1x12 Mad Idolatry

[7.5/10] This is the most mature and down-to-earth The Orville has ever been. Maybe that’s not a high bar. It’s a fairly cartoony show But it’s nice to see nonetheless. For once in the show’s run, the romantic interactions between Mercer and Grayson feel more real and adult, and the show takes its crazy sci-fi concept of the week seriously as well.

That sci-fi concept is the rapidly evolving society. It’s been done on everything from The Twilight Zone and Star Trek: Voyager to comedy spoofs like The Simpsons and Futurama. The only major conceptual wrinkle to it here is that it comes in the form of a planet with a “phasic orbit”, meaning it pops up for a limited time every eleven days, having advanced roughly seven-hundred years with each interval.

That gives the show the chance to touch on this civilization at four distinct time periods: the Bronze Age, the late medieval period, modern times, and a futuristic space-faring civilization. It gives writer Seth MacFarlane the chance to ride one of his favorite hobby-horses -- the role religion plays in people’s lives. We see how a chance encounter between Grayson and a local (in violation of the Union’s equivalent of the Prime Directive) leads to an entire religion built around here, replete with statues, harsh punishments, murders in the name of preserving the order, and eventually even televangelists.

And yet, at the end of the day, MacFarlane offers a pretty moderate take, at least for him. He doesn’t posit religion as a pure evil that needs to be actively stamped out to allow for the advancement of society. Instead, he posits it as part of the natural growing pains of any society, one that civilizations move past on their own as they move forward, without the need for intervention. If anything, MacFarlane highlights the need of optimistic visions of the future and the possibilities therein, as represented by Isaac and by extension the show itself, to inspire people in different but no less potent ways. It’s a little condescending still, but more charitable and hopeful than I might have expected based on MacFarlane’s past work.

But I also like it as a character story for Grayson. More than passing judgment on the society writ large, she hates the notion of thieves being brutalized in her name. She hates being deified and wants to use her power and station in this community’s popular consciousness to rectify the harm she’s caused. Her efforts to show the Pope equivalent that she is mortal and just used tools is laudable, with a strong people power message that goes disseminated because of a system of control that can’t function without it. Whatever you think of MacFarlane’s take on religion, it’s compelling to see Grayson feel personally responsible for what happened and want to rectify her interference, even as, eventually, the locals tell her it was inevitable.

The pacing of the whole thing is a little janky, and the end result feels a little rushed, but I like the solution of Isaac going down to the planet since he can live seven-hundred years (shades of The Doctor from Voyager) and the hopefulness of where it lands.

I also enjoyed a more subdued and naturalistic take on the romantic storyline on the show. For one thing, Mercer hitting up his friends at the end of a long day, finding no social comfort (save for an amusingly out there Moclan game), and eventually calling his ex has a realness to it that the prior attempts at slap-slap-kiss banter have been missing.

There’s a more relaxed and natural vibe to their interactions here and the efforts to rekindle their romance. The sweetness and familiarity between them is less forced and at times, it’s even believable. Taking a lighter approach to this really works wonders. MacFarlane’s romcom shtick is still pretty tired (especially the PB&J bit), but the vibe works much better and generates more goodwill as the two of them fall back in together.

But the whole time I was thinking to myself, “Isn’t it a problem to have the captain of the ship dating someone he has command over?” (Parks and Rec fans will find it amusing that it’s a confession from a character played by Rob Lowe who prompts this issue -- and that’s before a cameo from Perd in this one.) Eventually, I was impressed that the show realized that was a concern the whole time.

The cinch of the episode is that Mercer takes steps -- covering for Grayson’s mistake, allowing her to go down to the planet to fix it against the Admiral’s orders, and other moves that violate the “cultural contamination” principle -- that suggest a certain amount of mixed motives in terms of whether he’s doing this for his First Officer or for his girlfriend. It’s surprisingly subtle, with the show not really drawing attention to it until the end.

I like that it’s Grayson who does it, realizing that her professional responsibilities preclude her feelings in this situation, however difficult that might be, with Mercer regretting the reality of the situation but acknowledging that it’s the right thing. It is an almost shockingly adult response from both of them. And hell, if they want to continue to carry this torch, having two professionals who work relationship precludes a romantic relationship is way more compelling than a hackneyed “I cheated on you because you work too much” bit of nonsense.

Overall, this episode still has its problems. MacFarlane’s need to inject sophomoric jokes where they’re not needed persists, notably. But despite that, “Mad Idolatry” feels like a more grown-up, more reserved version of the show we’ve seen over the past twelve episodes. On the whole, season 1 of the show didn’t do much to impress me, vacillating between tired romcom shtick and replacement-level Star Trek. But if the more sophisticated take on display here is a tack The Orville can follow as it continues, there’s reason to hope the show might come into its own in season 2.