Firewins

 So episode 1 of the third season of The Orville has finally dropped! It honestly took me by surprise as I had honestly forgotten about it XD

So it was a very pleasant surprise to come home from a day full of exams to see that my favorite trash TV show had dropped an episode for the first time in years!

(Spoilers for the episode and mentions of suicide, past this point so please beware!)


I really liked the opening sequence and I love that the trauma that the kids faced during the battle with the Kaylons is being treated with some real weight! 

(also Issac's face plate opening up into a jaw was absolutely terrifying and made me physically flinch!) Jump scares are often rather cheap for me but this was great!

The episode surprised me a lot with just how serious it was! I mean I do like that the events of the last season are being treated as actual things with a lasting impact (I'm especially glad that they didn't do a time skip or something to explain the real world time break) but this episode was miles away from the tone that I'm used to seeing from The Orville!

I mean it's a comedic Star Trek parody for gods sake! I don't expect it to depict a character being ostracized and hated by his entire community to the point that he commits suicide!

So yeah this episode was absolutely angst fuel for Issac! My boy is not having a good time in this episode (which to be fair he does deserve).

The majority of the ship (mostly excluding the main cast) distrusts or straight up hates him for his part in the Kaylon attack (which as I've already said is quite valid) and even Marcus seems to hate Issac. 

Issac in his usual way seems both robotically unphased but in a way that lets the invested viewer see and underlying emotional reaction. Which I absolutely love! It's so cool how the show always toes the line of Issac's humanity without ever truly confirming it one way or the other. He clearly is able to form attachments to people but other than that it never commits further.

Issac's relationship with Claire was adorable but he never seemed to truly understand love or romance, even when he parroted it. However if you wish to see that he feels it you can! The show never definitely says that he did or didn't love Claire in the romantic sense! It leaves it up to the viewer to project which ever interpretation they wish onto Issac. He is exactly as human as you want him to be.

(As an aromantic I prefer to believe that while he did care for Claire he could never love her in the romantic sense! He just wasn't programmed that way, and neither was I!) 

Either way his Suicide absolutely surprised me, I was not expecting The Orville to go there! But it was a fascinating thing to explore! The different ways that it affected people (Especially Claire, Ty, and Marcus) was really fun to watch! As a fan of angst I definitely enjoyed it (even though I was terrified that my favorite character had just been permanently killed off!)

Luckily for me Issac was revived and will hopefully remain on the ship for many more seasons! I'm really interested to see where the rest of the season will take this plot thread of the animosity of the crew towards Issac! I feel like even though there was some resolution there's still so much to be tackled! Especially with the new ensign who (kinda rightfully) hates him for the death of her best-friend. 

I also hope we get a more fulfilling and long-term resolution between Marcus and Issac!

ALSO LET TY HUG HIM GODSDAMMIT! Why didn't we get a scene with Ty reacting to Issac being ok?? D:

I also really liked the therapy session between Claire and Issac at the end of the episode! The implication that Issac's suicide might have been based completely on robotic logic about optimal crew functioning levels vs the underlying feeling that there's something more to it is a great example of how the show continues to play with Issac's humanity.

(Also I find it extremely humorous in a dark way that the emotionless android is probably now on a suicide watch)

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season! For more of this Issac centered storyline but also for storylines centered on the other characters! (I feel like aside from Claire and the new ensign we really didn't get much about non-Issac characters in this episode!) 

I honestly really want more from LaMarr this season!

Oh and of course I hope we get some content about my favorite dysfunctional (should probably get a divorce) couple: Bortus and Klyden! God those two are so bad for each other! :D