I loved that premiere. It was so enjoyable and just what I needed when intelligent sci-fi is so hard to find these days. The thoughtfulness and pacing, in particular, and the overall writing and direction, in general, were starkly different and better than any of the nuTrek or Star Wars series. Even the acting was better, IMO.
I liked that they didn't hold our hand with flashbacks (including "Previously on...") or forced exposition to remind us about last season, even though it was 3 whole years ago, and instead refreshed us naturally through the story. I had forgotten several things from last season and was briefly confused, but I appreciated that I was reminded without feeling like I was being reminded.
Along those lines, and it's a small thing, but I appreciated that all of the empty seats at the memorial told a story and it wasn't explained and spelled out through dialogue, as inferior writers might've.
I also liked that people didn't hate Isaac because he was Kaylon but because of the deaths that he caused and the chance that it could happen again. I feel that nuTrek would've made it into an obvious and shallow racism parable, where the characters unreasonably hated and mistrusted him simply because he was Kaylon. Similarly, it addressed the subject of suicide and made an argument against it without it coming across as a lecture. It also touched on grief. It actually touched on several heavy topics with grace and balance instead of feeling forced or heavy handed.
Also, I appreciated that it took so much persuasion to change Charly Burke's mind. NuTrek has recently had a bad habit of characters being very easily convinced by short speeches, as if the writers were propping up their characters by showing just how convincing and inspirational they are. Here, we keep expecting the characters to change Charly's mind and they keep failing hard. Even after they finally got through to her and changed her mind, they still failed to change her heart. She did her duty, but then walked away still holding resentment toward Isaac. It's a lot more realistic (because you don't change hearts in real life with quick, convincing speeches), humanizes the characters more (both them and Charly) and provides more food for thought. Like in real life, Isaac will have to prove himself to Charly and change her heart over time and that's something that I'm looking forward to.
I loved that premiere. It was so enjoyable and just what I needed when intelligent sci-fi is so hard to find these days. The thoughtfulness and pacing, in particular, and the overall writing and direction, in general, were starkly different and better than any of the nuTrek or Star Wars series. Even the acting was better, IMO.
I liked that they didn't hold our hand with flashbacks (including "Previously on...") or forced exposition to remind us about last season, even though it was 3 whole years ago, and instead refreshed us naturally through the story. I had forgotten several things from last season and was briefly confused, but I appreciated that I was reminded without it being overdone.
Along those lines, and it's a small thing, but I appreciated that all of the empty seats at the memorial told a story and it wasn't explained and spelled out through dialogue, as inferior writers might've.
I also liked that people didn't hate Isaac because he was Kaylon but because of the deaths that he caused and the chance that it could happen again. I feel that nuTrek would've made it into an obvious and shallow racism parable, where the characters unreasonably hated and mistrusted him simply because he was Kaylon. Similarly, it addressed the subject of suicide and made an argument against it without it coming across as a lecture. It also touched on grief. It actually touched on several heavy topics with grace and balance instead of feeling forced or heavy handed.
Also, I appreciated that it took so much persuasion to change Charly Burke's mind. NuTrek has recently had a bad habit of characters being very easily convinced by short speeches, as if the writers were propping up their characters by showing just how convincing and inspirational they are. Here, we keep expecting the characters to change Charly's mind and they keep failing hard. Even after they finally got through to her and changed her mind, they still failed to change her heart. She did her duty, but then walked away still holding resentment toward Isaac. It's a lot more realistic (because you don't change hearts in real life with quick, convincing speeches), humanizes the characters more (both them and Charly) and provides more food for thought. Like in real life, Isaac will have to prove himself to Charly and change her heart over time and that's something that I'm looking forward to.
If you mean the slow camera shots, I like them and believe that they have a point. They help set the mood and give the viewer time to think about scenes. For example, one comes shortly after Isaac was told off and we're given a good 10 seconds to observe him doing his job and wonder if the rebuke hurt him or not. Another is when Dr. Finn re-creates the restaurant where she once had a date with Isaac and we're allowed to think about what she's feeling without being distracted by cuts and sudden camera angle changes. When the camera finally finishes zooming in on her and she starts to cry, it hits a little harder because the continuous shot makes it as if we're watching her with our own eyes. Good directors know when to slow things down and hold the camera to draw thoughts and emotions out of the viewer. Thoughtful sci-fi needs that. It's hard for sci-fi to be thoughtful when it's fast paced and heavily edited and viewers don't have much time to think (or, worse, are told what to think). Most of the other sci-fi out right now is going for such fast-paced entertainment while The Orville is going for a slower, more rewarding experience, and I really appreciate that.
Who used to sit in Charly's spot on the bridge? I think it was Lamar for a bit before he become chief engineer. I can't remember who sat in that spot after....
Who used to sit in Charly's spot on the bridge? I think it was Lamar for a bit before he become chief engineer. I can't remember who sat in that spot after....
Right, like later seasons of TNG with the exception of Ro Laren a few times.
Oh god, I just realized:
TNG started with a black guy named Geordi at the left console on the bridge who goes on to become chief engineer.
Orville started with a black guy named LaMarr at the left console on the bridge who goes on to become chief engineer.
Geordi is replaced by a young prodigy named Wesley Crusher.
LaMarr is replaced by a young prodigy named Charly Burke.
The new episode is horrific... in a good way. The action and suspense made it very different than last week's theme-filled character drama, but I enjoyed it just as much. I liked seeing the ship in a different light. The makeup and costuming was good, though the CGI action wasn't. It was nice to see more of Bortus, who almost wasn't even in the first episode. I was amused that the composer shamelessly ripped off paid "homage" to the Star Trek II soundtrack when they were entering the nebula. The location inside looked totally like a set and straight out of 90s Star Trek, which I hope was intentional. The show is so campy and retro. It makes me feel like I'm back in the early 90s, watching new episodes of TNG, and I love it for it.
I liked that the episode didn't go where I thought that it'd go. Early on, I guessed that Paul was going to do a heel turn, since there have been several Star Trek stories like that. Later, I expected Claire to figure out how to reverse the genetic process and return him to his human self, since that's a typical Star Trek plot resolution. I recall an episode in which Geordi La Forge turned into a blue creature and was somehow fully cured at the end. Found it: Identity Crisis. In fact, the plot of that episode sure is suspiciously similar to this episode. Hmm. Oh well. I still enjoyed The Orville version.
The new episode is horrific... in the best way. The action and suspense made it very different than last week's theme-filled character drama, but I enjoyed it just as much. I liked seeing the ship in a different light. The makeup was really good, but the CGI wasn't. At least there wasn't much of it. It was nice to see more of Bortus, who almost wasn't even in the first episode. I was amused that the composer shamelessly ripped off paid "homage" to the Star Trek II soundtrack when they were entering the nebula. The location inside looked totally like a set and straight out of 90s Star Trek, which I hope was intentional. The show is so campy and retro. It makes me feel like I'm back in the early 90s, watching new episodes of TNG, and I love it for it.
I have liked the episodes so far but not sure how to feel about how little the Captain, Malloy, Bortus and LaMarr have had to do in the episodes so far.
The budget looks insane, those creatures in the 2nd episode look like they'd belong in a movie.
Was anyone else wondering how LaMarr has sex with that alien girl that he is sleeping with whose body is covered in thorns?
I have liked the episodes so far but not sure how to feel about how little the Captain, Malloy, Bortus and LaMarr have had to do in the episodes so far.
I have liked the episodes so far but not sure how to feel about how little the Captain, Malloy, Bortus and LaMarr have had to do in the episodes so far.
The budget looks insane, those creatures in the 2nd episode look like they'd belong in a movie.
Was anyone else wondering how LaMarr has sex with that alien girl that he is sleeping with whose body is covered in thorns?
I have liked the episodes so far but not sure how to feel about how little the Captain, Malloy, Bortus and LaMarr have had to do in the episodes so far.
I think that it could've been better if the recreations were more specific to the characters or at least explained. For example, was Gordon bullied as a kid or afraid of big monsters? Was Ed afraid of claustrophobic spaces or crashing? Did Kelly have a childhood fear of drowning or lake monsters?
I don't know why Gordon didn't pull his phaser on the bullies at some point. It might not have worked, but he didn't even try.
Re-creating a Moclun morgue so that Bortus would get too close to a corpse and get strangled seemed a little contrived.
I still enjoyed the episode, as I said, but those are a few of the things that had me scratching my head a little.
I think that it could've been better if the recreations were more specific to the characters or at least explained. For example, was Gordon bullied as a kid or afraid of big monsters? Was Ed afraid of claustrophobic spaces or crashing? Did Kelly have a childhood fear of drowning or lake monsters?
I don't know why Gordon didn't pull his phaser on the bullies at some point. It might not have worked, but he didn't even try.
Re-creating a Moclun morgue so that Bortus would get too close to a corpse and get strangled seemed a little contrived.
I still enjoyed the episode, as I said, but those are a few of the things that left me scratching my head a little.
I thought that also but they did sort of give themselves an out by Dinal saying that they took both memories from them but also from the Orville's databanks.
I thought that also but they did sort of give themselves an out by Dinal saying that they took both memories from them but also from the Orville's databanks.
Yeah, I caught that and that addressed questions that I had about the first two recreations, but they were still each seemingly created to get a specific reaction out of a specific character, so it would've been nice to understand why a little better.
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Oh well. I still enjoyed The Orville version.
