Tag: Fox

Thanks to a visiting archaeologist, the Orville crew gets a rare glimpse of a recently unearthed time capsule of items left untouched since the year 2015. As Bortus and Klyden revive a long-lost addiction thanks to Moclans’ susceptibility to nicotine, Gordon becomes fixated on reviving a cell phone and examining its contents. Once the property of a woman named Laura, the phone is a repository of early 21st century life on an intimate level. Gordon is fascinated enough to have the computer synthesize a holographic simulation of Laura’s life based on the contents of her phone – every text, e-mail, video, photo – and when he meets what the computer extrapolates to be the real Laura, he’s smitten, almost to the point of neglecting his duties. Meanwhile, as Dr. Finn races to concoct an antidote to Moclan nicotine addiction, she has ordered Bortus and Klyden to stop smoking…and among Moclans, withdrawal symptoms may include bursts of extreme violence.

written by Seth MacFarlane
directed by Kelly Cronin
music by John Debney

Cast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Jessica Szohr (Lt. Talla Keyali), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Chad L. Coleman (Klyden), Leighton Meester (Laura Huggins), Tim Russ (Dr. Sherman), Norm MacDonald (Yaphit), Darri Ingolfsson (Greg), Sarah Scott (Trisha), Ajay Vidure (Karl), Stacy Highsmith (Melissa), Rachael MacFarlane (Computer voice), Chris Muto (Male guest)

Notes: Tim Russ is the latest Star Trek alumnus to appear on The Orville; he starred as Tuvok for all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager, and has more recently been seen in Supergirl and the fan-funded Star Trek: Renegades project.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

With the potential for another Kaylon invasion attempt still looming, the Moclans upgrade the weaponry of the Union’s Explorer-class ships, including the Orville. Two visiting Moclan engineers draw Bortus’ attention with an unusual power drain in their quarters, and Bortus discovers that they are powering a stasis unit with an infant Moclan female, trying to smuggle the child away from Moclus, where she would likely undergo mandatory corrective gender-change surgery. Bortus agrees to keep their secret as they transfer to another ship, but also wants to show Topa that it is possible for Moclans of more than one gender to coexist. Topa, however, tells Klyden, who reports Bortus’ secret to Captain Mercer. Following the ship to which the Moclans transferred, the Orville plunges into a dense nebula and finds a solar system that is home to an entire colony of Moclan females. The scope of the problem is bigger than any command decision Mercer can make, and he takes the leader of the colony to Earth to plead the case for sovereignty. In response, the Moclans threaten to secede from the Union, taking their weapons technology with them and leaving Earth open to Kaylon conquest.

written by Joe Menosky
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Andrew Cottee

Cast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Jessica Szohr (Lt. Talla Keyali), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Chad L. Coleman (Klyden), Victor Garber (Admiral Halsey), F. Murray Abraham (Chairman), Ted Danson (Admiral Perry), Rena Owen (Heveena), Ron Canada (Admiral Tucker), Kelly Hu (Admiral Ozawa), Tony Todd (Moclan Delegate), Regi Davis (Korick), Shawn T. Andrew (Toren), Marina Sirtis (Teacher), Emerson Brooks (Moclan), Cameron Knight (Moclan), Blesson Yates (Topa), Madelyn Grace (Olivia), Bo Kane (Alien Delegate), Kathrin Middleton (Retepsian Delegate), Mark McClain Wilson (Xalayan Delegate), Yvonne Senat (Osaia), Hanani Taylor (Moclan Girl), M.C. Sanders (Moclan Soldier #1), Jerrell Pippens (Moclan Soldier #2)

Notes: For those still keeping track, it’s Star Trek guest star overload, with none other than Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Counselor Troi) replacing Cassius as the Orville’s schoolteacher. Tony Todd, who played the role of Worf’s brother Kurn on both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, appears as a Moclan here, while F. Murray Abraham (Star Trek: Insurrection) is the Xelayan president of the Planetary Union. All of the show’s admirals to date appear together here. Heveena was first seen living in exile on Moclus in season 1’s About A Girl, but was apparently already running a kind of underground railroad for unaltered Moclan females at that time (and long before). The episode is directed by Sirtis’ Next Generation co-star Jonathan Frakes. Sirtis reportedly had to shoot her scenes within 24 hours of being hired for the part due to a scheduling crunch with other projects to which she was already contractually obligated.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

After rebuffing another of Mercer’s suggestions that they should get back together, Commander Grayson visits the science lab, where Isaac is working on an experimental device that could make time travel possible. Moments after she leaves, a gravitational wave strikes the Orville, leaving little damage, but depositing an extra person on the ship – one Lt. Kelly Grayson, seven years younger, wondering what she’s doing in the science lab of a Union ship. Her identity is verified, and Commander Grayson is stunned to be dealing with a younger version of herself – as is Mercer. Mercer and Grayson decide to tell the younger Kelly, in very honest terms, what happened with their relationship over the past seven years, which stuns her, given that for her, that first date with Mercer happened just last night. In fact, she’s curious about a second date, but the gap in age and personal experience makes this a problematic idea. Isaac and LaMarr devise a possible way to send the younger Kelly back to her own time, and Dr. Finn suggests a memory wipe as well, to avoid making major changes to the timeline.

Only the memory wipe doesn’t work, and young Kelly Grayson awakens in her own time with new ideas about her future.

written by Janet Lin
directed by Gary Rake
music by John Debney

Cast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Jessica Szohr (Lt. Talla Keyali), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Chad L. Coleman (Klyden), Will Sasso (Mooska), Norm MacDonald (Yaphit), Chase Kim (Officer)

Notes: LaMarr and Isaac’s experiment is derived from the time-shifting technology developed by Dr. Aronov in The Orville’s 2017 pilot episode, with clear implications that there is now far more to fear than the banana.

LogBook entry by Earl Green