******SPOILER ALERT******
The Orville is docked at a space station, where Chief Engineer Steve Newton will leave the ship; he will be a designer for a new space station. At Steve's farewell party, Gordon and John secretly take a piece of Yaphit and put it in the buffet. Then Yaphit goes to Sickbay for a legitimate reason: he tells Claire that a piece of him is missing and in "a dark wet place". Then Bortus enters, complaining of an upset stomach. Indeed, Claire's scan finds Yaphit's missing piece in Bortus. With Bortus' permission, Yaphit reaches into Bortus and pulls out the missing piece.
Kelly chews out Gordon and John for the juvenile prank, issuing a formal reprimand on both of them. But when Kelly reads John's file, she finds a startling fact: John is very intelligent. She doesn't know why John hides his intellect, but she recommends to Ed that John be promoted to Chief Engineer.
After the Orville departs, she suddenly hits a spatial anomaly and decelerates rapidly. The lower engine is damaged by the "pothole". Ed assigns Isaac and John to assist in repairs, but Yaphit still is furious at John for the prank.
Isaac and John detect a "quantum wake" in one of the ship's empty quarters. They also find dead plants there.
Ed wants to promote Yaphit to Chief Engineer because he is next in line in Engineering. But Kelly convinces him to appoint John. However, Kelly accidentally mentions that she recommended Ed for command of the Orville ('Old Wounds'). This rattles Ed's self-confidence. He calls Admiral Halsey, who assures Ed that the Admiralty has confidence in him. But Ed isn't convinced.
Kelly wants to know why John hasn't wanted more out of his career. In my opinion, she makes the faulty assumption that many people have of intelligent people: superior ability must breed superior ambition. John says that he just wants a simple life. Still, Kelly suggests that he aim higher - and assigns him to lead the Science & Engineering investigation of the anomaly.
A Horbalak smuggling ship unknowingly approaches the anomaly. Ed tries to warn the Horbalak, but their fat gluttonous slob of a commander replies (in his language), "You can shove it up your a##." The Horbalak ship passes through the anomaly, but has no power when it emerges. Ed, Kelly, Claire, and Alara take a shuttle to the ship and find the commander dead, from cardiac arrest, and partially squished. Alara finds 20 crates of Krill plasma rifles, obviously stolen.
Ed still is angry at Kelly and begins to doubt his ability to command. Then he finds Yaphit in his office. Yaphit expected to lead the S&E team. He is further enraged when Ed tells him about John's promotion, calling Ed racist. John messes up his first attempt at commanding the S&E team, further lowering his self-confidence. But John and Isaac find that the anomaly isn't a "pothole" - it's a portal to 2-dimensional space. The Horbalak ship was temporarily flattened, but some cells in any lifeform can't spring back to their proper shape so easily. That's what killed the Horbalak and the plants.
A Krill fleet approaches with the Orville's quantum drive still disabled. John, using his intellect, suggests a radical solution: generate a quantum bubble around the Orville, then hide in 2-dimensional space until the Krill leave. Yaphit supports John's idea and helps him accomplish it. The bubbled Orville enters the portal just before 3 Krill ships arrive. The 2-dimensional space looks like a big multicolor silicon chip - it has 2-dimensional lifeforms in a 2-dimensional existence, with the Orville cruising above it.
The space reminds Ed of the 1884 short story "Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions" by Edwin Abbott Abbott. But Kelly is reminded that Ed can be "a prideful a##". Indeed, Ed forgets that all of us have received help in achieving something. Furthermore, Kelly's recommendation should prove to Ed that she has full confidence in him.
The anomaly's entry point collapses, causing a temporary partial collapse of the quantum bubble and bloody noses for everyone. The brief flattening disables the Orville's engines. John draws upon his intellect again, suggesting that a bubbled shuttle could tow the Orville to another entry point with a tractor beam through a conduit. Ed, a Doctor Who fan, notes that the shuttle would be bigger on the inside, like the TARDIS. When John hears some members of the S&E team blame Yaphit for their predicament, he defends Yaphit and takes the blame, further believing that he is unfit to lead anyone.
As Ed pilots the shuttle and John maintains the bubble, John tells Ed the reason for hiding his intellect. He grew up on a colony dominated by farmers and builders, not intellectuals, so he wanted to be accepted and liked by the colonists.
The quantum bubbles destabilize, forcing Ed to take the risky move of towing the Orville at high speed. But both vessels successfully return to this universe. The only damage were very bloody noses for Ed and John (and John's temporary, but big, nausea).
Ed apologizes to Kelly, saying, "You helped put me where I belong." Kelly, quoting from the famous story, replies, "It's not the feather, Dumbo. It's you." Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander John LaMarr begins his first day as the Orville's Chief Engineer.
The Orville is docked at a space station, where Chief Engineer Steve Newton will leave the ship; he will be a designer for a new space station. At Steve's farewell party, Gordon and John secretly take a piece of Yaphit and put it in the buffet. Then Yaphit goes to Sickbay for a legitimate reason: he tells Claire that a piece of him is missing and in "a dark wet place". Then Bortus enters, complaining of an upset stomach. Indeed, Claire's scan finds Yaphit's missing piece in Bortus. With Bortus' permission, Yaphit reaches into Bortus and pulls out the missing piece.
Kelly chews out Gordon and John for the juvenile prank, issuing a formal reprimand on both of them. But when Kelly reads John's file, she finds a startling fact: John is very intelligent. She doesn't know why John hides his intellect, but she recommends to Ed that John be promoted to Chief Engineer.
After the Orville departs, she suddenly hits a spatial anomaly and decelerates rapidly. The lower engine is damaged by the "pothole". Ed assigns Isaac and John to assist in repairs, but Yaphit still is furious at John for the prank.
Isaac and John detect a "quantum wake" in one of the ship's empty quarters. They also find dead plants there.
Ed wants to promote Yaphit to Chief Engineer because he is next in line in Engineering. But Kelly convinces him to appoint John. However, Kelly accidentally mentions that she recommended Ed for command of the Orville ('Old Wounds'). This rattles Ed's self-confidence. He calls Admiral Halsey, who assures Ed that the Admiralty has confidence in him. But Ed isn't convinced.
Kelly wants to know why John hasn't wanted more out of his career. In my opinion, she makes the faulty assumption that many people have of intelligent people: superior ability must breed superior ambition. John says that he just wants a simple life. Still, Kelly suggests that he aim higher - and assigns him to lead the Science & Engineering investigation of the anomaly.
A Horbalak smuggling ship unknowingly approaches the anomaly. Ed tries to warn the Horbalak, but their fat gluttonous slob of a commander replies (in his language), "You can shove it up your a##." The Horbalak ship passes through the anomaly, but has no power when it emerges. Ed, Kelly, Claire, and Alara take a shuttle to the ship and find the commander dead, from cardiac arrest, and partially squished. Alara finds 20 crates of Krill plasma rifles, obviously stolen.
Ed still is angry at Kelly and begins to doubt his ability to command. Then he finds Yaphit in his office. Yaphit expected to lead the S&E team. He is further enraged when Ed tells him about John's promotion, calling Ed racist. John messes up his first attempt at commanding the S&E team, further lowering his self-confidence. But John and Isaac find that the anomaly isn't a "pothole" - it's a portal to 2-dimensional space. The Horbalak ship was temporarily flattened, but some cells in any lifeform can't spring back to their proper shape so easily. That's what killed the Horbalak and the plants.
A Krill fleet approaches with the Orville's quantum drive still disabled. John, using his intellect, suggests a radical solution: generate a quantum bubble around the Orville, then hide in 2-dimensional space until the Krill leave. Yaphit supports John's idea and helps him accomplish it. The bubbled Orville enters the portal just before 3 Krill ships arrive. The 2-dimensional space looks like a big multicolor silicon chip - it has 2-dimensional lifeforms in a 2-dimensional existence, with the Orville cruising above it.
The space reminds Ed of the 1884 short story "Flatland: A Romance Of Many Dimensions" by Edwin Abbott Abbott. But Kelly is reminded that Ed can be "a prideful a##". Indeed, Ed forgets that all of us have received help in achieving something. Furthermore, Kelly's recommendation should prove to Ed that she has full confidence in him.
The anomaly's entry point collapses, causing a temporary partial collapse of the quantum bubble and bloody noses for everyone. The brief flattening disables the Orville's engines. John draws upon his intellect again, suggesting that a bubbled shuttle could tow the Orville to another entry point with a tractor beam through a conduit. Ed, a Doctor Who fan, notes that the shuttle would be bigger on the inside, like the TARDIS. When John hears some members of the S&E team blame Yaphit for their predicament, he defends Yaphit and takes the blame, further believing that he is unfit to lead anyone.
As Ed pilots the shuttle and John maintains the bubble, John tells Ed the reason for hiding his intellect. He grew up on a colony dominated by farmers and builders, not intellectuals, so he wanted to be accepted and liked by the colonists.
The quantum bubbles destabilize, forcing Ed to take the risky move of towing the Orville at high speed. But both vessels successfully return to this universe. The only damage were very bloody noses for Ed and John (and John's temporary, but big, nausea).
Ed apologizes to Kelly, saying, "You helped put me where I belong." Kelly, quoting from the famous story, replies, "It's not the feather, Dumbo. It's you." Meanwhile, Lieutenant Commander John LaMarr begins his first day as the Orville's Chief Engineer.