The discovery of a colossal ship with a habitat inside it leads an Away team to investigate. But when they discover the ship’s inhabitants have no idea of what their world really is, things get deadly.

You’ve seen this episode at least three times before. Every version of Star Trek has done this story and while not all have done it better than it is here, it was certainly more interesting the first five or six times.

MacFarlane’s script is uneven once again but in a subtly different way. Frontloaded with jokes and trudging exposition, it gives way to the show’s increasingly slick comedy/drama by act three and is all the better for it. The central idea is well explored too, and there’s a nicely gritty moment for both Kelly and Alara that firmly establishes them as anything but the ship’s victims. Better still there are some lovely character grace notes that give you a real sense of a crew who know and like one another. Also James Morrison and Robert Knepper, two of this week’s guest stars have spent decades turning in amazing work and do so again here.

There is another guest star. He’s great. And he’s also someone you really should see as a surprise.

That’s all great and the ending, which quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson, is genuinely moving. The only problem is, we’ve seen this all before. More than once.

Verdict: It’s still fun, but if The Orville is going to be anything other than a Star Trek: The Next Generation cover version it’s going to have to stop playing old tunes on new instruments. Good, but nowhere near as good as last week. 6/10

Alasdair Stuart