Alexx Aplin
Alexx AplinWarning: This article contains spoilers for the 9th Episode of The Orville.
With only a few episodes of The Orville’s first season left, I’m amazed by how diverse the episodes have been in terms of the subject matter. From harrowing character-focused episodes to cautionary tales about societies not so dissimilar to our own, there is a lot to unpack with this series. Now we’re on to Episode 9, titled “Cupid’s Dagger” which I hope will carry on the trend of quality storytelling that has gone on so far.
To recap the previous episode, Claire, Isaac, and Claire’s two sons Ty and Marcus were set to go on a vacation trip. However, after flying through a spatial distortion, the shuttle broke apart, and Claire was separated from Isaac and her sons. After a harrowing, intense episode, we saw character development from Isaac and learned more about Claire and her sons as well.
Episode Spoilers Begin here!
The episode begins with Karaoke night, particularly with Kelly performing “Any Way You Want It” by Journey. Adrianne Palicki has a great singing voice, so I’m happy she got to show that off here. Next up on the Karaoke train is Bortus, who sings Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” or rather, he attempts to. Before he can sing a single note, they all are called to the bridge for a message from Admiral Halsey who is of course played by the lovely Victor Garber.
Admiral Halsey tells them that they are needed to mediate between two races who both have laid claim to a planet. The Navarians and the Bruidians have been in conflict for centuries over who lays claim to the planet Lapovius. They are nearing the brink of civil war, yet an ancient artifact has been found that may very well help them decide who actually colonized the planet first. The two sides have agreed to let a Union researcher analyze the DNA on the artifact, in the hopes of settling the conflict once and for all.
They are to meet up with the USS Olympia and take onboard an Archaeologist who will perform the tests on the Orville. On top of this, however, the Navarians and the Bruidians will be sending an ambassador along with staff, to oversee as well. It is a combustible situation and it could easily go poorly. Admiral Halsey also asks the crew of the Orville to attempt informal peace talks, in case things don’t go as planned with the artifact.
Alara then finds out that the Archaeologist they will be working with is none other than Darulio, the man that Kelly cheated on Ed with. However, before she can warn them, they are already down in the shuttle bay and have met him themselves. The hilarious part for me is that Darulio is played by Rob Lowe. I like Rob Lowe as an actor, so seeing him be Kelly’s ex of all things is hilarious.
Darulio says that Ed is entitled to his feelings about what happened, but that the safety of Lapovius and the end of the conflict is far more important than anything between the three of them. The next scene is hilarious, due to Ed and Kelly having to pause an argument in an elevator so that they don’t argue in front of another crew member who gets on the elevator after them.
Alara has an awkward conversation with Darulio, which is interrupted when he literally runs through Yahphit. Thankfully he is an amorphous blob, so there was no real damage. We then see Claire interacting with Bortus and Klyden, having given their son his vaccinations. Klyden asks Bortus if he’ll be home for dinner and Bortus reiterates that they have an important diplomatic situation on board so he will be working late.
Klyden is very unhappy about this, and storms off after saying that he and the child will just spend another night by themselves. It seems that their relationship still hasn’t recovered after Episode 3, which is an interesting thing. Most shows like this wouldn’t carry that plot on as much, but they are doing a great job of giving it weight.
Claire asks Bortus if he and Klyden are having problems, and he tells her that all they do is fight, Klyden won’t stop eating, the baby hardly sleeps, and they have not resumed marital relations since the child was born. He asks why people have babies and Claire tells him that the first year is hard, but she assures him that they will find a rhythm that works for them.
Yahphit then arrives with flowers and a guitar and tells her that he wants to ask her out to dinner, and he will not take no for an answer. Claire tells him that they have a problem because she is busy and no is the only answer he is getting. He starts singing on the guitar, but she tells him that it is incredibly out of line to do so in the medical bay.
Then, Yahphit basically makes things worse by saying that she’s a great mother to her “awful” boys, she is smart and wise, warm, and he really cares about her. He even tells her that he loves her, but Claire has had enough. She tells him that after enduring these visits for months, if he does this again she’ll be submitting a formal complaint.
Yahphit leaves, telling her he won’t bug her anymore. Kelly goes to check on Darulio, who tells her that between scanning and cross-referencing any possible trace DNA samples, it will take approximately two days before he is done. Kelly then tells him that she regrets what happened between them and that she has worked hard to mend her relationship with Ed. So, anything between them is over for good.
Their conversation seems to abruptly change, leading to Kelly telling Darulio that it is difficult for her to take care of her…needs, on the ship. Before we can see what becomes of this conversation path though, the scene shifts to the bridge. Isaac tells Ed that the Bruidians have arrived and that the Navarians are approaching the Orville. Isaac also mentions that there is no one down at the shuttle bay to receive their visitors. Kelly was meant to be the one to greet them, so Ed asks where she is on the ship.
Isaac tells him that she is currently in her quarters and when Ed goes to investigate and we get a repeat of the very first scene of the show, essentially. Ed and Kelly have another argument and run into the elevator guy again. Ed is furious that she slept with Darulio again but even more so that she was meant to be preventing an incident between their visitors.
Of course, they arrive to find the Navarian and Bruidian ambassadors at each other’s throats. Alara has not been able to diffuse the situation, but Ed manages to do so. He also is able to get them to agree to a peace talk the next day after they have all had time to calm down a bit. Kelly and Alara go back to Kelly’s quarters, talking about what happened with Darulio.
Alara doesn’t seem to understand what Kelly sees in Darulio, but Kelly says that there is something about Darulio that is magnetic, like a drug. The conversation then takes a turn when Kelly explains that she thinks she might be in love with Darulio, much to Alara’s surprise and confusion. Something is clearly going on here and Alara’s reaction to it is nothing short of hilarious. She’s definitely the friend that sees you doing something stupid and self-destructive, but isn’t sure how to stop it.
Ed is venting to Gordon about it and ultimately decides to fire Darulio from the job. He goes to fire him at the lab, telling him that what happened was beyond unprofessional. Darulio concedes his point but also mentions that in his culture it is improper to turn down sex. He asks to show Ed something that he has found and reveals that the artifact they found was actually a birthing bucket. The trace DNA they found was actually remnants of the placenta from an actual birth some 30,000 years ago.
Things get weirder though when Ed abruptly decides not to fire Darulio and then asks him if he wants to go for a drink later. He’s almost giddy like a schoolgirl when Darulio agrees, and it is hilarious just how strange it all is. It is obvious that something strange is going on, especially considering Claire goes to visit Yahphit, and is all dolled up to do so.
Claire kisses Yahphit and it is clear they do a fair bit more than that, though nothing is shown on screen. It’s awkward, but prior to that, we learned that Yahphit’s race actually reproduces by mitosis. The next scene shows Gordon going to see Ed, who is plucking his eyebrows to get ready for drinks with Darulio. Gordon asks how things went with Darulio and Ed’s reaction is very confusing for him.
He is surprised that Ed is going to drinks with Darulio and asks about him mediating the peace talks. Ed is more concerned with trying to find an outfit to wear. Gordon even asks if Ed is “into” Darulio and Ed gets relatively defensive. What is actually going on here?
Alara confides in John that she thinks Kelly is acting really strangely. She then sees Ed act strangely when he dodges a Navarian ambassador who wants to know the results of the artifact analysis. He’s more concerned with having drinks with Darulio, and it is revealed that both Kelly and Ed have ignored messages from the ambassadors.
When Ed gets to Darulio’s table, he finds Kelly there. There is obviously some jealousy there and when Darulio leaves the table, Kelly is confused to find that Ed’s opinion has changed completely. This then becomes a competition, where Kelly is convinced that Ed isn’t his type and Ed is convinced otherwise.
On the Bridge, the Bruidian ambassador demands that Bortus find Ed so that he can be sure that the Nevarians aren’t getting any kind of special treatment in the tests on the artifact. When Bortus asks Alara where Ed and Kelly are, she mentions that the last time she saw them they were in the mess hall, but that Kelly was acting obsessed with Darulio. Gordon tells them about how weird Ed was acting, and before they can figure anything else out, Marcus and Ty show up.
Marcus tells Alara that Claire has been locked in her office for hours and won’t answer the door. When Alara opens her office door, she finds Claire and Yahphit in a very… compromised position. When confronted, Claire acts as though she is in love with Yahphit and Alara is certain something is going on. However, Bortus tells her that the Navarians and Bruidians are threatening to withdraw from the agreement and fight it out if they don’t hurry things up.
Alara goes to the science lab and confronts Darulio after getting Kelly and Ed to leave. Darulio reveals that his species go into heat once a year and excretes a pheromone that causes the same sort of symptoms that Ed and Kelly are experiencing. Because he tripped over Yahphit, his gelatinous body must have absorbed some of the pheromones and passed them on to Claire.
They make their way to sickbay because Alara is determined to find a solution that won’t have the Navarians and Bruidians going to war. Darulio doesn’t think it is much to worry about, but Alara is insistent. Ed and Kelly bicker on their way to the elevator and run into the guy again. He has actually gotten the music for the elevators, so now the rides aren’t silent. I enjoyed this recurring gag, mostly because as far as recurring jokes go, this was fairly simple but hilarious.
Ed and Kelly get to the conference room and the peace talks do not go well at all. The two groups are at each other’s throats, and Ed and Kelly being at odds doesn’t help matters. Things progress to the point that Warships from both races start to prepare for war. At the sickbay, Alara discovers that there is no known antidote for the pheromone and confines Darulio to his quarters.
Bortus tries to reach Ed, and we see that he and Darulio had sex at some point, and Ed just got out of the shower. He tries reaching Kelly and she is in her quarters crying, eating a chocolate cupcake. Darulio sees the fleets outside and realizes what is going on.
At the same time, Alara and Bortus begin to try and solve the problem by keeping the ambassadors from using their comms and turning their own deflector shield into a barrier between the two fleets. Darulio arrives at the bridge and explains that he has an idea of how he might be able to help.
In the meantime, we see Yahphit, who was called to engineering to fix the deflector shield. On the way he is confronted by Claire, because he hasn’t answered her messages due to being confined to his quarters. She’s gone full crazy ex-girlfriend because of the pheromones. She holds him at gunpoint, keeping him from getting to engineering.
A battle begins outside between the two fleets, which is stopped when Darulio and Alara bring the ambassadors back to the bridge. They somehow managed to use Darulio’s pheromone to get the two ambassadors to fall for each other. Because of this, the ambassadors tell their people to stand down, ending the conflict.
After everything, we see Claire checking over Ed. She asks him how he is feeling and he says he’s fine, other than being a little weirded out. Claire can relate to that and mentions that she isn’t looking forward to seeing Yahphit again. Ed then goes to Kelly’s office and has a nice conversation with her, where they agree to not talk about what happened. Ed apologizes anyway, but it is clear they’re both embarrassed.
When the topic turns to what happens when the pheromone wears off, Darulio enters, telling them that it turns out that the artifact was from a common ancestor of both the Navarian and Bruidian races. Because of that, both races have a claim to Lapovius and no more reason to be at each other’s throats.
Before Darulio goes back to the Olympia, Kelly asks him if he was in heat when she cheated on Ed. All Darulio says to that, is “maybe,” which leaves it open as to whether she was entirely at fault for doing so or not. This episode of The Orville was a fun one, though I wouldn’t say it was to the same quality standard as the other episodes. It was a bit simpler, less serious, and meant for a lighter story.
I think it would have been nice to get into more information about the Navarian and Bruidian races. Some understanding of why they had been at war for so long besides mere “claim over land” might have made things a bit more interesting. As it was, I didn’t really have much understanding as to why the Union hadn’t intervened sooner.
Other than that though, the episode of The Orville was solid and I laughed through the whole episode. It was funny and gave the cast a chance to let loose a little bit. Sadly, we didn’t get any real background on Darulio himself, though perhaps that will come later on or something. It was nice to see Ed and Kelly reach a sort of peace with what happened though.
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🔥577The Orville
Pros
- Hilarious Episode
- Great Use of Recurring Gags
- Finally a Bit of Closure for the Darulio Story
Cons
- No Real Backstory on the Bruidians and Navarians
