The Orville (TV Series) Old Wounds (2017) User Reviews

Excellent Show, Wrongly Advertised

[solemnphilosopher · 8/10 · 6 October 2017]

Despite being a fan of Star Trek and Galaxy Quest, I didn't have any initial interest in watching the Orville. The trailer just didn't sell me on the show and the low Rotten Tomatoes score also didn't help.

Never-the-less, I decided to give the Orville a chance after some friends surprisingly recommended the show. I'm glad I did because I really like it!

I believe the trailer, which focused on the comedy, was a mistake. I think they were trying to sell the show to fans of Seth McFarlane and Family Guy. Unfortunately, it attracted the wrong crowd.

The show is not purely a comedy. The show deals with ethical dilemmas and sci-fi ideas. It is really a good homage to original Trek. In my opinion, the humor is often its weakest part.

Despite a few flaws, mainly with the comedy, I highly recommend checking out the show.

Strong start that fills the Enterprise D shaped hole in my life.

[jaredparker91 · 8/10 · 17 September 2021]

I've known the Seth MacFarlane was a Star Trek (ST) fan but I've never been keen on his other work. Its taken me a while to get to the Orville but this show really is by someone who get ST and this first episode has me wanting more. Light on the bombastic crude humour you expect from MacFarlane this episode drew me in and made me feel like I was watch a more human and believable ST TNG. If you aren't sure but love Star Trek of old; give it a watch.

A welcome addition to Sunday nights

[pjgs200 · 7/10 · 14 September 2017]

When I saw the promotion for the Orville, I was pretty excited. It didn't look particularly funny (and the pilot episode wasn't), but it seemed to be a nice, laid back science fiction show that you can watch any time and enjoy. Thankfully, it was- that's not something you can say about most TV shows at the moment. Early reviews from critics indicated that it was going to be bad, but it really wasn't.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of the show: it's easy going, enjoyable, and for the most part, the characters and the performances were good. I get that it's not groundbreaking, but it certainly has potential to be good if not great. It's also very reminiscent of Star Trek.

While Old Wounds isn't a standout pilot episode and it sags a bit in the middle, it's surprisingly enjoyable, it introduces the characters well, it has a good score, and it shows that The Orville has a lot of potential. 7 out of 10

The Antidote to Discovery and Picard

[simonw70 · 10/10 · 26 May 2020]

I'm late to the party, watching this for the first time in 2020 and I had tears rolling down my cheeks by the end of the first episode. This is so much better than the grey unwatchable sludge of Discovery and Picard. It looks like real Star Trek, is definitely sounds like real Star Trek with a fantastic evocative score, and the episodic format is like real Star Trek. The humor is great... It's Seth MacFarlane after all. But this is absolutely NOT a parody of Star Trek... it's Star Trek with likeable, funny characters acting in relatable ways. It's so well written, so well made.

It's a genuine crime that so few people have been able to see it, and that critics and networks have unfairly ganged up against it in favor of promoting the abysmal Discovery and Picard. Much love to Seth MacFarlane. Thank you so much for making this. It's one of my favorite shows of all time.

More like Star Trek than Discovery is.

[timothy_sarver · 10/10 · 12 August 2018]

It's a "love letter" to Star Trek by a mega fan. The series just gets better and better as it moves forward. Love the cast, the way the show looks and the humor.

Pilot Launched

[wmsfmly · 7/10 · 10 September 2017]

Surely grading on a curve considering the new shows I've seen promos for, but The Orville has potential. Sure there were a few bumps in the launch of the pilot, but it is at least watchable. Some of the humor was somewhat unnecessarily coarse and some viewers may find it objectionable. The character introductions were sufficient and set up the interactions to follow for the crew. I'd put the ratio of actual story to comic relief to be about 70/30. By the end of the episode I was interested in the story and satisfied with the conclusion. "Issac set the DVR to record".

Great potential and already a fan

[pcurrey69 · 9/10 · 17 September 2017]

Went into this not knowing what to expect, other than some laughs. People keep comparing it to Star Trek or TNG. Well, the 1st episode (albeit 2 part) of TNG, I thought was rather weak; was not a fan of the entire 1st season of it. The Orville was not weak and I enjoyed it. Gave nice incite into some characters without wasting most of the episode trying to 'over-explain' them; little drop of background here and there. It was not "all laughs" as some have said it would be (was?! did they watch it?). The sets are a lot more detailed that I was expecting and looks worthy of the real Star Trek production; just need to be darkened and a lot more camera flare! lol They did NOT try to duplicate the Star Trek crew with duplicates of Spock, Bones, etc which I found EXTREMELY refreshing! Loved ST:TNG and have friends who are just as big of fans, but we all know Data was the replacement Spock - I see no Spock here unless the metal dude (sry, know no names good enough yet) turns out to be something like him, but he already seems too different. Overall, I gave it a 9/10 and would really like to give it a 9.5/10 simply because the first episodes are usually lacking in various ways and this did not... It did not "stumble" in my opinion as many shows do, wasting the 'hour' trying to explain 100 things in too much detail - hey, there's more shows to delve into that junk, tell us a story and entertain us! This did. We DID get some background, we were introduced to an antagonist, shown the "X's" could work together and put differences aside (would NEVER work with me, I'd fire her out a torpedo tube, if the Orville had one or accident decompress the shuttle bay, or tell her to dust an airlock and WHOOPSIE, 'See ya!') But, works for the show! All in all, it was good enough that it reduced my desire for the "eventual" release of the real SciFi show, this is based off of, that is also coming out this month, supposedly? I honestly do not know if describing the working together of the X's is a spoiler or telling of the antagonist being in 1st episode can be considered a spoiler, so marking this as including one, as I was hit with an infraction (that caused a flame war with others against the MOD) on another site when I posted an example - nothing even in the movie - of how bad the scenes were, since I do not write reviews very often and do not want on a blacklist. Thanks.

I want it to work.

[roboprogs · 6/10 · 12 September 2017]

Overall, I actually enjoyed it.

Most of the humor was lame, though. Get an editor to strip out the potty humor, and just leave in the parts that use the situation - joking about the use of a tree as a weapon, or arguing about the divorce to stall - those schticks actually worked for me.

I do like the premise of "enough with the 'dark, and EDGY!!!'" - keep it upbeat. I would like to see the show evolve into an old school comic book kind of style, with both an action plot, but still lighthearted. But they need to work on subtlety.

As for the cheap production values - good! If they keep the budget down, they may be able to use the money to hire/keep some better writers and actually keep the show on for a few seasons, if it earns more than it costs.

very nice Pilot episode

[thethinker1958 · 10/10 · 29 October 2017]

the quality for the special effects is outstanding. The outside is of the spaceship is beautiful. Everything else looks extremely well done. The introduction of all the characters was well executed. They are all very unique and at one moment they are making a joke and on another they are doing some good drama. I don't get the negative comments at all. Some are really negative about every aspect of the episode. That doesn't make sense. Only the special effects should at least be praise on every comment but they don't even mention it.

Great fun

[TheDonaldofDoom · 7 October 2019]

I never watched the original Star Treks so there's no nostalgia bias when I say I enjoyed this a lot. I would definitely choose it over the unnecessarily bland, unfun and unimaginative Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 pilot. But I think what the critics didn't get about it is that it's not meant to be a comedy or a serious drama either. That's what gives it its charming vibe, that it's a combination of the two, unlike most of what we see on TV these days.

There's a hopefulness about the future of humanity here which you don't get that much anymore. To be sure, darkness and grittiness have their place but it's nice to have a show like this that can present space travel with the excitement of a five-year-old child instead of filling it with the angst we already see in enough other shows. The CGI does a serviceable job, you can tell it doesn't have the budget of STD but it manages to do well despite that. A lot of visual details are done well, like the depiction of a futuristic Earth which it clearly revels in. The ships, the death-by-ageing and the lab on Epsilon 2 are all eye candy as well here. They don't look as realistic as what you see on higher-budget shows but that's made up for by the creativity.

One thing that really makes it tick is the relations between its characters, with sharp dialogue which is underlined by unsubtle but welcome humour. Sure, not all the jokes land. But it's hard to deny there's an upbeat vibe and a hopefulness that the future of humanity doesn't have to be all dark and gritty.

The plot itself is about what you'd expect from a first episode whose primary aim is to introduce you to the concept and the characters. It's interesting enough to keep your attention and has enough charming quirks (like the role the redwood seeds play) but it can easily be reduced to the 'crew protect powerful technology from bad people' trope. At one point there is also an escape scene that is pretty cheesy, and not in a charming way.

This consistently put a grin on my face in spite of its flaws. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

Mediocre But With Potential

[justinboggan · 6/10 · 12 September 2017]

Light spoilers.

But a number of things need fixing. It has problems all over, from not memorable establishing shots and nothing that particularly stands out or makes you think: hey, that looks like "The Orville" I just tuned into, to even a gimmicky-looking shot of the view screen at quantum warp. It's bland and it's not trying with the cinematography.

The humor, which often falls flat, is too often. In a show like this, it doesn't work like in "Serenity" or "Red Dwarf", here it's very noticeable and when a bad joke it told and there's nothing even any scoring to carry it, it's like you can hear nobody laughing. The banter about their failed relationship was old before the episode ended.

The pacing is often too fast and the editing sometimes doesn't help.

The technology on board the Orville isn't defined enough. I don't even know what some things are. If it wasn't for the borrowing of Bridge ideas from Trek, I still wouldn't know after the pilot what some areas of the Bridge are.

The uniforms have that cheap cheesy 1970's look.

And not all the actors/actresses have characters defined enough. Some kind of run together. Good character actors help defined and shape a character, creating memorably TV characters like Festus Haggen, Thomas Magnum, Sherman Potter, etc. Here it feels like the script is defining them completely. Perhaps not much thought was put into the characters as needed.

And the episode itself is not some event with a big pilot to really showcase the show, it's like something that airs two or three episodes in a mild-ish filler episode.

At least the scoring was right. Can't complain there. Bruce Broughton was a good choice. And the composer line up for the season is also inspired.

In all, it needs a defined look, better writing, less lame comedy attempts, and more world building (maybe an extra character or two; the cat is too small). I think Seth works as a captain and for who the character is and that the show isn't a total mis-fire as some reviewers have written.

I'll give it a try

[MsMoebius · 8/10 · 1 March 2022]

I enjoyed this episode. I believe The Orville may become an alternative to space shows, which includes irony and certain parody to star trek Although not a fan, I'm prepared to give it a shot.

Not good as either sci-fi or comedy

[mocaler · 3/10 · 12 September 2017]

I'm giving this 3 stars for some reasonable special effects. But I did not like this episode as either sci-fi or comedy. This contains some spoilers which I feel are necessary for the review.

On the sci-fi front, some sequences were very bad. The fight scene with the Krill was almost unwatchable. Both the Orville crew and the Krill were too wide open to each other. The Krill got shot but the completely open Orville crew only had 1 person slightly wounded. Very silly action sequence. Then the tree with the rapid growth was very far fetched. We are expected to believe that a time dilation devise would support rapid growth of a gigantic redwood tree. Trees need resources to grow which would not have been available. And the spaceship fight was unrealistic. The Orville spun around the enemy ship in ways which were outlandish both tactically and physically. it might have been intended to be funny but it wasn't. So, to summarize the sci-fi side, it was too silly for my taste.

Speaking of silly, the attempts at humor were dull and unfunny. The bits about the cheating and divorce were repeated way too much. The remaining humor was repetitive and lowest denominator stuff. The humor was supposed to be along the lines of situational humor but it all seemed out of place to me.

I'll try to get through a few episodes with hopes of better material. But this was a very week start.

the SPIRIT of STAR TREK with 21st CENTURY HUMANS

[awbusa · 10/10 · 21 May 2021]

THE ORVILLE is what STAR TREK was about THE EXPLORATION OF THE HUMAN CONDITION & how we would react during SPACE EXPLORATION & meeting ALIEN CIVILIZATIONS - and what STAR TREK : DISCOVERY could've been without the : " GIRL POWER MARY SUE " character of MICHAEL BURNHAM being forced into STAR TREK CANON without any regard to CONTINUITY & if DISCOVERY had been set in a NON STAR TREK UNIVERSE it could've been interesting without certain elements & the CW's BATWOMAN : - " OUT & PROUD MAN HATING LESBIAN MARY SUE " character of KATE KANE - THE ORVILLE'S ALARA KITAN is the BEST EXAMPLE of a STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER that isn't a MARY SUE or a MAN HATING LESBIAN & in FACT ALARA KITAN is kind of a mess , her lack of self confidence & fear of making mistakes make her the MOST RELATABLE to the fans --- my score - 10 STARS out of 10 STARS.

star trek with a bit of naked gun elements

[petersjoelen · 8/10 · 19 February 2019]

You could easelly think that this is a star trek parody but if you do you ignore much of the other qualities this new series has to offer and it would be an easy way of giving critic . The series has also good special effects , the designs are creative and original ( i loved the first scenes with the new york skyline ) and the humor so far is good What i like abouth it is it takes itself not to seriously and political correct nonsence is (thank god ) absent .

you can clearly see this series is a far better tribute to star trek than star trek discovery is , and the humor makes it a bit unique and that what makes it different than the old star trek series . I have only seen this first episode but i am positively suprised .

Great First episode.

[becole-331-656280 · 8/10 · 10 September 2017]

The show is a wonderful thing to see if you're a Star Trek fan but even if your not there is enough sci-fi fun for all. The banter is on point and the story is fun. The model work on the shoe makes for a pretty ship to look at as well. If your looking for a fun show that scratches that all the right sci-fi places then this is the show for you. I can't wait to see what's next.

Wasted Potential

[GingerNingerish · 2/10 · 11 September 2017]

I honestly thought it was terrible. I gave it an honest try until the end because, to me the only redeeming quality was the pacing/structure. The comedy was so incredibly forced and unfunny. They didn't even try to write good jokes, just unfunny and overused quips . All of Sci-fi elements, drama, music and characters were manipulative and surface level. They had so much potential with this concept but it feels like such a huge waste. I think Seth McFarland is an incredibly talented voice actor, but his live action roles are so one dimensional it just sound like Seth McFarland reading lines. I get that it's a homage and hell I like that it tried to be a drama too, but it completely forgets to do anything original.

Great Reminder To Rewatch Babylon 5

[StuffedCat · 4/10 · 2 August 2020]

With hundreds of thousands spent on shows like this, and an army of support staff, surely studios could afford to employ just one person to question some of the more obviously dumb plot devices?

In this episode, for example, why would someone who has worked at the Research Station for a year wait until the exact moment a Union ship has arrived and a landing party stands in front of the newly created device to try to steal it and call in his Krill friends to come and help?

The 'comedy' is attempted way too often for a claim that it's trying to be serious with comedic moments, and is mostly too lame to claim it's a comedy in a sci-fi setting.

If nothing else, though, it has reminded me how well the presumed target effect was achieved in Babylon 5. I'll give another one or two episodes a chance to grab me, but failing that I think rewatching B5 will be far more rewarding.

The episode starts weak but about the half way mark it luckily gets better.

[Escargots · 5/10 · 12 September 2017]

The most parts of the first ½ of the episode was pretty painful to watch a compressed set up with jokes that were not that funny often with bad delivery and no time to stick. It almost feels that the jokes were forced in with little thought. However luckily the episode gets better and the pacing slows down and the jokes get better nothing that made my laugh but still some good ones.

The music and sound designers works fine and is suitable for the genre. I for the most part also like the look of the world I have a slight problem with the internal look of the ship it feels sterile and simplistic which is a bit sci-fi, but something about it just doesn't look right to me. I how ever like the exterior ship designs they feel familiar but not so much that I would call them exact copies from other sci-fi series. I also like the looks of the alien races and how many different kinds you saw in this episode.

All this said I can only give this episode a weak five because of the first half of the episode which drags it down a fair amount. If i were to only judge the second half I would probably have made it a weak seven.

Even if this series has gotten a rocky start it still show some potential and I am hopeful that future episodes will be good throughout.

I really, really tried, but ...

[mirco-wilhelm · 2/10 · 16 September 2017]

... half way through the episode I just couldn't bare any more of the half assed and badly delivered "jokes". I guessed I missed the mediocre sci-fi part in the second half.

Characters and the story up to the half-time mark just had a feeling of very, very bad 80s and 90s sitcoms. All that was missing was a laugh track to tell us, what was supposed to be funny.

Just making up a story line by telling one dick joke after another just doesn't work.

This is a good start

[apc-05322 · 1/10 · 5 May 2018]

I remember thinking how awful TNG was when compared to the OS. Who was this pansey "Cpt Picard" compared to James T Kirk? But in time, TNG evolved, the character's chemistry began to emerge and the episodes got much better. Now, I love watching TNG reruns. The same will happen with The Orwell. The episodes will get stronger, the characters will develop bonds and the show will evolve in to a great unofficial addition to the Star Trek Universe. And believe this. The Orwell should be carrying the Star Trek name and be part of the ST universe. It should be Star Trek Orwell, not Star Trek Discovery. Hopefully we'll have a full 7 seasons.

Probably won't make it out of first season

[Tyypo · 5/10 · 20 September 2017]

I went into this with low expectations, and it exceeded them somewhat. Knowing who Seth MacFarlane is, I anticipated it being much worse. I kind of like some of the characters (even MacFarlane's), and the premise is overall acceptable.

However, the very low-brow humor does not particularly work well with sci-fi, at least not in the vein of a Star Trek parody. The gag of watching a dog continuously lick himself, and having the characters remark on it will not sit well with genuine fans of sci-fi who appreciate well-written, clever humor. The humor itself falls very flat in general, and seems immediately dated in its delivery. Here we have characters hundreds of years in the future using garden-variety slang of the early 21st century. Punctuating essentially fart jokes with moments of semi-serious plot lines makes for an unsuccessful blend that fails as either comedy or sci-fi.

The sets and ship designs are unoriginal and plain. They all look like they came out of the ST:TNG School of Design, but with less thought put into them. Same with the aliens. The special effects look unfinished and video-gamey, but that doesn't really bother me.

There are some great actors who have done other sci-fi shows, and while it's great to see them, they seem oddly out of place in this particular series.

If the show can put more effort into thoughtful humor instead of making it a garden-variety Seth MacFarlane vulgarity-fest, I'll stick around. However, I'm not terribly optimistic; the second episode did not offer any indication of that.

Insult

[Hitchcoc · 3/10 · 4 June 2022]

If I had not read some of the reviews, this would have been the only episode I'd watch. I thought this was about as juvenile as it could get. Seth MacFarlane is a great comedian and a clever writer, but it doesn't appear in this thing. Lame jokes and aliens that can't shoot straight and one of the worst conclusions ever.

Failure to launch

[Fluke_Skywalker · 5/10 · 5 October 2017]

Plot; A newly minted starship Captain must balance the duties of command, the quirks of his new crew and his relationship with his First Officer, who just happens to be his ex-wife.

Seth MacFarlane's The Orville isn't a parody of Star Trek so much as it's a "What if Star Trek (specifically The Next Generation, which it looks almost identical to) were a comedy?". After watching the first episode, I'm convinced it may have worked better as the former. A few jokes hit (particularly the opening bit, which is hysterical), but most fall flat. Saddled with an uninspired plot that provides little fertile ground for the humor to grow and a cast of forgettable actors playing dull archetypes, this first mission for The Orville is, if not a catastrophic failure, certainly not a rousing success. - 5/10

Wow

[ivan_katzer · 1/10 · 3 March 2018]

I would had accepted this series and maybe even liked this trash if it was a cartoon and a family guy episode, BUT with real Actors this is so cringe.

Ps.: I love this trolls who say this show is better than Star Trek Discovery XD