good as its TNG inspiration.

I would have liked to have learned something about what happened to Laura. Even with the passage of 500 years, there are probably some records, although I doubt she became famous. Also, I was shocked at how much the crew was allowed to get their grimy mitts on pristine artifacts. This time Isaac was not seen at all, but was talked about (and not immediately branded a traitor).

Hopefully, they dumped one of the weak ones in March so they can keep their powder dry for sweeps.

[Bort]

You know, it just occurred to me that it was a weensy bit of a Gossip Girl reunion for Jessica Szohr and Leighton Meester.

[Danielg342]

This was...a nice episode. Light...maybe a little too light.

Kind of glad that Seth picked 2015 for this one...go a year or two later and politics would get in the way.

Anyway...great to see Leighton Meester. Seth's ability to get A+ guest stars is off the charts. You don't get half the quality of guests on most shows during an entire season but Seth just seems to get at least one each episode.

It's unreal.

Like Laura Huggins, har har. Anyway, Meester did very well as Huggins, making her very real and very likable (anyone who knew Meester from her Gossip Girl days knows Huggins is a complete 180 from her previous character). I also think she had some great sparks with Gordon, and, while I know Huggins and Malloy can't further explore their romance, I'd love to see Meester and Scott Grimes perform a duet.

Really, it was pure magic.

Oh...and Bortus and Klyden smoking. I don't think there was a dull moment in that entire story...I loved Bortus asking for 500 cigarettes. Pretty sure there are some smokers that would, er, love that capability.

No Issac tonight...wonder if we'll see much of him the rest of the way.

[TVSpectator]

27 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

We were off for two weeks and now we’ll be off for three? Why does FOX hate us?

 

It's Disney now. 

[tennisgurl]

I kept waiting to see what happened to Laura, he can presumably look up records about her later, even if its been 500 years, their tech seems advanced enough for that. It would be nice to know that things turned out alright with her. 

Two Gordon episodes in a row, but I would the last one was stronger. I was kind of wondering if someone would mention that Gordon just had that whole mess with his friend and he was dealing with it by becoming obsessed with this long dead woman. Poor Gordon. Not a bad episode, if a bit forgetful. I do always like Leighton Meester though, and the scene between Gordon and Kelly about how people you meet impact who you are, and getting rid of those experiences makes you not the same as you were before, was nice. And I get why they wanted to do something lighter and lower stakes after all the drama of the last few episodes. 

The Bortus and Klyden plot was hilarious. Especially when they both raised their hands for who is going to take the cure first!

Off for two weeks, and now three? And then the season ends?!? 

Edited March 22, 2019 by tennisgurl

[Maverick]

9 minutes ago, ketose said:

Very similar to "Booby Trap," where Gordi, er, Geordi fell in love with an incomplete simulation of a real woman. I wasn't really a fan of the episode tonight, which was actually not as good as its TNG inspiration.

I would have liked to have learned something about what happened to Laura. Even with the passage of 500 years, there are probably some records, although I doubt she became famous. Also, I was shocked at how much the crew was allowed to get their grimy mitts on pristine artifacts. This time Isaac was not seen at all, but was talked about (and not immediately branded a traitor).

Hopefully, they dumped one of the weak ones in March so they can keep their powder dry for sweeps.

 This was Part Booby Trap, part Fair Haven with a dash of Human Error thrown in.

 I was really bothered that if these were supposed to be incredibly prized artifacts that the crew was allowed to not only touch them but just carry them around wherever.  Ed should not have been flipping through 400 year newspaper with his morning coffee.

 I generally like Kelly/Adrienne but her convo with Ed was really stilted.  

[SimoneS]

I am not a huge Gordon fan so I groaned when I saw this would be another episode revolving around him, but I thought this was pretty good, much better than last week.

Bortus and Klyden's tobacco addiction story was hilarious. Klyden eating the cigarette and their blissful expressions when they inhaled the smoke had me rolling. I also cracked up to the reaction to Bortus smoking and then chewing on the bridge. 

[The Kings Foot]

4 minutes ago, TVSpectator said:

It's Disney now. 

Actually no. 

Disney acquired 21st Century Fox ,

Fox Tv and cable channels remain independent.

Edited March 22, 2019 by The Kings Foot

[TVSpectator]

7 minutes ago, The Kings Foot said:

Actually no. 

Disney acquired 21st Century Fox ,

Fox Tv and cable channels remain independent.

Eh, either way, Disney now owns The Orville. 

Back to the whole break thing, for some reason, I am not too worried since renewal/cancelations have to have already been made up by now. At least for a show like The Orville and it has been getting some solid ratings. Although, overall, the show is still on the fence and if it had a few more million live viewers then it would be in a very safe spot. 

Edit:

Disney bought out the entire FOX entertainment department (I do know that FOX News and some sports were not part of the deal but Disney pretty much owns (now) everything currently airing on FOX). 

Edited March 22, 2019 by TVSpectator

[tennisgurl]

Also, nice to see the show change categories from comedy to genre! Feels like its finally home!

[phalange]

Poor Gordon. First everything that happened in the last episode with his old friend and then becoming attached to someone who died centuries ago. Their duet together at the end was sweet. He needed to hear that speech from Kelly about how we're shaped by the people around us and by deleting Greg, Gordon was altering Laura's personality. 

It was funny seeing the crew in present day clothes at the "party" since I've become used to seeing them in their futuristic clothing. 

Bortus and Klyden's nicotine addiction was great. I cracked up at Klyden eating the cigarette and Bortus dumping dozens of them out of the pillow. Claire developed that vaccine just in time. Also interesting that it was said that humans stopped smoking centuries ago, but still consume alcohol. 

My favorite joke was the archivist explaining with conviction that WTF was a way of asking where a "telecommunications facility" is located. 

[Mysteyman]

36 minutes ago, TVSpectator said:

It's Disney now. 

Disney had nothing to do with the scheduling of the next Orville episode

The deal was made official just 24 hours ago.

[shapeshifter]

What I texted to my daughter (who watches the show later): 
Best Orville episode yet!
Possibly best episode ever of any series!

So. Just me, huh?
And maybe my softhearted youngest daughter and her softhearted SO.

I probably related to the story in a different way than most. I was supposed to die from stage IV cancer 3 years ago, but I didn't. So now, instead of landscapes, I'm doing portraits, because I have a knack for capturing likenesses and because family portraits are the least likely art works to be sold at a yard sale so someone can toss the painting and repurpose the frame. Maybe one of my portraits will last 500 years.
So I related on a whole other level to Laura wanting to be remembered.
But I think the real message was hinted at with the line about the newspaper with the article about the planet being on the verge of destruction facing a full page ad on teeth whitening. That is, will there even be an Orville crew to see our selfies in the future? Or will it all be over in 50 or 100 years?
But I also imagine the writers were sharing their own self doubts about whether any of their writing would last. 
Well, IMO, yes, this episode will endure.

16 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I kept waiting to see what happened to Laura, he can presumably look up records about her later, even if its been 500 years, their tech seems advanced enough for that. It would be nice to know that things turned out alright with her

I figured the fact that Greg was both the name of her longtime boyfriend (and muse) as well as Gordon's father's name was a suggestion that Gordon was a descendant of Laura and Gregg. Some might find that squicky or just Back to the Future, but 500 years is a long time and a lot of generations; likely most people who still live in the land of their ancestors (probably not most Americans) are dating their ancestors' descendants.
Plus the arrangement they sang had them hitting mostly the same notes instead of a more typical male-female harmony of different parts (higher and lower)—so it was more like when family members sing together.

[Gemini Gipsy]

I fucking adore this show. Maybe it's the pre-teen TNG vibes from years ago stirring up a certain familiarity and warmth, but I cannot get enough. Really,  to the point I'm peeved I have to wait 3 weeks for the next one! 

If I wasnt so tired I would elaborate on why I loved this epi but all of you fine folks have done a stellar job so it saved me some typing. 

One thing I will say- Dont shoot,  but it was a relief that Isaac was offscreen. I was overloaded a bit.

I know it takes a special kind of person to love and appreciate every episode,  I am certainly that person. I am over critical and annoyed with a lot of shows, roller coaster ups and downs.

But Orville never disappoints me and I am so thrilled this series ended up back on our screens.  

Gonna chew on this episode a bit and chime in tomorrow when my gas tank is a bit fuller.  

[MaryMitch]

26 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

What I texted to my daughter (who watches the show later): 
Best Orville episode yet!
Possibly best episode ever of any series!

So. Just me, huh?
And maybe my softhearted youngest daughter and her softhearted SO.

I loved it too! I thought it was very sweet, although I knew Gordon was in for heartbreak.

The cigarette plot was very funny. Great episode all round.

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, marinw said:

Weird episode. Why didn’t Gordon look up what happened to Laura after 2015? So as not to ruin the fantasy?

Tim Russ!

If anything to see if her music career took off, or if she stayed with Greg.

Tuvok !!

1 hour ago, Maverick said:

 I was really bothered that if these were supposed to be incredibly prized artifacts that the crew was allowed to not only touch them but just carry them around wherever.  Ed should not have been flipping through 400 year newspaper with his morning coffee.

I really thought that was odd as well.  Especially since they were in such good condition after 400 years and considered so rare.

50 minutes ago, phalange said:

My favorite joke was the archivist explaining with conviction that WTF was a way of asking where a "telecommunications facility" is located. 

That was funny.

Other items in the time capsule beside the iPhone, newspaper, New York Yankees cap, and cigarettes:
-- empty can of Coca Cola
-- can of Spam
-- Adele 25 CD
-- a hardbound copy of Fifty Shades of Grey
-- a bottle of 5-Hour energy drink
-- a CFL lightbulb
-- a Snickers bar
-- a bottle of red nail polish
-- a bottle of Purelle
-- a one dollar bill, 2 quarters, 2 dimes, 2 nickels and 2 pennies
-- can of Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotion
-- pair of wireless headphones
-- pair of flip-flops
-- diecast model of a mini-van
-- a Happy Birthday card
-- a stethoscope
-- tube of whitening toothpaste
-- eyeglasses and eyeglass case
-- a Fitbit
-- a bottle of ibuprofen
-- pair of sunglasses
-- X-men T-shirt
-- box of Double Stuff Oreos
-- menu from pizza restaurant
-- menu from 'The Hungry Diner' restaurant
-- copy of US magazine
-- Minecraft video game

There was a weather photo of a massive hurricane on the back page of the USA Today.
There was also no date on the front page of the newspaper.
 

[AnimeMania]

I am just surprised that they didn't recognize all the items in the time capsule considering how many old movies they seem to watch/have access to. Gordon didn't seem to be too confused by any of the other antiquated items in the simulation.

[Meushell]

The Laura plot was both boring and creepy. I kept waiting for Gordon to actually look her up. That he didn’t made it creepier. That would have made the plot much more interesting. I wonder if there was more to her on the phone that she deleted away, or just didn’t have on her phone. It would have also been interesting if they did the hologram plot without the added love plot. Imagine how interesting it would be if we could “talk” to someone from the 1600’s.

It was strange that hologram Laura had a picture with Gordon with Greg taking the picture. The plot bit seemed to be for Gordon’s sake. 

Anyone else wish we got to see that Dick Van Dyke drawing? Given Gordon’s drawing abilities, it couldn’t have been any worse than the sex addition plot.

I thought the cigarette plot would annoy me, but it was hilarious. 

Nice to see Tim Russ, though he felt wasted. I hope we see the character again.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Meushell

[thuganomics85]

Oh, Gordon!  I was about to say that he Barclay-ed himself, but this really was close to when Geordi fell for a holographic version of that Leah character in TNG.  At least Laura is long gone (unless there is a hell of a twist coming!), while the real Leah ended up discovering Geordi's creepy truth on the other show!  Either way, not the most original plot out there, but I do think that this situation would happen quite a bit if simulations/holodecks are ever created in the future, and it does knock off some of the fantastical appeal for it, knowing what less than savory people might do with them (not saying that Gordon is one, because I do believe he didn't attend for everything to do down the way it did.)

I thought Leighton Meeser was good as Laura.  I do feel a little bad though, because I always think of her as the gal from Gossip Girl who isn't Blake Lively, but I've heard she was considered by many to be the better actress.  But Blake clearly became the bigger star.  I wonder how that all came about?  Was it simply a case of Leighton not seeking out bigger projects or wanting the spotlight, or is it just because the industry preferred Blake for whatever reasons?  You never know how these things can turn out, I guess.

Tuvok!  Always great seeing Tim Russ and equally great whenever the big names from Star Trek show up here.

Ed's "No Trish, it's not" response to the hipster question slayed me.  Again, he might not be the strongest actor here, but Seth MacFarlane is at his best when he's playing the closet to a "normal person" in a scenario, and is able to convey Ed's frustration and annoyance over the dumb stuff he has to deal with.

Bortus and Khylen getting overly-addicted to cigarettes was a hilarious B-plot and another thing I would wonder about in real life (would aliens get addicted to same drugs that humans do?  Or vice versa?!)

And... another long-ass break.  Is something going on these next few weeks?  Because FOX's scheduling has been wacky lately.

[Meushell]

8 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Oh, Gordon!  I was about to say that he Barclay-ed himself, but this really was close to when Geordi fell for a holographic version of that Leah character in TNG.  At least Laura is long gone (unless there is a hell of a twist coming!), while the real Leah ended up discovering Geordi's creepy truth on the other show!  

I was actually expecting something like this. They put so much into her, but it didn’t feel complete.

Plot twist. Laura is recorded as having died in a ship that sunk (she took a boat out of her fear of planes, but was saved by Pria from the episode, well, “Pria,” (or did everyone that Pria saved end up dying because of Ed’s actions?). 

[Ms Lark]

So, Gordon is now a holosexual! (Term coined by a writer friend of mine waaay back in the days of STTNG.) It was an ok plot, but I really enjoyed the Bortus/Klyden smoking addiction much more. That was hysterical! Bortus's hiding places? Especially the pillow? Comedy gold! It must've been difficult to smoke in the prosthetics, I wonder how they managed that trick.

Well, now instead of the Ed/Alara interactions making me wonder how much was due to the RL relationship, it's moved over to Gordon/Kelly. I wish I wasn't aware of these relationships! Takes me right out of the story. 

[Biggie B]

Thumbs down on this episode. No one in my family cared for it. Yes, the Bortus and Clyden storyline was really fun and funny, but the love story was just flat out stupid. Is Gordon really that dumb to think that Laura is "real"? What did he see happening down the line, that they'd get married? How would their relationship exist outside the "holodeck" (I can't recall what they call it on The Orville)? It was almost as weird as Claire and Isaac's relationship, wherein he's only "human" on the holodeck. At least, though, Isaac exists elsewhere. How did Laura - who was, what, a hologram? - communicate with Gordon's phone, which was located outside the holodeck? On DS9, was Vic Damone able to communicate with the crew when they weren't in the holodeck? It was just too ridiculous to enjoy. I lost track of how many times we all rolled our eyes. When Gordon deleted Greg, I screamed at the TV, "You can't DO that! You've explained several times that the program isn't written by you, it's written by Laura's data - and her data does NOT exclude Greg!" 

However, I love this show and can happily let one crappy episode sail right over my head. It was also great to see Tim Russ! Yay!

[Apocalypso]

Despite not caring for the main plot, I was still into it enough to exclaim out loud when Gordon said "Delete Greg."

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, Meushell said:

Anyone else wish we got to see that Dick Van Dyke drawing? Given Gordon’s drawing abilities, it couldn’t have been any worse than the sex addition plot.

It was probably just a picture of a penis with Van Dyke facial hair.

I enjoyed when Bortus punched Klyden, I am sure he deserved it.

[Chaos Theory]

I don’t think knowing what happened to Laura is vital to the story.  Plus in a way it might actually ruin the experience for Gordon.  If anything this was more a learning experience for Gordon and the effect he has on people and the effect people have on him.    I am not explaining it right but finding out what happened to Laura would add nothing to the story but it would actually change the stories message.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[tv-talk]

Thank goodness for the Moclan's, the cigarett stuff was hilarious. Bortus chilling with cigs on bridge was awesome, there is just so much fun to have with him. Past that did not care for the episode, actually fast forwarded here and there- this type of not-scifi scifi is not my thing. Too bad it's 3 weeks til the next 'real' episode!

I will say that Gordon is a better actor than Seth McFarlane and I think they can do some interesting stuff with his character as they tone the juvenile nature of how he's written.

sidenote- kinda disappointed how thoroughly and completely they have simply moved on from Isaac attempting to destroy humanity. He was central to many episodes, always there, turns out be a traitor and almost causes the end of humanity- now he's just doing his job, apparently, in the background. They should be having command meetings without him where everyone else discusses if they can trust him or not etc, with someone like say Bortus stating flatly he should be deactivated and Ed having to deal with all of it. Instead- nada. Maybe next 3 eps pick up on that tho.

Edited March 22, 2019 by tv-talk

[marinw]

Was anybody expecting Bortus and Klyden to engage in the Sexual Event just before Claire walked in?

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Biggie B said:

Is Gordon really that dumb to think that Laura is "real"? What did he see happening down the line, that they'd get married? How would their relationship exist outside the "holodeck" (I can't recall what they call it on The Orville)?

I think the point was that Gordon was not thinking clearly. He became addicted to Laura and her virtual world just as Klyden and Bortus became addicted to cigarettes. 
  
  

1 hour ago, Biggie B said:

How did Laura - who was, what, a hologram? - communicate with Gordon's phone, which was located outside the holodeck? On DS9, was Vic Damone able to communicate with the crew when they weren't in the holodeck?

Laura and her world were a program within the ship's computer, and Gordon's phone was created by the ship's computer, so it's not a stretch that virtual Laura could call him on it. If cell phones had been ubiquitous when the Holodeck was written into ST, likely Data and others would have communicated with fictional Holodeck characters outside the Holodeck via text too.

However, when Gordon's cell phone rang, it was a WTF? moment for me too, and I do Not mean a "Wireless Telecommunications Facility" moment, heh.

[benteen]

I very much enjoyed this episode.  I like the Gordon relationship with Laura here and thought it was an interesting story to tell.  I also wondered if we'd learn what happened to her but that wasn't the story they were telling.  Very good performances by Scott Grimes and Leighton Meester.

I do find it silly with how obsessed the crew is with 20th century movies and pop culture that they didn't know such things like cell phones and cigarettes.  It feels like Seth wanting to have his cake with the 20th/21st century pop culture obsession and eat it too by not having them know stuff like this.

The cigarette storyline was funny, particularly Bortus just chilling while smoking.

Tim Russ!  I recognized that voice instantly.

Edited March 22, 2019 by benteen

[legaleagle53]

14 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

I don’t think knowing what happened to Laura is vital to the story.  Plus in a way it might actually ruin the experience for Gordon.  If anything this was more a learning experience for Gordon and the effect he has on people and the effect people have on him.    I am not explaining it right but finding out what happened to Laura would add nothing to the story but it would actually change the stories message.

And it would have been even more devastating for Gordon, because it would have driven home the point that she'd gone on to live a life that never included him and couldn't have because she had died centuries before he was even born.  Learning the rest of her life history (including the date and circumstances of her death) would have been as heartbreaking for him as actually witnessing her possible marriage to Greg and the birth and of rearing any of their children and watching her grow old and eventually die would have been.

Edited March 23, 2019 by legaleagle53

[Emma9]

54 minutes ago, benteen said:

I do find it a little silly with how obsessed the crew is with 20th century movies and pop culture that they didn't know such things like cell phones and cigarettes.  It feels like Seth wanting to have his cake with the 20th/21st century pop culture obsession and eat it too by not having them know stuff like this.

Same. When they introduced the time capsule, it felt like they'd be able to do anachronisms without an excuse for once, but then all the previous anachronism usage made their bemusement this time seem strange.

This was my first exposure to the actress who played Laura, and I thought her voice was amazing - fun to hear a Last Unicorn song as well. Would have enjoyed the plot much more if it didn't make for another Gordon episode, though.

Kelly's talk about how our experiences and relationships create who we are was nice, but it also felt a little too...basic?...for an adult to need explained to him.

And Greg or no Greg, the program was always going to have a time limit, ending with the phone going in the capsule. Unless Facebook archives still exist in some form and Gordon went trawling through them for Laura 2.0 - and considering what the [historian?] said about them not having access to unvarnished information about life in this age, I'm guessing not much was preserved from social media.

~

I was afraid we were going to cut to Topa smoking next - without knowing the context or stigma, Bortus and Klyden might well have given him one before they realized they were addictive. So I was glad we dodged that scene.

I don't know why Claire didn't just have engineering block the replicators from creating more cigarettes. (Yes, Bortus had his stashes, but I assumed those were from after they'd been told to quit, otherwise why hide them?)

Edited March 22, 2019 by Emma9

[tv-talk]

I was hoping they'd cut to Topa smoking but then the Doctor finding Moclans are impervious to any and all damage from cigarette smoke (which wouldnt be surprising for them). 

Ed mentioned "environmental disaster" when browsing the USA Today- has the show ever addressed that? Fleshed out what's happened over past 400 years? That could be why they know so much about culture thru the '80s, maybe digital media was largely destroyed for some reason or whatever and it's all LPs, CDs, and VHS tapes they had to worth with.

[legaleagle53]

2 minutes ago, tv-talk said:

I was hoping they'd cut to Topa smoking but then the Doctor finding Moclans are impervious to any and all damage from cigarette smoke (which wouldnt be surprising for them). 

Ed mentioned "environmental disaster" when browsing the USA Today- has the show ever addressed that? Fleshed out what's happened over past 400 years? That could be why they know so much about culture thru the '80s, maybe digital media was largely destroyed for some reason or whatever and it's all LPs, CDs, and VHS tapes they had to worth with.

The environmental disaster Ed was referring to was climate change, which was just beginning to be a hot-button topic in 2015. The implication is that common sense ultimately prevailed and prevented the disaster from happening, or at least from causing permanent worldwide damage.

And no, we have no idea what happened to Earth between our time and the Orville's time.  The show hasn't gotten that deep into its worldbuilding yet.  We don't even know yet for sure when or how the Planetary Union was founded.

[benteen]

4 minutes ago, tv-talk said:

I was hoping they'd cut to Topa smoking but then the Doctor finding Moclans are impervious to any and all damage from cigarette smoke (which wouldnt be surprising for them). 

Ed mentioned "environmental disaster" when browsing the USA Today- has the show ever addressed that? Fleshed out what's happened over past 400 years? That could be why they know so much about culture thru the '80s, maybe digital media was largely destroyed for some reason or whatever and it's all LPs, CDs, and VHS tapes they had to worth with.

I was just thinking about this myself.

The original Star Trek series aired in the 1960s and in one of their most famous episodes, Space Seed, they talk about this massive war that took place in the 1990s.  They mention records being fragmentary during this time, likely do to widespread destruction during the war.  Maybe that's what The Orville is doing here but that doesn't make sense since they seem to have unlimited access to 20th century pop culture.  On that alone, they should know about stuff like cigarettes and cell phones.  Barring a cataclysmic event, records from the 400 years ago and sooners should be quite extensive.  Like I said, Seth seems to want to have it both ways.

[tv-talk]

See I thought the implication was that common sense did not prevail and the Earth endured a massive climate disaster- something that could have caused incomplete records.

Quote

On that alone, they should know about stuff like cigarettes and cell phones.  

They knew about cigarettes right? It was the Moclans who didnt. Having no inkling what a smartphone was seemed fairly preposterous. Another thing I didnt catch is how they got the time capsule. It was buried on earth but was being taken somewhere else? Was the Orville at Earth for most of the episode? Missed that.

[vibeology]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

It was probably just a picture of a penis with Van Dyke facial hair.

I assume it was a poorly drawn penis, a poorly drawn van and two poorly drawn lesbians with an arrow pointing at one of them.

I died laughing when Bortus unveiled the pillow full of cigarettes after seeing all of the carefully hidden single cigarettes around their quarters.

I love Leighton Meester so I was always going to enjoy this, especially when it has her singing.

[marinw]

1 minute ago, tv-talk said:

something that could have caused incomplete records.

I can't access stuff on Floppy Disks from the start of this century! A lot of digital material will degrade over time. A huge challenge for the archivists of the future.

[Apocalypso]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I think the point was that Gordon was not thinking clearly. He became addicted to Laura and her virtual world just as Klyden and Bortus became addicted to cigarettes. 
  
  

Laura and her world were a program within the ship's computer, and Gordon's phone was created by the ship's computer, so it's not a stretch that virtual Laura could call him on it. If cell phones had been ubiquitous when the Holodeck was written into ST, likely Data and others would have communicated with fictional Holodeck characters outside the Holodeck via text too.

However, when Gordon's cell phone rang, it was a WTF? moment for me too, and I do Not mean a "Wireless Telecommunications Facility" moment, heh.

I was startled because I thought the last thing he had said before racing for the bridge was "freeze program."  I think that was a continuity error.

[iMonrey]

Hmm. I kind of liked the story with Gordon and thought it was sweet but it did feel very derivative. If the show has to borrow from TNG so frequently it might be in creative trouble. 

It also seems like doctors by then would have more efficient ways for patients to overcome addictions to things like nicotine. Bortus and Klyden appeared to be going cold turkey.

Quote

I am just surprised that they didn't recognize all the items in the time capsule considering how many old movies they seem to watch/have access to. Gordon didn't seem to be too confused by any of the other antiquated items in the simulation.

That's actually a pretty big plot hole considering the show's constant references to all things 20th and 21st century. They should recognize most, if not all of the contents of the time capsule from all the movies they're always mentioning that are from our time. TV shows too.

Quote

Back to the whole break thing, for some reason, I am not too worried since renewal/cancelations have to have already been made up by now. At least for a show like The Orville and it has been getting some solid ratings. 

Is it though? Last time I checked they were pretty weak. It's considered a toss-up for renewal at the moment. I imagine it's a pretty expensive show so that may work against it, although the 13-episode season probably balances the scale.

Fingers crossed. I'd like to see it renewed but I do think it needs an influx of creative talent in the writing department. If Seth is the driving force behind the writing it shows his weaknesses. 

[shapeshifter]

21 minutes ago, marinw said:

I can't access stuff on Floppy Disks from the start of this century! A lot of digital material will degrade over time. A huge challenge for the archivists of the future.

Even though I have enough personal stories of lost data to fill a hard drive, I quickly hand waved the improbability of retrieving 500 year old images and text because I've also had the experience of being unable to open old format files one year, but then being able to open them several years later —likely because there were enough businesses or government entities who also needed to retrieve data in that format.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Emma9 said:

considering what the [historian?] said about them not having access to unvarnished information about life in this age, I'm guessing not much was preserved from social media.

I wouldn't even consider social media unvarnished. So much of that is used for marketing, whether it's for a product or a person, that a lot of it is staged/rehearsed/expensively produced.

[tv-talk]

I hope it's not cancelled but would think if so it's a great candidate for streaming only and would live on.

[Emma9]

21 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I wouldn't even consider social media unvarnished. So much of that is used for marketing, whether it's for a product or a person, that a lot of it is staged/rehearsed/expensively produced.

Agreed, but it depends how much were to be archived; some people only use FB as their highlight reel, so to speak, and even personally I only use it for neutral or good happenings - misfortune and sadness feel too private to splash out there. So if you just went by those kinds of accounts and corporate ones, that wouldn't paint much of a picture.

But I see plenty of things about sickness and car accidents and breakups, job dissatisfaction and loss, extreme political opinions on all sides of the spectrum, and just enough everyday randomness to know that my attitude isn't universal. So I'd think the data being preserved from a reasonable cross-section of users could tell you quite a bit.

(And considering Laura passed along her phone to posterity, and what we saw from her in the episode, I'm going to guess you'd be able to tell a lot about her life from her social media if you could find it.)

[marinw]

12 minutes ago, Emma9 said:

(And considering Laura passed along her phone to posterity, and what we saw from her in the episode, I'm going to guess you'd be able to tell a lot about her life from her social media if you could find it.)

I was reminded of that Black Mirror epiosde where a woman gets an andriod programed with her dead lover's social media history.

[chaifan]

I was slightly disappointed that neither Bortus nor Klyden attempted to eat a cigarette.  They've sort of dropped that "Moclans can eat anything" joke from earlier in the season.  (ETA: oops, my bad, apparently this happened and I somehow missed it.)

I loved the WTF joke - the set up was perfect, as you really didn't see it coming.  And Tim Russ was perfect for that, too.

For all the "they ripped off the story line from Star Trek" comments - pretty much every story line on every show (no matter the genre) has been done somewhere else before.  For this show, it's constantly being compared to Star Trek episodes (no matter which series), and if not, then it's Farscape or BSG, or whatever.  If they didn't have something similar to a holodeck, people would complain about that.  People complain about no transporters, but if Orville had one someone would claim they ripped off Star Trek.  Star Trek ripped off Star Trek (DS9 tribble episode, which I loved). 

Edited March 22, 2019 by chaifan
Need to start paying more attention while watching.