Warning: This review contains spoilers for the second episode of The Orville’s second season. Read at your own discretion.

The Orville’s second season started off with a solid, character-focused episode. It brought each of the characters into the second season, shaking up dynamics and providing insight into where these characters might go. I’m looking forward to Episode 2, which we’ll be covering today but first, let’s take a step back to recap-land shall we?

In the last episode, it was time for Bortus’ Ja’loja ceremony, a yearly moclan ritual. In the process of preparing and covering that event, we got to see Kelly’s new relationship, Ed’s emotional fallout from Season 1, and new developments in the lives of other characters. It wasn’t a sci-fi focused episode, but it was good nonetheless. With that in mind, let’s get into the episode.

Episode Spoilers Begin here!

Episode two, titled “Primal Urges” begins with the Orville crew observing a star that has slowly consumed every planet in its orbit, except for one. They are only allowed to observe the last planet being consumed and they have three days until the process is finished. The crew has mixed feelings over observing the rare sight. Gordon finds it sadistic, while Isaac suggests that this happens so rarely, that seeing it is a unique thing.

Bortus requests to leave early, citing that he isn’t feeling well. Ed gives him the night off and once Bortus leaves, he comments to Kelly that it is the third time this week that he has wanted to leave early. Kelly posits that he might be pregnant again, to which Ed hopes otherwise. We know how much chaos the last kiddo caused.

However, something strange is going on. Next, we see Bortus walking down the hall, getting a call from Klyden, his husband. Klyden asks when he will be home and Bortus tells him he is working late. Klyden then mentions that he has worked late every night this week, which we know isn’t true. Bortus then makes his way to a simulator room, booting up a simulation where he meets another Moclan, and they begin to embrace.

Bortus is having an affair with a simulation? I know that Klyden and Bortus have had their problems since Season 1, but this is a surprising turn of events. Bortus returns to his room later that night and Klyden immediately asks why Ed gives him so much work. As third in command on the vessel, Bortus should be able to ask Ed to lessen his workload.

Bortus doesn’t want to talk about it, likely because he knows it isn’t true. Klyden then attempts to get Bortus interested in “marital relations” but Bortus isn’t interested. Klyden complains that Bortus is never interested in sex and Bortus says that all he wants to do is rest.

The next morning at breakfast, Klyden tells Bortus that he wants him to make more time for him, as he is his mate. Bortus asks to discuss it later, likely not in front of their son, but Klyden angrily refuses. Klyden points out that Ed and Kelly’s marriage dissolved due to a similar situation, and Bortus merely says that he must report for duty. I have a feeling this relationship is going to hell quickly.

Before he goes to work, Klyden insists that he wants to have dinner with Bortus so they can talk. Bortus agrees and tells him that he will see Klyden this evening. While I understand Klyden’s frustration, I don’t agree with him forcing the conversation in front of their son. Adult issues are adult issues, and there is a time and place.

Meanwhile, Isaac discovers that the planet that is being destroyed by the star contains a large amount of a mineral that the Orville uses as fuel. They decide to modify the tractor beam so that when the planet busts open, they can collect what they need. Bortus asks to leave early again and Ed points out that this is the 4^th time this week. Bortus tells him that he’ll put in an extra shift over the weekend to make up for it.

After Bortus leaves, Kelly asks if Ed thinks something is up with Bortus and Ed responds that he has no clue. Instead of going straight to Klyden to meet him for dinner, he finds himself back in the simulator room. This time it is a different situation, where Bortus is a prisoner to a Moclan guard. The simulation develops to Bortus getting free of the dungeon via sexual favors.

Bortus seems to be using the simulator to act out his own fantasies, rather than doing so with his husband. This is not the way I expected things to go, but it is a fairly realistic idea of married men going elsewhere for things they cannot get at home. Keep in mind, I’m not condoning it but for a gay character, this is an execution of a plot thread that I haven’t exactly seen before.

In fact, it is covered in a way that most heterosexual infidelity plots are, which in equality terms is actually somewhat fascinating. However, if Bortus isn’t careful his job *and* his marriage are going to explode, much like the planet they’re orbiting.

When he returns to their room hours later, Klyden is angry. Bortus lies about why he was late and then lies again, telling him that he has to be at the bridge early that next morning, and that he must go to bed. Klyden points out that it was meant to be his night with Bortus, regardless of his excuses. Klyden tries to make sexual advances again and is furious when Bortus says that he is too tired.

Bortus goes to bed but wakes to find Klyden standing over him, stabbing him with a bladed weapon. It seems a lover scorned gets violent in the Moclan tradition. Ed and Kelly go to the infirmary, to find Claire trying to tend to Bortus. They manage to stabilize Bortus, who tells Claire that she saved his life, but that she should not have.

Kelly tells him that Klyden is in the brig because he tried to kill Bortus. However, Bortus says that Klyden did nothing wrong. Klyden’s act of violence toward Bortus was the Moclan method of divorce. When a Moclan wants to terminate his marriage, he ends the life of his mate. It is extreme and Bortus laments that he did not realize Klyden was so unhappy.

Claire is shocked that Moclans murder their spouses when they want a divorce. Bortus insists that Claire should not have saved him, as this is the Moclan way. Ed asserts that it might be true on Moclus, but ritual murder is not permissible on a union ship. Bortus wants Ed to release Klyden and Ed thinks it is out of the question.

He consults Admiral Ozawa, who says that she does not envy him in this situation, but that the Admiralty will approve his recommended course of action in this situation. Kelly asks why dealing with Moclan culture is always so difficult and Ed wonders the same thing. They mutilate female babies, they kill each other when they want a divorce, and then Ed asks a hilarious question. “What do they do when it’s someone’s birthday, light the parents on fire?” Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Kelly responds that she knows they’re meant to be tolerant of alien customs, but there has to be a limit somewhere. While they’re indulging in a bit of day drinking, Isaac calls Ed over comms. He tells them that the mineral deposit he found previously might not have been natural in nature. A subterranean civilization may have existed on the planet at one point.

Ed asks if they can investigate, as it could be a significant archaeological find. Isaac suggests that sending a landing party is far too risky with the planet breaking up and being consumed by the star. Kelly points out that it is a shame, because who knows what sort of artifacts could be down there. All the same, they abandon the idea.

Alara, Bortus, and Klyden then arrive. Kelly asks why Bortus isn’t still in sickbay, and Alara says he left against Claire’s medical guidance. Ed tells Alara she can leave them to talk if she’d like, but she asks to stay in case Klyden attempts another Moclan divorce.

Ed then tells Bortus and Klyden that since there is a cultural element in play, and Bortus doesn’t wish to press charges, there will be no legal action taken against Klyden. However, they can’t have people stabbing each other on a union vessel, so Klyden will be ordered to disembark the Orville at the next union outpost they reach.

Klyden begs Ed not to take that course of action and Bortus agrees, citing that he was only following Moclan custom. Klyden then says that they will try to make their marriage work, and avoid ending up like Ed and Kelly. Reluctantly, Ed relents after Bortus confirms that he wants to make things work with Klyden.

Ed has two conditions for this, however. The first is that Bortus is relieved of duty until Ed is sure this is resolved. The second condition is that Bortus and Klyden must undergo daily couples counseling with Claire. Bortus asks what couples counseling is, as this isn’t a thing on Moclus.

The scene then switches to Bortus and Klyden’s first session with Claire. She asks them if they understand why Ed suggested this and Bortus points out that Klyden already promised not to use violence on the ship again, so he doesn’t understand this. Claire then opts to explain couples counseling to them and compares it to peace talks between warring nations.

When Klyden is asked why he wanted to “divorce” Bortus, he explains that he doesn’t feel that Bortus wants to be with him anymore and that he doesn’t think Bortus finds him attractive. Bortus doesn’t seem to acknowledge what he has been doing and falls back on the “I’ve been working long hours” excuse from before.

Claire then assigns homework to the two of them. Firstly, she wants them to make a “fun list” of fun activities they both share and try to mark off one thing on the list each week. Secondly, she tells Bortus that she wants him to set aside one hour a day that is just for Klyden. They then leave Claire’s office and set aside dinner plans, but Bortus immediately goes to the simulator after telling Klyden he had wanted to debrief Ed before he was relieved of duty.

This simulation is a play on the “sexy doctor” fantasy. Honestly after watching Janelle Monae’s Sex, Explained, I find that this is even more hilarious because I keep thinking of various references to the psychology of human (and apparently alien) fantasies.

However, he doesn’t follow through with this full simulation. Instead, he leaves and goes to speak with a strange, phallic-looking alien who works in Engineering. He tells this Lieutenant that he knows that their species is able to acquire some of the best pornographic simulations in the galaxy and asks that he get a specific one for him.

He tells the Lieutenant that it is out of the ordinary and when the lieutenant asks what sort of “out of the ordinary” he is looking for, Bortus gives a vague yet somehow specific answer.  He asks for a simulation with many Moclans, all at once, who are feeling adventurous. The creature agrees and Bortus leaves the Engineering bay.

Bortus is apparently addicted to pornographic simulations. It isn’t that he’s bored of Klyden per se, it is that he has a pathological need to do more interesting and exciting things… I think. Back on the Bridge, the crew is astonished to discover that the Subterranean civilization is actually still active. Ed asks Alara to try and hail them with the ship’s comms, despite the solar interference.

They get into contact with Hallan Theece, who tells them that 100 years prior their scientists discovered that the planet was going to be destroyed, so they went underground to seek refuge and try to find a solution. There are only 75 of them left and they have no way of utilizing space travel.

The Orville crew makes a risky plan to try and save the Nyxian people. They decide to move the Orville into a closer orbit. Then they will fortify the deflector shields to try and allow a shuttle to make trips to rescue people from the planet before the planet is destroyed.

Bortus gets the simulation he asked for and while everyone else is preparing, it seems he is… indulging in his Moclan desires. With 9 hours left until the shuttle is ready for evacuating refugees, John and Gordon discover that the food synthesizers seem to be malfunctioning.

Klyden walks in on Bortus in the simulation and during their next counseling session, Claire calls him on his pornography addiction. Klyden and Bortus come to the conclusion that this lack of interest in sex, and his compulsion to visit the simulator, came shortly after their child underwent the forced gender reassignment from Season 1.

Bortus then admits his resentment of Klyden is because of what happened. Bortus wishes he could have done more for Topa, and resents that while Klyden could have backed up his desire to keep Topa a female, he did not. He explains this resentment and admits that he does not know if he can ever move on from that.

When talking to Theece on Nyxia, the comms begin to have a glitch just like the food synthesizer. Isaac then discovers that the pornography simulation Bortus uploaded released a computer virus onto the ship’s computers. Ed and Kelly go to the simulation to see what Bortus was doing and discover his “island of pleasures.”

Bortus and the crew get together to discuss how to stop the virus. Isaac plans to upload a program to eradicate the virus, but they now have another problem. Claire and John arrive to explain that the shuttle’s deflectors will prevent most of the radiation. However, when the refugees go from the access point to the shuttle, whoever is driving will be exposed.

Isaac and Bortus are the only two who could possibly withstand the radiation. On the shuttle to initiate the evacuation, Isaac begins to ask invasive questions about Bortus’ pornography addiction. Isaac explains that as an evolved organism, Kaylons don’t experience such things, and he wants to understand how it feels. Bortus says it feels like a call from deep within, a feeling like nothing else in the world matters beyond satisfying the urge.

He continues by saying that once he has satisfied the urge, as quickly as it came, the urge is gone, leaving a worn-out shell in its wake. The only feeling that is left afterward is that a death has occurred. Grief, shame…it is a great way to summarize the cycle of addiction honestly.

Isaac and Bortus land on the planet, It is a beautiful sequence, seeing such an apocalyptic event while Bortus and Isaac go to the access port to start the process of the evacuation. They meet with Minister Theece, but while they’re down there, problems start to arise. Isaac’s program doesn’t stop the virus and there seems to be instability in the planet’s core. They are running out of time, on both fronts.

Isaac explains to the minister that they only have time to save thirty of the seventy-five of them. In the meantime, John and Dann are trying to stop the virus. They choose the thirty by lottery, and though Minister Theece has a husband and child, she chooses to stay behind so that someone else may live. Her husband and child go with Bortus and Isaac though.

It is tragic, seeing so many die in such a cataclysmic way. However, that is the reality of these things. It is a realistic understanding that they have run out of time, and had they been able to prepare sooner, more would have survived. They get the shuttle back to the ship, but due to the virus, the ship has lost navigational control and is being pulled into the gravity well of the star.

With six minutes before the Orville is incinerated, Isaac goes to the simulator to help John and Dann stop the virus. Just in the nick of time, Isaac is able to eradicate the virus, while Gordon gets them away from the star. There is something hilarious about seeing the Moclan simulation licking at Isaac’s shiny head, calling him smooth and sensuous. This is especially so since he has no sexual drive or understanding whatsoever.

Claire marvels at how little radiation Bortus sustained. After she gives him a clean bill of health, Ed and Kelly arrive. Ed tells Bortus that he has never seen an officer behave so selfishly, carelessly, or stupidly as Bortus did with the pornographic simulation that almost got them killed. Bortus attempts to tender his resignation, but Ed rejects it.

Ed tells Bortus that his behavior during the evacuation was courageous and showed immense valor. He saved 30 lives today by risking his own to brave the radiation. Ed then says that he is grateful to have Bortus on board. Back in their room, Bortus tells Klyden that he feels that he has been a bad, disrespectful mate. He tells him that instead of telling Klyden what he felt, he retreated into a fantasy world instead.

He then tells Klyden that he doesn’t know if he will ever be at peace with what happened to Topa. However, after what he saw on the planet, he feels very fortunate to have Klyden and Topa. Bortus does not wish to lose Klyden and he vows to do better, to make time for them.

This episode of The Orville was probably one of the best ones yet. I have read reviews of the series as a whole recently, just to see what other outlets were saying, and I saw a common complaint. The outlets seem to call The Orville “preachy” in regard to its social commentary. I disagree entirely.

Episodes like this, take social commentary to a place that not many shows do. Tackling the concept of addiction at all is something I’ve seen done on other shows with mixed results. However, The Orville tackling Bortus’ pornography addiction seeks to de-stigmatize it and covers it in a respectful fashion. The Orville uses sci-fi elements to parallel real-world issues.

From the planet in “Majority Rule” which covered cancel culture and social media, all the way to this episode, we see social commentary covered in a multi-layered fashion. The destruction of the planet of Nyxia is paralleled by Bortus’ addiction consuming his life both professionally and personally. This is the type of sci-fi that makes a lasting impression, and I cannot applaud Seth McFarlane and the writing team enough for such an approach.

There are beautiful visuals and though the episode began slow, it had a solid foundation and arc to it. While I do think that the Moclans have gotten preferential treatment in terms of screen-time, this episode makes it worth it. I had hoped that after “About a Girl” we would see more about Bortus and Klyden’s relationship in the aftermath.

The Orville has made this story pay off across two seasons now, and I hope that we see more instances of strong storytelling throughout this season. This show keeps setting the bar higher and higher, and I cannot wait to see what comes next.

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The Orville

10

Score

10.0/10

Pros

• Fantastic Storytelling
• Beautiful Visual Effects
• Respectful Handling of the Topic
• Well Crafted Callback to Season 1
• Solid Balance of Humor and Seriousness