2x06 A Happy Refrain

[7.3/10] I have real mixed feelings about this episode. On the one hand, it picks up on one of my favorite relationships of the series -- the unique dynamic between Dr. Finn and Isaac -- and asks some weighty questions about what it means to love someone. On the other hand, writer/director/star Seth MacFarlane has a 1980s sitcom-level understanding of human relationships, which makes a lot of these beats feel cheesy or even retrograde. On a third hand (presumably from some multi-armed alien), that ending is really wholesome and sincere, and recovers a lot of goodwill the episode loses from giving into certain stereotypes.

That said, I like the premise of this one. The show has long hinted at there being something beyond simple professional courtesy between Isaac and Dr. Finn, so it’s nice to see the show not only pull the trigger on exploring what that means, but devoting a whole episode to it (give or take an odd B-plot about Bortus growing a mustache that feels out of place). What’s more, The Orville often feels like MacFarlane doing Star Trek: The Next Generation cosplay, and this one plays like an extension of the episode where Data tries his hand at dating.

That makes it feel like a bit of retread, but there’s some wrinkles that distinguish “A Happy Refrain.” Not all of them are good, but it’s enough to make this feel like more than a cross-series repeat, and there’s enough to explore in this area to leave room for another show to tackle the ideas at play.

(See also: As a Futurama fan, it was hard not to think about “DON’T DATE ROBOTS!” during this episode.)

At base, the question comes down to this -- what is love? (Hello Haddaway fans!) Is it just a set of inputs and outputs? Is it something a being has to feel? Is it possible in a machine that does not seem to experience emotions?

Those are heady, philosophical questions that are, frankly, beyond The Orville’s ken to be able to resolve. But there’s a thought-provoking exploration of it here, both in terms of Dr. Finn’s responses to her stumbling but often energizing relationship with Isaac, and in Isaac’s efforts to meet Claire’s needs and eventually his own.

There’s some sitcom-stlye comedy there that doesn't always work. Isaac learns that he needs to be more spontaneous...so he shows up in Dr. Finn’s quarters at 3 A.M. with a cake!!! (Pause for canned laughter.) He gets advice from LaMarr on how to get out of relationship, and then in the next scene he’s drinking beer on the couch in his underwear and calling Claire fat. (Ugh.) It’s that sort of broad, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” shtick and perspective that really weighs down this episode.

That’s especially true for the dialogue. Good lord, please somebody stop Seth MacFarlane from writing women talking to one another about relationships ever again. It’s hard to put my finger on what feels so tone deaf about the scenes where Dr. Finn, Grayson, and Talla (who’s been slotted into the show’s web of friendships with essentially not transition) chatting about relationship stuff, but the conversations lack the ring of truth. Likewise, Isaac getting advice from LaMarr and Malloy has cheesy dudebro stuff throughout as well. Frankly, the rest of the crew’s reaction makes this group of (theoretically) distinguished officers feel like a bunch of tittering highschoolers, and as a result, a lot of the material here lacks the emotional maturity required to realize the full potential of the subject matter.

At the same time though, there’s some really strong points to the trajectory between Dr. Finn and Isaac. The show does a good job of interrogating whether Claire’s feelings for Isaac are real or whether she’s just projecting her feelings onto him because he unwittingly fills a particular space in her life that’s normally filled by a romantic partner. For his part, Isaac treats the prospect of dating Dr. Finn like a science experiment, which is on brand for him and makes for an interesting clash of intentions.

What follows is an interesting rhythm for their courtship. Claire initiates in order to see whether there’s something there to support her feelings. Isaac agrees and, in typical “technically correct but clueless” fashion, analyzes everything about her from her personnel logs in order to put together the perfect date. His efforts have the opposite effect, robbing Claire of the joys of a couple getting to know one another and making her realize that she can’t really forge a human connection with a faceless robot.

And yet, Isaac adjusts to meet her needs. Despite the failed attempt at spontaneity, he not only deletes his memories of her personal history so the two can chat, but he adopts a more human guise during the simulator to put Claire at ease and help meet her needs in a partner. (It’s a nice excuse to put Mark Jackson and, eventually, Norm MacDonald on set without their usual costumes and CGI.)

What comes next happens unnaturally fast as the two sleep together, leading to Isaac deciding that his experiment is complete and alienating Claire with his cornball attempt at being a bad boyfriend. It’s here where the episode really suffers. Beyond the implausibility and hackiness of how all of this goes down, the “You got what you wanted so you’re leaving” parallel with Claire is just too much.

The funny thing is that the same tack is the strength of the episode -- comparing the fumbling follies of dating to how an emotionless robot might approximate them. “A Happy Refrain” is constantly asking the question of whether that makes them real enough.

We’ve seen how Isaac fills the role of supportive partner in Claire’s life with her and her kids, but is that enough to justify romantic feelings? We see here how Isaac, acknowledging his failures on the date, tries to meet Claire’s needs in more ways than one, being responsive even if it’s not necessarily out of a sense of what we’d traditionally think of as feelings of love on his part. And when he effectively dumps here, as stupid as the execution is, it’s not out of malice, just out of a sense of having completed his purpose.

So much of these actions match the cadence of plenty of real relationships, but with Isaac, the feeling isn’t there. He makes choices, but they’re detached choices. Whether those acts amount to love or connection even if, by definition, there’s no sentiment behind them, is something philosophical, in the best Star Trek tradition, and in many ways, “A Happy Refrain” works best as one of those traditional sci-fi thought experiments.

Ultimately though, The Orville goes for schmaltz, but manages to earn it. However lacking in feelings Isaac may be, the absence of Dr. Finn in his life has an effect on him -- it causes him to make an error, to realize that (thanks to his adaptive programming) he functions better with Claire in his life than apart from her. (It’s a nice homage to a similar bit from Data on TNG acknowledging that certain subroutines spurred by his colleagues can become vital and even missed.)

So he does what so many romcom characters have done before him -- he makes a big dumb gesture that nonetheless wins the heart of the woman he cares for. The episode sets up the (very literal) Singing in the Rain homage so nicely that when the payoff hits, you can’t help but smile. It’s an unexpected dose of sweetness from the robot and justifies him and Dr. Finn continuing as a couple out of a realization, however unusual the path to arriving at it, that Isaac needs Claire. That’s a wholesome resolution to a messy episode, and Malloy’s “We have to be the weirdest ship in the fleet” quip is the perfect button to put on it.

Taken as a whole, this episode leaves plenty of meat on the bone in terms of exploring the philosophical intricacies of whether love can be the product of an array of the constituent parts we think of in healthy relationships -- attentiveness, concern, effort -- or whether it needs to be something more ineffable and truly felt. But it also threads the needle of that question beautifully in its final frame, which fairly or not, excuses plenty of the stumbles to reach that point. I still wish someone else had penned this script, but there’s more good than bad when Dr. Finn and Isaac finally act on their (or at least her) feelings.