[7.7/10] A lovely little short. I appreciate how rather than plotty and full of dialogue, this one is more moody, lyrical, even spiritual. The story of how Ashoka was first identified as force-sensitive should be something more slow-spun and meaningful, rather than just a rote recognition of her abilities. “Life and Death” fits that bill.
It gives us not only baby Ahsoka (who’s pretty darn cute), but also a glimpse of her family pre-Jedi. Her father is over the moon at the birth of his daughter, more technologically minded and skeptical of ancient beliefs. Her mother is a loving caretaker, more connected to the old ways and a badass who can hold off a saber toothed tiger. She’s raised in a loving, communal village excited for her arrival and ready to muster when she’s in danger. And there is a wizened spiritual leader, Gantika, who looks after their community, connects with the deeper spirits of it, and is the first to recognize Ahsoka’s unique potential.
The upshot of all this is warm and beautiful, but also an important reminder and heretofore unknown element of the character -- something was lost when she had to leave this beautiful family and community behind. When we hear tell of Ahsoka’s past, it’s small bits. But even if she was young, we the viewer understand that had she never been discovered as force-sensitive, she could still have lived a wonderful life with the support of a caring family and wholesome townspeople to look after her.
Or maybe she would have been eaten by a big cat. At ifst, I took “Life and Death” to be mainly a mood piece -- Star Wars by way of Terrence Mallick with its bucolic, peaceful setting and laconic exploration of childhood. But there’s a story here, of a hunting ritual to teach the one-year old Togruta the meaning of life and death early, that goes awry when a predator tries to teach a lesson of its own.
Despite the fact that we know Ahsoka survivesthe encounter, there's real tension when the tiger strikes and Pav-ti has to hold it off. The same goes when the tiger absconds with the child, and the locals have to assemble to seek her out as night falls, in the hopes that they’re not already too late. The fact that it’s not a show of force which retrieves the tyke, but rather Ahsoka herself instinctively using her Jedi mind powers, is in keeping with the spirit of the franchise. What’s more, it’s in keeping with the tone of the short: a whiff of danger matched by something spiritual and a little transcendent from a child who intuitively understands the force that connects all living things in this galaxy.
It’s a lesson she internalizes from her mother, whether she knows it or not. Ahsoka is born. She is told and shown by her mother the importance of understanding the value of and respect for life, while also facing death.. She lives that lesson more closely than any parent might like. And in the end, her life is fated to dramatically change.
I appreciate the approach from Dave Fiolini and company in filling in this piece of the character’s story. There’s little that’s flashy here. (If anything, the tiger looks a little off, designer wise. But what it lacks in spectacle, it makes up for in a reverent, wholesome vibe that moves the soul as much as it moves the plot.
Easily the best Star Wars tv show, even after only 3 episodes. A Star Wars show that actually has nuance??!?
Having continued to watch weekly, here's just a bit of why it's so good: Dialogue that treats its audience as intelligent, writing and themes that actually address what Empire and Rebellion really mean, side characters who immediately make an impression even with limited screen time, incredible set design that feels real rather than CGI, spy thriller intensity bubbling underneath every scene, imbuing TIE fighters and stormtroopers with actual menace, new nuggets of interesting worldbuilding, emotional scenes between interesting characters, and some of the best set-pieces of Star Wars TV (episodes 3 & 6 in particular). It's Star Wars for adults, not in the sense of gore, violence, or sex, but in the sense of nuance, complexity, and weighty themes. It's astounding that Star Wars can be this good, especially since all their recent shows and films have been lackluster copies of past highs.
Art is subjective of course, you can like what you like, but these are just some of the reasons that this show is getting as much praise as it has been. I think Star Wars is a setting, a feeling, and it can sustain different types of genres and themes. It can be light-hearted action-adventure, and that's fine if that's what you want it to be, but this show proves that it can do other things. Star Wars can keep expanding into numerous different genres if it's done with the care and thought that this show has been given.
This was a really interesting albeit slow episode with many intriguing threads. I really liked that Andor went back to Ferrix. I had almost expected that with these three-episode-arcs he wouldn't and we wouldn't see those characters and the established city anymore.
At times what is presented just doesn't feel like star wars very much. It just seems too earthly or too much like other fictional worlds which are a lot more Sci-Fi and a lot less fantastic. It was a step up that they finally included a few more aliens but still too few to make the world seem really alien.
I liked the depiction of everything happening inside the ISB although the leader is a bit too friendly and understanding for my taste (and understanding of how to acquire a high position within the empire).
I have one big question though: Was that female informant or spy supposed to be Leia? She looked a lot like Carrie Fisher back in the day to me but would be way too old since Leia should be around 15 at that time. And while we are at the topic of (possible) cameos: Yularen's character was a bit off when compared to his appearances in Clone Wars and Rebels.
I am however really excited were all this leads especially whats going to happen to Andor himself.
I think it's important to preface this review with the following points. A. I know nothing about Lord of the Rings other what was presented in the movies and that Morgoth is the overarching villain of the entire 3 ages, with Sauron being a Lucifer like fallen figure, from the most beautiful angel into a cunning deceiver. B. I do not care about what lore is being contradicted and have decided to view this as fan fiction, and therefore review based on what I like and don't like.
That aside. I really enjoyed the first two episodes of this new series from Amazon. I was a little apprehensive as the trailers had not wowed me, and Peter Jackson's original trilogy comes with so much love, even 20 years on. It's not perfect, nor does it start as strong as other new recent fantasy arrival, House of the Dragon, but there's a lot of groundwork laid here that can become a great series later on. Most of this felt like Lord of the Rings and not a cheap imitation, which was good. And while both episode is generally enjoyable, there was an easy 10 minutes to cut off both episode - that would have made it tighter.
There's enough mystery, especially in the second episode, mainly around 3 specific characters, so there's a hook there. Despite my 8 rating for both episodes it's not a guaranteed win and a few poor episodes after this could see this falling into Wheel of Time territory, but a good enough start and I'll be here next week.
69/100 (Good, It Gets the Job Done, Slightly Flawed)
This is a promising start. I didn't come into the show with any preconceived notions. To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of the movies, and this show looks to be more my speed, but I know some fans of The Lord of the Rings tend to despise it based on a brief teaser and some purportedly forced diversity insertions.
Even though it was a tall order to follow in the footsteps of Peter Jackson's trilogy, I think they did a fantastic job of laying the groundwork for this expansive universe. The scenery and visual effects work are some of the best I've ever seen, and that's on both the small and the big screen. The scale is huge, and it has all the hallmarks of a major production.
The episode wastes little time in laying out the history that leads up to the present day, which undoubtedly helps us connect with the characters and circumstances they find themselves in. There hasn't been anything truly mind-blowing about it up to this point, but it's done enough for me to be interested in seeing more of it.
The good news is that it doesn't appear to be trying to compete with Game of Thrones.. Rather than aiming to be a poor imitation of Game of Thrones, I think the show is adopting the approach of maintaining the tone of The Lord of the Rings while adding some mature themes.
It was one of my favourite shows growing up, I was about 8 or 9 years old when it was shown in Italy. I remember that I had to watch it before lunch in the summer, after a nice swin in a nearby beach in my town. I wasn't able to watch all the episodes, so I took the chance to watch it now, almost 30 years later.
These are the kind of stories I really like: a group of people far from home, in a new land, that needs to organize and survive. I probably like this setting because The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne caught my imagination when I was little. Also, science fiction is a genre that sits well with the story.
Before watching Earth 2 again (in Italy it is called "Progetto Eden" = Eden Project) after so many years, I though I was going to like it no matter what, because of nostalgia. But I was wrong, I am still impressed by the story, the characters, the aliens design, the relationships between some of the protagonists... I consider it a magnificent series.
The science fiction is well done, it's not too advanced, it's what you expect. Even the virtual reality is more believable if you compare it to Star Trek, and I like that. The transportations feel authentic, the weapons are advanced but heavy, and even the camp where the group sleeps feels realistic.
When I was little I wasn't aware about the status of the show (I didn't even know that series could be canceled!). During this run, I was hoping to have a satisfying ending, with the group walking towards the sunset with a voice over, by Devon, saying "We'll reach New Pacifica some day, I am sure". The final episode show us an uncertain future and it's a shame we'll never walk with these characters again. I read somewhere that the series didn't have many viewers and the Broadcaster wanted to change the protagonist to a male character, hoping to have more views, but I don't think Devon was an issue, the bond between her and her son is a nice way to keep the story going. Maybe this news was false, don't quote me on that.
We were lucky to have a glimpse of the future in the episode "The Boy Who Would Be Terrian King", so I think Devon and Co. will reach their goal. It's the best future possible, I like mother and son stories, and I am happy they'll be together no matter what.
This came out in 1994 like The Shawshank Redemption and when I was little I wasn't able to notice that Clancy Brown played such different characters. Danziger is my favourite of the group. Like I wrote for the Orville, it's a show where I see myself being friend with the group so it was nice to be part of the "Eden Project".
I quote you, @finfan , because I like your opinion, if you'll have the time to write one. But I am happy if you just have the chance to read my thoughts on this.
P.S.: I forgot to quote the amazing theme song, it summarizes greatly the nice and dangerous journey of our group!
(No spoilers)
I should have known MacFarlane would do something like this. No cliffhanger, nay, rather an anti-cliffhanger. Last week was the season finale, this was a tribute to the series thus far. And it was earned.
Instead of going into specifics for the episode, I'll just summarize how I feel about The Orville as a whole. This show started in 2017, almost at the exact same time as Star Trek Discovery. I was eagerly awaiting both for what I thought were similar reasons. To say that these two shows are the exact opposite of one another is an insultingly tremendous disregard to the scope of the reality that surrounds the existence of both series.
Both The Orville and Discovery shamelessly lied to its viewers. Discovery was suppose to bring the ideals of Star Trek back in the first of many new series, and The Orville was suppose to be Family Guy in space. Here we are, five years later, and I don't think anyone correctly predicted what either of those properties would actually end up being.
For all the terrible things that have happened in the world (most notably during these last five years) and for all the personal hardships I've endured during that timeframe, The Orville has defied everything (including Star Trek itself) and chosen to believe better of humanity. Much the same way a chintzy, low-budget sci-fi show did back in the 1960s, when many were convinced the world was going to burn in nuclear holocaust. And even though that little sci-fi is now a cultural giant with the power to be whatever it wants, it wants to be something else for now. Like we needed that campy, optimistic, character-driven show then, we need shows like The Orville now.
We'll always have classic Star Trek, we'll always have three seasons of the best send-up to Star Trek ever created, but we need more. We need a continuous drip of positivity and introspection this concentrated because things really have gotten that bad again and it feels like no one else is willing to try - not even those best positioned to do so.
Disney would be brainless not to renew this show for multiple additional seasons. Even from a purely self-serving position, it would be stupid to not use The Orville to their advantage. Yeah, they already own Star Wars, but the Venn diagram of the Star Wars and the Star Trek fanbases looks kinda like the Mastercard logo. Now Disney owns the only real contender to Star Trek. Just keeping this show going as is would bring in droves of Trek fans old and new.
Rest in peace, Norm Macdonald.
#RenewTheOrville
I like the "time capsule" concept. A group of criminal outcasts sent off Earth in stasis are rediscovered and have a hard time to adapt in the future. Plus, they are genetically altered. Formidable enemies. In theory. I'm kind of disappointed how easily they can take over the ship though. Initially, the Enterprise crew didn't put up a good fight. That makes Khan look less menacing. He's still brutal though.
Most uncomfortable thing to watch is the story element centered around Marla. I mean this show isn't short of men exerting their strength over young female subordinates. Always with a sexual twist. More often than not, it's Kirk who is the prime perpetrator in this regard. But this episode takes it a step too far. Marla is fascinated by strong leaders. Not only leaders - evil, domineering men. And she immediately falls for Khan and he uses her like a tool. Like in an old Bond movie, you could still enjoy the rest of the movie, but the way women are treated is often very painful to watch.
PS: This 60's makeup is awful. They all look like 60 days summer vacation in Death Valley or like stereotype Native-Americans from contemporary western movies. That's especially true for Khan and his gang. After hundreds of years in stasis I expect people to be pale like ghosts.
10 minutes into the episode
"Oh, I guess this is just going to be a standard, easy-to-digest bottle episode that shows Topa becoming more interested in joining the Planetary Union with a B-plot about her awkwardly crushing on Gordon."
45 minutes into the episode
"Fuuuuuck meeeee..."
More blatant retreading of past episodes and, again, despite that, a brilliant continuation of those plot threads. For an episode that was willing to depict child torture, it sure did end on a high note. And it threw quite a few curve balls in the process.
I ignored the throwaway line during the Haveena dinner, and the unusual meetup in the Lounge, because I absolutely did not expect to see a real spark between Bortus and Kelly. I equally did not expect to see Klyden come back and make a complete about-face from his previous position. There are going to be a lot of viewers that won't take Klyden back, but I am genuinely relieved that the family is whole again. So... (pregnant pause) ...what does that mean for Kelly? The dinner they all had on the ship felt straight-forward, but still gave me a twinge of impending trouble.
I don't quite get Gordon's involvement with Topa yet. I mean, I understand the general sentiment, but not how he suddenly took a frontline position about it. Did I tune out at the wrong time, or was the Engineering scene really meant to be all the backstory? Are they going to continue this in another episode? We don't even know the repercussions of his outburst in front of the Admirals.
Finally, DOLLY PARTON! Her appearance embiggened my heart. And her music was perfect. The celebrity cameos never dissapoint, even if it's just for a few moments. Though it is interesting that she referred to herself as a program, she knew she wasn't the real person. That would be a serious problem in a different altruistic universe.
This is it! These last two episodes are not a two-parter, but they are no doubt going to segue from one to the other as the finale of the season. If an underdog deserves to get renewed, it's The Orville. Seth is no stranger to having his shows canceled (sometimes over and over again). So even if it isn't renewed right away, I trust him of all people to find a way to make it come back somehow.
There were some very interesting and quite Star Trek-y points presented to us in this episode. The Kaylon origin story was predictable, but fascinating, nonetheless. The way it lead to some sort of bonding between Isaac and Charly (who is still the most annoying character on the show, for me) felt natural and endearing... Unlike doctor Claire's side of things. I didn't like her imposing her own desires on Isaac, forcing him to do something he had expressed no intention in doing (which was, interestingly, kind of a reversed TNG's Data thing). As such, I appreciated the outcome of that plot line, by having Claire admitting she loves Isaac just the way he is, specially considering Isaac had already expressed himself several times in the past (in his own particularly logical and robotic way) that he does love her.
The Janisi story, on the other hand, was the Achiles' heel of this episode, since that plot line started broken right from the start: how could the Union expect to gain their trust though a lie? Bad writing.
As a short but worthy side note, Gordon's "I'll do it!" has got to be one of the finest low-key, out of nowhere, quick fire, funniest jokes to have ever graced The Orville.
Overall, quite a heartwarming episode, regarding Isaac (fuelled by an exquisitely excellent performance by Mark Jackson), giving us a better understanding of the Kaylon's existence and objectives as a species.
Spawn is over the top. It mistakes nudity and blood and expletives to be mature, and comes off as all the more sophomoric for it. Spawn goes big in all things, good- the animation and some of the voice acting- and bad- in camera angles and in its depthless and monstrous villains. Its two biggest strengths that elevate it are the animation, in particular Spawn and his flowing and gorgeous cape, and the character himself.
Nothing will help you understand the appeal of Spawn better than this show, even if it doesn't make you a diehard fan. At the end of the season, he's called The Sad Man, and this could be an alternate title for the show. Spawn is allowed to be emotional, and yes, that includes anger... but it also involves grief, it allows empathy, it allows pain and love. Spawn is allowed to be pathetic- he'll wail in sorrow and scream in traumatic fear- but his pain isn't something to laugh at. You're meant to emphasize and feel for this broken, lost man, and there's something refreshing in that when dark heroes of his ilk like Batman are usually forced to be quiet, restrained, and stoic in their emotions.
Keith David is the show's MVP. The man brings Spawn to life and makes him feel like a person, not the poster child for 90's anti heroes. Every emotion is raw and lived in, and David pours his heart into the role. I didn't expect to ever be emotionally affected by the Spawn character, but David's performance in the final scene with the child of his wife is soft and tender in a way I never expected for the character, and Keith David is the glue that holds it together. He and the animation make this well worth a watch, 90s edge and all.
Another good episode, but I must admit that I was kinda disappointed by it as a season finale. It ended well, but the episode felt a bit off. It felt as though every single character just had a sudden change of heart, as though we had missed an entire episode of development. Obviously we knew certain characters were headed a certain way, but they just seemed to suddenly jump from say 60% of the way that they progressed through the last 7 episodes, to 100% just in this one. It felt kinda weird how Homelander just suddenly showed up and got Ryan too - it came out of nowhere. It was still a good episode, but I thought it felt a bit rushed.
Also kinda disappointed that we're kinda just back where we started at the beginning of the season, with no real way to take down Homelander. I was expecting Soldier Boy to take Homelander's powers and then we'd get to see a new side to Homelander next season since he'd be weak and dealing with having no powers. Instead, it seems we're going to get a lot of focus on Ryan and Homelander together - which I do like. I had also thought that maybe all of The Boys would end up with powers by the end of the season, but that didn't happen either (not that that's a bad thing).
Anyway, I thought this was a good episode, but an ever so slightly disappointing end to a fantastic season of TV. Can't wait for season 4.
Reviewed this on Letterboxd first
since this is a tv show though I want to try and review TV shows on Trakt and movies on letterboxd, but whatever
I wanted to love this so much, but the way the story and writing goes is just so fucking bland and boring, that not even Ewan McGregor can save the bad script. I don't blame Deborah Chow at all, I don't blame any of the creatives except for the writers (specifically Joby Harold, fuck you) because that's what bogged the show down the most. There was so much potential and so much more interesting shit to go down and explore with Kenobi's character that, I will admit, gets touched on slightly in the show but god
disappointing, is what I'd call this.
Other things I noted while watching this:
- It looks cheap as fuck
- the 'volume' that they used, just like in Mandolorian and more recently The Batman, for some reason looks worse all around. I was convinced they straight up used greenscreen for those shots
- The show apparently went through a big rewrite? which would explain the messy story for sure, especially because the original writers had this big idea to explore Kenobi's sort of journey as a man in exile to a man who becomes the Ben we love and know. Or something like that, idk I only read the wikipedia article
- why does Andor look like a much better show.
- on the topic of Andor, why couldn't they have made this show distanced from the dumb Disney trend of being hopelessly attached the the Skywalker family. It would have been so much better as more of a character study that shows kenobi's growth.
At this point I'm rambling. 4/10 overall. So boring and so disappointing.
Others might say that this is not as intense as previous episode, which might be true in terms of action and moving the plot forward. But I find this episode is still intense in a different way: more emotional investment.
"Family" and its unfortunately related cousin "abuse" seem to be the the theme that knits together different story arcs of the episode: the obvious Butcher flashback, Kimiko and Frenchie, MM with his family, Soldier Boy, and Homelander.
The episode kind of speeds up the pace in showing Soldier Boy's villainy through a recreation/imagination of Black Noir's flashback; although I'm not too comfortable that they present Noir's flashback at face value (instead of being an unreliable narrator), I think it still kinda works.
It is shown that Soldier Boy is an abusive, selfish bully with anger issues you would typically see among band leads or celebrity groups. While some have defended Soldier Boy's action by comparing him to Homelander ("at least Soldier Boy is not psychotic, emotionally unstable narcissist! He is a normal person not grown in lab!"), I think they missed the point of the show: the biggest issue here is exactly what would happen if people with power (influence) have additional power (literal superpower) while being protected by multi-billion dollar company. They possess all the impunity to wreak havoc. Like MM said, "no one should have the right to wield such power."
This theme of abuse is explicated with Butcher's flashback. No one is inherently "good" or "evil" - you are shaped by your upbringing. As the scenes between his memories, his reflection, and his projection in current time are cut seamlessly back and forth, Butcher slowly realizes that he mirrors the man he hated the most. Yet he fully accepts his succumbing to that darkness while bringing Hughie with him through his personal vendetta against the supes - not caring about the risk towards others who he claimed he loved. Even with parents, one may grow to be a contemptuous person if they live in an abusive family, and it's a cycle that is very difficult to break. Butcher's flashback is certainly the spotlight of the episode for me.
Even with Kimiko's story in the background (her saying that V only explicates what kind of person you are), considering that we've been shown how the character's social lives shaped them into what they are now - Kimiko with her abducted kid background, Hughie's insecurity with his zero to hero job, etc - the message stays strong, countering the superhero cliche of inherently morally good and evil person.
I'm hoping this dynamic could be further explored in the next episode (or season) with the Soldier Boy and Homelander encounter when it's revealed that Soldier Boy is Homelander's father, at least he feels so. An abusive father meets a narcissist kid-who'd-wanna-be-a-father. The ending of this episode becomes revealing when tied up to the earlier convesation between Homelander and Maeve: with Homelander echoing Soldier Boy's words that he "used to dream of having kids" with Maeve, it becomes apparent in this episode that the relationship between Homelander and Maeve (and Soldier Boy and Crimson Countess) it is not something exactly out of pure love.
"Having kids" is not a romantic statement: it's a purely masculine, self-centered ego of having someone of your blood - of your similarity - that you can be proud of. Who the partner is doesn't matter; they are only means to that end. And in that Soldier Boy shares something in common with Homelander as shown through his delight of accepting Homelander readily as his son, albeit lab-grown. He only wants to see a better version of him.
Last but not least, I love the jab at corporate this episode still throws. Ashley spinning breaking news about Starlight in a similar way Disney would spin stories about their abuse and mismanagement; and that A-Train being zombified, again, with the heart of Blue Hawk embedded in his body, serving only as Vought's puppet. I'm not sure if that's the most satisfying end to A-Train's arc, but seeing his disappointed, grim look, his lack of agency, I guess the character suffers a lot. I just hope this will be the last of his arc and the show doesn't squeeze him further.
That said, with the reveal at the ending, I am not sure I am 100% satisfied as I was expecting Soldier Boy bringing down Homelander, or rendering him powerless by the end of the season. Looks like Homelander will continue to be the main villain. I just hope they don't prolong the "mentally unstable" trope too much and find ways to keep the show interesting. Looking forward to the finale.
[9.5/10] Trans rights are human rights. Let’s start there. But more than that, they help save lives. I’m still compelled by the public statement from a leader as he vetoed an anti-trans bill that basically made that point. Whatever you think about transgender individuals, and young people in particular, the evidence shows that they’re at greater risk of depression and suicide, and that allowing them to express the gender identity they want makes a huge difference.
That is, more than anything, the abiding message of “A Tale of Two Topas”. Allowing folks to live as the gender they see themselves as is not a cure-all. But it removes one of the roadblocks to joy, to self-fulfillment, that are so important for young people in particular who are already primed to feel the weight of the world more fiercely and acutely than their elder brethren.
The scene that stands out to me here, in an episode full of fantastic scenes, is the one where Topa sees herself in the mirror for the first time after undergoing the procedure to become female again. Topa remains sympathetic for the whole episode, but also seems a bit detached, a bit numb. It’s easy to write that off as the usual Moclan stoicism, but when Topa tells Commander Grayson that she feels like a bookmark for someone else she’s meant to be, it’s revealing. There’s someone in pain underneath that steady veneer, someone troubled enough to ask Isaac what it was like to be dead and whether or not he was happy to return to the world of the living.
The upshot is clear. Topa is unhappy. She has trouble envisioning what happiness would be like, since she doesn’t know what exactly is standing in her way. But there's something wrong with how she feels about herself, some way in which the societal role she’s expected to play, doesn’t align with how she sees herself. We, and Grayson, know why that is, and the secret that’s kept from her. But the important thing is that she doesn’t feel right, and it means she struggles to feel happy.
Until Isaac treats her, and she looks in the mirror and finally sees the real her looking back. She smiles, a smile of relief but also of self-realization. There is the person she viewed herself as, finally realized in flesh and blood. The young actress does an outstanding job communicating the happiness Topa achieves in that moment, the alignment between inner self and outer self that makes her feel like her, maybe for the first time in her young life. After so many roadblocks, she feels like herself, and it makes that happiness possible.
Yet, one of the things I like about this episode is that it makes the antagonists comprehensible, instead of monsters. Our sympathies (or at least my sympathies) naturally lie with poor Topa. But you can also understand the perspective of the latest duty-bound admiral, who expresses her own empathy for the girl, but makes the valid point that upsetting the Moclans amidst the the Kaylon threat to save Topa could be trading one life for billions.
It all works out, of course. It’s kind of a cheat. But the show comes up with a credible enough reason why the worst case scenario of diplomatic relations didn’t happen. And the admiral dresses down Mercer and Grayson with the appropriate “You got lucky” speech. Most importantly, though, it gives her a motivation that makes sense and makes the audience have to weigh the moral imperative of helping this young soul against the broader concerns of politics and war that could lose orders of magnitude more.
Even Klyden, the closest thing to an outright villain in the piece, is given some sympathetic shading. He is horrible here, nearly resorting to violence not once, not twice, but thrice. Him telling Topa that he wishes she had never been born is horrifying, the greatest cruelty in an episode not short of tough things to swallow. Even there though, the episode roots his reaction in the fact that he too was born female, and wishes he never knew. He’d trade Topa’s unhappiness for her own despair. That small bit helps explain Kylden and his awful reaction to all of this. Storytelling is better when we understand the antagonist’s motivations, and hinting at the way this is a generational trauma only adds to the tragedy and pain of it.
This is also one hell of an episode for Commander Grayson. Adrianne Palicki does some series-best and maybe career-best work here. Through her performance, Kelly is empathetic with Topa, righteously indignant on her behalf, confident and commanding with Klyden, sharp and shrewd when they come up with a plan, and practically glowing when things seem to be working out for Topa. “A Tale of Two Topas” puts a lot on Palicki’s shoulders, but she’s more than up to the challenge. So much of Star Trek, and the shows that follow in its wake, is built on the aspirational. It’s hard to think of something more aspirational right now than a person in a position of power, using that power to help someone become their truest self, and maybe help save a young person’s life in the process.
Granted, the inevitable abstraction of the metaphor could lead to some misreadings. You can easily imagine the worst anti-trans folks misinterpreting this as a story of why trans kids should stick with the gender they were born with. But that crowd would have a bad faith reading of the episode no matter what, and they’re not worth catering too. More generously, the story of Topa has always taken something from the real life treatment of intersex children, which carries some resonance here too.
Yet, the language used and the subtext of the episode plainly puts it in the realm of a transgender allegory. The way Topa expresses herself reflects gender dysphoria. The arguments between Bortus (who does great work here too) and Klyden reflect real life conflicts between family members over whether to accept or reject their trans relatives. And the minefield of balancing your personal morals and the morals of your society and the rights of the child and the rights of the parent, (especially when the parents disagree) makes the heady themes of the story that much richer, while pulling from real life debates.
Fortunately, through all this complication, our heroes, and The Orville are always on Topa’s side. There are, assuredly, some cheats and questionable calls. The fact that Bortus gives Topa the password to learn the truth about what happened to her is fairly convenient when it was Kelly’s actions driving this to that point. Likewise, as clever as it is to have a vocal performance by Bortus give everyone an alibi, or at least plausible deniability, while Isaac performs the procedure for Topa, the chances it would do anything but blow up relations between the Union and the Moclans seems slim to nil.
Still, ultimately, this is a story centered on Topa’s dissatisfaction with the world and struggles with her identity, bolstered by a group of noble people willing to risk their careers and their safety to help her, who succeed in helping the young woman discover and become the person she really is. The scene where she cries with joy at seeing a Moclan woman value herself and her gender, affirms the strength of that message, where simply recognizing these struggling young people for who they are, and helping them reach their truest selves, can bring them the joy, peace, and self-acceptance we all deserve.
This show has almost a religious significance to me and of course countless others.
Growing up in the 70's, my first TV crush was on Veena (the Cage/Menagerie). The first girl I kissed was a blue-eyed blonde, and later I married a blue-eyed blonde, well, three of them, to be perfectly honest. I think it's Veena's fault. I never did score with a green Orion slave girl, though, despite what they say about them.
While there are many stinker episodes of Star Trek, there are also many masterpieces. "City on the Edge of Forever" is my favorite, for its emotional impact. Who could not fall in love with a young Joan Collins? Another noteworthy episode is "The Doomsday Machine," which is interesting because of its unique musical score, with different instruments/styles for each character. You can find a YouTube video about it, by user shemvonschroeck. I think the most important episode is "Mirror, Mirror", for its (probable) social commentary on American imperialism, the Vietnam War, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover's spying on members of Congress, and the CIA's use of torture and assassinations in the 60's. We are living in the "Mirror, Mirror" universe. The Utopian Star Trek universe is not our own.
If you like Star Trek, then of course there are the official sequels/spin-offs, but also you should check out Star Trek Continues. And if you like "Mirror, Mirror", then you should check out its Star Trek Continues counterpart, "Fairest of Them All".
Dammit, I just wanted to watch some science fiction. I didn't want to have to clean myself up off the floor with a mop... for 75 minutes!
(I now have more to say...)
Everyone else is going on about the child actor who plays Topa and Palicki playing Grayson. They made this episode, without a doubt.
But I want to draw more attention to Peter Macon's Bortus. The character's best episode and Macon's best acting ever in my opinion. Klyden finally shows up in season 3 only to fuck off in the very same episode! Hilarious. He wasn't badly acted, but he was more of a caricature than anything else. I get it, the episode needed him to be that way. But Bortus shows so many layers and emotional combinations. Multiple times throughout the episode I stopped sitting and watching and found myself standing and watching, and once holding my hand over my mouth and fighting back my own tears as a father. It hit so hard and so soundly, no once feeling forced or cringy or convenient to the plot. He was behaving like a real dad who had real desires and fears for his child. It's in this acting and getting to see these scenes play out on their own time that the show is partially forgiven for shamelessly running so gosh darn long!
Though I did get to the point where I was asking myself how many MORE addendums was this episode going to get? But, in the end, I'm glad that it went out the way it did. With a lot levity and positivity instead of that safe, diplomatic conclusion the Union brass felt tied to - which would have echoed the failure from the first season during the trial on Moclas. I'm also glad that Mercer and Grayson got chewed out for it. It would have felt fake if there was no repercussions. But because the fleet is at war, The Union can't afford to jail any command officers, and Moclas can't afford to lash out the way they'd like to either. That's definitely the only reason that Admiral was satisfied with her mere pound of flesh from each of them. And also why she was willing to admit that she was unofficially happy everything worked out in their favor.
Secondly, I want to draw attention to the actual footage from "About a Girl" from the first season used in the simulator. I don't know how they pulled this off, but the perfect editing required to make the new footage of Topa and Grayson blend in with something that was shot five years ago and not even look slightly uncanny is probably owed to the COVID downtime. Seth MacFarlane said that since they couldn't do any shooting or practical work, they kept refining the post-production of the episodes they were already working on while they waited for the all clear to go back to work. This has to be one of those episodes because I was looking for blurry lines and cuts in the footage or other strange artifacts that HAD to exist and it just looks like it was all shot at the same time in the same physical space. Bravo to the editing team, this is clearly your best work.
The previous episodes do have much better pacing (even Electric Sheep), no argument there. But this episode is of the storytelling caliber that Tom Hanks uses when he needs a few more Oscars to decorate his tenth mansion. The Orville set a new bar for themselves and for all modern science fiction with this story. Both in-universe and out-of-universe, this was a comeback victory several years in the making. It still blows me away that The Orville is both generously pulling from its own past to create new and continued stories while also being mature and reserved enough to not overdo it or wear out the gimmick. They (again) covered a topic of white-hot contention at one of the worst moments in American history to do so, and they did it with respect for themselves and for their viewers. And without a doubt the beaming approval of a particular Great Bird. Maybe Umbrella Academy (they kind of already are) or Doom Patrol could pull it off. I honestly don't know what else is on TV right now that could even reach such heights without a massive overhaul to their writing team.
(Obligatory remark about people who are repulsed (Klyden'd, if you will) by the topic of this episode needing to grow up and realize that they've only got so much time on this Earth to enjoy life and how they're currently, objectively failing to do so. And also morbidly curious as to why they're watching this show knowing full well what it is and then acting surprised that such topics are broached. And reminding them that if they hate this episode it's probably only going to get worse from their point of view - especially if this show is renewed for a fourth season.)
Most solid episode of the season so far. Nothing extraordinarily amazing, but it's just The Boys at its best like in the first half of Season 1.
What I like the most is that everything that happens leading to the climax in the Herogasm is just frantic, chaotic, a lot of stuff happening at once, unplanned, unpredictable, and consequently, tragic. Just a lot of things coming out together at the same time, including the tying up of loose ends of plot points (e.g. with A-Train's demise and his conflict with Hughie).
The episode keeps the comedy and jab at corporate speak intact, but does not overdo it so we get straight to the crux of the matter. From Homelander, Starlight, Kimiko/Frenchie, Hughie, A-Train, even Ashley - the plot revolving around those characters are about what makes them really them. They all have struggled with the question whether power (be it through V or executive position) made them into a terrible person they do not like, but it is all actually on them. Power only explicate their attitude. Like Butcher in the previous episode said, "With great power comes the absolute certainty, that you will turn into a right cunt."
It was interesting to see how each characters react: Hughie portrayed as an insecure man, A-Train tasting his own bitter medicine, Starlight getting tired of the play-pretend and politicking she has played all over the years, and of course, Homelander being Homelander. I find it especially best with Hughie and A-Train. Hughie, when in S1 he acted as our moral compass, here we see him as someone fragile, a man unable to keep up with the pace of the world he's living in and feeling defeated by his girlfriend for not being a breadwinner. A-Train, a great end to his arc, as he realizes that he has caused so many harms to others due to his toxicity, he realizes that he can only bring a little bit of justice for his own brother. He can't run away from his past like Frenchie said, I think it's very poetic.
Also it's refreshing to get a brief character development with Soldier Boy. Hoping that there is more to this character in the next seasons to come.
Last but not least, the fight with Homelander was intense. The unexpected Butcher x Hughie x Soldier Boy tag-team is great, especially with the confused, defeated look Homelander gave to them. I'm expecting this will drive Homelander even uncontrollable, especially now with his inner monologue and everyone either against him (Starlight, Maeve, if she is still there) or leaving him (Noir and possibly A-Train). The show seems to be planting the seed of conflict between our Boys in the future to come. Hopefully this will pay off.
The Orville is finally established enough to start referencing lore created by previous episodes. This episode is an unexpected followup to another very good story from the first season. And in typical Orville fashion, it takes a very old and weathered collection of story tropes and gives them a fresh spin with a unique resolution. A reveal that threw me completely off the scent right up until they out and said what was actually happening and why. I got conned just as hard as everyone else, and it was very satisfying. I'm very interested to see the impact the Valdonis have on the Orville Universe. They seem like a much less antagonistic Q-like race that still might cause trouble with their indifference to less-evolved species.
Bortus' blank stare at the kid talking about TikTok and Instagram was the funniest part of this episode. Kelly clocking a flight attendant being a close second.
I loved the irony of Ed being told he was being deceived... by a fake version of Issac as part of an even larger deception.
The shot of the Kaylon drone staring into the bridge was amazing. I briefly thought it was intentional, very Cylon-like behavior.
The only thing I didn't like about this episode is that it didn't push the overarching story forward, even Shadow Realms involved the growing alliance with the Krill. There are only 10 precious episodes in this season. I'm perfectly fine with episodic content as long as the world of The Orville grows as much as possible... just in case.
Okay, so the action is still pretty bad, and the Reva stuff is every bit as predictable as it seemed. BUT I'm glad we're FINALLY getting some of the stuff that we were promised! The flashbacks with Anakin, although not perfect, are what I wanted from this show. I just wish that they had started with these much sooner, rather than the second-to-last episode of the show.
Also, I know the Reva wasn't exactly on Vader's side, but her sending Obi-Wan inside with two stormtroopers when it would have made much more sense for her to just keep him outside exactly where he was with the rest of the troops and her... that was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.
IDK how this show manages to keep doing it, but every episode just seems to have dumber and dumber writing decisions and it's truly painful to watch. Vader is being written as a total moron. Why on earth would they just leave Reva alive like that? It makes absolutely no sense.
I've said it almost every episode, but it still rings true - I really want to love this show, but I just CAN'T. I'll give this one a 5.5 simply because it was a fun watch despite all the horrible issues.
UGH. This was NOT a comedy of manners in any sense of the word. It could have been though. One thing that bugged me is the actress playing T'Pring. She delivers her lines like someone who has never seen any episode of Star Trek and was told to speak in whatever she thinks a Spock voice would be. She's too robotic and I really didn't like it. Maybe get someone who's interested in Star Trek and likes it to play these characters? The less I see of T'Pring, the better.
I have to say, I am loving Anson Mount's hair!!! I loved his shaggy dirty cowboy hair in "Hell on Wheels" and I am loving this grey gelled 1980s pompadour the MUA are rocking on him! I also really like the green uniform on him!
I am waiting to meet some new characters like maybe a cook...or a bartender...or even more of the young ensigns.
The Enterprise Bingo was a cute idea! I could totally see this happening on board navy ships of today!
All that being said, I am kind sad that this series is like Trek lite...Star Trek for 3rd graders. It's cute. I like cute sci-fi, but I not cute Trek.
I was hoping this would be funny like how Enterprise or DS9 were funny. This episode was MEH because it was like something you put on for the kids while the eat snacks before bed.
[5.0/10] Far be it from me to cast aspersions on what is, by acclimation, one of the best episode of Star Trek ever produced. Far be it from me to turn my nose up at something penned by the great (if prickly) Harlan Ellison. Far be it from me to offer no quarter to the crown jewel of this show’s first season. But call me a Philistine, because “City on the Edge of Forever” did nothing for me.
It’s not a bad episode exactly. There’s no blatantly wrong turns (so to speak) or outrageous missteps. It’s just not especially compelling, and doesn’t achieve what it sets out to do.
First and foremost, the central conflict of “Forever” falls flat because the central relationship it hinges on falls flat. There is a compelling, ethically complex issue in the decision of whether to allow an innocent person to die in order to defeat the Nazis and, by extension, allow all of humanity’s accomplishments from the 1930s to the 23rd century to occur. There’s even a tragic irony in the individual who must perish being the one who envisions a day when mankind ends war and hunger and want. Keeler imagines a world she will never get to see.
But rather than anchoring “Forever” on the difficulty of that choice, the conflict between utilitarian morality versus proscriptions on allowing harm to come to innocent people, Star Trek anchors it in the romance between Kirk and Keeler, and there’s just nothing there. I can appreciate that the episode is trying to ground the abstract and headily moral question at play in the personal, but the romance isn’t as successful or developed enough for that to work.
Maybe the relationship between Kirk and Keeler would have more oomph if it didn’t take place in little more than a week. Maybe it would have been better if William Shatner and guest star Joan Collins could manage to have more chemistry in forty minutes than Collins and DeForest Kelley do in five. Maybe it’d be easier to invest in if Kirk didn’t fall in love with someone every third episode.
Or maybe it’s just changing mores about how love is depicted in the 1960s versus how it’s depicted in the 2010s. Kirk’s gazes at Keeler seem more like creepy leers than admiration. Keeler’s preternatural ability to sense that Kirk is a great man feels, at best, convenient, and at worst, pernicious in the “some men just have greatness in them” themes the show has trafficked in previously.
Whatever the reason, the cornerstone of this episode, the thing that’s supposed to make us feel the pain and pathos of its ending, is Kirk’s emotional arc through his attachment to Keeler, and when that fails, everything built on it fails too. In this sort of depiction, I don’t feel the connection; I don’t feel the romance; and I don’t feel the loss of anything when it’s ended, even in tragic terms. That essentially sinks everything else “Forever” is trying to accomplish.
That’s unfortunate, because there is, as I often find with Star Trek, a great deal I like about the episode in conception, if not in its execution. Again, the moral dilemma of whether to sacrifice one blameless life for a better future is an inherently compelling one (and one picked up by Futurama, a series that I always knew was indebted to Trek, but where I did not realize the extent of the influence). Kirk and Spock, as usual, make for an amusing odd couple. And as weird as the premise is, it fits the sci-fi flair of the series.
Also, for better and worse, “Forever” doesn’t really feel like other episodes of Star Trek. This isn’t the first time our heroes have gone back in time, or confronted difficult moral choices, or had to make due without their usual tools and technology. But there’s a different tone here, one that seems more grounded and even melancholy despite the genre trappings. It could just be the depression-era setting, but there’s a certain mood throughout the episode that distinguishes “Forever” from its predecessors.
And as silly as it is, I kind of love the Guardian of Forever. There’s just something so essentially sci-fi about a giant stony circle that speaks in a booming, stilted voice and emits, smoke, light, and black-and-white historical footage. (To that end, it’s also clear to anyone who’s read/played Ellison’s I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream that he enjoys this type of thing.) This giant alien thing that can send our heroes across time is appropriately and enjoyably out there.
The impetus for the whole episode, on the other hand, is less so. Dr. McCoy accidentally injecting himself with some future substance that makes him paranoid and crazy is a weird story-motivator. Kelley is up to the challenge, with his frantic declarations of “killers” and “assassins” seeming appropriately unhinged, but it’s a thin and (given the turbulence-related cause of it) convenient excuse for Kirk and Spock to have to chase him through time.
Still, there’s a certain amount of charm to the pair landing in 1930s New York City and trying to fit in and save Bones (and the future) at the same time. Kirk using reverse psychology on Spock to build a computer is amusing, particularly in Nimoy’s restrained but clearly affronted reactions. The Sesame Street-like environs have a well-worn allure. And again, the premise of the episode is, at worst, solid.
But the whole thing just comes down to Kirk and Keeler, and that’s not enough to sustain “Forever.” It’s hard, to say the least, to be invested in Kirk mourning this woman he barely knew for a week, where we’ve seen far more googly eyes being made than any real depth to their relationship. Binding a fantastical story with the personal loss of a star-crossed romance can add a human dimension to an otherwise outsized tale, but if you make that romance the centerpiece of your story, and it falters rather than flourishes, it can take the entire story down with it. “Forever” has its merits, but by centering the episode around Kirk and Keeler, it’s as doomed as she is.
Ah, what a classic. This movie was my childhood. My play count is probably a major underestimation if the stories my mum and nanna tell me are true. I watched this so much as a child, and loved it to pieces. Though apparently, I walked out when Goose died every time. And yet I could recite it verbatim while walking through the supermarket.
To this day, I do not think there is a more beautiful aircraft than the mighty Tomcat. Others might do it better, but that design is iconic. As are half the cast here, and all of them bring what you came to see. Though I think the best has to be Wolfman, Goose and Jester. Ironside just has a voice and a presence you can't ignore. And the humour and camaraderie of both Wolfman and Goose is sublime. You can truly believe these guys love one another to death. Maverick's face while trying to cope with Goose's death is some of the best acting Cruise has ever done.
I could watch this movie a thousand times and never get sick of it. Propaganda piece or not, it had everything the growing boy in me needed back then, and it still thrills that inner child every single time I throw it on now as an adult.
I liked this episode, it was fascinating and I liked the mini road movie with Kenobi e Leia.
I also like the journey from this Obi-Wan to the one we saw in Episode IV. I think we are almost there.
Unfortunately I don't like Vader like I used to, since Episode III. When there was only the Original Trilogy and the prequels were only a dream, I saw a man that believed in bringing order to the galaxy, but wasn't too happy with the Empire. He wasn't impressed with the Death Star, in Episode V he basically killed imperials instead of rebels and the redemption in Return of the Jedi was good, but a backstory was probably needed.
In Episode III we (kind of) see him killing younglings, in this episode he is so cruel, killing the kid that was going out to check on his dad. Then we hear the wife\mother crying...
I know he did this to lure Obi-Wan to show up, but I liked Vader when he wasn't so relentless, at least on my mind.
It's not the series' fault, he is like this from the prequels, the comics describe this kind of broken man... but I respected the character more when he wasn't so cruel, when he was a guy thinking he was doing the right thing, disappointed from democracy and using the dark side because it seemed like the only opion to end wars and conflicts on the galaxy. I believed him when he tried to convert Luke at the end of Ep. V in bringing peace to the galaxy.
But it's just my opinion as a viwer, I'm not a storyteller. I just don't think the redemption is possible when you kill children. Maybe it's just a bad view I had on the character watching only the OT
Parts of the story are quite good, but other parts are so agonizingly slow, dimwitted, or baffling as to be hard to watch.
For instance, the silicon nodules. The second I laid eyes on it, I though egg. For some reason nobody in the episode suspects that these naturally smooth round objects look like eggs. And Spock says there are large odds against both he and Kirk dying in the tunnels, but that would mean they aren't together, yet they are always side by side. Then Kirk tells everyone to stay in pairs, then immediately splits up with Spock. I guess than is good for the odds of them both being killed, but doesn't make sense based on his orders 2 minutes before that. And the list goes on...
I do love the Horta, though. A great concept for an alien creature. I love that it isn't humanoid and isn't a mindless monster. The fact that it is a silicon life form is also very good. I was surprised to read the speculation on silicon-based life goes back to at least 1891, so this was not as pioneering of Star Trek as I initially thought. Even so, using silicon-based life was a refreshing change to the overabundance of humanoid races. Honestly, stop creating new humanoid races. They aren't interesting. A handful of humanoid races in all of Star Trek is more than enough. Instead there are probably a 100 humanoid races, or more, and most of them are not even original in anything but a new name and a chance for the art department to get paid. The Horta is really where this episode shines, even if the costume is pretty bad by today's standard.
[9.0/10] What an episode! This one has it all -- personal concerns, moral quandaries, political machinations, interstellar action, on-the-ground fisticuffs, and even the inimitable Ms. Dolly Parton! This is the sort of thing I had hoped The Orville could be, something that continues the legacy of The Next Generation, as Marina Sirtis’s cameo and Jonathan Frakes in the director’s chair indicate it wants to do, rather than just playing like Seth MacFarlane’s Star Trek cover band.
So let’s take the easiest part of this first -- I love the tribute to Dolly Parton and how her music and vibe are used here. It’s amusing when Heveena is so instantly inspired by hearing the dulcet tones of “9-to-5”, but also weirdly appropriate if you know of Parton’s philanthropic efforts and blows struck for feminism (not to mention the film the song was written for). Honestly, it’s a little inspiring when Heveena uses it as poetry to cap off her speech. And using it as the backing track for the showdown between the Orville and the Moclan near the titular sanctuary rivals Star Trek Beyond’s invoking the Beastie Boys in terms of most inventive use of pop music in a space-bound story. It nicely walks the line between humor and sincerity about the whole thing, and works surprisingly well.
It also sets up the major issues of the episode: not just feminism, but oppression of all people outside the circle of fundamental rights, of moral imperatives balanced against political practicalities, and of groups of people making small moves toward revolution and justice, one step and one soul at a time.
Here, that means Bortus, who is increasingly disgusted with his own people’s culture. He laments the backward stereotypes of women that Klyden blithely instills in their son. Klyden is, unfortunately for their marriage, the symbol of what Bortus is fighting against and resents here. Klyden brings up the events of “About a Girl” derisively, which was a preexisting burr in Bortus’s side. He challenges Kylden on the fact that he rarely mixes with the rest of the crew and didn’t take Commander Grayson seriously. (It’s a little bit of a stretch, since we’ve definitely seen Kylden at social events, and in a recent episode he thanked Lt. Kiyali, but one that can be easily handwaved away.)
He finds himself alienated from not just his husband, but from his people, rejecting the prejudice both embody after all he’s seen and done on a Union ship. It’s enough for him to take up arms against his own people, to defend those who are also his people against forces that would harm them. In this instance, it means protecting a colony of women from a group of Moclan raiders, ready to drag them back to Moclas for forced surgery. His principles override his heritage, helping a young woman who could have been just like his daughter, had Kylden not intervened. There’s resonance when he reaches out his arm to offer her protection and ultimately tells her she’s safe.
This is an episode of half-victories, both for Bortus and for the good guys generally. But whatever issues that remain between him and his husband (which are starting to seem like irreconcilable differences), he witnesses a change in Topa. Bortus’s son goes from demeaning and shoving one of his female classmates over a piece he wants, citing Kylden’s bigoted instructions as an excuse, to sharing with that same young woman by the end of the episode, putting a smile on Bortus’s face. His actions have created great difficulties, not just for himself but for thousands of people, if not many more, but they seem to have moved the heart of his child, which is a cause worth fighting for.
It’s also a cause worth fighting for at a more macro level. “Sanctuary” also gives one of those classics “ethics vs. pragmatism” debates among the Union’s top brass. On the one hand, the right to the Moclan women to decide how to live their lives, to be free from persecution, to be able to expect safety rather than submission, is a fundamental one in line with the Union’s core values.
On the other hand, recognizing them threatens the alliance with the Moclans, which is all the more important given the recent incursion from the Kaylon, especially since this episode explains how the Moclan are the suppliers for the Union’s weaponry, something which might give them the advantage in a supplementary alliance with the Krill. There’s lots of levers and conflicting considerations here, putting the Union’s soul versus its security at odds with one another.
If that weren’t enough, as The Orville does and as various Star Trek shows have done before, this episode also plays the moral relativism game. However much the practical reasons to preserve the alliance may be putting a thumb on the scale, the Union leadership is hesitant to impose their own values on another community, even if they find the opposing values abhorrent. There’s a lot of thorny “human(oid) rights vs. human(oid) safety” issues here, and I especially appreciate how the episode acknowledges that complexity.
It’s also the show pulling out all the stops in terms of casting and effects. We get all of the major Admirals we’ve seen independently in the same room (including Ted Danson, who I’d assumed was never actually going to set foot on The Orville’s set). We see Star Trek: Insurrection alum F. Murray Abraham as the Union Chairman. We see the aforementioned Marina Sirtis lending her talents in a natural way, and we even get to see a whole auditorium full of different aliens, letting the makeup team show off, and that’s before the epic space battle and planetside skirmishes.
The two most impressive guest performances come from Rena Owen as Heveena and Tony Todd as the Moclan Ambassador. Owen is tremendous in the role, having that movement leader energy that’s infectious and delivering a legitimately stirring speech about the broadening of our recognition of who deserves to be brought into the fold of fundamental rights. Tony Todd, who played Worf’s brother on The Next Generation, delivers his retort with the sort of Klingon fire and brimstone you would expect, setting up how difficult it will be to bridge this divide and how fanatical the Moclans are in their backwards beliefs.
Ultimately, “Sanctuary” comes back to the central problem, of how you resolve such intractable contrasting impulses. To be frank, I wasn’t sure The Orville could come up with a satisfying answer there, and it didn’t help that Mercer’s big speech basically amounted to “If the Kaylon kill you, there’ll be nothing but girls left.”
But the show comes to the only answer it reasonably can -- a rough maintenance of the status quo with an assurance to revisit the question at a later time. It is, not for nothing, the same answer to the question America’s Founding Fathers arrived at when debating the issue of slavery, making it a good episode of history to pull from when contentious sides are unwilling to accept the humanity of their fellow man because it would cause a divide they feel their institution is too fragile to withstand.
The Moclan leadership agrees to let the Moclan female’s colony remain undisturbed and to remain in the Union, so long as the colony agrees to end its underground railroad activities. It is, sadly, a partial victory at best, one that lets the women in that nebula enjoy the safety and freedom they want, while not only denying them the formal independence they want and deserve, but stopping more from enjoying the same liberty.
And yet, “Sanctuary” ends on a note of hope, with the notion that Heveena is undeterred, confident that this one small trickle will eventually become a river that can carve away mountains. Bortus, for his part, sees that spark of hope in the way his own son’s heart can be changed by this experience. Their hope, and ours, lives in the future.
[8.1/10] A good chunk of “Home” doesn’t really need to be a sci-fi show. That’s a feature, not a bug. One of the things I always liked about Star Trek (which extends to this spin-off in all but name) is that despite its intergalactic setting, the franchise would consistently draw back to the personal and interpersonal stories within that firmament, not just content to exchange phaser fire with aliens and explore the anomaly of the week.
In that vein, Alara’s visit back to her disapproving parents, having come down with a sort of low-gravity illness as a Xelayan on a human ship, calls back to past Star Trek stories. It invokes Spock bringing Kirk and Bones to his home planet on The Original Series, T’Pol returning to her home on Vulcan with Trip in tow on Enterprise, and even Jean-Luc Picard going to his old family vineyard after a traumatic experience on The Next Generation. Each of these stories forced the Starfleet officers at their center to reconcile their lives in that role with their upbringing amid a different walk of life, and this episode follows that proud tradition.
We see Alara return to her home, where her parents and sister welcome her back and are plainly glad to have her home, but just as plainly view her as less-than. The last episode with her parents present made it clear that the Kitans look down on her father joining a military organization, wish that she would return to school, and view her as “slow” relative to the intellectual standards on Xelaya. Her returning to their care and being treated much the same reminds her why she left in the first place and reopens old wounds and reignites old disagreements between the family members.
But it also creates a chance for greater understanding and to turn over a new leaf. There’s some good kitchen sink drama material at play here, with Alara feeling like her family’s treating her as a failure, her sister voicing a “grass is always greener” dynamic between those brains and those of brawn, and clear feelings of inadequacy and comparison between Alara and her sibling.
There’s also an opportunity for Alara to prove why what she does is valuable and earn her parents’ respect. That comes when the friendly neighbors at the beachouse turn out to be a couple of anti-vax extremists who are seeking revenge on Alara’s dad, Ildis, because he discredited their son’s anti-vax paper, eventually leading to the son’s suicide.
It’s a nice motivation for the villains of the piece, creating an intellectual dispute that leads to a physical one, with parent/child underpinnings that mirror the ones between Alara and Ildis. Not for nothing, it creates an opportunity for two members of Star Trek’s fantastic pantheon of doctors to play opposite one another. John Billingsley (the friendly Dr. Phlox from Enterprise) is surprisingly terrifying as a grief-rage filled dad who wants to avenge his son’s legacy. For his part, Robert Picardo (The Doctor from Voyager) gives a strong emotional performance, laden with meaning and lived-in strife between him and his daughter.
By the same token, this is a great outing for Halston Sage as Alara. This episode puts a lot on her, having to sell years of resentments and family dynamics the audience hasn’t seen but nevertheless has to feel. She does so like a champ, showing moments of warmth, pain, determination, wistfulness, and courage that work whether she’s in the family drama facets of this episode or the tense stand-off parts of it.
To that end, Alara gets the chance to prove her worth and her mettle when she out-strategizes her family’s attackers and eventually neutralizes them using her quick wits and courageousness. The episode wrings plenty of suspense out of the hostage situation, and there’s even a nice urgency and ticking clock to Captain Mercer needing to be dragged back to the safety of the shuttle’s gravitational deflector, less he be “crushed like a grape” under Xelaya’s natural gravity. The show does a good job of setting up the wrist countdown, the nature of Xelaya’s gravity, and the other necessary elements to make that work. Plus, his leg getting crushed while the suit fails helps raise the stakes.
The escapade not only proves how capable and vital Alara has become since joining the Union, but puts Ildis in her shoes for just a brief moment to better understand the risks his daughter takes and the fortitude she shows every day. It leads to an apology, an admission that he doesn’t know her, and the chance for reconciliation. It’s true well-earned and well done.
The only part of this one I’m not crazy about is the attempt at comedy back on the ship with Alara’s temporary (I hope) replacement. Look, it’s always great to have Patrick Warburton on your show, but this external esophagus bro-type is more regular annoying than comically annoying.
I say that -- the other part I don’t like is that Alara leaves! With this sort of heartfelt goodbye, it doesn’t seem like a fakeout. I hope Sage just decided to pursue other projects, and it’s not because of behind-the-scenes strife, the type of which has unfortunately afflicted some Star Trek projects. She’s been one of the show’s strengths (no pun intended), and I’m sorry to see her go.
That said, they come up with a good psychological explanation for her leaving. She joined the Union Fleet because she felt like she didn’t have a place on Xelaya and she wanted to find a family that would accept her and respect her. Now that her biological family seems to understand and appreciate her, she feels she owes it a second chance. That makes a lot of emotional sense. The hugs goodbye are sweet, and the gift of a jar of pickles is an amusing keepsake given Mercer’s frequent catchphrase toward Alara.
Overall, this is another strong entry in a row for The Orville. I hope against hope that it doesn’t mean the permanent loss of the ship’s security officer given how much the character brought to the table, but if it does, this a mighty fine way for her to go out.
One last collaboration for John Hughes and Molly Ringwald, whose creative partnership dissolved after this film. Somewhat softer and more self-serious than the preceding teen epics Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club, it tackles social cliques and classism from various perspectives.
Ringwald and leading man Andrew McCarthy, akin to Romeo and Juliet, find their young relationship stressed by the negative influence of friends who insist they find someone closer to their own status. There really isn't much sparkle to the pairing, though, apart from a few awkward make-out scenes, and they both come off as especially wet noodles in comparison to the vibrant, brash supporting cast. Jon Cryer is most memorable of these as Duckie, a flamboyant mod who's been carrying a torch for Ringwald all his life, and nearly steals the film with an abrupt dance/lip-sync number just before everything gets overly angsty.
Most of the third act is wasted on hand-wringing and moping, though, and the ending (changed at the last minute, much to Hughes's chagrin) feels disingenuous even if it does make a better fit for the movie's theme. The window dressings are drowned in '80s flavor, too, from the appropriately synthy soundtrack to the Halloween-grade costume choices. Looks like everyone at this school was either Don Johnson, Sid Vicious or Morrissey.
The Orville is back (finally) and gave us what may be my favourite episode so far. That's odd, because nothing really happened in it as such. This was a pure character piece that juggled a lot of different plots and did it well. It's mostly made me realise how much I enjoy these people, and how fun just spending time in their lives is.
This was definitely a drama first, with comedy in the background. I like that arrangement, and I hope that the show continues in a similar fashion. I'm sure there are going to be mysteries, space battles and all sorts of thrills in later episodes, but for now this was a great re-introduction.
I'm really becoming a fan of the Claire/Isaac interactions.
I am a little surprised at the direction that Captain Mercer is going, he's not exactly presenting a good role model for the commander of a ship! I'm also disappointed that the Ed/Kelly relationship is still such a thing. It hasn't worked for me since the first episode, and I was hopeful that it was done with given the way season 1 ended.
Leave it to me to often find "filler" episodes the most enjoyable.
TBH, this season was a mess. And this episode as well...
... so they have Wesley welcome Kori to the Travellers, but he can't interfere with Q's actions?
Somehow I thought Q would turn out to be Picard's father, but somehow I liked the interaction between him and Picard. But all the timetravel just because Picard should face some childhood trauma? We are led to believe that he can deal with being turned into a Borg, losing the rest of his family (Robert, Rene), but represses his mother's suicide? Of course, it's traumatic, no doubt about that, but that it didn't come up so far among all the trauma he had to deal with throughout those 30 years, is questionable.
Rios staying in the past... who cares? Sorry, but his whole plotthread was unnecessary and boring...
Jurati's plot was easily the most interesting one. But how did all this influence the Borg as we so far knew them? I mean they are a collective, so come that all the assimilations, including Picard's, still took place?
Otherwise, this season's been all over the place. If I hadn't some kind of investment in the characters, I'd quit. But I guess I'll tune in regardless when this show returns for its final season.
