TL;DR
– After a long pause
during the 2000s we are seeing a new golden age for Sci-Fi as shows go back
into space and more.
A New Golden Age of Science Fiction on Television
Article –
The other day I was working on a review and then something dawned on me, for
the first time in a long time I was excited by the many different Science
Fiction shows coming out of television. We were going into the stars, exploring
the future, and in some cases just getting plain weird. It was a joyous moment
because I remember a time when it was like this before and the long valley in-between
the two peaks. So today, I wanted to take a moment to talk about where we have
come from, what is so exciting about now, and why we are seeing this new Golden
Age.
TL;DR – Time travel, parallel
universes, and the end of the universe, oh my.
Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Time travel is a dangerous thing because you never know just what you may accidentally
do. Today we are looking at the second part of an interesting look at the past
of The Orville. It gives us time to
see characters in a new light, in new circumstances, and asks the question:
what could really happen when you know the future?
So to set the scene, at the end of Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) was meant to be sent
back in time with her memories wiped so she could not accidentally change the
crew’s past and her future because of the knowledge she knows. Well at the end
of last week’s episode we discover that the memory wipe didn’t take, and out of
a need to not cause any pain Kelly decides not to accept Ed’s (Seth MacFarlane)
proposal for a second date. I mean that can’t change anything, right, it is
just one date, right …? Well, as it turns out it might have changed everything. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode
as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – We look to the past
and find out how much we have changed, the show included
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
Time travel, oy vey, nothing quite gives me a headache like a temporal mechanics
headache and today we are looking a doozy of one. Now, of course, this is not
the first time that The Orville has dabbled
in the world of time travel with Pria
happening all the way back in Season
One, which also set up some stuff that the show has yet to quite follow
through with. However, today’s temporal jump is a much more personal affair.
So to set the scene, we open with Ed (Seth MacFarlane), Kelly (Adrianne Palicki),
Talla (Jessica Szohr), and Gordon (Scott Grimes) sharing a drink and reminiscing
about the past. Talking about the past has Ed reminiscing about lost loves but
Kelly makes it clear that it would not be good for the ship or them if they
repeated the past. The next day Isaac (Mark Jackson) and John (J. Lee) are
showing Kelly a potential new temporal device when the ship is hit by a massive
gravity wave. Not only does the damage the ship but it interacts with the
device and all of a sudden a Kelly from seven years ago is standing in the
science lab. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so
there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – If we don’t defend
those who need defence why should we save ourselves.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
In the background of The Orville has
been a growing problem for the Interstellar Union, and no that is not an
external threat, but an internal dilemma. For a long time, there has been a
growing unease with Moclus and parts of their culture that seem to go against
what the Union stands for. This week this issue comes to a head when the very
nature of the Union is called into question by Dolly Parton, sort of.
So to set the scene, after the destruction of a large chunk of the fleet in Identity
Part 2, the Interstellar Union is trying to bring more ships online and
upgrade the weapons of those ships they already have. The USS Orville is sent to Moclus to get the upgrade and also taxi some
engineers to a scout ship, much to everyone’s annoyance. However, the engineers
are carrying more than just supplies with them, which puts Bortus (Peter Macon)
in a difficult position having to choose his own people over the crew. Now from
here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS]
ahead.
TL;DR – It looks at the
addictions we could have, to objects, to people, to the past, and how sometimes
we need help to get us out of it.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
As we continue through Season Two of The Orville, tonight we take a step back
from the big galaxy-ending conflicts to
take a smaller quieter look at the past. However, while this is a smaller
story, it does not mean that it doesn’t pack a punch. It explores what it means
to be alive, what it means to get lost, and what it means to not be able to
give up.
So to set the scene, in the far future of The
Orville there is a quaint moment when
a time capsule near Albany is dug up from 2015. In the time capsule, there were all sort of artefacts from
the time period and such a diverse collection that Dr Sherman (Tim Russ) is
taking them to be displayed in a museum. However, there is one area where they
are at a loss, in the capsule, there is a
mobile phone, but the battery is long been depleted. Well, the crew of the Orville
will not stand for that so they work together and finally get all the power
back revealing the phone was owned by Laura (Leighton Meester) who left a
message for whoever would find it and who instantly captivates Gordon (Scott
Grimes). Now from here, we will be looking at the episode
as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – A much more mature
episode that we have seen in the past looking at the fallout of war and what
that does to people
Score – 4 out of 5 stars
Review –
“War is hell” it is one of those phrases that gets thrown around all the time by people trying to sound profound, without a real understanding of what that phrase actually means. War means making difficult decisions, one that haunts you at night, ones where there is not clear right option, and ones where even if you are doing the right thing, it may have disastrous consequences. Today’s episode puts the crew in the middle of such a quandary where they have to weigh in the choice of saving a hero or protecting a peace.
So to set the scene, at the end of last week’s episode Identity Part 2, The Planetary Union barely fought off an invasion and only stopped it because the Krill, a mortal enemy, was convinced that there was a bigger threat at play. This week we start off with the news from Admiral Perry (Ted Danson) that after decades of trying the Krill are finally ready to start peace treaty negotiations. This is a big deal because the thought of peace after so many years of war is something everyone can feel. The Orville is sent to a neutral location to meet with a Krill ship to begin the opening prelude to maybe having a peace treaty. As they arrive, they give the Krill a bit of trust and approach with deflectors down only to discover that the Krill ship is firing on one of their own shuttles. The shuttle askes to land, and when it does the crew find Orrin (Mackenzie Astin) and his daughter Lana (Aily Kei) in the badly disabled ship with only basic survival rations left. The Krill demand that they return the man because he is a terrorist putting Ed (Seth MacFarlane) in a very difficult position. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR – We get what is not
only the best episode of The Orville but
one of the best episodes of Science Fiction I have seen.
Score – 5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Writing Science Fiction shows seems like it would be easy, I mean they are just westerns set in space, right? Alas, they are much more difficult than you think. You have to world build, but you can’t overwhelm the audience, every part of your universe has to have logical consistency, you need to fill that universe with interesting characters, and you need to always have in the back of your mind what future you want to present. Then, of course, you have to create stories that support every part of this. It is this alchemy that draws me to Science Fiction as a genre, and tonight we got to see an exemplar of a show doing it all.
So to set the scene, in last week’s episode Identity Part 1, just about everything we knew about The Orville got turned on its head. This is because Isaac’s (Mark Jackson) mission on the USS Orville was not about seeing if the Planetary Union was good enough for Kaylon to join, but to see if biological lifeforms were worth preserving at all. Well after some consideration the Kaylon’s decided no it wasn’t and that they should make way in their need to expand. This led to them boarding the Orville, killing many of the crew and taking the rest hostage, as the ship runs vanguard in front of an extermination fleet headed for Earth. In today’s episode we find out how, if at all possible, they can stop them, and the repercussions of such a brutal betrayal. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
