It’s safe to say that critics weren’t too fond of The Orville when it debuted in September 2017. Scathing reviews led to a low score on aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. So science-fiction fans and Seth MacFarlane devotees (who figured they’d give it a chance regardless) were baffled when they tuned in to find a fun show that was as full of brilliant gags as it was thought-provoking storylines. Fast forward to a greenlight for The Orville Season 2.
Perhaps its mixed reception came down to marketing. Since the show aired, creator MacFarlane has spoken about how it was sold as a ‘hard comedy’ or a spoof Star Trek — with trailers focusing solely on the crude jokes and leaving out the drama — and he felt that that didn’t best represent what it actually turned out to be. Subsequently, there were viewers out there who either didn’t know what to expect or worse, geared themselves up for something that didn’t deliver what they’d had in mind.
MacFarlane assures that Season 2 will be different, saying: “The work that the marketing team at Fox did on the season is stellar.” Basically, it’s best to know what you’re getting yourself into, which is why we’ve pulled together a rundown of everything you can expect to see in The Orville Season 2.
Season 2 Premiere is a Season 1 Carry-Over
Interestingly, The Orville Season 2 kicks off on December 30 with an episode that was originally intended to be Season 1’s penultimate instalment. Before being cut for time, it was supposed to air in between “New Dimensions” and “Mad Idolatry” so it’ll be fascinating to see how it manages to propel the story forward, slotting in as it does now after the events of the Season 1 finale when it was technically made to come before it narratively.
In the episode, Captain Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) and the crew are tasked with saving a planet, occupied by an alien race called the Nyxians, before it is destroyed by its own sun. Elsewhere, Lieutenant Commander Bortus (Peter Macon) and his partner Klyden face marital problems as they attempt to help Bortus overcome his addiction to the ship’s simulation room, adjust to parenthood and deal with the aftermath of their newborn child undergoing gender reassignment surgery. See? We told you it had some thought-provoking subplots.
Season 2’s second episode will air only four days later. After that, a new episode will debut every Thursday.
Less Alara Kitan
While all of the main crew aboard the USS Orville are fabulous in their own right, there are a couple that stand out. Lieutenant Alara Kitan, the ship’s resident Xelayan is one of them.
Played by Halston Sage, the young Security Officer went through a lot in Season 1, from overcoming her own insecurities and struggling to have the crew take her seriously — something she succeeded in doing despite her parents’ doubt — to navigating the world of dating and tackling her pyrophobia brought on by a childhood incident.
Sadly though, it doesn’t look like she’ll be in many episodes of The Orville Season 2 due to the fact that Sage was filming Netflix’s The Last Summer around the same time new episodes were being shot. Additionally, it’s been rumoured that Jessica Szohr’s new character, a fellow Xelayan named Tala, will be taking over as the ship’s Security Officer.
“I think you are going to be intrigued to see what we do with both of those characters,” executive producer David A Goodman previously teased. “I don’t want to spoil it, but it is unexpected.”
Cinematic Episodes and ‘Daring’ Storylines
“I think what you’re going to see in Season 2 is a show that’s even more comfortable in its footing in terms of existing in that Goldilocks Zone,” MacFarlane said during The Orville’s San Diego Comic-Con panel earlier this year. “Every episode feels like a movie, and I think you’re going to dig it.”
Writer, producer and director Brannon Braga echoed MacFarlane’s thoughts during the same event, adding: “In Season 2, the storytelling is even more assertive and bold and there’s some daring stuff that happens. I think the other big thing is that when we were writing Season 1, we didn’t have the cast. So, you were imagining these roles, but once the actors get into these roles, it changes everything and they way you are approaching these characters.”
Sounds like Season 2 is going to be big in more ways that one.
Friendships Will Deepen
It stands to reason that out of such a big group of people, some are going to bond more than others. Helmsman Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes) and Navigator-turned-Chief Engineer John LaMarr (J. Lee) have the same sense of humour, Ed and Kelly have a shared history and Bortus and Alara get along due to similarities in their exceedingly professional outlooks.
But it wasn’t until “Into the Fold” that Doctor Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald) and the robot-esque Isaac (Mark Jackson) started to become close. The eighth episode saw the twosome — along with Claire’s children — crash-land on a dangerous planet while travelling to another. There, Claire became separated from the group and Isaac was forced to look after her sons. Of course, all four managed to make it back to the Orville alive but the ordeal definitely brought them closer together as Isaac began to embrace more human emotions.
The following episodes were so jam-packed that they didn’t have much time to focus on the pair but recently-released stills from season two have hinted at plenty of Claire/Isaac scenes. Expect to see their newfound friendship develop even further!
More Guest Stars
It’s no secret that MacFarlane has friends in high places so it’s hardly surprising that he managed to bag some A-List actors to guest star in the first season of The Orville. Throughout its 12 episodes, Holland Taylor, Jeffrey Tambor, Rob Lowe, Liam Neeson and Charlize Theron all appear. In a nod to the show that heavily inspired both its aesthetic and universe, MacFarlane also had Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Picardo appear as Alara’s father Ildis.
Understandably, those involved in the making of The Orville are keeping pretty quiet when it comes to which famous faces might show up in the series’ sophomore season. However, we do know that F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus, Star Trek: Insurrection), Tony Todd, Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and The Good Place actor Ted Danson are set to pop up.
Back in March, Lee indicated that “a legend” would be cameoing in the show but in full-alien make-up. Here’s hoping the crew let us in on who it is when the episode they star in airs — presuming they aren’t instantly recogniseable, of course.
Ed and Kelly Aren’t Likely to Get Romantic
Ed’s relationship with First Officer Kelly Grayson is one of the most intriguing aspects of The Orville — and that’s saying something, since this show has a lot going for it. In the pilot, it’s established that the pair were once married but one day, Ed caught Kelly cheating on him and ultimately, they got divorced. A year on, they were forced to work together.
Nowadays, they’re in a friendly place and towards the end of Season 1, it looked like romantic feelings might be rekindling. But Adrianne Palicki — who plays Kelly — has hinted that they’re not quite ready for that yet.
“They’re in the aftermath of that big letdown, I think for both of them, and how they’re both dealing with it separately,” she recently told TV Guide. “They obviously like each other massively, and I don’t think that will ever go away, the will they or won’t they, the Lois and Clark, or the Ross and Rachel. There’s going to be a lot of fluctuation throughout the year. … But I’m rooting for them, I hope they eventually get together because they obviously both need and love each other very much.”
Tonal Shifts Will Keep Viewers on Their Toes
While The Orville‘s first season featured poignant allegories and subtle commentary on society and other themes, most of its episodes were a mix of both serious subject matter and humour. But now it seems like the writers have switched that up a little.
Talking to TrekMovie back at San Diego Comic-Con, Goodman divulged that “this year, there are episodes that are full comedy, start to finish” but then there are other episodes that tackle “some dark stuff.” He added: “It is episode-to-episode. I think that is what attracted Seth to this kind of format. You don’t know what you are going to get week-to-week but because you are with these characters, the audience buys in. The audience had no trouble with that in the first season and they won’t’ have trouble in the second.”
Amplified Action
The Orville‘s first season had its fair share of conflict and life-threatening moments, from crash-landings, alien attacks and infiltrating enemy communities to the fire that killed a crew member in its penultimate episode. But fans should gear themselves up for even more action in the upcoming episodes, as MacFarlane recently revealed that there will be plenty of high-octane thrills in Season 2.
Talking to Australia’s SBS, he explained, “The early episodes were an experiment to get the response we wanted from the studio but now, they’ve given us more time and resources to film more complex scenes.”
He also went on to note that the show had brought in producer Jon Cassar, who has a history of overseeing action-packed sequences due to his previous work on 24, to help finesse that aspect of The Orville.
“There’s nobody better at doing action than that guy,” he gushed.
The Orville Season 2 lands in the US on December 30 and in the UK on January 10.
