Martin Carr reviews the third episode of The Orville season 2…
There is a sense of closure which comes out of left field this week with The Orville. Often when principal players want to move on from an established series creative differences are cited, which translates into money wrangles, on set behavioural issues or worse. Instead what we have here is the departure of Halston Sage neatly wrapped up with a palpable completion of her character arc and noticeable dignity.
As Alara Kitan she has proved an essential part of this fledgling series time and again, therefore MacFarlane has given her an exit worthy of such praise. Combining back story, dysfunctional family dynamics and the eternal argument around intellectualism versus brute force, ‘Home’ is both engaging and thought provoking. Something which week on week has provided us with dramatic friction often wrapped around double edged swords. A notion which is explored further as Alara’s return to her home planet takes time to establish tone, cultural prejudice and the bias placed on intellectual achievement.
In other episodes MacFarlane has made his points about gender equality but by dissecting intellectual equality versus military might he goes one further. By employing sparse set design and minimalist architecture there is an allegorical link to be made concerning the intellectual high mindedness of this species. Their food is precise, furnishings angular and rooms huge which diminishes the levels of intimacy between characters. That MacFarlane then takes the premise and alludes to the dangers of intellectual reliance is a nice twist. For the briefest time ‘Home’ then becomes something different as revenge comes into play as an ulterior motive.
Having been with The Orville since day one it is fair to say ‘Home’ does not represent a high watermark, but that only makes sense in relation to how high MacFarlane has already raised his bar. There is an over reliance on traditional narrative tropes which include dysfunctional family dynamics, competitive siblings and overarching hard earned epiphanies leading to reconciliation. Despite that beneath the flagrant Star Trek homage resides a writer with plenty of opinions to share, who is able to write his cast an exit episode of note whilst pushing his series forward.
Martin Carr
