An interesting story makes this the best The Orville episode yet

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Last week’s third episode of The Orville surprisingly had a lot of emotion that I found effective. Bortus, a single gender specie, gave birth to a female, which is unheard of on his home planet. His partner decided that it is best that they proceed with an operation that will correct the baby’s gender. The episode was rather heartbreaking and offered a few laughs throughout. Seth MacFarlane is settling into his style with The Orville. I am finding that The Orville is some of Seth MacFarlane’s least funniest work but I am still enjoying it.

The fourth episode is titled “If the Stars Should Appear” and focuses on the vessel, The Orville, as they encounter a ship adrift in space that is about to collide with a star. Mercer and his crew board the ship to only find the citizens unaware that they are on a ship floating through space. Mercer and his crew try to convince this colony of their situation and try to help them reach their destination. This fourth episode of The Orville feels like a classic Star Trek adventure episode with the crew discovering a new colony unlike anything they have seen before and for that, this is my favorite episode so far.

The new episode of The Orville, in terms of story, is a fantastic one. The storyline is written nicely and immediately hooked me once the crew reached this new vessel. The population had no idea that they were floating in space and believed that they were part of a land on a planet. I loved learning about the ship that Mercer found and how the people on board were part of something bigger. As Mercer and his crew delved deeper into the history of the space station, the more I found the episode to be interesting. We are also introduced to a group of people who have no desire to move forward with their life and are perfectly happy with why they are. These people are the antagonists of the colony and it is led by Robert Knepper, who played T-Bag on Fox’s hit show Prison Break. There is another special cameo at the end of the episode that made smile.

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This episode is one of the least humorous episodes as it relies on storytelling to fuel the run time. There are a few moments of humor placed throughout but when they happen, they land and they are effective. The pros of the latest few episodes are exploring other characters besides Mercer and his ex-wife. The last episode explored Bortus and his decisions to change the gender of his new born baby. The episode before that focused on a smaller yet strong character on the ship who had to strategize her way into saving Mercer and his ex-wife. This episode followed the robot, Isaac as he learned more about human life as he ventured into the newly found vessel with Mercer and his crew. Him learning of American culture had some satisfying humor that reminded me of classic Seth MacFarlane writing.

I am starting to realize that Mercer and Grayson work well as a team. They still have their moments of bickering back and forth but they are settling in as friends. Seth MacFarlane and Adrianne Palicki have great chemistry and work well as a team. Her presence didn’t feel welcomed in the first episode and we learned more about their separation in the second episode and they finally feel like a team now in the fourth episode.

This is by far my favorite episode regarding the storyline. It isn’t the funniest episode but the story kept me intrigued throughout. The crew is finally working together as a team and it is showing as they can help each other during conflicts and support others. The first episode was a drag but now I am excited to watch the show every Thursday.

What do you think this episode? Has The Orville found its way? Sound off in the comments below!