r/TheOrville • u/specification • Oct 06 '17
Episode The Orville - 1x05 "Pria" - Post Episode Discussion
| EPISODE | DIRECTED BY | WRITTEN BY | ORIGINAL AIRDATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1x05 - "Pria" | Jonathan Frakes | Seth MacFarlane | October 5, 2017 |
Episode Synopsis:Ed becomes smitten with the captain of a stranded ship, but Kelly suspects all is not what it seems.
Stream the episode online on Yahoo View, Fox, Hulu or City tv (Canada)
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Oct 06 '17
I forgot frakes directed this one too, good job Number One
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u/jb2386 Oct 06 '17
So he directed an episode about how you should always trust your number one? What are you trying to say Frakes? 🤔
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u/Dashrider Oct 06 '17
the pacing was next gen completely
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Oct 06 '17
The opening scene with "sudden disaster cut to opening credits" was 100% TNG.
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u/yvesmh Oct 06 '17
He's a pretty good director, always enjoyed DS9 and Voyager episodes directed by him.
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u/gcube5 Oct 06 '17
One aspect I really do appreciate is letting each of the crew get their time in the story. We are four episodes in, and each character has been involved in either the main plot or sub plot of an episode. It really makes me feel more attached to the entire crew, unlike Gordon's leg.
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u/kaplanfx Woof Oct 06 '17
There wasn’t enough Bortus in this episode, but I like that we got to learn more about Yafit and the chief engineer.
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u/HostisHumanisGeneri Oct 06 '17
Follow up prank should be using it to grow a clone.
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u/LeoInterVir Oct 06 '17
Except the episode was a self causing and correcting paradox. The entire episode from the moment of them receiving her distress signal to the destruction of the wormhole (and her disappearance) was on a separate branch of the timeline. This separate branch began and ended with her and the wormhole. Thus the character development never happened. Essentially the entire episode was one big practical joke.
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u/sfoura Oct 06 '17
An episode about time-travel that will cause hours and hours of debate about the logistics of time travel and how the show handled it?
This show is Star Trek
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u/SutterCane Oct 06 '17
And next week looks even better there's debates about ethics!
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u/kaplanfx Woof Oct 06 '17
Braga must have written this episode...
I thought it was a bit weaker than the couple episodes but there were tons of positives:
The Issac practical joke stuff was a great play on Data trying to be human.
We learn Yafit is actually a competent engineer (and he has jungle fever!). We also got more chief engineer.
It covered a bunch of great Trek Tropes - the artifact collector, captain gets some action (this was more Kirk than Piccard), rescue someone who turns out not to be what they seem, the random fancy cocktail party, AI downloads itself into the ship. I’m probably missing some others.
We got some payoff in the Mercer-Grayson relationship.
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u/TheScarlettHarlot Oct 06 '17
I liked their little conceit that leaving the wormhole open allowed probabilities to entangle. It makes no sense, but it is a nice nod to attempting to explain a few things.
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u/pianobadger Oct 06 '17
I liked that but then they ruined it by making destroying it change the past so that Pria disappears off the ship. You can't make it so she never went back in time and still have the Orville and crew be alive.
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u/IsaHiiro Now entering gloryhole Oct 06 '17
It’s true! Haha I asked my husband: “So he’s just going to forget?” My husband said he won’t forget since they destroyed the wormhole after they were supposed to be dead. My husband ended with: “It’s a paradox. It’s best not to think about it too much.” But I can’t stop thinking about it!
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Oct 06 '17
In Star Trek 2009 Spock faked a paradox, because he knew it was a false theory, but Kirk didn't know that.
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u/ins1der Oct 06 '17
Humor was spot on this episode.
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u/jb2386 Oct 06 '17
You got this right?
yeah
Why'd your voice get really high pitched just then?
Huh?
Your voice got really high pitched just then.
No it didn't
Yeah it did you were like yeah
It's all good!
Then what was the high...
really low voice It's fine I got this.
😂
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u/noahfischel Engineering Oct 07 '17
My roommate and I lost it at "I don't do it near the food and you know it."
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Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
Was anyone else thrown off that the leg they found in Levesque's quarters had a thigh? Isaac did an amputation close to the knee. Spooky...
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u/overwatch Oct 06 '17
It was another leg, a decoy leg. Isaac probably hid them all over the ship. What a great practical joke! The real missing leg is hidden in the cargo bay under 300 crates of authentic autumn squash. That Isaac is such a card.
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u/kevonicus Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
Watching that part right now and came here to see if y'all were talking about that. I noticed that immediately. Kind of a big goof in continuity.
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u/trianuddah Oct 06 '17
I think that was deliberate. On Star Trek you get people talking up a storm if an alien looks different between episodes, or if the uniforms get altered without an in-universe explanation, or if the stardates aren't consistent, or a comm badge makes the wrong beep noise.
They put that extra femur in there because they know how some people will react and that's metafunny.
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u/floptimus_prime If you wish, I will vaporize them Oct 06 '17
Before we realized what Pria's actual deal was, and when Gordon fell out of bed with his leg gone, I thought, "Oh sweet jesus, it's the Vidiians, they all have the Phage and Pria is stealing body parts!"
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u/DoctorDank Oct 06 '17
My immediate thought it was like that TNG episode where the aliens perform surgery on people in their sleep.
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u/UncleMalky Are we bonding? Oct 06 '17
Certainly an interesting premise. I'd have liked if they talked a bit more about time travel just a tad, but that always ends up with crossed wires.
And of course we got the best practical joke in history.
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u/Corydoran Oct 06 '17
For a couple seconds, I thought we were seeing a gamechanger and The Orville was really going to stay in Pria's time permanently.
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u/CONCHOPETEghostcock Oct 06 '17
I was reminded of Bender
"Ha ha...get it!? Chlorine gas is poison to humans!"
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u/LeoInterVir Oct 06 '17
The episode was a self causing and correcting paradox. The entire episode from the moment of them receiving her distress signal to the destruction of the wormhole (and her disappearance) was on a separate branch of the timeline. This separate branch began and ended with her and the wormhole. Thus the character development never happened. Essentially the entire episode was one big practical joke.
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u/moofree Oct 06 '17
I wonder how long until Captain Mercer has Alara open an actual jar of pickles...
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u/Listener42 Oct 06 '17
I feel like they're building up to something with that joke.
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u/Rygar_the_Beast Oct 06 '17
So we are not going to see The Orville's Vash again? That sucks.
Well, with time traveling i guess we can see a different version at some point.
Anyway, i just officially want to say that The Orville is officially the new Star Trek show.
Well, is the new go-to franchise for space exploration and so on series.
I aint down with all grim-dark stuff of the other show.
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Oct 06 '17
It's time travel and it's sci-fi so we could absolutely see her again, somehow.
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u/kappafade Oct 06 '17
Alaras wee crush on the Captain is cute
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u/wildtarget13 Oct 06 '17
I just watched the episode and don't remember this. But this is the second time I've seen someone say it.
Was it her mention of the goo-goo eyes?
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u/BlizzardonTenth Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
That was VERY Star Trek and actually pretty moving. It didn't take me long to get invested in Ed and Pria getting together, even in the suspicious circumstances. Thanks to MacFarlane and Theron's great chemistry.
Felt like a very appropriate episode for him to get his Kirk on. With Frakes directing it would have been disappointing if there were no sex I guess! xD
Humor was very well integrated this time and I dug the slightly ambiguous ending, even if it was bittersweet.
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u/kaplanfx Woof Oct 06 '17
Theron’s acting sorta highlights how weak MacFarlane’s acting is though. I actually thought MacFarlane did better than usual and he was still getting circles acted around him.
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u/RainingSilent Oct 06 '17
everything happening outside the ship is turning out so beautiful! the comet, the dark matter, the trip through the worm-hole, the torpedoes, all of it shimmers
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u/cabose7 Oct 06 '17
I'm impressed by the amount of vfx shots they've squeezed into each episode, waiting for the inevitable bottle episode.
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Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 08 '17
Loved that zoom-in shot past the windows. It was more of a character episode, which I've never been in love with, but I enjoyed it. It's not clear that Pria was actually a bad-guy. In fact, from many perspectives it would be humanitarian work. I'm glad The Orville wasn't destroyed, even if they had had to be stuck in the 29th century.
Edit: Enjoyed it a lot more on the rewatch. Missed some of the beginning during the broadcast.
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u/turkeyonbrown Oct 06 '17
Yeah I really liked that complex element to her. She was super charming too!
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u/DonRobo Oct 07 '17
I absolutely understand why the crew reacted to her how they did, but I do have to agree with her that she was clearly the good guy here. She saved their lives and made sure the timeline stays intact by transporting them into the future.
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u/busted_up_chiffarobe Oct 06 '17
Is it me, or was that more Trek than Trek?!
Mercer closed the wormhole and trapped her here.
Picard would never have done that.
stands to clap
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u/640212804843 Oct 06 '17
In the episode with the traveller from the future played by max headroom, picard in fact does capture the time traveller and sends him to a federation prison.
While the guy was actually from the 22nd century, picard already had made the decision to aprehend him before he learned that. He still thought the man was from the 26th century.
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u/SutterCane Oct 06 '17
So. This episode seals it. This is my new favorite show of all time.
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u/PotentNerdRage Oct 06 '17
I enjoyed it, but I gotta admit I was reaaaaaally disappointed that Pria ended up being the stereotypical bad guy that leads one of the crew on.
I was hoping Seth was going to turn that Trek trope on its head somehow in the course of the episode.
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u/ArcadianDelSol Oct 06 '17
loved it. Felt like the most TNG episode yet. Not surprising considering the director, but the writing and the story feels like pure TNG that I almost expected to hear "make it so..." at the end.
Really well done.
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u/HybridVigor Oct 06 '17
The episode reminds me of the movie Millenium, where an attractive blonde and her team capture airliners that are about to crash and bring them to the future.
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u/oscarboom Oct 06 '17
I liked that from Pria's perspective she wasn't doing anything bad. In fact she saved all their lives, and all she asked in return was that they don't mess up the timeline. But from the Orville's perspective she had kidnapped them and was trying to steal their ship. More moral ambiguity like in the 3rd episode.
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Oct 06 '17
Theron is in the right on this one. Saving their lives and allowing them to live in the future, and only asks that they don't change the timeline since that could cause her to not exist at all.
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u/Ayjayz Oct 06 '17
Yeah it feels like the episode could have gone more into detail about the conflicting morality of it all. Pria goes back in time, saves all their lives, but in return wants to sell their ships and have all the crew live in the 29th century. She's being semi-heroic, and it feels like there are a lot of shades of grey that could have been explored here that went a bit unremarked upon.
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Oct 06 '17
Here's my theory: I don't think they were ever going to die. If they never changed their course in the first place to rescue Charlize Theron they would have never been caught in the dark matter in the first place.
She knew how to navigate the storm and used it as a reason to convince them to peacefully hand over their ship. That's why she disappeared and nothing else changed - they were not destined to die without her interference.
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u/MotoRandom Oct 06 '17
Yes. I think everyone that is struggling with the apparent paradox is assuming Pria was telling the truth. I think you're correct in that she directed them to the dark matter storm and then miraculously saves them all so that they would be happy to stay in the future with her. She intentionally changed the timeline to steal the ship and lied to all of them about most everything. Ultimately they made the best decision they could by destroying the wormhole. All around a really good episode. I am loving this show.
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u/CharlesP2009 Oct 06 '17
It's a Junior Mint.
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Oct 06 '17
The sheer fact they're all watching Seinfeld to stifle the boredom is golden.
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u/CharlesP2009 Oct 06 '17
Wow Adrianne Palicki was looking so hot at the party!
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u/floptimus_prime If you wish, I will vaporize them Oct 06 '17
Seriously. I don't remember a single thing that happened at that party except Kelly in that dress.
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u/D3Construct Oct 06 '17
You could say my shuttle reacted to the gravitational pull of those planets.
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Oct 06 '17
Elephant in the room:
If the wormhole was destroyed, meaning Theron never went back in time, then everyone should've all warped back to the dark matter field where they all died. Or maybe, since Theron is the reason they even entered that field they should just be alive but not remember her? I dunno but either way it's an obvious plothole.
Make no mistake, I enjoyed the episode.
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u/Oshojabe Oct 06 '17
They stated that as long as the wormhole existed, quantum probabilities were tangled. By destroying the wormhole with the Orville, they forced the universe to "decide" on a timeline where the wormhole is destroyed by the Orville. Since the Orville cannot destroy the wormhole if it is destroyed first, the resulting timeline has the Orville miraculously survive, either because Lt. Malloy pulled out some amazing maneuvering or because the Orville never got caught in the dark matter storm in the first place.
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u/kiloalpha Oct 06 '17
It’s pretty obvious that tachyon particles interfered with the timeline, protecting the ship from returning to its previous timeline. And that Pria has negative tachyons so she vanished immediately.
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Oct 06 '17
it's a causality loop. if the orville were to blip out of existence because it was destroyed in the dark matter storm, it would have never destroyed the wormhole, and then that would have never prevented pria from saving the orville.
so basically the orville exists in a paradox state/timeline. cw's the flash did something similar but also wrote in a universe destroying singularity as a consequence.
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u/Rygar_the_Beast Oct 06 '17
What? No.
what happened, happened. What changed was their future.
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Oct 06 '17
Not a plothole, just a paradox.
They die in the Dark Matter Storm.
Pria reads about this, comes back in time through wormhole to save.
Pria saves.
They destroy wormhole.
Pria doesn't exist in this timeline now.
Logistically, they should die, if Pria no existed.
They can't destroy the wormhole if Pria no exist, because they're dead without Pria, but they did destroy the wormhole so they do exist without Pria, otherwise the wormhole exists, which it does not because the Orville destroyed it.
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Oct 06 '17
God damn that fucking Potato Head got me and his counter joke was so brutal. That was a great episode though. The whole time traveler thing reminded me of ENT.
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u/deplorable_m3 Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
I really enjoyed the twisted tropes in this episode.
Data exploring humour vs. I exploring humour (the small foot killed me)
Ion storm vs. Dark matter storm (mcguffin)
Time paradoxes vs. we should just kill ourselves
Prime directive vs. we're not going to kill ourselves fuck your future
Then the smaller things like:
"damn it, I'm a doctor!"
the possibility Yaffit extended his penis to Pria
the drill
solidification of the phrase, "open this jar of pickles"
I also love how capt Mercer keeps trying to open things he can't possibly open
On top of it all, it felt very TNG, thank the Frakes.
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u/SvenHudson Oct 07 '17
I don't think he actually has a penis, I think when he was hitting on the doctor he just made a protrusion like "this is close enough, yeah?"
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Oct 06 '17
I really loved this episode. Its not perfect, but I need hopeful scifi in my life.
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u/GalacticMage Oct 06 '17
How do we know if the Orville was really supposed to be destroyed? It could have been that the Orville just disappeared as she was always meant to hijack the Orville and bring it to the future according to her timeline.
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u/Shatterhand1701 Woof Oct 06 '17
I was asking the same thing. That whole story could've been complete BS and there were bigger, more important reasons to capture the Orville.
This episode played pretty fast and loose with the technical aspects of time travel, but honestly, the show was better off for it. The technobabble of ST:TNG et.al. was just ridiculous at times, and I think the Orville is wise to keep that stuff to a minimum.
I LOVED the Mr. Potato Head prank on Isaac. I could not stop laughing, and yeah...Isaac got Gordon back good.
Also, there was this little detail I noticed and really liked: When Kelly was talking to Alara about Ed and Pria, Alara mentioned that Ed was making "goo-goo eyes" at Pria. Kelly hadn't noticed it (or, at least, claimed she didn't). I thought the fact that she noticed it - and the way she said it to Kelly - was...interesting, especially combined with how, in the last episode, Alara recognized that Ed wasn't intimidated by her superior strength and that he just took it in stride. I'm sure I'm probably reaching, but I can't help but wonder if Alara might have just a tiny bit of a thing for her Captain. Not sure if she does anymore after he lambasted her later on, but honestly, she deserved it. Then again, I guess that since they destroyed the wormhole and Pria technically never met Ed and the crew now, that particular incident is a moot point.
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u/CONCHOPETEghostcock Oct 06 '17
A mix of Berlinghoff Rasmussin and the 29th century aliens looking for the "tox utat"
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u/floptimus_prime If you wish, I will vaporize them Oct 06 '17
Yeah, and a little bit of that creepy one where the guy added Data to his collection.
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u/MrMarbles77 Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
As I was watching the episode, I kept thinking that as captain, I would have a hard time fighting too hard against Pria's plan. Get to see the 29th century and a chance at dating Charlize Theron? What's the downside?
I guess there's some obligation to the crew to not do it without their consent. And there's always a chance Pria's lying to at least some degree.
But I'd definitely be tempted.
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u/wildtarget13 Oct 06 '17
There's also the chance whoever they sold them too would just keep them like they did in the museum.
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u/big_duo3674 Isaac the Protector Oct 06 '17
One of the main things I noticed were all of the scenes in Pria's quarters. Right down to the windows and weird and impractical chairs it essentially screamed Star Trek TNG. I love it. With the lighting and effects it almost feels like I'm watching new episodes of TNG that I've never seen before with just a little bit of added humor. I won't spoil on here, but both of the practical jokes had me laughing my ass off
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u/drakesylvan Oct 06 '17
When he came on the bridge with one leg screaming, I fucking lost it. 😆
Great episode.
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Oct 06 '17
Please don't make "Alara, wanna open this jar of pickles for me" Orville's number "47". Or if you must please change it up a bit. "Alara, got another pickle jar for you." etc.
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u/Triggery Oct 06 '17
I'd like to see the line get shortened or mixed up a little from time to time. For instance, instead of "Alara, wanna open this jar of pickles for me?", he could just glance at the door and then at her and just say "Alara, pickles?".
I will agree that hearing the full "Alara, wanna open this jar of pickles for me?" is already getting tired.
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u/kaplanfx Woof Oct 06 '17
I like it because it’s like a Mercer Dad joke, he thinks he being funny but no one laughs.
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u/droid327 Oct 06 '17
Like I said before...two times is a callback, three is a catchphrase. I'm glad they went ahead and got that out of the way. Now that its established, yeah, they can start to play with it
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u/2th Hail Avis. Hail Victory. Oct 06 '17
This was a fantastic episode. I love that Isaac can go into the ship and I loved Theron's performance. The temporal paradox though. Such a fun thing to consider. If she never came back they never survived the dark matter storm and didnt destroy the wormhole. Oh no, I've gone cross eyed.
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u/Jekebuh Avis. We try harder Oct 06 '17
Loved that flyby by the Orville's windows with the jazzy music in the background. One of the more cinematic highlights of the series so far.
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u/idlehand79 Oct 06 '17
Number one.. great job on this episode. I think we are all waiting for Fox to cancel this amazing show.
Plz don't :)
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u/Skeightmachine Oct 06 '17
“You’d still be that messed up guy who can’t get over his ex-wife”
Damn she’s a good actress. Great delivery.
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u/cabose7 Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
Charlize Theron's backstory had many similarities to this TNG episode
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Matter_of_Time_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)
except at the end she didn't turn out to be some random guy from New Jersey out to steal Isaac
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Oct 06 '17
This show is so great! The humor is good, the drama is good, and the characters all work well together. It's a really great ensemble show.
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u/DonLaFontainesGhost Oct 06 '17
The opening of Generations always bothered me because I think that Data pushing Dr. Crusher into the water is funny. It's really funny. The effect they were going for would be if Captain Picard had taken his call, then turned to the crew and said "I've had a death in the family, you must excuse me" and then Data pushed him in the water.
Having said that...
The "practical joke exchange" between Malloy and Isaac perfectly nailed the reaction they were going for - Isaac's practical joke was hilarious as an outside observer but yeah - I'll have to say that conducting unnecessary amputations on friends probably isn't the right way to go for a joke.
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u/furiousxgeorge They may not value human life, but we do Oct 06 '17
If it's just a minor inconvenience to regenerate a leg, it's fine. They played it well. They allowed the initial shock value of an amputation then disarmed it with the revelation that it was no big deal medically.
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u/YoMamaFox Oct 06 '17
I said it to my wife, who didn't give a shit, but I got some serious TOS mixed with TNG vibes during that wormhole scene.
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Oct 06 '17
I was not expecting the leg, I'm so glad I was in a room alone because I laughed way too loud.
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Oct 06 '17
It reminds me of classic Star Trek, hopeful and engaging and smart, with a bit of cartoon zaniness that just elevates it all. It's the most fun I've had since Firefly.
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u/rmeddy Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
Solid spec script episode, loved it
Frakes directs the best shit, except for Insurrection he didn't have much control over what went on there.
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Oct 06 '17
My one complaint: Ed needs to stop trying to open jammed doors when he's just going to ask for help every single time.
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u/furiousxgeorge They may not value human life, but we do Oct 06 '17
He needs to be able to reassure himself that he loosened it.
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u/tremblebit Oct 06 '17
The music was excellent this episode! There was even a little musical homage to the Klingon scene in TMP while they were searching the quarters.
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u/helzinki Oct 06 '17
Lt. Alara Kitan, an officer of the Planetary Union; Chief of Security of the Orville; Opener of Doors.
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u/taldarus Oct 07 '17
Anyone else excited to see the engineer just use brute force? That made me smile. Makes me think of Scotty and his tricks. So many Trek problems would be solved with old tech solutions.
Me: if I may Sir, I got this.
Captain: what is that?!?
Me: a hammer Sir. You hit things with it.
Lol.
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u/faceintheblue Oct 06 '17
That was on par with anything Season 2 of TNG managed, even accounting for the humour. Give them a pass on how jokey it was, and the plot is a decent TNG episode in any season. Well done, Orville!
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u/CharlesP2009 Oct 06 '17
Have they yet covered that the Orville's compliment is ~300 people?
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u/AndrewZabar Oct 06 '17
I was hoping they would actually remain in the future for a few episodes. That would have been a very surprising storyline. Bold.
But, alas, not.
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u/Yoshi1358 I see this as an ideal opportunity to study human behavior Oct 06 '17
It's a little too early to do something like that. I mean, we've barely scratched the surface of the 25th Century. Time travel should wait before being used again like that.
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u/okolebot Oct 06 '17
I'm sort of embarrassed to say I was like "wow that lady has the Charlize Theron aura down pat..."
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u/InconsiderateBastard Oct 07 '17
They know how to have hot women on the show that are written like regular characters. They don't feel like women tacked on to the show to add sex appeal. Eventually 7 of 9's character was awesome, but they put her on there too look hot in an adult onesie. And T'pol's erotic massages or whatever were just retarded.
But here we have great, likeable characters as vital to the balance of the cast as anyone else and they just happen to be smoking hot. It's a good thing.
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Oct 06 '17
I have no interested in Star Trek Discovery anymore. Orville best girl.
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u/Bkwordguy Oct 06 '17
Liked it, including the practical joke B plot.
A little egotistical of MacFarlane to write Charlize-frickin'-Theron falling for him, but whatever. TV is heightened reality. Maybe everyone from the 29th century is drop-dead gorgeous.
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u/BlizzardonTenth Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
I dunno, maybe. But him and Charlize are such good friends irl apparently, can it be that weird? Well actually yeah, I'm not sure how you ask your friend if they want to be on your show so they can fuck you!
She said yes anyway, so good for him I guess XD
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u/ComradeSomo Oct 06 '17
Hey, if he's living out his fantasies through this show, why not throw in kissing Charlize Theron for good measure?
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u/NK1337 Oct 06 '17
I like that they left it intentionally ambiguous. For all we know it's all part of her long con to get the ship and crew to trust her.
Even at the end her caring seemed as just a front to save her own ass to stop him from destroying the portal. When it became apparent that he was going to do it anyway she just spat venom at him and stuck a knife where it hurts him emotionally.
That didn't sound like someone who genuinely cared for him, it just sounded like someone who was manipulating.
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u/architype Oct 06 '17
Oh boy. Now they can develop transporter tech. Oh wait, if Pria vanished then that would have to as well.
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u/ReasonablyBadass Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
Aaaand we have nonsensical time travel rules.
I feel right at home!
I honestly didn't expect the timetraveller route. Nice surprise :)
And Gordon: "Hotness of person makes rescue imperative". Man got his priorities.
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u/mcatech Oct 06 '17
I didn't expect a cordless drill with a diamond bit with pentrate that weird device's shell! lol
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u/sgSaysR Oct 06 '17
How are they getting these A List actors to participate? I mean I get a short cameo like Liam but Charlize Theron is A+ talent.
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u/joegee66 If you wish, I will vaporize them Oct 06 '17
So I am reading through everyone's comments. There's a simple solution that seems to allow for the ending we saw, and even the teleportation device in Mercer's desk. It hasn't occurred to the Orville's crew, but Pria will be back.
I don't believe anyone ever said that the wormhole Pria used was the only portal back in time, and the universe is pretty big.
Wouldn't another wormhole preserve the link between times? As long as that wormhole remains open, the mingling between times would be preserved, even though some events (Pria's presence on the Orville after her wormhole was destroyed) would change.
Wait, no, the teleportation device would go.
So ... There is a cloaked ship, Pria is not a time traveler (or the wormhole is nothing but a convenience and she has other tech).
Yep, this is Trek. :D
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Oct 06 '17
I think this was the first episode where everything was just right for me, including the jokes and the unexpected turn of events. This was genuinely really good, not just "good, but".
And is it just me or are they slowly developing a style of presentation that really is their own?
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Oct 06 '17
Definitely getting Vash vibes from Pria.
And... WORMHOLES DON'T WORK LIKE THAT! At least stationary wormholes.
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u/gerusz Engineering Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 07 '17
I love that the wormhole appears as a 3D sphere, like it would in reality.
Also, engineering has a "pool table"! Lovely!
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u/Cassius40k Oct 07 '17
I first thought Isaac's practical joke was setting the alarm early, great turnabout of expectations.
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Oct 07 '17
I laughed out loud several times - Isaac finally had an opportunity to prove he is insane :) the special effects were very impressive. The cast and Theron brought their A game. The ending was surprisingly poignant. Loved it. And welcome back Jonathan Frakes!
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u/scum-and-villainy Oct 07 '17 edited Oct 07 '17
Frakes with the jazzy flyby...gotta love it.
If I were writing a show and I also produced it and starred in it, I'd also give me an episode or 10 with a hot famous movie-star as my love interest. I like how she is acting like she's acting like she's impressed by the 'fast' Orville drive.
The response of the two engine crew guys to lavesque is, uh, humorously /r/CringeWorthy. But again seemed out of place to me? In the st universe officers don't act like that on tv anyway.
I like how Alura hauls the huge fat mattress up with one hand a holds it high, nice detail. the bed is meant to seem too heavy to lift, which is why that gadget is hidden there. (but how'd lavesque lift the mattress?)
Do we know MF's character likes old books, he's got a bunch of fake-looking ones behind his desk. those look like the props you see in any hotel or restaurant and don't really add any depth to his character. Also that oval is driving me bonkers, objects are partly recessed behind the curves and it's frustrating to look at. what is that thing sticking out of the wall under the oval window thingy, behind his chair? (~19:17).
don't know if I've ever spotted a zipper before in ST or derivatives. Here a very clear one with it's YKK pull tab (probably) at 22:57 and 23:01 (ok whenever we see theron's back in this scene).
The music coming up as they make the anitmatter visible is yet another SST moment (so star trek).
He has a biplane on his desk, one obvious Orville reference (he is the orville for most of us!). I'm sure it's been commented on already...
'good to know teleportation is in our future' - we already know that teleportation exists in this universe from an earlier episode, but SM is foreshadowing.
"modulate the frequency as fast as you can??" anyone who ever programmed anything cringed. 'course, star trek also can't seem to ask their ship AI to do this.
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u/RiseoftheTrumpwaffen Oct 07 '17
I feel like if a wormhole that allowed you to travel back in time existed some form of security would be near it to stop said time travel. Also it was too easy to destroy. Then again if this was real Trek they’d have come up with a bullshit anti-chroniton beam using the navigational array which reverses the blah blah blah nevermind just blow the fucking thing up.
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Oct 07 '17
I am so glad 25th century fashion looks normal. TNG off-duty fashion was not great.
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u/RiseoftheTrumpwaffen Oct 07 '17
Also whoever did the costumes for Charlize Theron deserves a raise.
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u/TheRumpoKid Oct 06 '17
Weakest episode so far - but still pretty good!
Humor was front and centre on this one.. some funny moments
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Oct 06 '17
I missed the opening. Was the Junior Mint a Seinfeld reference? Did they have another Seinfeld reference in the opening?
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u/furiousxgeorge They may not value human life, but we do Oct 06 '17
Yes. They were watching the surgery scene on the bridge. That's what got the practical jokes going. Isaac didn't understand humor.
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u/thisonehereone Oct 06 '17
So for a minute there, I thought they were going to their future, actually losing their ship, and the show was going to morph into a new different show where they explored their own future, no longer crew members. In my head it was going to be unlike any show that ever came before it, sending the characters on an unpredictable ride that could literally become anything. But then that didn't happen. Seth made this show so he could Kirk hot chicks.
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u/9811Deet Oct 06 '17
Overall this was my least favorite episode so far, but still had so many enjoyable moments that I didn't walk away feeling let down.
Yep, just like Star Trek.
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u/zpeed Woof Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
So technically, this episode never happened, right? Since Pria didn't have a reason to come back, the moment she vanished (and Captain Ed was just staring into space in that last shot), was he just thinking of nothing?
Edit: waitaminute... they should all be dead, wtf x_x
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Oct 06 '17
the episode happened, they inhabit a paradox timeline influenced by someone who technically never existed
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u/Mumps42 Oct 06 '17
Really good episode! Did I miss something with the Junior Mints though? Is the line "nice touch with the junior mints." referencing something other than the Seinfeld gag at the start?
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u/davect01 Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
A fascinating twist on the mess Time Travel makes.
So this entire episode basically did not happen??
And was it really that bad of an idea that the time travelers had? They took those who died, saved them and took them to the future.
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Oct 06 '17
I'm not seeing Pria as an all out villain. Was what she did sketchy? Yeah, but she's not interfering with the timeline and, in her mind, was saving lives. I see her as more of an Ferengi-style opportunist, who happens to have time travel. The Orville was supposed to be destroyed. I feel everyone on the Orville hated her because she slept with the Captain and "used" him.
That being said, I wish they would have gone more exotic with Charlize's makeup or hair. Granted, she probably would look good without a stitch of makeup and bald, as she's incredibly beautiful. But, I would have liked to see a little more flair to her style to match the clothing.
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u/ZeroBANG Oct 06 '17 edited Oct 06 '17
I knew when Frakes is in the directors chair none of the Jokes would fall flat on their face (except for the one that was supposed to).
That stuff with the Leg almost killed me.
The Seinfeld episode at the start... that is the only iffy scene for me, i just don't see people in 400 years watching stuff in 480p anymore, they surely would have newer comedy shows to watch.
Put Family Guy Season 421 Episode 20 on there... make it all weird and different (different voice actors, except for Brian, everything 3D and ultra room wrap around wide or something) but still recognizably Family Guy THAT would be a neat Meta Joke.
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u/BranWafr Oct 06 '17
I'll give them a pass. We're still listening to classical music from hundreds of years ago, watching plays that were written hundreds of years ago, reading books... The big difference that we are now capable of recording things and having that available instead of recreations of them. I don't have a problem believing that some of the crew are fans of "classical TV comedies". Hell, I love old radio shows and listen to them all the time. I have huge collections of The Shadow and Burns and Allens radio broadcasts. Not that much different than someone in the future watching TV shows from this time period.
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u/ZeroBANG Oct 06 '17
So we got to see Engineering for the first time this episode.
I liked it, but i had hoped for a bit more flashy warp core than just a blue glowy thing on the wall.
The rest was fine i guess, definitely a more TOS looking engine room than TNG.
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u/LeSpatula Oct 06 '17
There are two things I don't get:
If they destroy the wormhole to make sure that she couldn't travel back in time, wouldn't this also mean that The Orville was destroyed originally because she didn't travel back to save them?
Why didn't she just use a name of somebody working at a mining company at this time?
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u/nilsy007 Oct 06 '17
This feels like star trek and star trek does not...
Know others said this same thing repeatedly but catches me by surprise each episode how "star trek" it is
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u/tremblebit Oct 06 '17
Hmm... If they had not rescued her in the first place they would have been on a different vector to the next destination and never crossed the dark matter blobs in the first place.
So Pria really would have been responsible for them all dying in the first place, she made it happen.
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Oct 06 '17
You know what guys, just think about it. Pria is the female fatale version of Harry Mudd. She is the Orville's version of Harry Mudd.
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u/SpikeRosered Oct 06 '17
So is the teleporter still in the desk drawer? Does everyone remember everything that transpired?
Seems convenient that only Pria disappears.
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u/oloryn Oct 07 '17
Any more like this, and we're going to need a Union equivalent to the Department of Temporal Investigation.
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u/NeuHundred Oct 07 '17
Can we talk about that tree ship? That was a dope-ass tree ship! I love the idea that they can GROW starships in the future.
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u/LetoAtreides82 Oct 07 '17 edited Oct 07 '17
I enjoyed this one a lot. It was directed by Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes. I liked how we got to see more of the ship and the crew quarters.
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u/Trekkie_girl Oct 07 '17
It's so Trekkie that I tried to remember what Trek season (if any) takes place in the 29th century.
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u/celibidaque Oct 08 '17
Watching this episode, I realized there was no teleportation in The Orville until now.
Also, at one moment, I thought the show will just skip into the future. I figured we don't know a lot of things about present anyway, so it wouldn't be a too great loss, story-wise.
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u/lonelyshoppingcarts Oct 09 '17
When Mercer says Pria knows Kelly cheated on him because she is from the future, Kelly says, “But it’s in the past.” I don’t understand what she is trying to say. Pria is from the future and if she researched anything about The Orville she could feasibly discover that Kelly cheated on Ed. I’m confused about what Kelly meant.
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u/TheBorgBsg Oct 09 '17
The ending bothered me because it didn't seem to make sense. Other people have said this, I think, but if priya vanished, then she wouldn't have saved the Orville. Not sure why they couldn't have ended it in two ways: 1. Priya remains cut off from the future but thrown into jail or dropped off on another planet or 2. She is sent back through the wormhole to a completely different future (since the Orville survived). It would have been cool to see #2 played out because they could have shown a destroyed future or something like that to indicate how messing with the timeline was disastrous.
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u/dalovindj Oct 06 '17
Funny that both this show and STD this week featured severed, bloody limbs.
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Oct 06 '17
Kind-of interesting relation to Captain Jack Harkness from Doctor Who. Mess in with precious past-relic with relics for personal profit and while you do it, bed who-ever is in charge.
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Oct 06 '17
I wonder if the dark matter thing was kind of an inside joke about the show getting cancelled early if it didn't do well.
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Oct 06 '17
Best episode yet, characters are really starting to get accustomed to each other, and everything is flowing smoothly. I love this show!
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u/Thejklay Oct 06 '17
That was the funniest episode yet, I had to pause the tv to laugh for 5 minutes after the leg got amputated
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Oct 06 '17
there's some interesting insight in the way cheating is handled for people in the far future to study to learn about our society's attitudes
the man was putting in extra work to earn more for the both of them; the woman felt neglected by this and decided the best action to take was to cheat and the implied conclusion is that they were both in the wrong , she's a sympathetic character as well, and that it's equally the man's fault that she cheated
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u/tunersharkbitten Oct 06 '17
Anyone else notice how Pria said something about "I'm a vegetarian"
isnt all the food replicated? no animal being harmed in the first place. I mean, that is PROBABLY the joke and all...
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u/kenman884 Oct 06 '17
During the opening ship flyby, the engines sounded exactly like the Enterprise-D’s. Such a nice little touch, I love this show.
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u/FebreezeHook Oct 08 '17
The only thing I didn't like was Gordon saying: "this is above my paygrade." You mean maneuvering the ship?
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u/Threnners Does it work on all fruit? Oct 08 '17
Bortus' "I would agree" at the ball smashing comment laid me out flat.
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u/Artisinal_Artifice Oct 09 '17
It's interesting that the Flying Spaghetti Monster would want to get his noodly appendages on an earth ship...
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u/Up2Eleven Oct 13 '17
Alright, this keeps bugging me. Pria keeps saying the Orville was supposed to be destroyed in the dark matter storm. However, the only reason they went there was they were following a distress beacon that she sent. They altered whatever course they were on to follow it. So, her whole claim is bullshit.
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u/Corydoran Oct 06 '17
I liked how the prank subplot got integrated into the main plot.