Sanctuary (Spoileriffic)

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Graham Kennedy
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Sanctuary (Spoileriffic)

Post by Graham Kennedy »

I gotta say, when it became clear that it was yet another Moclan episode, I winced. They're interesting, but there's been too much of a good thing. Can't we learn more about some of the other species for a change?

That said... decent episode. Not great, but decent.

Nice to see reference to the Kaylon threat again, and nice to see Orville and the rest of the fleet being upgunned. Seth said at the start that he wanted to forgo long story arcs and make the Orville more episodic in nature. I'm fine with that, but I do like that he does have some ongoing story elements.

Minor element of that, it's nice to see that Ed and the gang routinely answer to the same Admirals over and over. Halsey seems to be the overboss of the fleet, but others have also popped up more than once. And I must say, I really like Ted Danson as an Admiral. It's not the biggest role, but he does it well and I'd like to see more of him.

Reeeealy obvious that the Moclan passengers were up to no good even on the short walk to their quarters. But the kid caught me by surprise.

I said way back that I thought female births were a good deal more common than the Moclans admitted to, and they were lying about it. And bingo, there's a planet with thousands of Moclan females on it! Not only that, but there is an underground movement trying to get these girls out and get them to a safe haven, with thousands already there. Pretty awesome.

Also interesting to see how Klyden is developing as a character. When first introduced he was quite popular, and seemed like a nice foil to the more reserved Bortus. But it's gradually become clear that Klyden is actually, by Human standards at least, quite a colossal dick. I honestly thought that the story would pan out with the Moclans not knowing about the colony and then Klyden telling them, leading to a massacre. They didn't do that, but he's still being quite dickish this episode. And I do like how Bortus calls him on it.

I find the legality of the episode interesting. The colony is apparently not in Union or Moclan space, but the situation seems to be that unless the Union grants protection, the Moclans have legal jurisdiction over it. Seemingly there is no such thing as an independent colony, at least as far as the Moclans are concerned. Does this apply only to Moclans, or does Earthgov automatically have jurisdiction over Human colonies? Is it not possible for a group to declare themselves independent of their home government?

Likewise, it seems that one of the roles of the Union fleet is policing interactions between members. If Moclas attacks Earth, or Earth attacks Moclas, it appears that the Union fleet will defend against the aggressor.

As an aside, Moclas clearly maintains their own fleet of armed ships. Do other planets all do this? We saw no sign of an Earth fleet when the Kaylon attacked, only Union ships. Perhaps some planets maintain their own fleets whilst others rely on the Union fleet? Perhaps Earth foregoes their own fleet and thus contributes a lot more than most to the Union fleet instead, and that's why we see so many Humans on Union ships? Interesting to speculate.

Loved seeing Marina on the show! Yay! Wasn't exactly a terribly meaty role, but I wonder if she might pop up again from time to time.

And Tony Todd! I didn't recognise him at all, but the voice was screaming "you know me, dammit!" Every time a Star Trek actor appears on the Orville, a space angel gets its wings!

Incidentally, we have yet another time when the Orville could easily have been damaged or destroyed and yet there are children aboard. At least the Galaxy class has the hypothetical ability to send the civilians off in the saucer section and have a Starfleet-only crew on the battle section, even if they virtually never used it. Orville doesn't even have that.

Which makes me wonder, does Orville have escape pods? Surely it must.

The nebula is over a trillion kilometres across, which is 6,600 AU, or about 38 light-days. That is indeed easily large enough to contain a planetary system. Well done writers!

Gotta say, those Moclan rifles look really cool.

I LOLed at the Dolly Parton stuff early on, but I gotta say, playing it over the action scenes at the end... hmmmmm. I see what they were going for, but I'm honestly not sure if I think it's a good idea or not.

So here's an odd thing. Why do Ed and the Admiral sit on the Union council? Even assuming that Ed is along as an assistant to the Admiral, why is the Admiral apparently Earth's representative? Even if we're okay with military officers serving as political representatives, the Union fleet is a part of the Union, not a part of Earth. Surely this would be a job that some sort of diplomat would hold, like the American ambassador to he UN?

Wow, the Moclans are REALLY serious about this 'no women' thing, aren't they? In every situation dealing with women they seem to be absolutely determined to deal with it in the strictest possible manner, regardless of cost or any other consideration.

The Union never thought to send reinforcements to the Orville? They had plenty of time. Of course if they do that then the Moclans send reinforcements to their ship, and then the Union sends more, and the Moclans send more, and somebody pushes a button and it's an all-out war. Both sides may have deliberately held back so as not to escalate.

I gotta say, I do love how agile the Orville is. She flies like a damn fighter! Very cool indeed.

I do like the practicality of the politics here. They're not just talking right and wrong to one another, they're talking about the practical politics of who gets stomped by whom if they go ahead. And in the end we got an actual compromise where both sides got some of what they want and both sides lost some of what they want.

All in all a good episode.
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
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