Can I request a different captain?
(This review contains
spoilers!)
Seth
McFarlane can be funny. My problem with him is that more often than not he isn’t.
Most of his “comedy” projects usually pander to the lowest common denominator
of people, prioritizing swears and sex jokes over any actual plot and character
development.
When I first heard about The Orville and saw his name attached to
it, I was hesitant. As a huge fan of Star
Trek, primarily The Next Generation,
I didn’t exactly want to see the creator of Family
Guy take on one of my all-time favourite shows. But as I heard more and
more about how it was essentially a homage to classic Trek instead of a parody, I grew interested. The result?
Well, it’s not as bad as I thought it
would be and it actually has quite a few good things going for it, but the show
suffers from one massive, unsolvable problem: Seth McFarlane’s fingerprints are
all over it.
The story is about Ed Mercer, a
dishonoured starship officer played by McFarlane, who’s been given one last
shot at captaining a vessel before he’s fired for good. He’s been given the U.S.S Orville to command, alongside a
wacky crew of characters. The only problem is that his ex-wife has been given
the first officer position, an arrangement neither of them are too happy with.
So let’s start with what worked here. The Orville is at its best when it fully
embraces its Trek roots, paying
homage to the series that came before it. The last third of the episode is
easily the best part, because they pay excellent homage to a typical finale you’d
see in a Trek episode: the enemies
have the upper hand on our crew, but either the captain or whoever the main character
of the episode is figures out a creative solution that ties back to something
from earlier in the episode to save the day. To the episode’s credit, the way
the villains are defeated is very funny, but still also something memorable
that was introduced earlier in the episode.
I also like the character designs
quite a bit. While they won’t be winning any VFX awards anytime soon, the
makeup on the alien characters pay great homage to the makeup from Trek, looking different enough that you
can tell it’s a different species while still looking human underneath.
Unfortunately it often becomes obvious which Star Trek species you’re trying to lampoon, especially the
lieutenant commander who’s similarities to Worf the Klingon aren’t exactly
subtle.
Speaking of that, let’s talk about the
characters. They tend to fall into two categories: a parody of a Next Generation character, or annoying.
Plain and simple. We have a previously-mentioned Worf knockoff, a Data-like
robot, a doctor with some similarities to Beverly Crusher, and a navigator that
isn’t dislike Geordi (and no, it’s not just because they both have dark skin).
We don’t go into any of these characters super in-depth this episode, but it’s
kind of frustrating that the show had to rely on these iconic archetypes
instead of creating something brand new.
The only new character that feels
original is the lead security officer. Her design is really creative, and I
like having a female lead the security team. Again, this episode doesn’t really
go in depth with her too much as it’s more focused on the leads, but if I were
to keep watching this show she’d probably be my favourite.
As for the leads…I hate them. All
three of them. Captain McFarlane, his ex-wife, and his best friend/helmsman are
all insufferable every moment they’re onscreen. While McFarlane and his wife
aren’t without their moments, basically all they do is bicker and argue at
every turn. It’s like watching a Star
Trek episode themed to marriage counseling. It’s just not fun to listen to.
And then…there’s the helmsman. Good
lord do I despise this character.
The helmsman has no actual character.
He only exists as a proxy for McFarlane to insert his typical Family Guy style humour into the show.
Not a single scene goes by without him making an out of place pop-culture
reference or some toilet humour or a sex joke, immediately sucking you out of
the universe and reminding you “oh yeah, I’m watching a Seth McFarlane show”
and forcing you to question your life decisions.
Speaking of that, the fact that the
show feels it needs to be a weird comedy/drama hybrid is its ultimate downfall.
The actual Trek-style drama is very
well done and when the jokes aren’t forced a few of them actually got a laugh
out of me. The big problem here is that oftentimes the show will come to a
complete halt just so somebody (usually the helmsman) can crack a pop-culture
reference that might be relevant in 2017, but leaves you scratching your head
why it’s being used in a show set 400 years in the future.
All in all, The Orville isn’t offensively bad by any means. It actually has
quite a bit of good stuff going for it. When the show actually pays homage to Star Trek it’s clear how much love and
respect the showrunners have for it. The problems start rolling in though when
you take into account the unoriginal characters and the out-of-place humour
that feel like a wrecking ball tied to the foot of this promising show and
dragging it down to rock bottom. I doubt I’ll be back, but if it sounds
interesting to you, I would still recommend giving it a shot.
FINAL SCORE
4/10
Mediocre
No comments:
Post a Comment