The Orville: More Star Trek Than Star Trek (these days)

Besides my hugely belated, final, review of Metal Gear Solid V  (which, trust me, is still going through re-writes to this day), it may seem rare to see some kind of entertainment review on here. However, I just binge watched the first 4 episodes of The Orville... And, being a person with an internet connection, I naturally couldn't resist the temptation to make my opinions known.

For the uninitiated, The Orville is the latest Seth MacFarlane comedy. Immediately this may be a cause for concern, as his animation has become increasingly stale (although I was a fan of A Million Ways To Die In The West).

And yet, within the space of its trailer, my feelings went from curious to optimistic.

In the end, these initial episodes far exceeded my expectations, actually feeling less like a "typical" sitcom than the trailer suggests... Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of one-liners. But the structure of each episode much more closely resembles that of The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine or even Voyager. This actually works incredibly well; as the world is built throughout each episode, the jokes feel funnier as you realise these are people making funny comments in a consistent world, rather than the changing rules of MacFarlane's previous animations. The plots feel like the kind you would fine on any past Trek episode, with the humour instead coming from the character's reactions. You could imagine these characters in the actual Star Trek universe, being given a ship because there's no-one else to pilot it. I mean, I'm sure even in the Federation there must be alcoholism, divorce and tension between senior staff...

Of particular note to me was the third episode "About A Girl". Without giving too many spoilers, it surprised me how well it emulated the way Star Trek would present cultural problems... With my only issues being it was so early in the series there wasn't the chance of more character development which was maybe needed for the situation and characters to feel more relatable. Equally, I can see why an episode such as this was broadcast so early... As a signal that this was aiming to be more than a silly comedy, but to derive humour instead from how it follows (and plays with) the situations from Star Trek itself, I feel it was successful. One thing that did shock me was some discussion this episode was so-called "SJW" and pushing some kind of political message... From people who clearly know nothing about Star Trek or the message Gene Roddenberry tried to convey from his very first season.

Overall, I'm pleased with the show. And I actually can't believe I've written about this first over any kind of review for Red Dwarf XII (whose first episode I also think was great).  Maybe I'll get writing about that in the next few days...