Warning: The following review contains spoilers for The Orville Season 2, Episode 5. Read on at your own risk.

Last week’s episode of The Orville pleased me greatly. I always enjoy the ever-evolving Krill plotlines but throw in some intriguing plot possibilities and character development, and I am in all the way. This week’s episode has me a bit skeptical though, mostly due to the introduction of The Orville’s replacement for Alara Kitan. Granted, transitionary periods and change can be difficult, especially when you are accustomed to a certain character. However, I have full faith that Alara’s replacement will carve her own niche in the Orville’s role of Chief Security Officer.

To recap last week’s episode, we discovered that Janel Tyler, the dark matter expert from Episode 1 of Season 2, was actually Teleya. Her romance with Ed was entirely orchestrated, culminating in Ed being captured by the Krill. Ed and Teleya then had to work together after escaping from the Chak’tal, and ultimately, Teleya was returned to her people. Ed hopes that this will one day lead to peace between the Krill and the Union, but Teleya isn’t convinced. With that bit out of the way, let’s get to the episode.

Episode Spoilers begin here!

Episode 5, titled “All the World is Birthday Cake,” begins with an unknown political group having a meeting of sorts. They’re debating whether to go public about something and have made some sort of breakthrough. They are planning to send a message into space via satellite and seem to be a group on a planet not yet able to utilize space travel. Perhaps they are going to contact the Union? Or try to?

On the Orville, we see Ed and Kelly talking with the new Chief Security Officer named Talla Keyali. She apparently punched her last Captain in the face. Her explanation is that they had just been attacked by the Krill, their ship was damaged, and they had sent out a distress call for help. The only available vessel was a ship operated by a matriarchal society that is dismissive of all males who appear to be “dominant.”

They didn’t know this until the commanding officer made contact. So, Talla acted fast, punched him in the face, and dealt with the commanding officer herself. Before she leaves Ed’s office, she tells Ed and Kelly that despite her rough reputation, she intends to have their back. She knows that they were close to Alara and intends to do right by them.

Ed asks Kelly what she thinks of their new Chief of Security and Kelly responds positively. She likes Talla and reminds Ed that he was the one who wanted another Xelayan officer. Ed isn’t convinced, but that could easily just be a reluctance to let anyone else in Alara’s space.

On the bridge, we get a bit of banter and find out that Kelly and Bortus have a birthday six days apart. Before we can dig too deep into birthday plans though, Talla alerts them that they are getting a transmission from a far-off star system. They translate the transmission and realize that it says “Is anyone out there?” which is what the planet from the opening sequence sent off. Looks like the Orville will be making first contact.

Claire, Talla, Bortus, Ed, and Kelly make their way down to the coordinates given to them by the planet’s inhabitants. On the way, Claire asks what they know about these people, and Ed states that all they know is that the people of this planet are awaiting their arrival. The shuttle lands and they go out to greet the people of Regor 2.

They meet the leader of Regor 2’s people, known as the First Prefect, and welcome him (and the planet) to their first contact with the Union. Ed explains that when a planet/civilization makes first contact, the Union takes that opportunity to make their presence known. Kelly explains that not every race in the galaxy is friendly, which is why the Union likes to make first contact themselves.

While Ed, Kelly, and Bortus are shown the satellite array, Claire and Talla are shown the Obstetrics ward of one of their hospitals. Talla remarks that Claire’s sickbay would seem like magic to these people, while Claire has a different view. This is their chance to see a new civilization on the cusp of evolving into an intergalactic society. They get to see their beginnings and know where they themselves came from.

While talking to the doctor, Claire remarks that this planet seems to have a remarkable amount of premature births. The doctor comments that they can’t prevent every ailment or defect, but the technology improves every year. Before Claire can inquire about what he means, they are interrupted by an emergency in Operating Room 3.

They witness a C-Section in progress, which puzzles Claire. She does a scan of the child and the mother and doesn’t see a reason for the C-Section at all, not on medical grounds anyway. She asks the doctor why the C-Section was taking place and he explains that is to prevent the baby from being born “giliac.” When asked what giliac means, the doctor explains that giliacs are born violent and are prone to destructive tendencies.

Often, they try to prevent someone from being born giliac and resort to C-Sections or other means to prevent it. That night they join the Regorians in a banquet to celebrate their arrival and the Regorians’ first contact. They discuss the Union’s lack of currency, their economic values, and even Xelayan displays of strength.

The banquet takes a turn for the strange when Kelly reveals how close her birthday and Bortus’ birthday is. They take Kelly and Bortus into custody, arresting them all. They seem offended by this and suggest that for advanced people, they brought “Them” to a state dinner. Ed tries to get an explanation, but they won’t see reason and threaten to shoot the others if Talla tries anything to help them.

In a holding cell, Ed asks Claire what she thinks of all this. Claire tells him that the C-Section they witnessed was entirely unnecessary and dangerous for the mother and the baby. A doctor and two armed guards come in to do some sort of test on the three of them. Talla resists at first but Ed encourages her to play along for now, since they won’t answer what happened to Kelly and Bortus.

They are then brought before the First Prefect and discover that giliacs are people born under an astrological sign. Because Bortus and Kelly’s birthdays are coming up, they are deemed dangerous and have been sent to a prison camp. The prefect also tells them that they can return to their ship and that the people of Regor 2 do not want them there, for bringing giliacs into their midst.

Kelly and Bortus are then brought to the prison camp, where all the giliacs are held, with armed guards and who knows what awaiting them. Inside, they meet the Warden of the camp and when they try to get answers, they’re told that they will be staying at the camp permanently. Kelly and Bortus try to fight their way to freedom, but…they’re unarmed and the guards have guns. Ultimately, they’re brought to the barracks.

Ed, Claire, and the others talk to an Admiral who tells them that getting Kelly and Bortus back by force isn’t an option. They explain what is going on, but the Admiral says that using force is unacceptable due to it being a first contact. Isaac asks what Astrology entails and then explains that the Regorians have satellites that are used to measure the locations of stars throughout the year.

It is then decided that Ed will speak to the Prefect again and see if they can come to some sort of agreement. At the prison camp, Kelly and Bortus talk about what they know so far. They come to the same conclusion that the others have. Their birthday is the problem. Kelly comments that unless Ed can talk their way out of this, there’s no way they’re going to get free.

They then wind up helping a pregnant woman and her husband who are being accosted by another inmate. They had saved food in case the rations were cut and the inmate wanted to take them by force. Bortus stops the man and makes him give the food back. They are introduced to Ukania and Rokal, the couple they helped, who tells them that no one has ever tried to escape.

Ukania explains that being born under the sign of giliac makes them a danger to society. They believe that they belong in the camp, and thus have not tried to leave. The next day, the Prefect makes an announcement to the people of Regor 2. He tells them that this day marks the planet entering the sign of the giliac and makes a terrible proclamation. Any child born within the next 30 days will be turned over to the state and transported to the camps.

Ed goes to speak with the Prefect and it does not go well. Ed tries to get the Prefect to come to an agreement to release their people. However, the Prefect will not be deterred from his beliefs about giliacs. He tells Ed and Talla to forget about seeing Kelly and Bortus again and tells them to forget about Regor 2.

I have to admit, I like Talla’s sass. She definitely pointed out plenty of flaws in the Prefect’s logic and didn’t take any crap off him. However, this presents a problem. What now? How do they get Kelly and Bortus back? Back on the Orville, Ed is told by the Admiral that the ship has to return to active duty within 24 hours. They’re running out of time.

However, the Admiralty will be sending a diplomatic envoy to try and negotiate for Kelly and Bortus’ release. The crew continues to work on a plan, but so far they’ve come up with no leads. Kelly and Bortus return to the barracks to find Ukania and Rokal. Ukania is in labor but doesn’t want anything to do with the doctors.

Kelly helps deliver their daughter, but before we get any more information on what comes next for them or the baby, we’re back on the Orville. Talla has an idea to help Kelly and Bortus. She asks Isaac to scan for black holes in the giliac constellation. They find one and she hypothesizes that the loss of that star is why giliacs are considered bad.

Ed asks how they can use this information and Claire points out that if the star came back, it might exonerate the giliacs. They start planning a way to simulate that, as John has an idea. At the prison camp, Ukania hides their baby under the floorboards of the barracks. She explains that because the baby isn’t giliac, if they find her, they’ll take her away. Rokal says they should let them take her so that she can live in prosperity. Ukania refuses, saying that the child needs her mother.

The barracks then undergo an inspection, and even though the guards don’t find anything, Rokal tells them about the child. They take the child and Kelly decides that if they’re going to be treated like criminals, then she is going to give them what they want and stage a prison break. Back on the Orville, John plans to deploy a solar sail, to reflect light from another star to Regor 2 in the proper position of the missing one.

They even plan to jam the telemetry of the Regorian satellites, so that their scans will register the star as still being where it should be. Kelly and Bortus begin their plan, taking out guards along the way. A large-scale fight ensues, with Kelly taking out plenty of guards on her own. Bortus holds his own as well, and they ultimately manage to get the gate open.

However, they are caught before they can properly escape. The Orville executes its plan with Gordon and John taking the Solar Sail to deploy it via shuttle. Kelly and Bortus are to be killed by firing squad, executed in front of their fellow inmates. The sail is deployed and just before the Warden is about to tell the squad to fire, an inmate points to the newly-appearing star.

The Prefect calls an emergency session, citing that the star’s appearance means “change.” Somewhat abruptly, the scene then shifts to Kelly and Bortus’ birthday party. It is a heartwarming scene, and after some hilarity, Kelly goes to talk with Ed. Ed tells her that the last of the camps was opened and the giliacs were set free.

Kelly also mentions that she spoke with Ukania and her baby (which she named Kelly) is doing well. Ed remarks that despite how it started, this seems to have been a pretty successful first contact. Talla takes that moment to ask what happens when the Regorians find out that the solar sail is fake. Ed doesn’t have an answer. They just lied to an entire planet and he doesn’t know what the ethics of that mean.

However, the lie brought freedom to all the giliacs, so it can’t be that bad. Kelly points out that by the time their technology advances and they figure it out, they may not care anymore. Kelly then goes to dance with Cassius, and just like that another episode of The Orville is finished.

I have to say, I am not sure how I feel about this episode. I didn’t dislike it, but I also didn’t love it either. It was enjoyable and I am happy that they tackled the idea of first contact with a new planet. However, it seemed a bit…dark? How many generations of giliacs had been enslaved and killed before now? How many babies had died because of premature birth?

Granted, I know… it is just a show. None of those people actually existed. However, I’d like to have seen some recognition of those ethical conundrums instead of, “They’re all free now, hooray!” even something as simple as Ukania mentioning that the government compensated them for their imprisonment.

Overall, this was a solid episode of The Orville, and Talla is an interesting new variable on the team. I want to see more of her before I make any solid judgments of course, but for now, I am pleasantly surprised. Who knows what next week’s episode will hold! Will there be new planets? New adventures? I can tell you that I’ll be eagerly watching either way.

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The Orville

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Interesting Concept
• Talla is Sassy
• Funny Moments

Cons

• Episode Material is a Bit Dark
• Ending Feels Rushed
• No Discussion of the Ethical Reforms Required on Regor 2