Following numerous delays, including a change in network and COVID-19 restrictions while filming, The Orville is finally returning to our screens! After 37 long months (how has it been this long?!), Season 3, titled The Orville: New Horizons, premieres on June 2, 2022.
Created by Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted), the series follows the crew aboard the USS Orville, a spacecraft belonging to the Planetary Union, an alliance between Earth and other planets. With each episode, the crew embark on a new mission as they explore the cosmos. The main crew of Seasons 1 and 2 consists of down-on-his-luck Captain Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane), First Officer and Mercer’s ex-wife Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki), Chief Medical Officer Doctor Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald), Helmsman and Mercer’s best friend Lieutenant Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes), The Moclan second officer Lieutenant Commander Bortus (Peter Macon), Xelayan Chiefs of Security Lieutenants Alara Kitan (Halston Sage) and Talla Keyali (Jessica Szhor), navigator Lieutenant John LaMarr (J. Lee), and finally, the ship's science and engineering officer, the robot-like Isaac (Mark Jackson).
Originally airing on Fox for its first two seasons, The Orville has now moved to the streaming service Hulu for its third season. The first two seasons are available to stream on Hulu now as well. With the Season 3 premiere just around the corner, why not check out some of the series’ best episodes? Whether you’re already a fan wanting to re-watch it or a newcomer ready to catch up, check out these nine essential episodes of The Orville while New Horizons prepares for take-off.
“Old Wounds” (Season 1, Episode 1)
Pilot episodes are often overburdened with laying the groundwork for the story to come, but fortunately “Old Wounds” rises to the challenge. Like many great series before it, the pilot (and first season overall) has some growing pains to work out, but it ultimately does an excellent job of introducing us to the main cast and characters. "Old Wounds" sets up the rocky dynamic between Ed and Kelly, both personally and professionally, as they discover they’ll be working together on the USS Orville. Though they’re the focus in the pilot, the rest of the ensemble will get their turns in the spotlight in the episodes to come.
We also have our first encounter with a hostile alien species known as the Krill, a recurring threat to the Union and The Orville’s crew throughout the series. Above all else, “Old Wounds” establishes the tone of the series. With a sci-fi core, the show rides the line between its serious and comedic storylines, often blending the two to create some of the series’ best episodes.
“About a Girl” (Season 1, Episode 3)
On Moclan, the population is strictly male, so Bortus and his life partner Klyden (Chad Coleman) are shocked when they hatch a rare female baby. When they order Dr. Finn to perform sex reassignment surgery on the newborn, she refuses. This leads to an ethical dilemma as the crew debate Moclan customs and traditions, forcing Bortus and Klyden to confront the harsh realities of their culture as they consider their child’s future. “About A Girl” is quite a heavy episode. It not only introduces us to Moclan culture and Bortus’s personal life but also sets up one of the most significant and mature ongoing storylines in the series.
“Into the Fold” (Season 1, Episode 8)
When Claire, accompanied by Isaac, wants to take her sons Marcus and Ty (BJ Tanner and Kai Wener) to a theme park planet, their shuttle goes off course and crash lands. Claire gets separated from the others as she realizes the planet is populated by cannibals. The group goes into survival mode as they fight for their lives while attempting to send a distress signal out to The Orville.
“Into The Fold” is another serious episode that highlights the start of Claire and Isaac’s friendship. By protecting Marcus and Ty, Isaac forms a bond with them too, learning more about human connection and what it means to be part of a family aboard The Orville.
“Firestorm” (Season 1, Episode 10)
During a dangerous plasma storm, an Orville crew member becomes trapped beneath debris and a raging fire. However, Alara’s fear of fire prevents her from saving them. Feeling guilty, she tries to resign as a series of strange horrific events start occurring on the ship.
“Firestorm” is a creepy and unsettling episode that sees The Orville embrace lots of horror tropes, while also giving us a first look at Alara’s family life and upbringing. Combining some scary visuals and thrilling action sequences, this episode puts Alara to the test to see if she has what it takes to remain the ship’s chief of security.
“New Dimensions” (Season 1, Episode 11)
With The Orville in need of a new chief engineer, Kelly suggests to Ed that the ship’s navigator John is capable of taking on the position. John is forced to prove his worth as The Orville must escape pursuing Krill ships, leading him to make some incredibly risky decisions for everyone’s safety.
“New Dimensions” demonstrates the immense difficulties and dangers of space travel. It focuses on John’s important role as a navigator, a vital part of keeping The Orville out of harm’s way, but also the unpredictable nature of space itself as it presents unforeseen threats. Much like the previous episode for Alara, John’s time in the spotlight creates defining moments for his character.
“Identity” and “Identity Part II” (Season 2, Episodes 8 and 9)
In The Orville’s game-changing first two-part event, “Identity” sees Isaac beginning to break down. The crew takes him to his home planet, Kaylon-1, hoping to fix him. Upon arriving though, the crew discovers some dark secrets about the origins of the Kaylon race and the planet’s history. With this new knowledge, they horrifyingly realize that the Krill are no longer the biggest threat to the Planetary Union and biological life in the universe.
An epic sci-fi story through and through, these two episodes radically change the world, or rather universe, of The Orville forever. Intense, action-packed, and filled with many twists and turns, “Identity” parts 1 and 2 showcases the series at its finest.
“Lasting Impressions” (Season 2, Episode 11)
The crew opens a time capsule from 2015. Inside, one of the items is a mobile phone belonging to Laura Higgins (Leighton Meester), a woman who wanted to share her life with future discoverers. Gordon uploads the phone’s data into the ship’s holodeck, recreating Laura’s memories and allowing him to interact with them, only to find himself falling in love with her.
My personal favorite episode of the series, “Lasting Impressions” is relatively light-hearted compared to the others on this list, but it still packs an emotional punch with its ending. It’s also quite funny too as Bortus and Klyden become addicted to cigarettes after trying some from the time capsule, highly annoying the rest of The Orville’s crew.
“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” (Season 2, Episode 13)
Reminiscing about their relationship, Ed considers getting back together with Kelly, but she prefers to just stay friends. Isaac, tinkering with experimental time travel tech, accidentally brings a younger version of Kelly to the present, being unable to send her back to her proper time yet. Both Kellys, at very different points in their lives, must adjust to each other’s presence on the ship.
With two Kellys aboard The Orville, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” shows us how much she has changed since first falling in love with Ed. This event leads to both funny and dramatic moments, and as is always the case with time travel, unexpected consequences.
“The Road Not Taken” (Season 2, Episode 14)
What could have happened if Ed and Kelly never got together? A lot actually! In a newly altered timeline, “The Road Not Taken” drops The Orville crew into a much darker reality where the Kaylon have already conquered half the galaxy. To set things back to normal, the ragtag crew must band together and do whatever it takes to prevent this reality from becoming permanent.
Despite the gloomy situation, it’s always fun to see different versions of the characters we’ve become attached to. This new reality offers some surprising changes to the crew as we knew them, along with plenty of explosive action as they race against the clock to fix the timeline.