The time travel/historical episodes of Star Trek are very rarely the best of the franchise, and Seth Macfarlane’s Sci-Fi show of the same vein is no exception. The story of Sympathy for the Devil is an interesting one, as season 3 of The Orville was scheduled to total 11 episodes but due to the pandemic and delays, only 10 were made. Adapted as a novella, the concise story that takes place is one that I find inherently a bit odd in comparison to the rest of the season’s tales. One might even assume that would be a result of adapting the story for a book instead of TV.

Set against the backdrop of early 20th century Earth, for a good portion of the short run-time of Sympathy for the Devil, it is easy to forget the Sci-Fi series we’re embedded in here. I don’t want to spoil anything too early in the review, but I will say: that I did have a few moments where I thought I pressed on one of the many other books on my eReader of choice. I think it is easy to put two and two together here, but when it comes to the early 20th century and the epitome of evil (the devil), there is nothing more villainous than Nazis themselves.

I won’t say Seth handles it perfectly. As reading “Jew” once with all the venom of Nazi malignancy made me uneasy, and it is used repeatedly with all the spite and anger that makes it go beyond uncomfortable. That is the point, to put you in the head of the character we’re following, no matter how discomforting it is to follow a lovely young man as he marches lockstep into Nazi ideology. This is why I think the episode may not have worked, at least in this form, for TV without being very well-acted.

Don’t jump the gun, I will say that the overall story and what it aims to do continues the points I’ve made about season 3 and why I so desperately want a 4th season. The continual build of these TNG and DS9 moral stories that reflect on the crew as much as they do the supplemental cast, Sympathy for the Devil does what a large portion of season 3 did. That notwithstanding, the historical aspect and how thick the layers are to reinforce that “Otto” is a Nazi and a very evil one at that, would have been one of the hardest episodes to pull off correctly. Yes, I do know how hard one or two of those episodes were to nail just right.

Spoilers from here on out:

I think what makes Sympathy for the Devil so strange out of the gate and in comparison to the rest of the show is the lack of that “B-story” that we’ll often see the show cut to. I jump to “About a Girl” all the time, but the A-story in that episode is the courtroom drama of Topa’s gender reassignment surgery and the B-story is Bortus understanding that his daughter is special. From the word go, we’re thrust into the world of Otto and it isn’t for quite some time before that this world we’ve settled into is thrown into the time of Ed, Kelly, and co.

This is something MacFarlane does beautifully with the story, he allows the world to settle with the reader before playing the reverse Uno card. I’ve already said it, but that snapshot of young Otto growing up and becoming this horrible little man, it is disturbing in all those fantastic Star Trek ways. The whole idea of him being judged by 25th-century standards, especially by those in the crew of the USS Orville, while being effectively “programmed” by propaganda that devoured so many young people of the early 20th century. Though I am sure some could argue it continues to.

Comparisons of course are drawn, and it was straightforward to do so with such an extensive cast excellently characterized over three seasons or in the case of Charlie, one. It permitted yet another look at the world we’re in with the ship and crew, as their reality is questioned and how they react. I know, that seems like the basic understanding of characterization in entertainment, but let me tell you, watching as much of Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who and anything from Star Trek: Discovery makes you appreciate that world-building and characterization.

From New York to Berlin, from the concentration camp in Poland to the sick bay on the Orville with the “Schwarz doctor” that Otto is so concerned about in his hate-programmed brain, everything had its place and didn’t outstay its welcome. The biggest criticism I have, and of course, this is coming as a huge fan of the series, is that early feeling of “yes, but how does this connect to our crew?” Though short, it is a tale of two halves, and that particularly is where I think the criticism lies. When you’re so used to the pacing of the show’s drama format going back and forth, that almost 50/50 split can be jarring.

Ultimately, Sympathy for the Devil was another fantastic story from the Season 3 run. While “Gently Falling Rain,” “A Tale of Two Topas,” or this story’s supposed predecessor in “Midnight Blue,” focused on the crew or characters we know, this story forgot to draw such a thick line for the parallel. It is there, there are elements to how the show might have handled it, though it might have been done without that noticeable seam down the middle of the story. I enjoyed Sympathy for the Devil a lot, but that is probably because it was yet another Deep Space Orville, to meld the two fantastic shows.

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The Orville: Sympathy for the Devil

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• A great Star Trek-style story.
• Such character and world-building.
• That ending.

Cons

• A tale in two halves.