by Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Orville It may have originally been marketed as a parody of Star Trek by the mastermind behind it Family manSeth MacFarlane, but by the time season three finally aired in 2022, it had long since evolved into one of the best sci-fi shows of the decade. The sixth episode of the third season of “Twice in a Lifetime” proved that a series that included a discussion about alien urination in the pilot episode was capable of reaching emotional heights that most shows never reach. To this day, fans debate the ending of the episode and whether our heroes actually made the right decision.
Twice in a lifetime
“Twice in a Lifetime” is an episode centered around Gordon (Scott Grimes) and serves as a sequel to the film Orville The second season featured the title “Lasting Impressions”. At the time, Gordon created a holographic program based on information from a phone placed in a time capsule in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 2015. The woman, Laura Huggins (Leighton Meester), becomes the woman of Gordon's dreams, and he falls in love with her digital recreation. But she eventually leaves her.
The second time, instead of falling in love with the digital version of Laura, Gordon finds himself sent back in time thanks to Aronov's device once again tampering with the time stream. After being abandoned in 2015, Gordon searches for the real Laura Huggins, meets her, falls in love with her again, has children with her, and lives his perfect life. The Orville, on a mission to save Gordon before he destroys the timeline, lands in the year 2025, where Ed (Seth MacFarlane) and Kelly (Adrian Palicki) confront their navigator.
Treason law
Orville It really hit its stride when stories started to focus on characters and less on playing with sci-fi tropes, but here it is, under the watchful eye of producer Brannon Braga, the man responsible for some… Star Trek: The next generation The best episodes, it's the perfect mix of the two. There is no real villain in “Twice in a Lifetime,” and the climax is a heated debate between Gordon, who tries to argue for this ideal life, and Ed and Kelly, who insist that the timeline must be maintained.
Given the way the Season 2 finale is going, it's ironic that Ed and Kelly would take this position, especially since Gordon explains that he spent three years alone in the wilderness, avoiding any contact with people to help keep the timeline intact. Ed and Kelly could have ultimately won over Gordon in a different series with a superior logical argument about the needs of the many. but Orville It was constructed differently, and the real solution is a shocking and heartbreaking act of betrayal.
Refueled and ready to jump through time once again, Orville travels back to the year 2015, before Gordon met Laura, taking him from the wilderness just four months later, and this version of Gordon is happy to be back. In 2025, Gordon returns to his family, hugs them, tells them he loves them, and enjoys a few moments before they are all erased from the timeline when 2015 Gordon is sent back to the year 2422. There, Ed and Kelly explain to 2015 Gordon what really happened, and how he found Laura, how he lived the life of his dreams in the past.
No one is right and no one is wrong
There are a large number of Orville Fans who view Ed and Kelly as villains for robbing Gordon of his perfect life and then telling him about it so he can feel the loss again for the first time when they go back/go back in time. Given their past time adventures changed the future twice, it would be hypocritical and cruel to do this to Gordon.
Seth MacFarlane He continued to sign up for interviews and appearances because, in his opinion, we never saw the life Laura would have lived had Gordon not shown up in the past. Was her life better or did Gordon's arrival change her future and pull her down a completely different path? The worst thing about MacFarlane's work is also what he makes of it Orville Very well, because he's right, but it feels wrong, and that moral conundrum makes the series so great years later.
There are other episodes Orvilleespecially both parts of “Identity,” are someone's favorite, but nothing hits as hard as “Twice in a Lifetime.” Gordon, the comic relief character who covers up his insecurities with alcohol, rarely gets the spotlight, and when he does, Scott Grimes makes sure to act great in every scene and, as a result, gives us one of comedy's greatest characters. Science fiction Time travel episodes ever.
