In the first episode of The Orville Season 3: New Horizons, the first voyage for the crew after a Fox cancellation and a three-year hiatus, writers kicked off this fresh start with a rejuvenating new narrative and some welcome character-building. The episode focused primarily on Isaac’s relationship with the crew of the Orville after the Quiby was destroyed and its ranks were decimated.
After Isaac attempts suicide by EMP, Charly, one of the lone survivors of the Quiby, initially refuses to bring him back to life, though she later relents. With Isaac restored and the frontier seemingly endless, where could the Orville season 3 go from here?
Turns out, into some pretty dark places.
With so much work put into building the back story for these characters, viewers likely assumed the season would focus on building that narrative out more. But Episode 2 of New Horizons reminded viewers to be cautious with their assumptions.
Questions Answered and Unanswered From Last Week’s Orville Episode
After the conclusion of E1, viewers hoped to see where Isaac would go after becoming a technological revenant, but E2 is fairly skimpy on his story. In fact, the only thing that may have provided any indication about his motivations was a brief encounter with a “demon” (more on that later). The creature passes him over after seemingly realizing that his life form is useless… or does it? Could the entity sense that Isaac was not a friend of the Orville season 3? This isn’t necessarily far-fetched and is seemingly left ambiguous in E1.
One question from Episode 1 was addressed in Episode 2: whether viewers could expect to see more of Norm MacDonald’s Lieutenant Yaphit. Macdonald passed away in the fall of 2021. Still, his character Yaphit popped up for some comic relief in the first episode of this season, hanging out on deck quite characteristically doing nothing. But no Yaphit this week.
Other than that, not many narrative points carried over from E1. But Episode 2 did offer up some possible new horizons for the season’s narrative arc to pursue.
The Krill Try to Warn the Orville Season 3
In a temporary truce, the Union (Orville’s governing body back home) spot an opportunity to reach a deal with the Krill, an adversarial and formidable foe of the Union. This truce would allow the Orville to explore unknown regions of space in return for giving the Krill access to a spice they use to power their ships. This valuable commodity can only be found on a planet in Union space.
To oversee the truce, Admiral Christie (James Read) joins the crew of the Orville season 3 and tries to rekindle his relationship with Dr. Finn (Penny Johnson Gerald). The relationship doesn’t go anywhere, but the plot device gives viewers some backstory on Christie, who would unlikely share intimate details with a new crew without any former affiliation.
Captain Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and Christie negotiate the truce and share their intent to visit a dark part of the Krill’s controlled space (the Kalarr Expanse), but are warned that the area is doomed, populated by demons who the Krill fear. Despite the warnings, which Mercer waves off as familiar religious hoopla, the Orville presses on, deep into the unexplored realms, on a path that directly confuses them with the demon species.
And Demons They Are
When the crew of the Orville enters the Kalarr Expanse, it doesn’t take long before they have their first encounter with the demons the Krill feared. During the encounter, Admiral Christie’s respiratory system becomes infected by the demons, unsurprising considering the warnings they’d received, yet frightening nonetheless.
What is a bit surprising to the crew is that they encountered any lifeforms at all after Isaac scanned the star cluster and reported hundreds of habitable planets but no intelligent life, to which Charly responds, “just like Vegas.” But there is life, the shadow life of the demons that is undetectable by the crew, an unfortunate oversight that will cost Orville later.
After Admiral Christie is infected, it isn’t long before his demon transformation is complete. He begins to terrorize the ship, attacking and ultimately infecting other crew members with the demon virus.
Ultimately, Dr. Finn finds a way to coax the demons off the ship by threatening to infect the Orville with a different disease which she believes will kill the infected humans as their immune systems are weak from their transformations. The demons push back but finally do retreat, promising to return one day.
New Horizons and Final Frontiers
The Orville Season 3: New Horizons is shaping up to be exactly what Seth MacFarlane intended, a space-faring comedy-drama that hits all the notes. Star Trek fans must be enjoying every moment, but simultaneously, MacFarlane’s creation is not just retreading old ground.
The Family Guy creator has found a way to reinvigorate the genre by pulling inspiration from a beloved franchise and twisting it into something fresh and modern, making the genre fun again for both Trekkies and newbies alike.
Though many fans would like to see a more serialized version of the show with the narrative carrying over and building each week, playing a new track each week works just as well. Perhaps Episode 3 will give more insight into whether the show will build upon the existing narrative or stick to an expedition-of-the-week formula.
The Orville Season 3: New Horizons is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
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