The Orville gets a weapon upgrade at Moclus and takes engineers Toren and Korick to their next destination. But the two Moclans are carrying something in their luggage which is about to change everything…

The show’s ongoing exploration of the collision between Moclan culture and Union life comes to what feels like the first of several heads here and the result is one of the best episodes the show has ever done.

A massive amount of this episode is payoff but it’s so well written by Joe Menosky and directed by Jonathan Frakes that you could come in on this plot here and pick everything up. Every Moclan chicken comes home to roost this week and while you may figure out what’s going on before the characters do it’s still a kick in the teeth. And also the exact sort of altruistic problem the show excels at.

That’s where the episode soars, as Peter Macon’s Bortus, Adrienne Palicki’s Kelly and MacFarlane’s Ed all find themselves called to, if not glory, then certainly duty. MacFarlane is especially good here, as he gets a chance to show what Ed’s capable of as a captain and diplomat. Plus he gets to sit in a room with every Admiral we’ve seen so far which has to be cool. Meanwhile Kelly continues to be the hyper competent, hyper confident part of the equation and her willingness to get her hands dirty powers the back end of the episode here.

But it’s Peter Macon who gets the lion’s share of stuff to do, along with Chad Coleman. Bortus and Klyden’s decision to have their child’s gender switched doesn’t just haunt the episode, it haunts their entire relationship and the ghost comes to visit forcefully this week. Aided by a fun cameo from Marina Sirtis, Bortus finally feels able to call his mate on exactly how badly he’s behaving and it’s a vastly satisfying moment. No one does huffy like Coleman and no one does measured and calm like Macon so the pair arguing really hits home. Plus the episode takes great pains to show that their personal issues are far from resolved as the episode ends, even if Bortus’ own very much are.

Verdict: Rounded out with a gloriously weird, uplifting Dolly Parton-scored fight scene this is a fantastic hour of TV from a massively strong second season. I really hope The Orville gets picked up because we need more science fiction like this in popular culture, especially on Fox. Striking, clever and kind, this is TV at its best. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart