In Minneapolis, we, like a significant portion of the Midwest, are finally clawing out of the wretched, record-breaking arctic cold that ground down on us like the Laurentide ice sheet. Schools were cancelled, car batteries died and everyone was effectively shut inside like an old-timey Klondike prospector stranded in their cabin through the winter with nothing but their union suit and a single bean on a tin plate. It’s been less than a week, but felt interminable. And the only thing that helped keep me sane was generous amounts of alcohol, stable internet, and a partner willing to patiently listen to me as I cursed out our dishwasher’s frozen drain line. All of which is to say; the cold blackness of space —while slightly warmer than the upper Midwest— is going to be a lonelier place than most, and it’s completely understandable why Dr. Claire would seek out love in unconventional places.
“A Happy Refrain” is the culmination of a relationship that began to form between Dr. Claire and Isaac back in season 1’s “Into the Fold”. It’s also another reminder that Penny Johnson Jerald is one of the best things The Orville has going for it. It’s not that no one else would be able to sufficiently realize the love between tomorrow’s modern woman just trying to have it all and a robot, but Johnson brought a delicate range of vulnerability, self-reflection, and thoughtfulness to a storyline that could easily be a dumb joke. It was enjoyable to see her interact with the rest of the crew outside of wisdom dispensation or problem-solving, as well. The scene where she confides with Kelly about her feelings achieved the kind of casual naturalism I feel the show strives for, but is too stiff to regularly deliver.
It also helps that the writing was clever enough to sustain the conceit. Isaac is Data from TNG all the way down to inflection and line delivery. The main quality that separates the two (as well as making Isaac a better fit for a more comedically-inclined show) is that unlike Data, he neither strives to be more human, nor has any particular desire to please. Data may have lacked emotions, but he was a real go along to get along kind of android. Not so Isaac, who is utterly bereft of any sentimentality in a delightful way. Which makes it that much more difficult to organically (human pun) facilitate a relationship between him and Claire. In order to properly convey the parallels between Isaac’s calculated logic and human courtship, his programming functions had to align with broad relationship tropes. Some of those, such as Isaac bringing Claire a snack because he’s recorded multiple instances of her becoming grumpy at a specific time, or noticing her new hairdo (“Have you changed the configuration of your hair?”) were cute. His data-completion cycle as a stand-in for the idea that a dude will grow tired of a woman after she has sex with him and want to leave is less so. But by the time the episode ended, their journey felt well-earned.
Dr. Claire and Isaac’s dating began in earnest when she asks him to attend an appearance by a travelling Union orchestra. It’s unlike anything the show has done so far to indulge in a performance by an entire classical orchestra, but it was all in service of presenting a rendition of “Singing in the Rain”, which is very much like a lot of things the show has done. Afterwards, while sharing dinner in a fine-dining simulation, Claire confesses the one thing she misses about earth is the rain. The date goes well enough, but Claire is turned off by the unsurprisingly robotic nature of the evening. After an ill-conceived attempt to introduce spontaneity by presenting her with a cake at 3 o’ clock in the morning, Isaac tries something else.
Isaac invites Claire out for another date and harnesses the ill-defined parameters of the ship’s simulator to appear human, as well as provide actor Mark Jackson the chance to perform outside of his layers of fabric and plastic. I’m grateful he was given the opportunity and hope his arc with Dr. Claire allows more time out of the costume, because his seems particularly restrictive. Even Doug Jones ( Star Trek: Discovery’s Saru, and another actor relegated to heavy prosthetic roles due to is frame and physical expressiveness) often gets the use of his own eyes and mouth. Isaac is as covered up as a Power Ranger and even those guys got to point and kick and flail with a hyper-kinetic energy usually reserved for fending off bees. Isaac’s clinical, subdued nature reduces his available range of gestures to a series of delicate hand flourishes. In her eagerness to make love to a squishy Isaac, Claire immediately switches out the restaurant to a simulation of her quarters that she has apparently programmed into the ship’s computer. This would be more disturbing if it weren’t already established that the simulator is pretty much a receptacle for the entire ship’s depravities. It’s like a hot tub; just don’t go in there with any open wounds.
At this point, Claire believes she’s in love and Isaac is done with dating. He seeks out John for questionable break-up advice and attempts to implement it by sitting around in Claire’s quarters in a stained undershirt and baggy whitey-tighties while behaving insensitively. Of course, his theatricality can’t be as cruel as his real reasons for wanting to end their relationship. He simply no longer sees any value in it. It’s so cold, and seemingly in line for Isaac’s personality, it’s actually quite touching when he undergoes a diagnostic to discover why he botched an analysis, only to discover his attempts to minimize the presence of Claire from his mighty robot brain is causing him to malfunction. So he makes the most human decision of all; to stage a public grand gesture that’s both awkward and inconvenient for everyone watching. He has Claire meet him on the bridge, which he has rigged to produce a downpour timed with another rendition of “Singing in the Rain.” It looks miserable. Everyone looks miserable. Except Claire, who looks ecstatic. And Isaac, who looks like a robot. Possibly a robot in love.
Stray Observations
- Bortus grew a mustache. That’s the alpha and the omega of tonight’s b-story. A mustache? On Bortus? Yup! Lookit it! Klyden hates it! Husbands, amiright? I wish Bortus and Klyden had a better relationship. I guess I don’t know what the standard for Moclan marriage is, but they always seem miserable with each other. Murder-happy space armadillos deserve happiness too.
- Also getting in on the appearing-as-human bit is Norm Macdonald, who usually just supplies the voice for the green blob Yaphet. I didn’t really touch on Yaphet’s jealousy toward Isaac, because I’m still so annoyed at the episode where Jerald had to pretend to make love to a cgi blob, I did like Yaphet’s MRA application of “m’lady?” when offering Claire a drink.
- As dumb as it may be that Gordon and John would rush to the bridge to tell everyone Claire and Isaac had a date, it was pretty adorable watching the two of them tear through the ship together.
- “I would like to know more about Baltimore.” “That’s not a sentence you hear very often.”
- Fashion Corner: In his date night black leather New Balance shoes, Chinos, and powder blue dress shirt, Isaac is still the best dressed civilian aboard that ship. Like, look at Cassius, for god’s sake. That guy hasn’t met an ill-fitting turtleneck he doesn’t like. Claire’s evening gown went a little muppet-y with the rainbow trim, but the offset scoop collar was nice. Also, who the hell can pull off black leather capris? Penny Johnson Jerald can, apparently.
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As dumb as it may be that Gordon and John would rush to the bridge to tell everyone Claire and Isaac had a date, it was pretty adorable watching the two of them tear through the ship together.That was the biggest laugh of the night for me. 2nd was Isaac being a dick in his (or someone’s) underwear.
But isn’t doing dumb things what those two are for?
Anyway, I really think Orville has nailed the humour balance this season. Last season felt too often like they were falling back on humour out of obligation. But in season 2 they seem to have eased back and let it coem from characters and situations more than just gags. And given what a motley assortment of people are on the ship, that works just fine.
Like the man said, they’re the most messed up ship in the fleet. XD
“Everyone on this ship is gross.”
Gordon was so reckless and stupid in the first season that you wondered how he could possibly have survived this long. Thankfully, that aspect has been dialed way back.
Gotta admit, that ‘stache was epic, too.
Whose underwear was that anyway?
My biggest laugh was Dan’s “I have some really classy shirts. You could borrow one. Not just for the date, but anytime.”
I haven’t watched the episode yet but just reading that cracked me up.
It was so under-the-radar funny, that it feels like it might have been improvised. Kudos if Seth or someone in the writing room crafted that little nugget and left it alone instead of trying to buff it up into some bigger gag.
I find it hard to believe anyone’s favorite food is potato cakes.
Fried oniony, buttery starch… what’s not to like?
The lack of steak?
*Agriculturally sustainable* fried oniony, buttery starch…
(yes, I gave up red meat recently. yes, I’m conflicted about it.)
I’ve never head of them before but they sound amazing.
The hebrew word is “latkes”. Every deli in NYC sells them and many other restaurants too. Although not often as a main dish. However, I suppose that Dr. Finn is probably a vegetarian.
Oh. Latkes I know. Have them every Xmas eve. I wasn’t aware there was another name for them.
lumberjack potato pancakes from Big Boy, you need to try them.
> After an ill-conceived attempt to introduce spontaneity by presenting her with a cake at 3 o’ clock in the morning
3:14AM. Pi o’clock.
Dammit! I missed that!
Since I don’t stutter, I can only assume you heard me.
If he actually used a contraction (atm I can’t remember) then that was clearly an alien simulation of some sort.
He might have said “do not” rather than “don’t”. I am going off my faulty human memory.
That whole breakup routine was very funny. Pure MacFarlane all the way. I like how Issac (in a wife beater tee shirt and boxers) worked in the jab that she didn’t need any more desserts.
I remembered it as ‘As I am incapable of stuttering’
It was actually “Since I am incapable of stuttering…”
This episode had a lot of highlights, mostly from Isaac and Bortus playing everything as straight as possible:-Claire telling Isaac they need to flip the table and him flipping the table without even questioning why the table would need to be flipped.-Isaac getting relationship advice from Lamarr and then him and Gordon sprinting up to the bridge to tell everyone about it.-Isaac showing up with cake at 3 AM to be spontaneous
-Bortus and his great mustache just existing (I thought he looked good with it)-And bastly Isaac doing his bizarre bridge apology with the rain generator (Why do they have that on the bridge?) and then it panning out to show everyone watching them except for the extra next to Gordon who was just apparently trying to do her job in the rain.
The funniest thing about Bortus is that he has no idea how funny he is.
And rain on the bridge? Obviously, the ship has climate control.
His line from last week (?) killed me.
“Can I be excused from the dinner table?”
“No. You must eat or you will die”
The rain is holographic of course…
I agree. I think he looks quite a bit better with the stashe.
My favorite quote of the episode from Isaac“Since I am incapable of stuttering, I must conclude that you heard me.”
The setup made me immediately think of the TNG episode “In Theory,” which begins with the same central premise: a lonely woman eyes Data as an ideal potential companion and woos him. And Data, wishing to learn more about human relationships, adjusts his programming accordingly. Other parallels between the two episodes involve the use of concerts to bring the couple together (Data and Jenna being part of an ensemble playing in Ten Forward, as opposed to watching a giant orchestra) and Data seeking out advice from his crewmates (Riker in the Lamarr role of urging him to go for it). The stories even play out similarly to a point, with both of the women involved realizing that their potential mates are simply following a programmed simulation of a relationship, and the lack of authenticity prompts them to call it off. On TNG, where the episode’s B-plot involves a typical “ship in danger” storyline, Data accepts the outcome, deletes the corresponding subroutines, and moves on as if the relationship never happened (as did the show, as Jenna never appeared again, and Data’s timeline of his sexual function told to the Borg Queen in First Contact indicates he didn’t even sleep with her).But this being the Orville, and essentially a Seth MacFarlane house party in Star Trek cosplay, the episode doubles down on the relationship (with no time-filling deadly nebula distractions). So Isaac actually rejects the breakup and basically gives Claire literally what she asks for (lips and a lack of knowledge about her so she can open up about herself to him), all in pursuit of a lesson plan he apparently can’t just shut off like Data. And Claire goes all Janeway on him in the holodeck (because you just know Janeway banged that Irish holographic dude from Fair Haven), and declares her love for Isaac, which struck me as a bit like declaring your love for a virbrator, but you do you, show. So it was kind of sweet the show found a way to break from the mechanical cycle by using Isaac’s algorithms against him, in a romantic sense. So now instead of Data/Jenna, we have more of an Odo/Kira situation going forward, which I bet Seth expects to have some fun with.Other nice touches: Claire’s favorite movie is from 2035, so it’s good for the show to realize that if the characters are going to make constant pop culture references, that there is probably some hypothetical pop culture to be had in the 400 years between now and when the show is set (not that inventing fake pop culture references is going to be easy and not potentially confusing for viewers, but it’s a start).Claire’s hurt reaction after Isaac tells her he has no use for her now that they’ve slept together reminded me of Buffy’s reaction to Angelus being cruel to her after she slept with Angel for the first time. Not in the general sense that it’s an understandable reaction, but in specific facial ticks and voice inflection. An interesting coincidence. Talla finally deciding to get her physical after coming on board was her own way of trying to pry info from Claire, right? Before Kelly just comes in and asks about it.I didn’t necessarily read Claire asking for a simulation of her bedroom as her having it already programmed in. I just assume the ship quickly scanned her room and re-created it, since it’s on the same ship and all. That said, I would have thought that, given Isaac just said he wanted to know more about Baltimore, that she could have changed the simulation to a park or something in Baltimore, and boffed him there. But given that they already have the standing sets of the crew quarters, it’s less impact on the show’s budget to do what they did.I’m always wary of scenes like the concert performance, featuring large gatherings of the crew set in something like the shuttle bay where it would be theoretically easy to decompress the room with everyone in it. Sure, it’s probably the biggest space on the ship capable of accommodating a gathering of that size, and the open shuttle bay door makes for a nice backdrop — but a power fluctuation or two from a spatial anomaly or a Krill attack, and whoosh, show’s over. Finally, Claire and Isaac had drinks in the mess hall and the way the stars were zooming by indicated they would have been looking straight toward the back of the ship. But given how the model is laid out I have no idea where the mess hall could have been since any view looking straight back would presumably catch a fair deal of the engine loops. But hey, Star Trek has never been good and depicting what portions of the ship people would see outside a given window aside from a generic starfield.
> Claire’s favorite movie is from 2035I hope McFarlane added a 2033 reminder in his Google Calendar, so that he can make that movie in time for 2035.
“Mind of Hermes.” Maybe it’s a live-action Futurama movie.
Funny, I was thinking of the episode with Data and Tasha Yarr “I am fully functional and programmed in a variety of pleasuring techniques”
Yeah, that’s just drunk Tasha banging a sex toy, mostly because Gene Roddenberry was kind of a pervert and was obsessed with the sexual habits of the aliens and cultures he created. He envisioned humanity’s enlightenment of the future extending to its sexual proclivities, and as such kept pushing for stories in which the crew took advantage of Data’s robotic stamina and sexual programming (standards of 1980s television had other ideas).
As a sidebar to this, Roddenberry’s conception of the Ferengi was that they were well endowed. This idea actually made it into an episode, I think it’s “The Price,” where you can see in the background of a Ten Forward scene there’s a Ferengi trying to pick up a crew member and he’s holding up his hands about a foot apart as if to demonstrate how “big” he is.
Well, in theory was a pretty bad TNG episode. Mind you, if you like this I recommend Disco’s Calypso. It manages to put all this in a scant 15 minutes, and you get Homer as well.
if you like this I recommend Disco’s Calypso. It manages to put all this in a scant 15 minutes, and you get Homer as well.‘Calypso’ is a short about being stranded in space…absolutely nothing to do with the TNG episode “In Theory”STD is unredeemable. Maybe you liked the short film, but it doesn’t really change the objective truth that STD is not Trek and it is not useful art. It’s generic scifi with a Trek wrapper and despite good f/x and good actors every inch of STD is bursting at the seams with garbage.
Needed to get some blistering hatred off your chest did you? Man that was ugly in the most hyperbolic way.
I guess you have no education, or you would have recognized the homage to Homer in Calypso (not to mention the more recent Her) in the grand tradition of Star Trek using the classics as a source of material, but I guess your appreciation to story telling only goes back to 1987. The story that Calypso was drawn from was not a mediocre/bad ep of TNG but has been a beautiful one for a few thousand years, FYI.And hyperbolic tossing words like ‘irredeemable’, ‘objective truth’ and ‘not useful art’ are the kinds of words and phrases that make a person sound like a religious fruitcake, no insult intended to fruitcakes. And, seriously, those aren’t the people anyone should look for advice when looking for science fiction TV to enjoy, Star Trek or not.
some blistering hatred I hate lazy art that insults an intelligent viewer. I think this is a good quality for a human to have.homage to Homer in Calypso*fart noise* – that was an homage to the Pardoner’s story in Canterbury Tales…‘homage’ is a meaningless storytelling device unless the story is actually good…STD is garbage from the ground up…sure a short film might be artful in parts, but it is tainted by the garbage franchise universe it is tied toyou can tell yourself “in art taste is subjective” and you’d be right, but STD *isn’t art* it’s hideously ill-conceived bullshit tv…the producers of STD, the decision makers, like Kurtzman (and JJ Abrams) in particular are disgustingly bad artists and it’s ruining scifi
Someone who doesn’t realize or recognize Homer’s Odyssey predates Canterbury Tales by what? A couple millennia? Sad that some people are so limited and are clearly nowhere close to the viewer you think you are. But hey, from someone who uses fart noises for commentary, that is to be expected. If someone thinks their own farts are art, then that’s what they’ll want in the art they seek out. No wonder you don’t like Disco.Art succeeds only if it can provoke a reaction. Base on your reaction as well as mine, it has proven itself to be fantastic art because it clearly lives in both of our minds, although yours is clearly rather toxic and full of bile. Well, I share Mr. T’s feelings about people like this, and offer them pity..
by not responding to any of my contentions you are tacitly acknowledging that they are correct
Do hyperbolic rantings need to be responded to? Just know that you’ve gone plaid and be happy that you can provide nothing coherent.
you have no answer for this:“you can tell yourself “in art taste is subjective” and you’d be right, but STD *isn’t art* it’s hideously ill-conceived bullshit tv..”and so you troll…just accept reality and live your life
You need help sir. That’s the appropriate answer when encountering someone screaming incoherently at his TV, as you are clearly doing.
Just another comment where you troll and avoid discussing the points I made (which you have no answer for)…here, I’ll prove it…I’m going to quote something I said previously, something that you cannot provide a counter-argument for, and you will ignore all of this and just tell me I’m screaming at my TV:“‘homage’ is a meaningless storytelling device unless the story is actually good…STD is garbage from the ground up…sure a short film might be artful in parts, but it is tainted by the garbage franchise universe it is tied to”you have no answer for this or you would have said it by now
The fact that CBSAA, with Star Trek Discovery as it marquee series is 2 years ahead in their subscriber projections point to a fact that you opinion about the show isn’t shared by many. And that’s all it is. An opinion. A single small opinion is a sea of opposing ones. The fact that CBS is already preparing multiple addition, also means that they are confident viewers will pay them back for the hundreds of million they are spending. So who should people listen to. Your small minded opinion, or the millions opposed toit? Throwing away vast amounts of money to expand a garbage product, that’s not what networks do if they want to remain in business and if people want to keep their jobs. Numerous people priorly involved with the production of previous Star Trek series have publicly stated they are pleased with Discovery, that’s another counter to your ludicrous hyperbole. And Kurtzman/Abrams are ruining scifi? That’s the most laughable statement you’ve made. There is more great new scifi on right now and coming than EVER before in the history of visual media. Those two guys couldn’t ruin scifi even if they wanted to. Your limited imagination can’t wrap itself around Discovery, that’s fine. Many other people’s can’t either. Maybe find something more your speed. Millions of people are laughing at your silly hyperbole.
Fail on all points.CBS online subscriber numbers are not related to the quality of the art in any way whatsoever.Just because former Trek production staff say good things about STD doesn’t mean it is quality art either…I say good things about my x-girlfriends because it is polite. Means nothing.Lastly, your Kurtzman/Abrams attempted counterpoint is nothing more than you saying, “no they aren’t” with no support or examples of quality work they have done. They are garbage artists who produce garbage.You can’t provide a counterpoint because you *know* the show is horribly written and plotted from the top.Educate yourself about what makes quality art in film and TV.
JJ Abrams has won 21 awards and recieved 53 nominations by his peers in the TV/Film industry. Why should anyone take your word over those people?Kartzman was won 3 awards and recieved 9 nominations by his peers in the TV/Film industry. Why should anyone take your word over those people?Where are your awards?Still, Based on your level of hyperbolic moronic belligerance, I rather doubt anyone has anything nice to say about you.You’ve proven nothing at all to support any of your accusations. You are just screaming hate at your screen. Can’t be healthy.
JJ Abrams has won 21 awards and recieved 53 nominations by his peers in the TV/Film industry. Why should anyone take your word over those people?Kartzman was won 3 awards and recieved 9 nominations by his peers in the TV/Film industry. Why should anyone take your word over those people?Your logical fallacy here: appeal to authority a text book case, actually.learn:
You clearly don’t understand the english language, or you’d know what peers are. You are the one claiming to be the final authority on artistic judgement. How hypocritical you demonstrate yourself to be.
I don’t have to prove anything, anyway. You are the one making the accusation. Its on you to prove anything you are saying. And you have yet to. All you have offered is hate.
I don’t have to prove anything, anyway. You are the one making the accusation. Its on you to prove anything you are saying. And you have yet to.yeah?*show your work*unless you give examples by quoting me, your criticisms are meaningless…I did just that for youso, I didn’t prove my claims? go ahead and quote one, and show exactly how I failed…or don’t, because you are incapable
So you refuse to offer any proof to your accusations. Yep. You are just a guy screaming at his screen incoherently.
I gave you an illustration of what your logical fallacy was that any middle schooler could understand.That’s more than you deserve.I accept your apology.
More childish hypocrisy from the screen screamer who can’t even produce a quantum of evidence his own hate has any basis in reality. Sad. All he has is a curtain of hate with nothing behind it but vacuum. Very sad.
What are you talking about?Unless you describe, in detail, your criticism against me you are just a troll.
Prove anything you claim. Oh but you can’t. All you have is your ill opinion
What’s with the little boxes saying “L SEP” at the end of all your paragraphs?
I’m not seeing that, but that’s Kinja for you. It’s probably showing you the code for “line separation” for some reason.
Claire’s favorite movie is from 2035, so it’s good for the show to realize that if the characters are going to make constant pop culture references, that there is probably some hypothetical pop culture to be had in the 400 years between now and when the show is setMost video tapes from that era were damaged in 2443 during the second coming of Jesus.
This is probably the most direct TNG ripoff eps. to date….. and absolutely adorable in spite of it. Not gonna lie, PJG is a big reason I stick with this show. The Baltimore references were triggering…. not only are we from the same town, we went to high school together back in the 70s….
Honestly, In Theory was a pretty embarassingly poorly written and performed episode. I recommend Disco’s Calypso. It was a lot like this one, actually with a touch of Her.
So, a ship like the Orville probably has to have a lot of reclamation of resources in order to function efficiently. That means excess water is recovered, treated and restored to the ship’s systems for future use. Potable water is stored in appropriate tanks, and waste water recycled for use in operations such as watering plants, cooling machinery and, perhaps, fire suppression systems, which is what I assume Isaac activated in order to make it rain on the bridge.So, yeah, basically Isaac drenched his colleagues in piss.Gordon will have a heck of a time trying to top that in the prank war.
my brain couldn’t stop thinking about the machinery and flooring and whatever else that was being ruined by the rain.now my brain will call it piss rain.
With matter reclamation and generators, there’s not really a need for water tanks. All waste material gets converted to energy and turned into new products: clothes, tools, food, etc.
So yes, piss was likely an ingredient in the rain.
Right, because in an emergency situation involving power loss they want to make sure they don’t have any actual food or water on board when the replicators don’t work.Also, just a joke.
Imagine if someone were to make it rain on the bridge of a Federation ship. Given the tendency for their electronics to explode at the slightest overload this would have been an unprecedented disaster. It’s good to know Union ships are built more solidly.
They have the same resilience as a Galaxy S phone from today, at least. Just don’t go under 3 meters or you’re toast.
Yeah, and I don’t see Picard being down with flooding the bridge.
My thought when it started “raining” was, “”Why isn’t anything short circuiting?”
I thought it was a simulation at first, then I noticed everybody was getting wet. Who is this made for? Why? And how did they pipe water through the large window on the roof?
I seem to recall a scene were a bridge control panel erupted into flames.
Well, Beverly Crusher’s ghost boyfriend from the Scottish planet did make the bridge foggy.
the view out the window bothered me too until I rationalized it to be merely a screensaver on a big flat screen. or a view from a remote camera positioned on the center ring of the quantum drive.I hate to think that I’ve turned into one of those people who has to see an edit every three seconds lest I get bored, but as I was watching the multiple musical numbers all I could think “ oh boy, somebody is padding this show out this week”last point, falling love with Issac is NOT the same as an inanimate object like a vibrator ( I’ll give you time to come up with your own joke here) or as the show said “a vacuum cleaner”. unless there has been significant advancements to AI appliance technology
The Orville went full Character this week, as the ship is at warp the whole time except for a rendezvous with the touring Union Symphony, which is a fantastic idea, BTW, and also served to recognize the excellent—and real—full orchestra The Orville uses for its scores. I imagine it must’ve been fun/challenging for some of those musicians to perform in alien makeup!With the A-plot of Dr. Finn exploring a romantic relationship with Isaac, this show would seem to owe a lot to “In Theory”, the TNG episode where a woman tries to date Data with results that were “sub-optimal” for her but sometimes cringey and sometimes hilarious for the audience. But for once (though this may not be the first time), The Orville actually takes that basic idea and improves upon it. Despite there not being an alien world involved in the plot, there’s plenty of sci-fi ideas to be had.First, there wasn’t anything sudden or out-of-left-field about Finn’s decision to ask Isaac out. Their friendship has been carefully developed over the last season and change, with a lot of that development coming when Finn was stranded on a planet with her kids and Isaac. Isaac may be an unfeeling robot but there’s been a lot of chemistry between these two. It’s a great example of a Trek-like show actually showing its work.Of course, your mileage may vary when it comes to whether or not you particularly cared about this relationship ever evolving into something more romantic, just as the very concept of “romance” is something Isaac just kinda has to go with on faith (or, well, data). If you’re not a fan of Finn and/or Isaac, then Finn x Isaac is probably not going to make your day. Personally, I like both characters.The central concept of “In Theory” was that, tragically, Data will never be able to return the love anyone shows him, at least not in the way a human can, because he has no emotions. Perhaps, with sufficient time, research, and practice, he could do better than he did with his hokey “honey I’m home” act, but it would still feel artificial because humans are pretty good at sniffing out insincerity, even if it’s “sincere.”Where “Happy Refrain” refines that concept is that Finn enters the next stage of her relationship with Isaac with open eyes. She hasn’t been admiring him from afar, and knows who she’s dealing with. If she were to stop and think about things, she could also probably predict each and every one of his reactions to her romantic gestures, since he’s basically a human behavior encyclopedia/sponge.But this isn’t about whether Isaac can perfectly simulate romantic love. It’s whether he can be a worthy, present, and servicable companion to Dr. Finn, who is lonely and for a variety of reasons has gravitated towards Isaac. In many ways he’s the perfect man, but in many other ways he’s the exact opposite, so this will take some work. This all works because it all makes sense.Like any relationship, it’s pretty fun and exciting in the beginning, but once it’s clear Isaac is treating this like another cold experiment in human observation (Lamarr’s first round of advice is harmless, telling him to dress snazzy and bring non-rose flowers.) But Isaac fails to understand that part of what makes the beginning of a “coupling” so exciting is the mystery of that other person. “Isaac’s literal turning of the table, followed by the quick holo-reset of said table, had me in stitches.”He eliminated any mystery by uploading all data he could find on Finn and just starts listing it all (always great to hear my mid-level hometown mentioned; The Expanse’s Miller is also from B-More!). When he sees she’s not responding well to this, he overcompensates, as Data did. Then he creates a simulated human body in the holodeck to more naturally interact with Finn, and more importantly, deletes the data from his memory so he doen’t know everything there is to know about her. As usual, I don’t care how some kind of basically magical tech in a Trek-like show works as long as it effectively serves the narrative without feeling like a cheat. It’s also great to see Mark Jackson outside of the goofy 1950’s robot suit and hear his distinctive voice without electronic modulation. And then, of course, Isaac and Finn bone.That’s the end of things as far as Isaac is concerned, because he and Finn had very different ideas about what that meant, and he’s still new to the whole conventions of romantic relationships (i.e. they don’t end on a dime just because THE SEXUAL EVENT has taken place). Worse, Lamarr takes Isaac’s desire to break up with Finn the same way he would any non-artificial life form friend, and his advice for him to turn heel ham it up in tighty-whities is missing a LOT of context.The crew also treats Isaac like an asshole—or rather more of an asshole than usual—because, like Finn, they’re projecting human/oid emotions and ideals upon him. Surely someone that intellectually advanced would have read the entire database of romantic ficiton, for instance, and learned that he’s quite clearly done her wrong. But like Finn wanting and hoping for something to come out of her fling with Isaac, Isaac holds true to his engrained directives: once there’s no further data to be collected, the experiment ends. Q.E.D. It’s not personal, and that’s the whole problem.Except, there is a lot more “data to be collected”, clearly, because Finn’s and the crew’s reaction to his actions suggest he’s missing something in the equation. Furthermore, his efforts to make things more spontaneous with Finn by deleting parts of his memory starts causing internal malfunctions he did not anticipate.The final scene with the raining, while a bit rushed, was another example of MacFarlane being an old softie to the core (like the Billy Joel a couple episodes back) and your mileage may vary once again. I’ve never even watched “Singin in the Rain” but like Finn I’ve always thought of rain as a good and happy thing (especially those sudden summer storms in Baltimore of my youth). Also, ever since I watched the scene in The Matrix Revolutions when Neo and Trinity take the ship above the clouds (IMO the most hopeful moment of the trilogy, however fleeting), I’ve always seen rainy clouds as just one layer; that the skies are clear and the sun is shining just above them. That’s always given me comfort, and the rain itself is cleansing and nourishing. So the rain-on-the-bridge scene worked for me.Finally, unlike “In Theory” and so many other Trek romance episodes, there’s no reset button to “A Happy Refrain.” Things aren’t going to be perfect, and they may not work out at all in the long term, but Finn and Isaac are still together, and have something here and now, and they’re going to keep working on it. Isaac has discovered that there is something of value in continuing their “coupling”, while Finn’s original optimism about there being merit in trying to date a robot is validated.
Your post is well stated and echos a lot of my thoughts about the episode (better than I would). I am only posting to recommend that you watch Singin in the Rain if you like dancing, musicals etc. It is pretty great.
I was one who enjoyed Isaac and Claire’s relationship in the past, but thought it should remain platonic, with Uncle Isaac taking some of the load off Claire and just generally being helpful and interested. When I started to see where this episode was going, I cringed at how bad I expected it would turn out. I was quite pleasantly surprised. It was sweet, honest about relationships, true to the characters, and worked far better than it had a right to. The bridge wasn’t the only thing producing moisture at the end.
Oh man, did I interpret your last sentence incorrectly at first!
I thought the orchestra was a very interesting addition to the episode, but I was a bit taken out of the moment by a couple of obvious issues: 1) If there are aliens in the orchestra, then why are all the instruments 20th century Earth instruments? 2) Why would a Union Orchestra play 20th century Earth music?I mean I KNOW that this is all critical to the plot-line of the episode, but doesn’t this seem a bit odd in principle? LOL
We have orchestras with 500-year old instruments playing 500-year old music right now. Not out of place at all.
If you’re going to have dozens of people/aliens playing musical instruments together, the 20th century symphonic orchestra is a natural fit.
It’s been developed over hundreds of years, got instruments of different timbre filling each significant frequency range (lows, mids, highs and everything inbetween) and we’ve tried adding more instruments – electric and electronic instruments, “world” instruments, etc. – but they’re icing on a cake that doesn’t really need it. Why? Honestly, because the orchestra works.
And knowing the conservative nature of most orchestral performances (Beethoven and Tchaikovsky still sell the most tickets, even today), it’s entirely plausible that they’d keep performing the classics, even those considered modern classics today.
Because everything in this comedy is 20th century Earth, except for the sets and CGI stuff pretending to be scifi. So far, all its stories and scripts are so bad none would have been approved by the writing team of TNG.
That’s was exactly my thought as well. “Where are the alien instruments?”
Yes it does. From this and the Star Trek series, you would think nothing of artistic merit was produced in the hundreds of years since the 20th century.
It’s not Miller that was from Baltimore, it was Amos. I’m originally a Baltimoron too (but I got out) 🙂
Wouldn’t that make you a Baltinomore?
Ooh, yes, very good.
Yep, one of the better eps of the Orville. Still only about half as endearing as Disco’s Calypso, but not the usual embarrassment of an ep I’ve come to expect. Certainly better than the Data episode of TNG it was aping, but honestly, that episode was brutally awful so there was lots of room for improvement.
The symphony showcase was pure MacFarlane, who loves to indulge in this kind of stuff (symphony gags pop up all the time on Family Guy). The conductor was played by Mark Graham, who is listed as the show’s “head of music preparation” and serves the same function on Family Guy and such movies as Bumblebee, Solo and the Avengers movies.
I imagine the holodeck of the Orvillet gets shocked every night, like a hot tub, to avoid the spread of antigens.
I’m imagining a support group where people are talking about horrible stuff, their whole crews being wiped out in Krill attacks and space disasters, and then it gets to the janitor who cleans the simulator and everyone agrees he’s had the worst of it.
Then there were sparks.
There’s definitely a guy that wipes down the loads, like any decent sauna.
This show is just getting better and better. Between Bortus’ recent porn addiction,last week’s concentration camp episode and this week’s Claire centric story,I’m loving it more and more. In my estimation this was much better than “In Theory” the TNG episode it referenced (or okay, ripped off) as we got to see another side of Dr. Finn besides dedicated ship doctor and loving but sometimes overwhelmed mother. Also,Mark Jackson is cute,let’s have more of Isaac in human form please.
I was surprised at how young he was. When he took human form in the simulator I was like, “Whaa? Dr. Finn robbin’ the cradle over here!”Seriously, he’s like, half her age.
I’d rank it as a solid B+ … So solid, it might have popped up into A territory. Crazy that this show is getting it there. I keep waiting for the show to crash and turn stupid, but it keeps the high wire act going.
Because nobody else has linked it yet, even though it was referenced in the title:
I know Seth MacFarlane is an atheist, but he must be thanking the gods on a nightly basis that he was able to get Penny Johnson Jerald for The Orville. None of the other actors on this show has the chops to have pulled this off as well as she did, especially when she was angry and hurt while understanding that’s just who Isaac is.
All the props to PJG, but credit where it’s due to Mark Jackson. The subtlty in his face during the initial reveal of his avatar is as good as it gets. The writing and direction that got us there demands attention, too.
Though I’d also love to see the alternate universe version of the show where Isaac is played by Mark Evan Jackson. (It would be a different performance, but you can’t tell me he wouldn’t absolutely kill it.)
Space Pope? This guy?
Really, you took this silly episode seriously? I thought when this article began that it was going to point to having a relationship with one’s washing machine to be a parallel to the foolishness that was this episode. So, it was fun and silly and mildly entertaining, but to start talking about “the modern woman” as though this episode has anything substantive to say to us? Rubbish.
Beyond the obvious TNG “In Theory” parallel, it also brings to mind the old Asimov story, “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisfaction_Guaranteed_(short_story) Well worth reading if you’re not familiar with it.
So, Isaac’s simulator trick of making himself appear human got me thinking a bit about the logistics of it, especially after Yaphet shows up looking like Norm Macdonald.
The way they were able to interact with the environment made it seem as if the simulator gave them new bodies or something, rather than just an overlay of photons and force fields over their existing bodies. Like, Yaphet’s human form could stretch his arm to reach the bottle, but that’s not actually Yaphet reaching over, is it, with the human overlay on his arm? (Though Norm Macdonald with stretchy powers does bring to mind his great “Origin of the Fantastic Four” sketch from one of his comedy albums).
I suppose it could be Yaphet’s actual arm, it just makes me wonder how Yaphet is position within the Norm avatar.But anyway, Isaac’s avatar is a bit trickier, since it’s supposed to simulate a face with lips so Claire can make out with him. And given her reaction, I suppose it feels human enough. But given that Isaac’s robot head seems to be a lot bigger than the optical illusion of his human head, I really have to wonder how the simulator is pulling that off. Like, the simulator can fool Claire’s eyes into thinking Isaac has a face, but wouldn’t she still feel the metal veneer of his faceplate when she goes in for the smooch?The point being that it seems to me Isaac would be aware of the limitations of the simulator, and the more prudent approach would have been to simply create the human simulation of himself without having to actually be underneath. Given that he’s a robot, he could probably hook himself up to the simulator via wifi to control the thing anyway, so he wouldn’t even have had to have been there. (But, given how he transforms as he walks in later, it’s pretty clear the show is establishing that it’s actually him under that holo-skin).What this brings to mind further is that Isaac could have used the simulator to test out scenarios of his relationship with Claire. And that he didn’t do it might have robbed us of a potentially great sight gag and callback after he goes to Lamarr for advice. Namely, a jump cut to Isaac sitting at the bar in Lamarr’s pickup scenario, decked out in the jacket of many zippers.
I think everything you said is why they’ve kept the specifics of the Simulator vague up to this point. So all we know is that it can do whatever is necessary to progress the story. With the Holodeck, TNG outlined a lot of its limitations pretty early on, which may have robbed us of a few story possibilities
Everyone else had something to say while it rained on them, but that poor co-helmsman. She just went about her business.I haven’t watched every episode, but is there an episode where Bortus and Klyden don’t hate something about the other?
Wow! It’s like the show heard me. I was just posting last week that I wish The Orville would return to some of its lighter, more humorous faire and “A Happy Refrain” did not disappoint. Don’t get me wrong, I like the more conventional stories as well but it’s nice and fun break once in a while.
What makes it work is that it’s all done earnestness.
I agree, I’m loving The Orville. This Discovery, Black Mirror all great SciFi TV shows and movies that have really upped their game it’s a great time to be a SciFi and Fantasy fan. The way they are treating this relationship and the others on the show is excellent. After the breakup with Isaac in his underwear had you both laughing and cringing at the same time literally, they could have just had the cliche end of it with the hurt and the pragmatic “she at least tried.” Instead we’re getting a more nuanced take and an evolutionary take on AI even along with human emotions and expectations. I really like that while other shows portray personal lives of ship crews and such, Orville frankly adds what goes on in real life at times too. Goofy jokes, the normal chattering going on while working and all just like any work place. It shows the friendships in a more personal way than just life and death situations or references to things that happen. It’s just fun for me.
Didn’t see anyone point this out, but wife and I kept eye rolling at the improbable failures of basic human interactions. Isaac doesn’t understand that people sleep? Have private spaces you don’t break into? Should not replay actual audio of people saying things? Was too dumb to be believable. We otherwise love The Orville, and think this was otherwise a bit better than most of the TNG explorations of this with Data, but that was a bit silly.Unrelated: the orchestra was a bit too overtly just Seth Likes Show Tunes, not really sufficiently part of the story.
I was disappointed that this episode didn’t delve into Isaac’s side of the story. Although we are convinced that he doesn’t have emotions and therefore his feelings can’t be hurt, the relationship between him and Finn is very one-sided. From the beginning, even though she’s been amply warned not to expect anything, she does anyway, and the entire episode consists of Isaac being expected to perform for and please Finn, or being ostracized and criticized by the entire crew when he fails to do so.I think it would have been very interesting for Isaac or one of the other non-human crew members to channel the Chancellor’s daughter from ST6 and characterize the Union as a Homo Sapiens Only Club. i.e. “We’re happy to meet you, but only if you conform to our morals and our ideas of right and wrong.” The Orville mirrors Star Trek in a lot of ways, and the human-centric, almost nationalist/fascist depiction of the Federation/Union is one of them.
Confession: The only reason I gave this show a chance is that it seemed likely somebody would bang the robot. (Not the first time I’ve watched a show for that reason)
“In Minneapolis, we, like a significant portion of the Midwest, are
finally clawing out of the wretched, record-breaking arctic cold that
ground down on us like the Laurentide ice sheet. Schools were cancelled,
car batteries died and everyone was effectively shut inside like an
old-timey Klondike prospector stranded in their cabin through the winter
with nothing but their union suit and a single bean on a tin plate.
It’s been less than a week, but felt interminable.”From California I say “Ah, hahahaha-*drowns*”
Absolutely unexpectedly loved it. A solid A for me.
Oh leave Yaphet alone, Jesus.
I actually found this episode to be kinda sweet. Got a Lars and the Real Girl vibe from it, but that’s probably just me.
I loved the Union Orchestra. I saw it as a love letter to everyone who works behind the scenes. Plus I like knowing that there are still violins and clarinets in the future. More TV shows should have extended orchestral interludes.I’ll be honest, I spent most of the episode thinking “Gurl, this is unhealthy!” and then I thought about a robot showing up in my bedroom with a cake.
Are we looking at a Isaac/Claire/Yaphit triangle? Because would be peak 2019.I desperately want an Avery Brooks cameo. I want to see Ben Sisko and Cassidy Yates together again.
The episode was fine until that ending. A real romantic relationship with a robot is just silly – unless it is a metaphor for older women’s best odds of finding true love (Penny JJ is 57, shockingly) being with something mechanical!Most Trek’s have had this sort of mismatched couple romances or hololove stories. Let’s face it, with a real life holodeck, a LOT of use would be for sex!
I am a little thrown off by how Isaac is not only a similar character to Data (aside from wanting to be human) but speaks in a voice so similar that at first I thought it WAS Brent Spiner. They could have gone for a different inflection, at least.
The entire point of Orville was so Seth could play out his teenage fantasies abotu being a TNG captain. Going in another direction would be contrary to what this show is about or for.
I expected when the ladies were dishing about holo-Isaac, that not only was she dating a machine, but he was also a quite younger man.
The best joke of the show occurred on the bridge while members of the crew are talking to Isaac about his hot date (and romp in the sack) with Dr. Finn.Security? Chief: Were there any sparksIsaac: Sparks?Security Chief: Yeah, you know, SPARKS.Isaac: No, there weren’t any equipment malfunctions at all.Capt. Mercer: Well, you don’t have to brag about it.Classic. I laughed my ass off. Seth MacFarlane delivered the line in such a dry British humor ala Monty Python way that it’s easy to miss the punch line until twenty minutes later when you suddenly burst into laughter as the joke finally sinks in. And that’s why I love the show. It’s a blatant Star Trek rip-off without being a blatant Star Trek rip-off. And, to boot, it has a sense of humor that was woefully lacking in Star Trek. Whereas Star Trek comes off as high-brow, pompous and pretentious, The Orville comes off as low-brow, working class, and down to earth whilst giving Star Trek a swift kick to the balls for good measure. God, I hope this show has a long run.
I just wanted to say that I genuinely, non-ironically loved Bortus’s moustache and was really disappointed he shaved it off for a one-episode gag. He looked like a fucking BOSS.
Mark Jackson is a cutie when he’s not in the android suit, but damn, if anybody had human-simulation-Isaac’s expression on his face while I was having sex with him, I might freak out. Isaac looked as though he didn’t entirely understand what was going on. Childlike. I’d be thinking, Is he capable of consent? Should I care, given that he’s a robot who doesn’t experience emotions?
I commenting FROM THE FUTURE!!! It’s 2020 here (I’m not even sure how these comments work after the fact… Am I just replying to Nick or will this show up at the end of the comment thread? No matter… I AM FROM THE FUTURE!), And the entire planet is pretty much under quarantine right now, so I decided to make my first AV club comment (“longtime reader, first time poster”) to say how delightful I thought this show, and in particular this episode, were. Truly a tonic in this bleak worldscape.I don’t usually like Seth MacFarlane’s work, and I don’t have as much nerd cred as some of you on here, but I think this show is just…fun. Tonally, it reminds me so mucho what you kids call ST:TOS, which I just call ‘Star Trek,’ because I’m old.Such a huge percentage of current science fiction, film or TV, presents an almost unremittingly dystopic and nihilistic vision. I really appreciate a show that makes me smile these days, and in this episode, I found myself smiling for most of the hour. Oh, and the spaceship looks cool.
I half expected a crisis the tail end of the episode but this was good