^TagDr. Finn (Orville character)

3D rendered fantasy alien planet. Rocks and moon

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
January 14, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Bortus (character in the Orville series), Charly (character in Orvilles 3), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Ed Mercer (character in Orville series), Featured, Gordon Malloy (character in Orville series), Heveena (character in the Orville series), Isaac (robot in Orvilles 3), Kelly Grayson (character in Orville series), Klyden (character in the Orville series), LaMarr (character in Orvilles 3), Lysella (character in Orville series), Moclans in Orville sci-fi series, Orville Season Three summary view, Seth MacFarlane, Star Trek vs. Orville, Straw man argument, Topa (character in the Orville series)}

Final Thoughts on The Orville Season Three — What Went Wrong

_{Unlike Star Trek, which put conflicting opinions in the mouths of beloved characters, Orville 3 screams its opinions to the point of harming the story} _{Gary Varner

January 14, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

What a terrible season! I remember watching the beginning episodes of The Orville and thinking the show wasn’t quite there yet but held promise. Sadly, things did not improve with time. I think part of the problem is that The Orville was taken over by Hulu which is now owned by Disney. This, likely, prompted a degree of studio involvement that dropped the show’s quality. The Orville tried to address controversial subjects, just as Star Trek did years before. But it did not understand or reproduce the most important ingredient of the way the classic sci-fi series dealt with such topics. Star Trek used its main characters as voices that represented various positions. This is not to say that Star Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
January 7, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Bortus (character in the Orville series), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Featured, Gordon Malloy (character in Orville series), Klyden (character in the Orville series), Lysella (character in Orville series), Moclans in Orville sci-fi series, Orville Season 3 Episode 10, Ty (character in Orville series)}

Orville Episode 10: You’ve Heard of Saving the Best for Last?

_{Well, decide for yourself if you think that’s what the writers did. Some of us would describe it in other terms} _{Gary Varner

January 7, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Episode 10 fails for many reasons, but it’s not the kind of terrible where the episode is so bad you can throw your head back and laugh. Not only is it bad; it’s boring. Mixed up scenes, clunky dialog, and pretentious diatribes spread through the story. The story opens with Moclans Bortus and Klyden renewing their vows. Apparently, the all-male Moclans have a ritual where they essentially run naked through the forest until the “dominate male” catches the “submissive male” and . . . I’ll let you use your imagination. This scene is painful to watch. Two overweight men shamble through the woods in G-strings and the viewer is subjected to every horrendous second. I’m sure you’re wondering, “what kind Read More ›

Graphic abstract butterfly escapes opening heart background

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
December 10, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Charly (character in Orvilles 3), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Featured, Isaac (robot in Orvilles 3), Janisi (characters in Orville), Kaylon (characters in Orville), Orville Season 3 Episode 7, Robots and sentience, Third Rock from the Sun (TV series), Westworld}

Orville: Isaac Gets To Be a Real Boy … for 30 seconds

_{Should he be given the opportunity to feel the painful emotions associated with his tragic circumstances? It's a dilemma that Dr. Finn does not seem to recognize} _{Gary Varner

December 10, 2022

8

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

This episode was nowhere near as abysmal as Episode Six. Granted not much happened, but it does offer one interesting idea. There are three main stories going on at the same time, and two of them intersect. First, the Orville is attempting to make peace with a race of aliens called the Janisi, who are a matriarchal society. In order to open negotiations with the Janisi, the crew decides to gender swap the staff on the ship. This is played for laughs, as a kind of a gotcha to all men, but for me, none of the jokes really landed. The bits are mostly just Seth MacFarlane stumbling around while carrying a bunch of suitcases for this alien race. It’s Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
November 5, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Abortion in science fiction, Anaya (character in Orville series), Charly (character in Orvilles 3), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Ed Mercer (character in Orville series), Featured, Gently Falling Rain (Orville 3 4), Kelly Grayson (character in Orville series), Krill (characters in Orville series), LaMarr (character in Orvilles 3), Orville Season 3 Episode 4, Planetary Union in Orville series, Political messaging in science fiction, Seth McFarlane, Teleya (character in Orville series)}

Episode 4: The Orville Writers Try Their Hand at Woke Messaging

_{No, it doesn’t work. In Season 3, the plot gently falls apart} _{Gary Varner

November 5, 2022

11

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Episode 4 of The Orville, Season 3, titled “Gently Falling Rain,” starts out strong and then gradually falls apart, in a way that is almost reminiscent of a frog slowly boiling in a pot of water. For most of the episode, there is only one really glaring plot hole and it’s easy enough to ignore. But then within the last quarter of the show, viewers are pounded with so much idiocy that we barely have time to realize what’s happened. As the episode opens, the hostile Krill are ready to sign a treaty with the Planetary Union. They’ve been taken to a futuristic Broadway production of Annie — it’s good to know that that little overplayed gem of a production Read More ›

male in protective hazmat suit disinfect public isolated spaces, carrying barrels, pathogen respiratory quarantine coronavirus covid-19 concept

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
October 22, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science Fiction

Tagged
Dr. Finn (Orville character), Ed Mercer (character in Orville series), Featured, Gordon Malloy (character in Orville series), Isaac (robot in Orvilles 3), Kalarr Expanse (area in Orville series), Kelly Grayson (character in Orville series), Krill (characters in Orville series), Orville Season 3 Episode 2, Paul Christie (character in Orville series)}

The Orville Episode 2: Bacterial Assimilation? — It Gets Messy

_{A ship that crew members investigate turns out to be a deadly mixture of mechanical — and organic — material} _{Gary Varner

October 22, 2022

8

Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science Fiction}

Episode 2 of Season 3 opens with the Orville crew beginning its negotiations with the Krill, an aggressive reptilian species that has joined a temporary alliance with the Planetary Union of flight-capable species to counter the new threat from the Kaylon, an artificially intelligent species. A Krill moment: The Orville group begin by discussing routes through the Krill territory, so the Union can explore the regions of space on the other side. The discussion grows tense when the admiral who has boarded the Orville for the negotiations, Admiral Paul Christie, mentions exploring the Kalarr Expanse (the “Shadow Realm”). The Krill become nervous about this request, telling Ed Mercer and Kelly Grayson, and Christie that demons dwell there. And that they Read More ›

Mechanized industry robot and human worker working together in future factory . Concept of artificial intelligence for industrial revolution and automation manufacturing process .

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
October 15, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Charly (character in Orvilles 3), Dr. Finn (Orville character), Ed (character in Orvilles 3), Featured, Isaac (robot in Orvilles 3), LaMarr (character in Orvilles 3), Robot and emotional attachment, Seth MacFarlane}

Orville Episode 1: We Witness — a Robotic Resurrection!

_{In this final look at Episode 1 of Season Three, we see how love for a robot, unexamined, entails a loss of sense and meaning} _{Gary Varner

October 15, 2022

7

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

After I rolled my eyes for what felt like twenty minutes, waiting for the writers to quit wasting time with the whole “Isaac is really dead! We mean it!” routine, somebody finally realizes that there is a way to save the poor robot’s life. Apparently, the robot has a backup, of a backup, of a backup file buried deep inside his brain. The engineer, LaMarr, is fairly certain he can reconstruct Isaac’s programming using this secret backup file. If this sounds lazy and contrived to you, you’ll love this next part. Remember Charly, the girl who was super hateful to the robot at the beginning of the episode? Well, apparently, she is the newest high-ranking member in the crew, despite Read More ›

White futuristic robot, crossed arms, unhappy face

^{Type
post

Author
Gary Varner
Date
October 8, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Psychology, Robotics, Science Fiction

Tagged
Dr. Finn (Orville character), Ed Mercer (Orville character), Featured, Isaac (Orville robot) vs. Data (Star Trek robot), Isaac (robot in Orvilles 3), Marcus (Orville character), Orvill Season Three Episode 1, Robots and moral accountability, Robots in science fiction (sentience issues), Stakes (emotional stakes in fiction)}

When a Robot Commits Suicide — an Elegy for What?

_{What’s frustrating about Episode 1 of Orville, Season Three is that robot Isaac’s claim to personhood is not ambiguous so much as confused and contradictory} _{Gary Varner

October 8, 2022

9

Arts & Culture, Psychology, Robotics, Science Fiction}

Last time, we began our review of The Orville, Season Three, by discussing the unorthodox relationship between Isaac, the ship’s token robot, and Dr. Claire Finn. The bottom line is that they were romantically involved until Isaac turned out to be a sleeper cell for his race of robots, the Kaylon, who controlled an entire planet. In a climactic moment, Isaac — because of his attachment to Dr. Finn’s son Ty — defeats his programming and saves the Orville. Unfortunately, however, in the battle between the Kaylon and the Union fleet, many Union soldiers were killed defeating the Kaylon — and most in the Orville’s crew have not forgotten it. Dr. Finn and Isaac’s relationship remains somewhat ambiguous. What feels Read More ›