by Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Orville It is an obvious tribute to Star Trek: The Next Generation Crafted with love by Family man Creator Seth MacFarlane, right out of the gate, had the support of a star from a different Star Trek series. Robert Duncan MacNeil, famous for playing hippo Tom Paris Voyagerjumped into the director's seat for the show's second episode, “Driving Performance,” which helped the sci-fi homage get off on the right foot. Part old-school adventure episode, part parody, MacNeil pulled off an amazing balancing act in broadcasting the episode.
Zoo driving performance has been updated
“Driving performance” starts out normally enough Orvillewith Captain Ed Mercer (MacFarlane) and First Officer Kelly Grayson (Adrian Palicki) helping a ship attacked by the alien Creel, when it turns into a tribute to the alien. Star Trek: The original series “The Menagerie” episode. Mercer and Grayson find themselves captive in an intergalactic zoo for the Califons, who closely resemble the Talosians, the villains in the original TOS classic, while Alara (Halston Sage), the chief security officer, is left in charge of the ship. . Reflecting Spock's decision to defy the Federation, Alara chooses to pursue their missing leader back to Califon's homeland, risking court-martial in the process.
Orville “Leading Performance” may be a rough homage to “The Menagerie,” but the other half of the episode, which revolves around Bortus (Peter Macon) and his companion hatching an egg, pulls back from Star Trek: Voyager “Someone to take care of me.” Voyager season 5 episode features Seven out of nine (Jeri Ryan) learns about human courtship, but more importantly, it was also directed by Robert Duncan MacNeil, and he wanted to capture the feel of Seven's interactions with the crew with Bortus. Moclan society, which is male-dominated, is explored in greater depth later in the series, but the seeds for the ensuing drama and character growth are planted under MacNeil's watch.
Peak “driving performance” involving Real Housewives It's a fun gesture Orville The book refers to Star Trek's obsession with contemporary popular culture and a joke that the show would eventually get away from by pushing the silliness of Trek to the extreme. As the show went on, it ended up being more of a tribute than a parody, turning into a love letter to a classic Journey when it seemed like Science fiction The shows were moving away from exploring places no man had gone before.
He's not the only Star Trek veteran to direct
After the Robert Duncan MacNeil episode aired, another Star Trek legend emerged Orville Director's chair when Jonathan Frakes She directed the fifth episode of the first season of “Priya,” which also featured Charlize Theron as the strange blonde woman. MacNeil's time in the Command Performance chair proved that the show could hit old-school trip beats, but Frakes helped push it forward, providing a turning point where he was able to start standing on his own.
“Driving Performance” is not the best episode of the series OrvilleAnd he was the only one who took it out Robert Duncan MacNeillbut it's important to lay the groundwork for future stories that helped move the show away from a Star Trek parody. This, and it still has some fun moments, starting with seeing Ed and Kelly's relationship play out in Bortus explaining that he, yes, laid an egg.
