Playtime is over. The third episode of The Orville, 'About a Girl', finally dives into deeper waters and attempts to explore a serious social issue, possibly hoping to cash in on what made the original Star Trek so famous (or infamous). For this one, a summary is in order. Spoilers ahead.
At the end of episode 2 we find out that Bortus' newborn child is female, a rather rare occurrence for the male dominated Moclan species. In the third episode, 'About a Girl,' Bortus and his mate, Clyde, wish to have a customary sex change operation on their baby. This is expected in their culture. Moclans view females as inferior, unworthy of sharing the Moclan way of life. No surprise to us, the rest of the Orville crew finds this behavior morally abhorrent. A debate is initiated on whether or not the Moclans have the right to decide the sex of their child, or whether or not the rest of the crew has the right to interfere. Eventually the crew of the Orville manages to bring Bortus on their side, but his mate remains unmoved. Thus the debate continues, this time on a Moclan court.
The Moclan argument is not surprising yet convincing since it's backed by thousands of years of tradition. Leaving the child female would condemn her to a life as an outcast. First Officer Grayson who's acting as Bortus' advocate fails to get her point cross. However the captain has a plan up his sleeve. As the trial is about to end, Captain Mercer shows up with a female Moclan whom he found living in isolation. The female, Heveena testifies in court and turns out to be a famous Moclan author who's been writing under a false name.
Nevertheless, the jury still rules in favor of the operation. No argument against it could not rescind the stubbornness of a millennium long tradition. Bortus still resolves to love the baby, and do everything he can so his son can have a happy life.
First, I'd like to address the critical reception of the show thus far. It hasn't been good. In fact, it's been outrageously bad. Perhaps unfairly so. While I do think the show still has a long way to go before anyone calls it great, it's not the train-wreck that the critical community claims it is. An early IndieWire review called the show "creatively, ethically, and morally bankrupt" - in the title! That's a very bold statement. It's one thing not to like the show, but calling it 'ethically bankrupt' in the title of your review seems like stepping over a line. Unnecessary, and obviously nothing more than click baiting. In this case, it is the review that is morally and ethically bankrupt.
Episode 3 especially got a lot of heat due to its sex/gender related themes. The same IndieWire review called it 'tone-deaf,' while other's have dismissed it as entirely insensitive to the issue. I'm not sure I agree with that assesment. Now, I am not a member of the LGBTQ community, so any opinions I have are those of an outsider. But after finally watching the episode (having seen the negative reviews long before), I didn't find it offensive. As far as I could tell, MacFarlane did his best to treat the issue with respect.
In my view, the episode was ultimately not about sex or gender, even though it may appear so on the surface. It doesn't say anything profound in that regard because it simply doesn't work as an allegory of that type. There's not much about gender or sex in the Moclan species that we can apply to our own, other than perhaps the message of "sexism is bad." Instead, the issue of gender is a foil for the discussion of cultural (possibly moral) relativism. Captain Ed Mercer is fairly convinced of what is right if the baby was Human. All the Humans in his ship are. The main conflict of the episode doesn't arise by the fact that Bortus and his mate want to perform a sex-change operation on their baby, but by the fact that they want to do it on a Human ship. The clash between the two cultures is what carries the episode. Does one culture have the right to impose their moral standards on another? How does this work in multi-cultural universe? If, on the other hand, we agree that there is a universal code of ethics, then how do we determine what that code is?
All these are worthy philosophical questions for a modern sci-fi show. Unfortunately the episode doesn't carry them far enough. It poses the questions, then leaves them hanging. Our main characters are fairly quick to take a side (the Human side), and then proceed in simply trying to implement their convictions. The episode totally betrays its original question of cultural ambiguity when the Moclan female is introduced. Thankfully it does not completely cop out, but affirms the disparity between the two cultures, reflected in the court's final decision.
Lastly, a criticism that I keep repeating every week, I really can't stand the way the show does exposition. We know nothing about how the "Union" works, yet so much in the 3rd episode depends on it. How come the species in the Union know so little about each other? How are Moclans part of the union in the first place? Have they been hiding the practice from each other?
I will not rate this episode, as I'm still not sure how I feel about it, and I don't think there's much value to it since this not an official review, but simply my thoughts on the episode. I wanted to write about it because I'm still not quite sure what to make of it. I'm certain, however, that I'll stay tuned for the next episode airing this Thursday.
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