"The Orville" Gently Falling Rain (TV Episode 2022) Poster

(TV Series)

(2022)

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9/10
Unconventional, unpredictable, intense
yoshimo-1312923 June 2022
This was definitely the best episode this season so far. Gripping, intense and with many surprises - but it never felt contrived or constructed. It is also astonishing how the production values haven been upped for season 3. Seriously, this episode feels like it had a $10m budget.
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9/10
This was an awesome episode
jimspaid-6666927 June 2022
Incredible action & fun to watch. I think the people who tear this episode apart forgot how to watch a show . The idea is entertainment. That is what these shows are designed to do. Why would you want to look at a show only to bisect it? That's not fun. Enjoy what it is. If you don't like the series then don't watch it. Like others have said, this is Star Trek-ish stuff with a touch of V (alien cross-breed) & Babylon 5. I love how the characters interact. I'm a senior & love it.
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9/10
He did it again ¡¡
cesarcastrolopez23 June 2022
This is not Star Wars, or Star Trek, this is the Orville.

What started as a joke and a parody as become by its own right comparable to any of the big ones.

@Set Stop doing comedy, you should do always serious stuff, there is no comparison between what you can do in comedy or drama.
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10/10
My highest Rating of the season so far.
hartnsoul-1171323 June 2022
Without giving away anything. From the Amazing music that accompanies the landing party to the Big Reveal twenty minutes till the end of the episode this one packs a punch! Writers Brannon Braga & André Bormanis wrote a great script that hit just the right spot. MacFarlane's performance never waivered from his characters firm belief in Hope. From the Battles scenes amazing affects to the one on one moments shared between characters, I am still tingling and yes I did get a bit choked up. The mark that this episode will leave on the rest of the series is VERY permanent and one I hope that we get to see expand.
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10/10
Truly breathtaking episode
ingra8824 June 2022
This episode creates many new exciting avenues for the Orville crew.

Never knew it was Bruce Boxleitner as the President!

One of the best story lines so far... Now all it would take is for the Kaylon or Krill to fight each other!

Who's side would the union support, if the Kaylon some how make peace with the union for some strange reason?
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9/10
Ambitious
ebeckstr-124 June 2022
The most ambitious episode of the entire series so far, and easily the best so far of season 3. The cityscape that takes center stage in the episode is a beautiful homage to Blade Runner, and probably some Tron in the mix. It features gorgeous CG, with a sumptuous, multi-spectrum, glowing color palette, and even a "Spinner" chase sequence included for a good measure.

The story of the episode serves as a thinly veiled indictment of right-wing nationalism and right-wing extremism in general, with obvious, biting allusions to Trumpism.
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9/10
It is what current Star Trek shows are supposed to be
asterblasterth23 June 2022
I actually like the Orville more than newer Star Trek shows of today. If what started out to be a spoof is better than the current shows of ST then it says a lot about the present ST shows.

What I like about this show it has a message but it isn't the woke business that's shoved down your throat.

What I like even more is that Cons know what the message was in this episode and are all in their feelings about it. It's hard when a mirror is put in front of you and you have to look at yourself.
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10/10
-Thanks !!!
batmanforever-9324925 June 2022
I want to thank to Seth,the cast and to the producers of this series ,this is the dream of any true sci-fi fan,i could not believe how amazing are the landscapes ,this is in such contrast with the last episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds which it seems to falling down with the same speed which brought the series to life (and i'm saying that without no pleasure,i used to love Star Trek ) The Orville is still the best space opera of the moment and i recommend this to any sci-fi fan who likes to see something futuristic and not cowboys,samurai,and indians in space because of the low budget.
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9/10
A great action story, great drama and a message that doesn't insult the viewers intelligence
mnorthco-124 June 2022
This episode was one of the best when I thought maybe ,the best were behind us. This shows, maybe, The orville has matured, understands what it is, knows how it wants to tell a story, and is going from strength to strength.

They have the action down to an art, the characters are now finely tuned and fully dimensional, and the drama and situations are well thought out, and have reason and purpose.

There was a little bit of politics this episode but unlike other shows where a side is shown as stupid, and agenda expressed, the reasons why both sides are acting in the way they are was given equal time, allowing the viewer to make up their own mind rather than just preaching to them ... just like the Krill. The discussion about how and why what happened happened was almost political science.

The orville hasn't always done that but they are getting better in expressing something thast needs to be discussed in the old Star Trek way.

... and, as opposed to other shows, it wasn't at the expense of a great, entertaining episode which surely must be one of the best in a show with very high standards.
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7/10
Trying to do too much
simianfriday24 June 2022
Some of the user reviews of this episode are hilarious to read. People complaining that the show is being "political" and "woke" - while at the same time praising its "pro-life" message. These people don't want politics in their shows unless they agree with the political messages in the show. Hint: the supposed "pro-life" message in this show was not at all "pro-life" but you're too ignorant to see that.

This episode wasn't great overall but it has nothing to do with the messaging - it has everything to do with trying to cram too many messages into one episode. This episode comments on several political topics one after another, touching on everything from capitalism, racism, fascism, stolen elections, religion, abortion, and war all in the span of 60 minutes. The problem is that it is just too many different topics to cover in a meaningful or nuanced way so the episode comes off as over stuffed and unable to deliver anything of value.

The space battle was kinda cool though I guess.
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9/10
Continues to grow. Another great episode.
dean-economou26 June 2022
I am enjoying The Orville more than Strange New Worlds and much more than the depressing Picard final season. It's the best space opera around. Who knew Seth had these chops as well?
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7/10
One critical blunder
absolutelylucid21 July 2022
Early in the episode, Ed remarks that certain videos are untrue. From a writing standpoint, the videos really should have been completely true. This would have painted both sides as equally flawed and put The Orville (and all human leadership) in the position of choosing between two difficult choices. It's a simple, Star Trek kind of plot design.

Instead, one side is the enemy and The Orville gets painted into a very well defined political viewpoint. Of course we know this may be true behind the scenes, but it is better not to bleed it into the show.

I think I am personally levelheaded enough to continue watching the series, but I can still see myself simply forgetting to watch the next episode. I'm sure a good number of people will. If this plot decision actually served some real benefit, maybe an argument could be made here, but it does nothing to help the plot of the episode or the show.

The episode is fairly strong in general. It could have been much better with some blurred morality. It certainly isn't good enough to merit shedding viewership.
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4/10
10lbs of world building in a plastic Wal-Mart bag...
cthlyte26 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Some points that I picked up from watching the show (if it has an asterisk, it means it answers a question I asked)

-Great worldbuilding with the Krill. CGI looks amazing and, for the most part, a believable society. However, why is all the clothing black? Kind of a monochromatic look, but it seems a little much.

-The election event is paced incredibly fast. I find it hard to believe a society that has been stable for over 10,000 years has such a quick turnaround with the position of supreme chancellor. This seems highly unorganized and not a peaceful transition of power that would seem logical with such an advanced race.

-Why was there not a larger delegation with more ships? You are carrying the President of the Planetary Union (in charge of thousands of worlds) and you drop him off on a previous enemy world to sign a historic treaty in a shuttle with a diplomat, an admiral, a captain, and an ensign?

-It's convenient that the signing of the treaty would occur on the same day the vote for the supreme chancellor would happen. It also seems reckless to put your President at risk if the results changed in the favor of the opposition who detest the Union, especially with how fast the transition of power seems to be. Pretty large oversight for the people analyzing the political situation.

-How did the Orville escape 3 HEAVY cruisers and at least 10 fighters? The Orville appears to only be a light cruiser but still seems to outmaneuver the Krill ships on their home turf? Why did the Krill not immediately fire when the Orville locked weapons on the tractor beam? Why did the other two ships not lock tractor beams on the Orville? They are really wringing lives out of that cat.

-The new chancellor should have taken greater precautions against the Orville escaping; she would have known her timeline for war with the Union was drastically shortened when they escaped.

-When the fleet shows back up at the Krill home world, the Orville should not be heading up the fleet. The fleet admiral should be making the calls and any transmissions with the enemy should be handled through her. I know it's more dramatic, but let's let logic play a little in the sandbox, shall we?

-For another thing, how did the entire Union fleet fly through Krill space to their home world without being intercepted? The krill fleet should have been amassed at the border and patrols should have been increased to keep the Union away from the home world the minute that the President of the Union was captured. Star Trek and the Orville both show this as common strategies for invasions (The Dominion war, First Contact, the Kaylon attack on Earth)

-Order 21: why does this order exist? Why does it include the chief engineer? How did a doctor and an engineer completely bypass the security for the supreme chancellors building and make their way through the capital city of the Krill home world? How did they get off the Orville; wouldn't a shuttle or escape pod would have shown up on sensors? *(Cloaked shuttle, ugh) Convenient they showed up in the nick of time.

-In the chase scene, the car loses navigation at high speeds being chased by three Krill patrol ships in an alien city and still they manage to find the right way to get back to their shuttle.

-Chase scene: why on the straightaway towards the end of the chase did the patrol ships not continue firing when they had a clear shot (like they had done for the entirety of the chase up till now), but instead attempted a stupid pincer movement (that somehow the car got out of) which caused all the patrols to crash into each other.

-When the shuttle takes off the entire crew should be seated (it was shown in the first landing that the atmosphere is incredibly turbulent), but somehow, they remain standing. They continue to stay standing even when the shuttle enters the battle. We know the shuttles have seatbelts and we know that it they are used for entry and exiting of atmosphere, why not now?

-Why does the shuttle even enter the battle zone? Why doesn't it hide using the cloak in a safe place and wait for the Orville to extricate itself from the battle to come pick them up? Why doesn't it use the cloak at ALL? We know it has one and it worked before.

-Why was the entire fleet not notified to protect the shuttle the minute that it exited the atmosphere? Why is the Orville the only one protecting it when it has the god damn President of the Union on board!!

Side notes:

-The child seems like an interesting McGuffin for triggering the latter half of the plot. Why does she look like 5 years old when she was born 2 years ago? Chalk it up to different aging rates of alien species I guess.

-I'm glad they went into a discussions as to why Telaya kept the child, considering how damaging it would be to her political stance. However, I am not seeing how she had an anti-treaty stance after having the child and recognizing the society the girl would grow up in if Telaya managed to push the Krill into a war with the Union. As it stands, the girl would already be ostracized, why make it worse? She still seems to care a lot about the child.

-The commentary seems pretty heavy handed here, with topics such as abortion, political stance, elections, religion, and morality fighting for dominance in the plot. Nothing is dealt with in detail and what the show wants to say does not come out clearly or really do anything more than state "We referenced it!"

Pretty obvious parallels: Krill = Conservatives (abortion bad, retaining identity, free market, religious, isolationist) Union = Liberals (abortion good, interplanetary government, no need for money or goods, non-religious, social agenda)

Overall, this isn't as bad as Episode 2, but it seems that again McFarlin tries to cram too much stuff into too little time and we wind up with a story full of plot holes and contrivances set against the backdrop of action scenes and pretty CGI. With what this show was trying to address, this should have easily been a two part episode.
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9/10
It's Topical
Hitchcoc20 July 2022
I see that some of the criticism of this episode is that it is too American/Westerners. Even though the Orville has a diverse crew, most of them are Americans with lots of putty. That's the curse of science fiction. If we are going to relate to a show, it has to relate to us. So the Krill have a revolution. Their religious fervor has been sold out to politics that resembles fascism. This one woman wipes out centuries of a stable world because she makes them believe that a simple treaty is treasonous. Of course, she fails to understand the other force out there--the juggernaut machinery. I did enjoy this episode because there is lots of action and exposition for future episodes, but I didn't analyze too closely.
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9/10
Strong episode
fhazduzj24 June 2022
I liked this episode. Probably my favourite of the season after 2 more middling ones.

It had some good action in it but also some interesting commentary on heavier serious topics.
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10/10
What's with the music?
mapine26 June 2022
Another fantastic episode, awesome special effects, good writing and spectacular hair... but what's with the music?? OMG! Calm down! It's just too much and way too loud. I hope they realize it and bring it down a notch in upcoming episodes.
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10/10
seth macfarlane, our generation's gene roddenberry?
lujason-4582225 June 2022
With this season, the Orville is beginning to take its own identity as opposed to a Star Trek parody. If Seth keeps on expanding towards this direction, the Orville may soon be up there on the pantheon of science fiction.
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9/10
Great episode but predictable
mikebranmb23 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The first 2 episodes of this season were very underwhelming to say the least, but with episodes 3 and 4 I'm hopeful now.

The episode starts with a proposed treaty with the Krill, but a political rival is threatening the current Chancellor's reign. This rival is Ed's ex Krill girlfriend of course.

There's an election the same day the treaty is supposed to be signed. Why would the Union go sign the treaty this day? Wait until the election is over and the continuity of government is in order.

Of course the Krill Chancellor loses and gets murdered. The union delegation is imprisoned and a war is about to start. Ed's ex krill lover in power and still has some emotional tie to him. She decides to let him go, but Ed is diverted to his half human/krill daughter. This was a definitely a surprise. He says hello and leaves with little interaction with her.

Lamar, the Dr and others rescue the union officers while disguised as krill. They get away while a very good CGI space battle between krill and union is underway. Once the rescued union officials are on board the Orville in the shuttle bay, everyone retreats and go to quantum drive.

The episode's main plot was very predictable once they indicated an election was taking place, but still very entertaining. Ed's daughter is a good surprise and will hopefully help mend the krill/union alliance. The kaylon will defeat them without cooperation.
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10/10
Another must-watch episode from Season 3
harris-2768924 June 2022
I didn't know much about this episode before I started watching but I was blown away by the storyline, the scale of the worldbuilding, the special effects, the musical score and the acting....basically everything.

The story continues several plotlines, from season one and two & leaves things in a satisfactory place, which they will hopefully continue at a later stage.

I haven't seen this level of worldbuilding in a single episode of any TV series. To me, it felt very epic, especially with the aid of the excellent music score.

This episode continues the same quality of the previous episodes.
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6/10
Gently Falling Rain
bobcobb30126 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
A decent episode here, but the long run time killed it and it seemed like a weird time to take on too many political battles. The daughter seemed like something saved for its own episode, not thrown in at the last minute here.
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10/10
A great episode, decent story, nice action
perrycs-4915225 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Not sure why people are complaining about this. It wasn't "in your face" like Discovery or Charmed 2018 agenda checkboxing. It had a decent story, totally plausible outside of our real lives... I found some parallels to events in our world but it wasn't a 2 x 4 to the face.

I found it a decent science fiction story and one that has happened on thousands of worlds in the universe.

I really enjoyed this episode. I hope Seth gets to see his kid again.

It's an episode where you can learn from it, or harden yourself to it's message. I won't get into what groups seemed to be more triggered from the message but this is far from the horrific writing of Discovery and Charmed 2018.

:)
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6/10
Flying and flying and flying
sysdev24 July 2022
Watching them f l y I n g to the surface of krill reminds me of all the walking in the Power Rangers movie To many lingering shots of spaceships ( all digital and none practical) I'd getting tedious, reminds me of watching the Enterprise in Star Trek thdd we motion picture. Yawn.
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5/10
Just your usual evening in Krill orbit...
attax-930-7316024 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Could have been a great episode if it hadn't been for all the lecturing. It's totally necessary to reflect on real world problems in creative works, just don't try to handle them all at once. Pick a thing.

Abortion rights and/or the lack therof, the abandonment of children, the radicalization of angry mobs, toxic relationships, election fraud, political assassinations, the dangers of totalitarianism and capitalism, social injustice and so on and so forth. All that in one episode is a tad too much maybe.

Luckily there was also some sci-fi stuff, pretty decent CGI, a couple of jokes, more Krill lore than in the first 2 seasons combined and a giant spacebattle for some reason. Thousands died. What a wild ride. No wonder Bortus almost threw up. All in all still the best episode of season 3 yet.
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10/10
The Orville is BACK!
nwuptpt24 June 2022
Finally...an episode with humor and intelligence! I was beginning to think that what I loved about seasons 1 & 2 was forever gone in the season 3. This episode found that same chemistry. I hope Seth and team stay on this path for future episodes.
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10/10
I appreciate the super seriousness of it all but HOLY MOLY SETH, MAKE A JOKE MAN, what did they do to you?
gen8624 June 2022
We are having a comedic genius not being let to make 2-3 joke per show. What is happening? Did they approve Season 3 only if it's strictly 1 joke per episode?? I literally counter them each episode.

This episode the only and only joke was when Seth offered - A coffee ? To the Krill guard. And I laughed about it, coz it's hilarious.

Whoever is the big boss there, please let Seth make his regular jokes, that's how we know him from the first two seasons that's how we'll always know him in Orville. Humour just made the show even better!
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