As the crew deal with a matriarchal alien race, they discover a Kaylon with a unique ability and Talla, John, Claire and Isaac find themselves faced with complementary, but incredibly difficult choices.

My God this episode tries to do a lot. The A plot, the diplomatic mission with the Janisi, initially presents as a return to the broad comedy the show did a lot of back in season 1. The role swap is a fun idea but playing this fast and loose with a vital diplomatic mission a week after the timeline was altered to murder Gordon’s alternate family gives you whiplash the episode never quite recovers from. It does lead to some good physical comedy moments and a couple of absolutely belting one liners. Gordon’s ‘I’ll do it’ response to a very inappropriate request is both absolutely on point and a surprising moment of character nuance. Likewise, Bortus’ ‘They… were… awful’ is one of those moments where the big guy speaks for us all. Better still, it gives Sophina Brown as Captain Losha, the Janisi delegate some good moments that establish her worldview without it feeling crass or badly realized. Fundamentally, the plot is about the crew of the Orville’s untidy but basic decency being their biggest strength. It lands, and lands well. It also powers two other plots.

The B plot here sees the discovery of Timmis, played by Christopher Larkin. Timmis is a Kaylon, modified by Doctor Vilka (Eliza Taylor) to be able to feel emotions, and he’s a revelation. Gentle, kind, guilty. He’s everything the Kaylon could be and when Isaac is offered a chance to have the same treatment we see both how far the Orville’s science officer has come and how far he still has to go. Yet again, Marc Jackson and Penny Johnson Jerald are the heart of the episode and the dinner they have, after Isaac has had the operation, is so sweet. There’s a shot of Doctor Finn walking down the corridor that is a masterclass in silent acting, Jerald vibrating with happiness and joy. It makes what follows, the discovery Isaac can only have the procedure permanently if his memory is wiped, all the more heartbreaking. Again. Jerald carries the show as she gives him a deeply professional, and loving, way out of the process. We see everything that Claire is going through, we feel her pain and we know why she’s doing it, it’s so good and so bittersweet.

The C Plot (we’ve got two more folks, pace yourself) is less successful. Jessica Szohr and J Lee have been the least utilized cast members this season and the whirlwind romance between John and Talla is a chance to do something more with that. They do good work, but the running gag of Talla’s high density frame literally breaking John’s bones every time they have sex skirts dangerously close to fat shaming. Even without that, it’s just not that funny. The serious element of it, that these are two people who love each other but can’t be together, works as a counterpoint to Claire and Isaac’s story but doesn’t work on its own. It’s a shame, and I hope they get more and better material to work with before the end of the season.

The D plot is the secret origin of the Kaylon and it’s brilliant. Created as a servitor race, we see a series of flashbacks to the alien race that built the Kaylon, the discrimination they perpetrated and the horrific violence the Kaylon endured. There’s a moment where a child is playing with the pain switch that’s been newly installed in the family Kaylon and repeatedly knocking it down and laughing that’s honestly chilling. The later bookend to this, with K-1, played with poise by Graham Hamilton, butchering the family that oppressed it is a grim capstone to this and provides welcome context for the show’s primary villains.

Which brings to the E Plot and Charly Burke finally facing her pain. Anne Winters has had a ludicrously difficult job this season and has fitted in admirably precisely because Charly refuses to forgive the Kaylon. This episode that comes to a close as Timmis explains their past to her and Charly sees that her bogeyman isn’t as black and white as she was led to believe. It’s not a light switch, she’s not instantly Isaac’s best friend, but she now has the nuance she lacked. Again, the show could so easily have gone to ‘good people on both sides’ but instead it embraces complexity and finds, if not forgiveness, then equilibrium there.

Verdict: This is a lot to do in one hour and most of it works. Some of the comedy doesn’t land but what does land lands very well and you have to respect them for trying. If, as seems likely, this is the show’s victory lap season, it’s going out on a real high so far. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart