Martin Carr reviews The Orville’s season 2 finale…
Something happens this week which fundamentally challenges audience expectations, alters dramatic intention and makes season two a benchmark. Impossibly we are introduced to a whole new show that feels unlike anything The Orville has done before. Somehow the gloss has been removed, somehow these actors have not just thrown a thematic curveball but managed to alter the playing field totally making events feel cinematic. In this high end finale The Orville not only pays homage to numerous multiplex blockbusters but points out how feasible a feature length film might be.
One liners are jettisoned in favour of a subtle but transformative gear change across the board, as this ensemble dramatically bring the hammer down. Hat tips go out to everything from The Abyss to Aliens as MacFarlane instigates a payoff which is simultaneously dramatic and narratively satisfying. Set pieces seamlessly gel while character progression is reinvigorated as this forty eight minute game changer continually ups the ante. There is tangible tension, surprise cameos and MacFarlane brings his acting chops to bear as a fragile and hesitant Ed Mercer comes into the light.
In amongst this precisely executed piece of drama comes questions around choice, an exploration of repercussions and the intangibility of domino effects. Our decisions on a daily basis not only help define us but can have a radical impact on others. These choices can be professional, personal or open to chance, while actions committed in private can bring about a very public global change. Film and television, fiction and politics, scientific discovery and academic insight are all open to these influences, while other arenas have a deeper impact on an equally essential level.
In this case choices and decisions have truly world altering ramifications that could potentially bring about an end game event for everyone. By shifting locations, tweaking character motivations and scattering key players this finale genuinely delivers something unique. In the Kaylons Macfarlane has created an unstoppable force of artificial intelligence. Aggressively devoid of emotion, driven by logic and set on galactic domination with formidable Aryan intentions.
By establishing this tangible evil, undermining key players and taking away their safety net The Road Not Taken cleverly circumvents expectations, delivers an emotional sucker punch and achieves narrative closure. This feature film contender is no longer restricted by network television and Seth MacFarlane should start thinking much more multiplex in his aspirations.
Martin Carr
