The good and bad of The Orville’s first season

I’ll admit that I was one of the hold-outs who refused to watch The Orville. I thought it would be too raunchy and all about the humor with no focus on anything serious . I also thought it was going to be nothing more than a farce, an attempt to gain a piece of the pie that is Star Trek. So I told myself I wasn’t going to watch it. Until I did. At least the first season which I just finished, and I’m happy to say I was pleasantly surprised.

The Good

Seth Macfarlane (Captain Ed Mercer) and Adriane Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson) have some pretty strong chemistry which is perfect considering they play former spouses.

The Orville itself is an amazing ship. I love, love, love the bridge and quantum drive as well as the crew quarters and the mess hall. Overall, the designers did a wonderful job creating this ship.

Isaac is a more mechanical version of Data. He likes to study humans, and his interactions with them are often both humorous and poignant.

Lt. Commander Bortus is a new type of alien that hasn’t been seen on Trek. A Moclan, he is part of a male-only race and lives aboard The Orville with his partner who doesn’t think Bortus spends enough time with him.

In fact, most of the crew are a perfect fit for the series. I especially like the Xelayan Chief of Security, Alara Kitan who has the strength of ten men but still manages to come across as unsure of herself at times.

The Bad

The humor is a bit ribald at times, and sometimes used when humor is the last thing that should be on anyone’s mind. That can be a bit distracting.

The crew talk to the captain in ways that would have gotten them court-martialed under any other commanding officer. I know this is a much different show than Star Trek, but it’s hard not to make that comparison.

Yaphit is a gelatinous being who is a member of the crew. While I love Norm McDonald, who provides Yaphit’s voice, the character itself seems as though he’s only around for jokes and to make passes at the doctor.

Those things aside, the first season of The Orville has some amazingly good episodes that touch on serious topics. There is life and death aboard the ship, battles that threaten to rip it to shreds, and mistakes that have catastrophic results. Overall, I’d give the first season a 7 on a scale of 1-10. If you’re on the fence about whether to watch it, I’d suggest giving it a shot. You might be a surprised as I was.