The Orville - Season 2

[sanman]

This show continues and the second half of the season 2 has been even stronger than the first half. It's also clear that they have really backed off on the humor. The most recent episode had maybe five jokes or less (the joke about crashing a shuttle into a tree, the Dolly Parton song joke, and a small one where Ed failed to get the admiral's hint about communications being garbled were the only ones I noticed).

I'd read somewhere that MacFarlane had originally started out wanting to make a purely serious TNG-style series, but that studio executives pressured him toward the comedy route, because his own name-brand and fan-base were so strongly associated with comedy. Perhaps now that he's proven his ability to make a Trek-like show that can stand on classical merits of its own, he can now gradually shed the comedy. That being said, some level of comedy isn't bad -- especially when so much Trek has already been done that it naturally evokes self-parody -- but also because it helps to lighten the tone so that the show doesn't otherwise end up feeling too stiff and wooden.

The two-parter with the race of AI robots who are now a serious threat not only to Earth but to the other members of their federation, was not only good, but brought together a bunch of other storylines, like the new approach to the enemy Krill.

The most recent episode paid off an earlier setup about the Moklans oppressing their females when it turns out that there is a colony of females living in hiding. That was a clever way to extrapolate that if a) the females were oppressed, and b) not all the males in their society agreed with this oppression, there might very well be an underground railroad and a hidden colony. (In fact, there could be more than one, and the others are still kept secret.)

I'm interested in watching the fan reaction to this show. For a couple of years now there has been a rather noisy group of bloggers/vloggers (on YouTube) who have blasted Star Trek: Discovery for being too liberal/progressive, and praised The Orville for "doing it right." Their criticism seemed to be that Discovery was cramming a "social justice" message down viewers' throats, whereas The Orville did not. But season two of The Orville has had a lot of what one could consider social message episodes about gays in society, intolerance, and the oppression of various groups based upon their gender or their behavior. My impression is that this has not gone over well with the fans who were previously praising The Orville. Their enthusiasm for the show seems to have waned at the same time that the writing has improved significantly (and the humor has been reduced significantly).

MacFarlane seems to be very aggressive with his social messaging agenda, to the point where he sometimes lacks nuance, and ends up beating you over the head with it.
Even that recent episode "Deflectors" had the very sudden romance between the security officer and the Moklan guest engineer, where there was no natural buildup to it -- just a sudden hey-they're-together -- which felt contrived and forced.
Meanwhile, I notice that the Orville is almost becoming a Love Boat for cameos by former famous stars (Admiral Ted Danson, Admiral Kelly Hu, Doctor Robert Picardo, etc). Wasn't Patrick Stewart supposed to show up at some point - or is that still in the future?

I liked the Krill episodes, especially with the female Krill - was that actually the same actress playing both the Krill and human avatars of the same person?

Overall, the ratings on season 2 haven't been all that great, and if the show had been more highly rated it would have been renewed for a third season by now. I would blame part of that ratings drop to the fact that Fox waited a year to bring back the show. But you can see a steady erosion of the ratings over the first season and it seems to have stabilized out by the middle of the second season.

http://www.cancelledscifi.com/sci-fi-tv-shows/The-Orville/

So it doesn't show as cancelled - phew! You worried me there, for a moment.
They should be able to outlast Discovery, at least. The inclusion of these resurfacing plot elements for extended story arcs is likely to keep a continuity woven into the show, to keep us coming back for more.

[Blackstar]

I'd read somewhere that MacFarlane had originally started out wanting to make a purely serious TNG-style series, but that studio executives pressured him toward the comedy route, because his own name-brand and fan-base were so strongly associated with comedy. Perhaps now that he's proven his ability to make a Trek-like show that can stand on classical merits of its own, he can now gradually shed the comedy. That being said, some level of comedy isn't bad -- especially when so much Trek has already been done that it naturally evokes self-parody -- but also because it helps to lighten the tone so that the show doesn't otherwise end up feeling too stiff and wooden.

That may be true, although I'd like to see that from him directly. I do think there's a place for humor in this show and it is best if it is the characters making quips rather than totally goofball elements. And they seem to have taken that tack with season 2: there's very little that's goofball. That can also help them with the serious drama, because it provides a relief valve.

[Blackstar]

MacFarlane seems to be very aggressive with his social messaging agenda, to the point where he sometimes lacks nuance, and ends up beating you over the head with it.
Even that recent episode "Deflectors" had the very sudden romance between the security officer and the Moklan guest engineer, where there was no natural buildup to it -- just a sudden hey-they're-together -- which felt contrived and forced.
Meanwhile, I notice that the Orville is almost becoming a Love Boat for cameos by former famous stars (Admiral Ted Danson, Admiral Kelly Hu, Doctor Robert Picardo, etc). Wasn't Patrick Stewart supposed to show up at some point - or is that still in the future?

Yeah, at times it has been too blunt where they could have been a bit more subtle. We don't need "THIS IS A SOCIAL ANALOGY" blaring at us. But I think that the sudden romance you mention was not really the blunt part of that episode. It needed a little more cleverness in the main plot. That said, they were obviously going for a story arc with Bortas and Klyden--Klyden's intolerance was clearly going to annoy Bortas. That played out well in the most recent episode where Bortas finally called him on it, noting that Klyden does not interact with the rest of the crew and did not even acknowledge the presence of Kelly because she's female. I think part of the problem is that the show has characters tell us things when they should show us things and let the audience draw conclusions.

As for the increasing cameos by Trek regulars, it is getting a bit silly by now. I dislike MacFarlane (because his previous work has been, in my view, ribald bordering on disgusting at times), but it is clear that lots of people in Hollywood like working with him. Dunno why that is. Maybe he throws great parties.

[Blackstar]

So it doesn't show as cancelled - phew! You worried me there, for a moment.
They should be able to outlast Discovery, at least. The inclusion of these resurfacing plot elements for extended story arcs is likely to keep a continuity woven into the show, to keep us coming back for more.

Well, Discovery has already been renewed and The Orville has not (yet). The economics are also different for these shows. Discovery may have lower ratings, but it is a tent pole show for CBS's streaming service. The Orville needs advertising dollars. Different equations, although we don't now what the pain tolerance is for CBS vs. Fox. As I noted above, there is a group of rather virulent bloggers/vloggers who seem to have a lot of hate for Discovery and at least for the first season loved The Orville. I've seen some of them proclaiming the former as a failure already, even though it might actually continue beyond The Orville. This is all just part of a larger culture war that in my view is rather tiring. Can't we just enjoy stuff without having to tear down the things that other people enjoy?

[Oli]

The writing in season 2 is rather bland and predictable. Or maybe the show's flaws have become more apparent now that it tries to be serious.

[Lar]

The writing in season 2 is rather bland and predictable. Or maybe the show's flaws have become more apparent now that it tries to be serious.

I am  not sure everyone agrees. I for one found the last two episodes of the season quite riveting, especially the alternate history aspects. Yeah, the mechanic that made it happen was typical gobbledegook but that was always the case with Trek as well.

As for the increasing cameos by Trek regulars, it is getting a bit silly by now. I dislike MacFarlane (because his previous work has been, in my view, ribald bordering on disgusting at times), but it is clear that lots of people in Hollywood like working with him. Dunno why that is. Maybe he throws great parties.

I get the impression that Seth is a genuinely nice guy who is fun to work with but that could just be his projected persona.

Can't we just enjoy stuff without having to tear down the things that other people enjoy?

I agree.