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Episode 6 of The Orville: New Horizons started off as average. With so many episodes so far this season discussing topics related to our current state of the world, the episodes have traded in its sci-fi comedy tone for more of a dramatic tone. I’ve appreciated the new approach to these fresh batch of episodes. The newest episode ‘Twice in a Lifetime’ started off as an average story about time travel but ended up being a deeply personal story about commitment and love.
In the beginning of the episode, Lamaar (J. Lee) and Isaac (Mark Johnson) inform Captain Mercer (MacFarlane) that they have been working on the ‘Aaronov Device’, a device that can create a temporal field and send something through time. Naturally, this piques the interest of Malloy and he wants to send an egg salad sandwich 10 seconds in the past and then eventually into the future so his future self can enjoy the sandwich.
The crew goes on to explain the rules of time traveling. Everyone knows how drastic it will be if anyone interfered with time. Since the Aaronov Device is important to the Union, The Orville is given an escort to a space station so it would be safe. A fleet of Kaylon begin attacking to take the device. Malloy volunteers to destroy the device. At the same time, The Orville uses their quantum drive, and it triggers the device, sending Malloy back in time.
After searching for Malloy, they receive a message that was sent 400 years ago. It turns out to Malloy was sent back in time to 2015 and is trapped there. The Orville travels back in time but misses their destination by 10 years and lands in 2025. Mercer and Grayson find Malloy happily married in 2025 with a son. He is married to Laura (Leighton Meester) who was introduced in Season 2. The Orville opened a time capsule from 2015 and she had information on a cell phone. Malloy sought out Laura in 2015 and fell in love with her.
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He refuses to return with Mercer and Grayson, which leads to an intense argument about Malloy’s commitment but also accepting his new life. This is where the episode became the most interesting since Malloy argues and yells at Mercer saying how he didn’t want to give up his life and was angry with Mercer for rescuing him too late.
This is a deeply personal episode with Malloy finally getting what he wanted. It’s easy to feel his frustration with Mercer. Watching the two argue is something that I thought never would happen in the series, but it builds perfectly on the set up of the episode and the affects time travel could have. Even in the middle of the argument, the friendship is still strong.
There is a subplot that doesn’t seem especially important to the overall storyline but works for the characters. Isaac and Burke are in 2025 as well and are trying to help everyone get home. They need to enter a house to drill for fuel, enough to get the ship home. The house is for sale and Isaac (in a human form) and Burke act as a married couple to get a tour so they can get to the basement. Putting the two characters together for most of the episode allowed for the two to get things off their chests and take a step forward in their relationship. It didn’t end perfectly for the two, but it was a chance to get a better understanding of Burke’s hatred for Isaac.
This is episode showed that is can easily balance the sci-fi elements with a dramatic tone throughout. With only a couple of episodes left in the season, I hope the show revisits some storylines that were strong in the beginning of the season. If none are revisited, the season is continuing to shape up to be the best one!
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
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