Review: ‘The Orville’ Scares Up A Great Episode With “Firestorm”

Review: “Firestorm”

The Orville Season 1, Episode 10 – Aired Thursday, Nov. 16
Written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
Directed by Brannon Braga

When Lt. Harrison Payne (Tim Mikulecky) is pinned by debris from an explosion, Chief Engineer Newton (Larry Joe Campbell) calls Lt. Alara Kitan (Halston Sage) to the Engine Room to use her superior strength to free him. As she approaches Payne, she is blocked by a sudden wall of flame. Momentarily startled, Alara hesitates out of fear. By the time she summons her courage and circumvents the fire, another piece of debris has fallen on Payne, and he is killed.

This marks the beginning of what is probably The Orville’s strongest outing to date. “Firestorm” is a well-directed episode that significantly advances our understanding of Alara Kitan, delving into her fears and her background.

Captain Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and Chief Engineer Newton give remarks at Payne’s memorial service. Mercer’s is vague because he didn’t really know Payne, but Newton’s is hysterical and heartfelt, based on his knowledge of his best friend. Meanwhile, Alara is guilt-ridden over his death. She should never have hesitated, she insists. Her guilt leads her to resign her commission, though Captain Mercer refuses to accept it. “Lieutenant Payne died because I was too afraid to do my job,” Alara says. Mercer wisely replies, “No, he died because in a crisis situation, things happen that you can’t control.”

When Alara contacts her parents, for insight into her fears, we get our first major Star Trek cameo in the form of Robert Picardo (Voyager’s The Doctor) as Alara’s father. Trek fans may also recognize Molly Hagan (Eris, the first Vorta on DS9, from “The Jem Hadar”) as her Mom. Picardo’s appearance is amusing, and as it turns out, a bit of foreshadowing. It makes sense that a species like the Xeleyans, where everyone is physically strong, would value intellectual ability over bodily prowess. Her parents call Alara “intellectually deficient” and refer to humans as “the hillbillies of the galaxy.” More important to the plot, Alara’s mother reveals that she and Alara were in fact in a fire when Alara was eight months old. 

As the show unfolds, Alara comes face to face with a truly terrifying clown (Seth Austin), an abyss of nothingness, a terrifically creepy, homicidal Dr. Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald), hundreds of fist-sized spiders, an alligator, and a car-sized alien spider that eats Gordon (Scott Grimes). Alara soon finds herself entirely alone on the ship, until she is confronted by a suddenly evil and homicidal Isaac (Mark Jackson) in Engineering. At about this time, we discover that Alara is somehow still in the Simulation Room, and is being watched by Mercer, Grayson, Finn, and Isaac, all alive and in their normal minds. Alara is in a simulation she requested to test her response to frightening situations, to prepare her for the types of terrifying obstacles she might encounter as Chief of Security on a starship. Isaac programmed the simulation based on input from members of the crew as to their personal phobias. Alara had submitted to a risky short-term mind-wipe in order for the simulation to seem real to her.

The episode concludes with an expository scene that works fairly well, and ends with a warm affirmation of confidence from Mercer. Alara heads to bed, for a well-earned rest. And despite what you might expect, nothing frightening happens to her.

In my view, this is an effective and gripping episode of The Orville, probably the series’ best outing to date. There’s not a single dick joke in sight (though there is an ass joke) and the characters generally act in sensible ways, with the exception of John (J. Lee) and Gordon, who continue to serve no purpose beyond tossing out punchlines. Even though the pilot episode sold the Orville as a minor ship with a loser Captain and crew, most of the characters  seem competent, and even at times excellent in their roles.

The visual effects continue to be outstanding, with the ship encountering a plasma storm that rattles and crackles with energy, and we witness the destruction of the Orville in a spectacular scene. The only bits that fell short were the giant alien spider in the hallway and strangely the shuttlecraft, which seemed like a low-detail toy in every shot it was in.

I loved the scene where Capt. Mercer is trying to write the condolence letter to Payne’s parents – how do you do that when you barely know a guy? The sequence is relatable and funny. Gordon, reading Mercer’s letter: “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Paine, I am so sorry for your loss. Your son was a neat guy.” Mercer: “He WAS a neat guy! It’s not like I’m making that up!”

One issue I have with The Orville is how the show continues to use marriage as a punchline.  Alara’s parents join an unbroken list of bleak couples in The Orville, and in one scene Kelly and Ed compared marriage to Purgatory. Actually, statistics show married adults tend to live longer, healthier and happier lives. But, maybe the writers don’t find that a good source of comedy. 

The fight scene between Alara and Isaac is terrifyingly fast-paced, as a fight between those characters ought to be. I’ve wanted to see the two fight since the show launched, almost like a showdown between Thor and Iron Man. It is also quite different from Alara’s earlier fight with the clown in the cargo bay. This is the third episode of The Orville directed by Brannon Braga, following “About a Girl” and the unpleasant “Into the Fold,” and it is by far the best of the three.

“Firestorm” is packed with action and laced with humor, but it uses both to help us get to know one of the show’s major characters. The direction is crisp and effective, the writing is solid, and the acting is competent all across the cast. Halston Sage carries this story on her shoulders, and she turns in a performance that hits all the right notes. The Picardo cameo was a treat that only took me out of the show for a bit, and I got to watch Gordon get eaten by a spider. All told, an hour well spent.

Random thoughts:

  • I never noticed before that the crew seats on the bridge mirror the shape of the Alcubierre rings that form the Orville’s engines
  • Bridge officers John and Gordon have the simulation room reserved after Alara, for another of their odd historical recreations, this time apparently a Revolutionary War-era duel, complete with powdered wigs and ceremonial pistols. When Bortus joins them, the joke fully lands.
  • Isaac: “What is a clown?” “Big red fro, lots of makeup, big ol’ floppy shoes, scary as balls.” Gordon: “Wow, you’re describing my mom.”
  • Gordon: “Hobo clowns are the most dangerous, cause they’re hungry.”
  • When the crew divides up into teams to search the ship for the clowns, they are warned to look out for “pies, seltzer bottles, balloon animals – be alert!”
  • The editing of the clown attack in the cargo bay was quite effective, with disjointed jump cuts adding to the sense of confusion and terror
  • Penny Johnson Jerald can be VERY scary. Yikes. Bortus: “If you are attempting to frighten us, you have failed.” Me: “Oh, really? Where’s my spare shorts?”
  • Kelly: “This is going to sound like it’s coming out of my ass…” Isaac: “Then please try to enunciate.” Killed me.
  • Isaac: “Lt. Kitan has exercised Directive 38 in the execution of this program.” Mercer: “No bare feet in the Engineering Section?” What a GREAT regulation!
  • It makes sense that the Chief of Security would have the authority to override even the Captain’s clearances.
  • Phobias: clowns (John), heights (Finn), surgery (John), spiders (Mercer), isolation (Kelly), being conquered by a superior enemy (Bortus)

Clips from “Firestorm”

Orville season shorted to 12 episodes

The Orville has already been renewed for a second season, but now it looks like the first season is going to be a little shorter. Fox has decided to move one of the episodes from season one into season two, making the episode airing on December 7th the season finale. According to TV Guide this was done for scheduling reasons and is something Fox has done with other shows.

MacFarlane talks ‘casualizing’ Star Trek and sci-fi

The Paley Center released a clip from their September panel on The Orville with Seth MacFarlane. 

Preview of episode 11

Keep up with all the The Orville news, reviews and interviews at TrekMovie.com.

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Personally, it feels more like ST to me than. Lot of what has gone on since TOS, certainly it’s soul is more Star Trek.

Even my 14yo said, unprompted, after watching the first few episodes, that it felt more like TOS to him ( and he had just binge watched TOS in the spring).

Keep reporting on it and reviewing it please, TrekMovie.

It’s an homage to Trek though – and at times a good one. If you don’t like the show, don’t read these articles.

No review of last week’s episode?

That might have been the worst since the first couple. Except for Bortis, I don’t think I liked anything about this (well, the nebula-weirdstuff outside looked good too.) Braga has no business directing, this makes two eps of his that were visually very pedestrian except for the bits of excitement. It was nice that they actually had some lights turned off for the nightmare stuff in the corridor, but they had to make it ‘too clear’ that this was a dream by adding smoke to the set as well — how unsubtle can you get?

For a series I actually like, I found it almost impossible to sit through this episode. If they had to hold one show over for next season, I vote it should have been this one. Total waste of Picardo as well.

I enjoyed Picardo’s cameo, but they didn’t give him much to do. I hope that we get to see more of him in future eps.

Finally! A satisfying episode! Not perfect but definitely satisfying. We need more of this kind of episode. Seeing Robert Picardo was a real treat and definitely amusing. I never once thought this was a simulation & I’ve seen all of the ST series and it should have been the first thing I thought of. Kudos to the writer of this episode and of course Mr. Braga. I just wish they didn’t think they have to resort to potty humor and foul language to be funny because it isn’t funny and it is offensive and not needed. Bortus was great in this episode and I loved Penny Johnson Jerald too. She was really scary. In reference to a previous reviewer, they were evidently not watching the same episode I did. I really want to like this show and so far it has been an uneven mess. I am surprised by a second season but my dvr allows me to fast forward and delete a lousy episode. All I ask is clean up the language and get rid of the potty humor that isn’t funny.

The ONLY comment in the entire episode that might rise to the level of “potty humor” and/or “foul language”, is when Kelly suggested she might be “talking out of her ass”. A fairly common expression, which is neither foul nor potty humor. The comment became all the better, when Isaac suggested she should enunciate her words.

People are so easily offended by language, yet have no issues with nudity or violence.

Or are ok with violence so long as it is “clean”, PG-13 violence with no consequences.

Still just a pale comparison to tng. I’m find everything so…. bland and forgetable. The only positive thing about this show is the breakout performance of Halston Sage. She is the strongest part of the show. By far, my favorite character. I was happy that this was an alara centric show. I’m finding that some great actors are having to deal with subpar scripts and bad attempts at humor. I really wish MacFarlane would step away from acting in his vanity project. He’s a good impressionist but a bed actor. Every time he speaks, I just hear Brian the dog from family guy. Takes me right out of the scene. The show can definitely run as a companion piece to tng. It has that 90s feel in the generic sets and trying to copy tng. For people that are not enjoying Discovery, I would say this can fulfill their need to stay in the tng/voyager tv era. It falls right in there. I completely forgot this show was on last night so had to watch it on the pvr. It just isn’t must see tv for me. I missed a couple of episodes and really didn’t feel the need to download them to catch up.

I guess that’s more due to knowing his previous work. I had only heard of him and never really seen Family Guy etc. before, so I don’t have those associations when I see him or hear him speak. I’m totally fine with his acting. Is he the next oscar winner? Definitely not, but he’s not as bad as people make him out to be…

Yeah, his acting really IS that bad. He’s a very talented impressionist but cannot act his way out of a paper bag.

In your opinion, of course. You saying his acting really IS that bad does not make it gospel.

My opinion doesn’t make it gospel. His bad acting does though.:)

Didn’t think this was the best episode to date, but still great. I didn’t think it was a simulation, but rather some alien influence. Figured there was some kind of life form within the lighting that somehow fed on fear. Very well done though, and that clown was creepy as heck.

Will Dr. Finn ever get an episode where she is 100% competent? Sorry, but this episode lost me with The Clown. IT, anyone? I wish they’d turn down the lights more often — that was a welcome change. Meanwhile, the same weaknesses continue. Cmdr. Grayson has no character to speak of; she’s just “the ex-wife.” Lt. LaMarr is the sassy black guy. That’s not a character either, it’s a boring trope. Isaac would be boring in an episode of Buck Rodgers, let alone in a big budget production like this. Alara is OK, but her make-up design needs some serious work. Texture, dammit. She looks like the Pillsbury Doughgal.

CmdrR

I’ve found Isaac to be a fairly good source of humor. In the episode where Finn and her kids crash-land on the planet of the C.H.U.D. or whatever, Isaac tells the kids a hilarious bedtime story. I laughed heartily, anyway. That said, the writers kind of phoned in the climax of this latest episode. There was no explanation given for why Isaac was an evil mastermind in Alara’s simulation. I guess maybe it wasn’t supposed to make sense, being that it was sort of a simulated nightmare. Though, before it was revealed that the main plot was only a simulation, it would have been better with some sort of nefarious purpose behind it, instead of Isaac randomly deciding to become evil and torture and kill everyone. Neither, btw, was it ever explained how Isaac got the power, in the simulation, to make everyone’s fears come to life. I guess we’re supposed to attribute it all to just being a nonsensical, nightmare-like simulation program.

I’d suggest a rewatch. First off, Isaac was evil in the simulation because Bortis’s fear was being defeated by a superior opponent. It had to be Isaac because only Isaac and Alara stand a chance of defeating Bortis. Alara wasn’t a candidate because she was the only real person in the simulation.

As I said Alara was the only real person in the simulation. It wasn’t bringing fears to life from people’s minds. Isaac polled the crew for phobias which he cross-referenced with the human historical media database for exemplars and he programmed the simulation from there.

This is all laid out in both the episode & the review.

Cmdr

Fear of clowns, or coulrophobia, is actually really widespread, so that gives an element a large portion of the audience will identify with.

Imo, Braga has redeemed himself several times over with this STD antidote. It’s a refreshing take on what we all WISHED the TNG crew had been more like. They’re balancing the humor far more adeptly with these recent eps. Personally, I’m loving every minute of it.

@Dr. image — ALL wished? I think you’re overstepping your opinion a bit there … I certainly never wished for anything like this.

Fear of fire due to incident early in life? It sounds like Uhura in the novel “The Three Minute Universe.”

Sounds like a lot of people, LOL

Looks like the ratings are continuing to slide:

ORVILLE lowest ratings of the season L+SD 0.9, 3.3M for an original episode.

Looks like ORVILLE continues to slide in live broadcast ratings. It does manage to double its audience with DVR time-shift viewing over the following week, but that doesn’t pay the bills for such an expensive show. Hopefully FOX will be able to drum up a larger audience internationally, and over the Summer in preparation for its 2nd Season.

Here’s the rantings for the season to date:

Ep. 1, L+SD — 2.7, 8.6M
Ep. 2, L+SD — 2.2, 6.6M
Ep. 3, L+SD — 1.1, 4M
Ep. 4, L+SD — 1.1, 3.7M
Ep. 5, L+SD — 0.9, 3.4M
Ep. 6, L+SD — 1.0, 3.3M

Ep. 1, L+SD — 0.6, 2.2M REPEAT
Ep. 7, L+SD — 1.2, 4.1M
Ep. 8, L+SD — 1.0, 3.8M
Ep. 9, L+SD — 1.0, 3.6M
Ep. 10, L+SD — 0.9, 3.3M

Also looks as though a repeat of episode 1 didn’t bring in many viewers for a repeat viewing. Unlike Trek shows where people like to rewatch episodes over and over, not many want to watch orville a second time around.

The ratings for this show aren’t great, but I don’t think a dive into the rerun numbers for the last three Trek shows (during or after their runs) will indicate they fared much better in repeats. Heck, even in this era where serialization has been touted as an asset, DS9 still only has a home on streaming services, while Voyager has continually found an afterlife in traditional syndication.

Supposedly the main reason for the repeat was the potential of being up against a baseball playoff game between two major market teams (LA and Chicago), as well as football, so it was actually a smart move on FOX’s part.

@starbase63 — it’s always interesting to see the choices they make for re-runs. And arguably there was an opportunity missed to air the Pilot followed by the Cupid episode which bookends the Rob Lowe storyline. As it was, the Pilot episode is probably the most different from where the show has currently developed, and as such might seem confusing for viewers expecting more of the FAMILY GUY in space approach of the Pilot, causing them to fall off — which indeed seems to have happened.

On Thanksgiving, FOX will re-air the Krill episode. I’m very curious to see how the ratings track for that re-run, especially for captive audiences on Thanksgiving evening. It’s one of the more extreme and serious episodes with some very controversial story points, which might likewise turn off some new viewers expecting a comedy.

I expect those numbers to monumentally low. Nearly no one watches tv thanksgiving night unless it’s the nfl.

@starbase63

No,those schedules are drawn up long before MLB playoff matchups are known. Not only that, but the popularity of mlb has dropped to the point that networks are no longer conceding the nights to the sport.

Looks like the Thanksgiving re-run earned the ORVILLE’s lowest ratings of the season, and FOX some of the lowest ratings of the night.

0.3, 1.5M

The ORVILLE tied with GOTHAM, so most of this drop was likely due to people not watching FOX last night, which did about the same as the CW. But ABC & CBS both did much better overall and in the key demo with reruns, and of course NBC took the night with NFL football.

Looks like ORVILLE has finally locked in its audience, as the return of the live broadcast, is still struggling around a 0.9 rating and 3.6M viewers.

It’s Fox, good enough for a second season.

I love the show, but I tend to catch it the Monday or Tuesday night of the following week. As with many people, my Thursdays are soaked with family obligations and I tend not to catch up DVRed shows over the weekend. I don’t watch much TV, but I catch every show–unfortunately my viewing doesn’t count.

I hope this sticks around a few years. This is generally very good sci-fi, and we can always use more good sci-fi.

And c’mon, the Directive 38 bit? That’s gold, Jerry.

@Curt — the question is, where does ORVILLE rank among the DVR shows you watch? Is it the first show you’ve recorded that you watch, or do you prioritize others over ORVILLE? Keep in mind, ORVILLE’s audience only approximately doubles in the week after broadcast, which is a relatively small audience in the grand scheme of things. Advertisers are only minimally concerned about the first 3 days afterward. So you count somewhat if you watch ORVILLE by Saturday night, and you matter to the studio if you watch it by the following Wednesday night, as it gives them an idea of the potential base a show has. Anything after that doesn’t really matter.

“It makes sense that a species like the Seleyans, where everyone is physically strong, would value intellectual ability over bodily prowess.”

It’s “Xeleyans,” and they’re not physically strong in their own environment, only when they’re in a setting with lower gravity than their own.

Thanks for the corrections!

And also, Mercer isn’t really a loser captain. It was made clear on the pilot he had been an excellent officer, top of his class at Union Point, and the Admiralty had high expectations of him. His divorce from Kelly sent him into a year-long tailspin, and his posting to the Orville was given as a chance to redeem himself.

That’s an understandable misspelling, since ‘Seleyans’ sounds like Vulcan Hill People (well okay, Vulcan Mountain Folk.)

I have a hard time with the ‘lower grav’ explanation given that we don’t see any musculature — even a Willem Dafoe like physique would need to be bulkier on a high-grav planet, given that you’ve got the same kind of frame as a human. Haven’t seen any other indicators that would support this, like the staircase bowing under the weight of her super-dense bones, either. Another example of just creating a visual joke, but not doing anything to support it. (okay, I’m only bitching because the show really disappointed me Thursday night and because I’m no fan of the character or the actress. Alara has a low-rent Kirstie Alley feel [not that I’m a fan of HER Trek work either], like this is somebody who should be playing a cheerleader and not a member of an alien race on a starship. Not Marina Sirtis level awful, but in the running, to be sure.)

I really like Alara. And I like the Orville. It’s got a message each week, and it’s fun also. It’s a real pleasure.

One more quick point. In this week’s shuttlepod on the last Discovery episode, the guys talk about how you never can believe that Lorka cares about his crew. This Orville episode showed Ed as wise and caring about Alara and the rest of the crew. I never thought I would see a Star Trek where the captain doesn’t care about his crew and it’s just ok with fans. To each his own, I respect diversity. But I like my Star Trek to be inspiring and about caring. And that’s why I like the Orville.

Lorca is a terrible captain. Then again, there seems to be no chain of command on any level of Discovery’s Starfleet.

Well of course. He’s only there to show what incompetent boobs white men are.

You would certainly know.

Blob
Well of course. He’s only there to show what incompetent boobs white men are.

I can’t speak to DSC, because I haven’t seen it yet. And I won’t speak to the “White” component, because I haven’t seen any evidence of it. But, there may be a trend of “over-correction,” as I’ve heard one social psychologist refer to it, pertaining to females being portrayed as smarter and more competent than males in TV shows. I have friends who write for very popular children’s shows, and they tell me that during the long testing process, they get mothers in focus groups saying that they are offended at the way that the shows are portraying boys as being incompetent, dumb and generally inferior to girls.

P.S. The social psychologist that I referred to is female, for what it’s worth.

@Gary Seven — really? You Thought Ron Tracey was a model captain with compassion and caring for his crew above all else? DISC is NOT about Lorca.

I also loved the bit about enunciation. I was streaming the episode and had to pause it for a couple of minutes.

I tend to feel that it was all just a dream plot devices are cheating. As such, this episode was about average for me. As usual, there were two or three laugh-out-loud moments. The funniest was Bortus walking into the simulation room (or whatever they’re calling it) dressed as an 18th Century duelist. The timing, the props and his line all added up to a hearty laugh for me. The narrative was smoother and less clunky than narratives earlier in the season. And the episode’s “bravery” theme is a good one, though I’d have preferred a story with permanent consequences as opposed to one that hits the reset button at the end. I found Mercer’s line about bravery quite pithy and noteworthy: “If you’re not scared, then there’s nothing to be brave about.” I also enjoyed Penny Johnson as the Evil Dr. Finn——it was good to see her stretch. All of the foregoing aside, I agree that this is a gripping episode, and I wonder if it was originally meant to air closer to Halloween, because it seems perfect for that.

If they ever come up with a spider clown, it is Game Over! {yyyyeeeeggghhhh!!}

Very Treky!

Great shows week after week and you don’t need to be a Trekkie to get it.

So, the Kobayashi Maru episode. Imitation continues to be the sincerest form of flattery, I guess.

After the thoroughly enjoyable episode last week we are back to another downer of an episode. It’s not bad. And it did indeed have a couple of laughs. It seems to me this is what Orville is shooting for more often than not. More serious TNG type episodes with a few jokes dropped in here and there. Take out the jokes and this show is indeed a TNG clone. That said, I still enjoy it. And I really enjoy the fact that it doesn’t have at least 5 video glitches sprinkled in the 42 minutes or that I didn’t have to buy some add on device just to watch it. So kudos to them for that. :)

I don’t have any video glitches on CBS AA, nor did I have to purchase any device to use the service.

I’m assuming the part where Isaac referred to a regulation & Mercer quoted the wrong one was a subtle reference to Red Dwarf, wherein Rimmer will attempt to cite a regulation by number & be humiliated by Kryten quoting the text of it & questioning its relevance (it obviously always being a completely unrelated & inappropriate reg as Rimmer never quite gets the numbers right).

@DAH — as this becomes ever less comedic, and evermore serious — asking the audience to invest themselves in the drama — what kind of sense does any regulation allowing the ability to lock the captain out of any part of his ship by a single crewmember? That clearly invites the ship to be taken over in any number of ways. If ORVILLE really wants to be taken seriously as a TNG successor, then they really need some logical thinking behind their stories.

There have been many instances in past Trek when having a department head like the security chief able to lock out a compromised commanding officer would have saved time, trouble, and lives. The closest we got was a few times McCoy & Crusher exercised their authority to override the captain. That is without a doubt the reason for this regulation on The Orville.

I really don’t think ORVILLE is trying to be taken seriously as a TNG successor. I think it is what it is, a fun, well-produced and written show, which is bringing along with it some societal institutions relevant to 2017 in the storytelling. It don’t think it’s trying to be Trek at all, simply a tribute/homage to that particular era of Trek. And I believe in that arena, it’s succeeding.

Orville is Orville. Discovery is Star Trek. I don’t see why people seem to keep getting those facts confused. This is not a competition.

Absolutely enjoyed it – what a great 40 minutes. Funny, light and somehow also scary at times, great mood and dialogue – to me, some hilarious quotes, a great space scene of the Orville blowing up. This one had it all, for me. So glad this show got a season 2. More times than not when I watch this show, by the time it’s over I’ve got a smile on my face and a real satisfied feeling. Can’t say that about a lot these days…

I do find this show better than Discovery, though different. I feel that Orville captures the “feel” of Star Trek much better. That said, it feels more like solid 24th century Trek rather than TOS. That’s not a bad thing since DS9 and TNG were very good. It was Voyager and Enterprise that ran into trouble. Orville feels like TNG when TNG was good. The humor fails more than it succeeds, but it does succeed on occasion.

This particular episode though was not my kind of episode. It kind of reminded me of Troi turning into a cake.

Not my personal style, though the show itself has been a refreshing take on things and I’m disappointed the SEASON finale is coming so soon.

@BringBackKirkPrime —

Yup you nailed it. ORVILLE is a pale continuation of dated series format which appeals to the nostalgia in some Trek fans. For those who didn’t get enough of the Trek offerings in the late 80s and 90s, ORVILLE is the answer. They are obviously copying the look, feel, and even storylines of the episodes from that era of Trek, though not as successfully. But in comparison to DISC, it is hands down much more like TNG. No argument there. As far as presenting the same values and high concepts as Trek from that era, it fails miserably. ORVILLE works as a homage, a parody, or a fan film, but it in no way works as legitimate Trek, however entertaining some might find it. One might just as well say a Star Trek themed sketch on SNL is more like the old Star Trek series which it is intended to resemble, than DISC — that statement would be just as true.

You don’t like it, that’s obvious. And by no means Orville is Star Trek although it comes very close to what the original was about in more ways than the new movies or the SD is. ORVILLE is ORVILLE period. What is interesting though is your need to reply to everyone that likes this show. Why bother ?