THE ORVILLE 1x02 "Command Performance"

The second episode of Seth MacFarlane's space adventure series The Orville struck a much nicer balance of everything than its pilot: sugar, spice and everything nice combined well with a standard character focus, some tip-top punchlines and a surprisingly interesting premise. My biggest takeaway from the episode is that we spent too little time with it, in favour of a character focus that was fairly standard.

The Calivon zoo
Image: FOX

   When Ed Mercer and Kelly Grayson, playing Good Samaritan to a ship supposedly attacked by the Krill we met in the pilot, are transported away by the Calivon, a species with technological capabilities and a disposition to rival to that of racist Orville robot scientist Isaac, they awake in their New York city flat without any idea how they got there. It's fair to say that, as they cycled through another of TV's long-rehashed tropes and wound themselves down memory lane (before ultimately remembering the negatives of each other's personalities), I was less than thrilled about the plot's direction. We've seen all this with couples on TV before.

   That is, until the episode is turned neatly on its head with the revelation that Ed and Kelly have become the newest exhibits in a Calivon zoo, a twist that transforms their reminiscences and arguments into a commentary on the human consumption of caged animals. (Apparently, if we were in a similar position - even in our natural habitats - we wouldn't like it very much.) It was a fairly light-handed commentary, however, which I admire. I like that Seth illustrated his message on zoos over a few quick punchlines and then, point made, moved on. There was no lingering on the moral once it had been outlined, the episode just flowed into its next scene.

Alara has a tequila
Image: FOX

   But the Calivon zoo - as picturesque, intriguing and rife with alien life as it was - didn't get significant screen time, the story giving way to what it had focused more heavily on up to this point: Alara's acclimating to the mantle of Acting Commander. At first she was too foolhardy and nervous (a dangerous combination), and then she was too eager to follow orders for fear of making another critical mistake. When she finally got the balance just right, she managed to rescue Ed and Kelly from the clutches of the arrogant Calivon zookeeper - albeit, after convincing the zookeeper not the euthanise them.

   And for all the Calivons were built up to be - given that they operated in a remote part of space where no one from the fleet was authorised to go due to the threat they posed - they were more scarily impressive technology-wise than intimidating on a species basis. A simple trade-off convinced them to relinquish Ed and Kelly into the hands of Alara and Isaac, although, hilariously, that trade-off was access to a series of Earth-based reality TV shows that brought a shockingly enormous crowd of Calivons flocking to the screen.

"The Bachelor? Duck Dynasty? Keeping Up With

The Kardashians?"

"There must be ten thousand files here! What is this?

Reality television?"

"The best. Exhibit. We've ever had."

Image: FOX

   But while the balance of humour, character focus, character inclusion and believable plot twists was nicely struck, there were a number of things I felt brought down this episode: as stated already, I would have liked to have seen more of Calivon and the zoo, and the Alara storyline was significantly more basic than I expected after The Orville's impressive opener. Speaking of Alara, her make-up looked very different to the premiere. I also felt a few important scenes were skipped due to time constraints (I was especially disappointed that we didn't see Alara face any repercussions for defying the Fleet Admiral's orders), and, of course, the lack of Bortus - whose humourless demeanour is The Orville's answer to Rosa Diaz and Captain Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine - was (while necessary), a loss. Props to the interesting cliffhanger ending, however, of his and Klyden's child being a female somehow born to a single-gender species.

   But perhaps my biggest takeaway - bigger even than the tragic marginalisation of the Calivon zoo - is that, after watching the episode, I'm hungry. I don't know if it's because it's coming up to 5 A.M. UK time and I haven't eaten since I woke up nearly 6.5 hours ago, but I'm not sure my hunger is the show's fault. There is absolutely no way The Orville can be responsible for my egg cravings.

RATING: 8/10

POINTS OF NOTE

• No matter how many times Peter Macon (Bortus) says "Moclan", I always hear "Buckland".
• Anyone else get serious Star Wars vibes? And Alara not knowing who Obi-Wan is? Come on! Real recognises real; doesn't space recognise space?
• Quotibles abound, not least Ed's relentless jokes when Bortus says he has laid an egg.
• "If you got one more in ya, dibs on the omelette."
• "Bad joke. Bad yolk."
• Like in the premiere, every Ed and Kelly scene is perfect.
• I'm yet to be sure of any spellings; I'm sure mine will conflict with other reviewers'. I'm also not brave enough to try and spell Silean. Wait ...
• Lastly, while I wanted to post a picture of naked Bortus incubating his egg, I wouldn't want to ruin anyone's appetites. Mmmm, Moclan foetus.