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After what seems like a lifetime, Seth MacFarlane’s The Orville is back with Season 3. The first two seasons aired weekly on Fox, but the new season, officially title The Orville: New Horizons, hits the streaming giant, Hulu. The season premiere, titled ‘Electric Sheep’ brings in new characters and a much sleeker, but darker feel to the series.
The first episode doesn’t explore new territories but instead tackles the discussions of suicide and grief while the ship is docked. There are hardly any action scenes, which may disappoint some especially after the thrilling Season 2 finale. Chief Engineer John Lamar (J. Lee) is fixing the ship’s systems, but the main focus of the story is how the crew is feeling about Kaylon Isaac (Mark Johnson) still being part of The Orville’s team. The Season 2 two-part finale saw Isaac betray The Orville but ultimately redeemed himself. A lot of the crew has begun to fear Isaac, especially a new member of the cast, Anne Winters who plays Charly, the ship’s new navigator. Clarie Finn’s son, Marcus, is the one who is the most upset over Isaac’s betrayal and Isaac believes that the ship would be better off without him. Against her desire, Charly is the one who brings Isaac back to life.
While I think this would have worked better as a series of episodes that focused on the crew gathering technology to bring Isaac back, the episode did provide an examination of trauma and suicide. It explores different opinions on suicide but also how bullying can lead to one taking their own life. The discussion provides for some of the darker moments for the series that has primarily focused on thrilling sci-fi situations and humor. How some of the crew members handled Isaac’s death gave a deeper understanding of how the crew is connected and how they rely on each other. MacFarlane’s Captain Ed Mercer and Palicki’s First Officer Commander Kelly Grayson don’t have a lot of scene time, but the first episode teases a relationship that is still complicated but focused on the bigger picture.
Hulu
With the combination of several years between seasons and a move to Hulu, the series looks better than ever. The visuals of the shuttle and interior scenes of the ship look larger and crisper. I didn’t find much wrong with the visuals for the previous seasons but there is a clear change in how the new season so far is approached. There is still plenty of cool designs for the creatures on board and with the title ‘New Horizons’, I hope the show continues to offer unique characters and species down the road.
Overall the first episode was great, but I am looking forward to the season exploring new horizons as the title promises. The episode did provide a lot of character depth in a short amount of time, but what drew me into The Orville was the mix of humor and sci-fi, which was absent from this episode. I believe this episode should have been placed at the end of the series, so it had time to build up the return of Isaac for a possible season finale. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to more episodes on Hulu with the crew of The Orville exploring new horizons.
What did you think of the premiere? Tell us in the comments section below!
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