Ja'loja

Season 2 episode 1 should have came out swinging, instead it was a Strikeout! With ST: Discovery Season 2 airing Jan 17th The Orville should have rocked, but it was more of a dull soap opera. All 5 stories in this episode were boring and predictable. This was not a good start. Having 1 main story and maybe 1 side story is the way to go. This episode was rushed and unnecessary. Season 1 looked hopeful but after this episode, I see cancelation on the horizon.

This was a rocky start in my book. Unless you are a teen or a preteen you probably did not love this episode either. Is this the new target audience...teenagers? I hope not. You had the kids acting out and the adults acting like teenagers. I was kind hoping Isaac's "sarcastic" comment about there being a disease on board were actually true. That would have at least redeemed the episode as a space exploration themed show. But No. We had officers acting like they had never been on a date before and the captain acting like a heartbroken prom date. All so we could go watch an alien urinate. That is a rocky start in my book. Not to mention. Didn't they already kinda foreshadow Alara and the captain in the first season. So why are they going through this long thing setting this up this season?

Remember "Captain Picard Day" from TNG? This is where they got the balance between awkwardness and comedy right, while still keeping believable characters that live in a future reality.

The Orville writers might have have screwed this up by tipping the balance into cringeworthy embarrasement or latrine comedy. But they didn't, and started season 2 with a whole episode observing human behavior. As always, not being predictable might not appeal to everyone.

The Orville keeps being more Trek than the current official movies or series. Good Star Trek always was a people show, and defining the crew's personalities is a good start for the season.

The plot is weak and the comedy is forced. As a season starter, this was disappointing.

Very safe episode, not something to expect from a first episode of the season.. didn't really hype up any sort of plot points or show any sort of jump from season 1? The sci fi elements of season 1 were incredible and hopefully we'll see more of those self contained episodes in this season, but this episode just wasn't it. It felt like a filler episode meant for the middle of the season and that would of been fine, I wouldn't be surprised if Fox moved this episode to episode 1 like what they did with firefly...