The Orville 1.01

Old Wounds

Captain Ed Mercer assumes command of the Orville, an exploratory starship, one year after his marriage ended. The ship's first mission takes Captain Mercer and his crew to the science center on Eplison Two. They pick up Commadner Kelly Grayson, the Orville's new executive officer and Ed's ex-wife, on the way to Eplison Two. Ed tries arguing with Admiral Halsey about the decision to make Commander Grayson the ship's XO but it gets him nowhere.

The Orville arrives as Epsilon Two. Captain Mercer, Commander Grayson, Security Chief Alara Kitan, and Chief Medical Officer Claire Finn travel to the surface of the planet by shuttle. Dr. Aronoff shows them around. The tour incudes a demonstration of a new piece of technology that rapidly ages things. Dr. Aronoff is worried about the Krill, a warlike race of aliens, who have threatened Epsilon Two in the past.

The Krill show up and attempt to take the device by force. The crew of the Orville, on the planet and aboard the ship, puy up a good fight but they are eventually forced to turn over the aging device to the Krill. They sabotage the aging device before handing it over. The Krill try activating the device and wind up destroying their spaceship.

Thoughts

This show resembles an iteration of Star Trek although it clearly takes place in a different universe.

The twist at the end of this episode wasn't too surprising. I wonder if it will get mentioned again in the the future?

There is a certain amount of humor in this episode that went right past me. I think the episode was supposed to be funnier that I thought it was. I'm fine with their being some humor. I had been warned there was a fair amount of humor in this show and in this episode in particular. Some humor is fine by me but I don't want a lot of humor.

There are some things that seemed a little too convenient, it seemed like Captain Mercer and his crew were in danger of getting killed by the Krill but then they handled them without anyone getting killed. The Orville sustains a lot of damage but they manage to resolve everything at the last minute. I'm being picky but I can't help but see these things.

I liked but didn't love this episode. It was my first experience with the show.  I will probably watch a few more episode, maybe the whole first season.