Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
According to Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Orville is an obvious tribute Star Trek: The Next Generation made with love Family guy creator Seth MacFarlane and had the support of a star from another Star Trek series right out of the gate. Robert Duncan McNeill, famous for playing the hot Himbo Tom Paris Voyagerjumped into the director’s chair for the show’s second episode, “Command Performance,” which helped the sci-fi tribute get off on the right foot. Part old-school adventure episode and part parody, McNeill managed to bring the episode to air with a wonderful balance.
Command performance updated The Menagerie
“Command execution” starts normally Orvillewith Captain Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) and First Officer Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) helping a ship attacked by alien Krill when it turns into a tribute Star Trek: The original series episode “The Menagerie”. Mercer and Grayson find themselves held captive in an intergalactic zoo by the Calivons, who bear a striking resemblance to the Talosians, the villains of the original TOS classic, while Alara (Halston Sage), the chief security officer, is left in charge of the ship. . Echoing Spock’s decision to defy the Federation, Alara decides to pursue their missing captain to the Calivon homeworld, risking a court-martial.
The Orvilles “Command Performance” may be almost zero homage to “The Menagerie,” but the second half of the episode, revolving around Bortus (Peter Macon) and his mate as the eggs hatch, draws from Star Trek: Voyager’s “Someone to watch over me. Voyager Season 5 Episode Features Seven out of nine (Jeri Ryan) learning about human courtship, but more importantly, it was also directed by Robert Duncan McNeill and wanted to capture the feel of Seven’s crew interactions with Bortus. The male-dominated Moclan society is explored in greater depth later in the series, but the seeds for the ensuing drama and character growth were planted under McNeill’s watch.
The pinnacle of “command execution” involving Real Wives is a fun nod At Orville’s writers to Star Trek’s obsession with contemporary pop culture, and a joke the show would ultimately avoid by pushing the absurdity of Trek to the extreme. As the show went on, it became more of an homage than a parody, turning into a love letter to classic Trek when it felt like science fiction the shows were moving away from exploring where no one had gone before.
He’s not the only Star Trek veteran directing
After Robert Duncan McNeill’s episode aired, another Star Trek legend made it At Orville’s director’s chair when Jonathan Frakes directed “Pria”, the fifth episode of Season 1, which also featured Charlize Theron as a strange blonde. McNeill’s time in the chair for “Command Performance” showed that the show could hit an old-school Trek beat, but Frakes helped push it further and provided a tipping point where it was able to start standing on its own.
Command Performance” is not the best episode Orvilleand that was the only one he directed Robert Duncan McNeillbut it’s important for laying the groundwork for future stories that helped steer the show away from parodying Star Trek. That, and it still has some fun moments, from how Ed and Kelly’s relationship plays out, to Bortus explaining that yes, he laid an egg.
