Skip to main content

The Orville: New Horizons

The Orville has long been an entertaining science fiction show that got even better with its third (and possibly final) season. With shooting on the third season getting held up by the pandemic, Seth MacFarlane--who created the series, as well as stars as its Captain, Ed Mercer--seemingly took the added time to rework the scripts. And that was a very good thing. When The Orville first debuted, it was seen as a comedy that offered a funny, satirical view of Star Trek, the classic series from which The Orville was inspired by. The humor was very broad and bombastic, sometimes going a little over the top.

But even in the first two seasons, the slapstick humor began to slowly be replaced by earnest storytelling as MacFarlane and his writers fleshed out their characters and the universe they lived in. And by doing this, The Orville only got better. While there’s still humor in the third season, and it’s much welcome (because the humor here is still genuinely funny, emerging from the situations, instead of being forced), this new, dramatic version of The Orville: New Horizons is now a far more confident series that tells its enthralling stories in a stately, detailed-filled manner that’s ultimately very satisfying.

The average run-time of the third season episodes is well over an hour each--with one episode, Midnight Blue, clocking in at just under ninety minutes! That’s an Orville movie, kids! The episodes are self contained, with the main story wrapped up by the end, yet they still all fit together in a mosaic to inform us about the ongoing war between the Planetary Union and the cybernetic Kaylon--which leads up to Domino, an episode with a marvelous ‘eye candy’ space battle showdown that is so sweeping and epic that it easily put the recent bunch of lethargic Star Wars TV series on Disney+ to shame (although I’m still holding out hope that the upcoming Andor might be good).

There are still some cringe moments here, like having a computer simulation of Dolly Parton (played by the real Dolly Parton) talk some sense into an alien aboard the Orville, with Dolly even breaking into a song to prove her point. But, on the whole, the third season of the Orville is extremely well-done, with its stand-alone adventures (such as Gordon getting trapped in the past, or strange, shadowy creatures taking over the ship) being just as gripping as the overall Kaylon war saga. And, the season finale, Future Unknown, wonderfully wraps things up in such a way that it can also serve as a series finale. Even if this is the end, I’m grateful to the cast and crew of The Orville for the fantastic ride. --SF

All three seasons of the Orville can be seen on Disney+. The first two seasons are available on physical media (and hopefully the third season will be on physical media very soon, too).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rebel Moon Part One -- a review

Director Zack Snyder has made enough of my favorite films ( Man of Steel , Zack Snyder’s Justice League , the Dawn of the Dead remake) that I genuinely look forward to his latest project. Of course, he’s also made some real stinkers ( Sucker Punch , Batman Vs Superman ), but everybody has a bad day at the office, right? And I was brightened up considerably when I saw that his latest film, the star-spanning space saga Rebel Moon: Part One: A Child of Fire , would be premiering on my birthday on Netflix. And then I saw the frigging movie. Seriously, WTF did I do to deserve this on my birthday? Rebel Moon first started out life as a pitch for an R-rated Star Wars film that Lucasfilm, the producers of SW, had turned down. Undaunted, Snyder then brought the project to Netflix, and traces of its Star Wars inspiration still remain: the space Nazis, a scene in a cantina, the laser swords that one of the characters uses. But even if a film is
Post a Comment
Read more

3 Body Problem

3 Body Problem , Netflix’s latest TV series, is loosely based on the first novel in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy, by Chinese author Liu Cixin (who also wrote the book The Wandering Earth ). Simply put, it’s an alien invasion story, but one that’s a lot more sophisticated than your average ‘pew-pew-pew’ cliché-fest. For one thing, this series begins in the 1960s, in the middle of the Cultural Revolution, which was the nationwide purge instigated within China by then-Chairman Mao to keep himself in power. A young woman named Ye Wenjie arises from the chaos to become a central figure in the overall story. The 3 Body Problem of this series’ name refers to a far-flung solar system that has three suns. Any planet within this tri-sun system would have a hard time of it, taking turns orbiting one belligerent sun after another, and it just so happens that the aliens who set their eyes on invading Earth--known as the San-Ti--come from this embattled world.
Post a Comment
Read more

Dungeons & Dragons 2023 -- a review

After a disastrous first attempt at making a movie in 2000, with Dungeons & Dragons , they’ve tried it again in 2023 with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves . And this time, they’ve scored a bullseye in creating a very successful quest. Fresh from the behind the scenes shenanigans of the vastly disappointing Don’t Worry Darling , Chris Pine stars (and also has a producer credit) here as charming thief Edgin Darvis, who breaks out of jail with his partner in crime Holga Kilgore, played by the always great Michelle Rodriguez. Edgin is eager to reconnect with Kira (Chloe Coleman), his young daughter, whom he left behind when he and Holga got caught while trying to pull a heist. They were out to score a magical amulet that would have brought Edgin’s deceased wife back from the dead. But, Edgin discovers that his old partner, Forge Fitzwilliam (Hugh Grant)--who promised Edgin that he would take care of Kira--has become the ruler of the city of Neve
Post a Comment
Read more