Otherworldly Odyssey: Week of January 28

Back later than expected, sorry folks. I’m still catching up on the glut of sci fi shows that have  dropped recently, like Star Trek: Discovery and Counterpart. But, let’s see what’s been happening.

The Orville (Fox)

Orville returned for season 2 earlier this month…I have warmed to The Orville somewhat in its time on air, but I’m still a little lukewarm. Since the show has been back, Alara left the ship to reconnect with her family, and the Captain got his own Captain Kirk episode when his romantic past and present come into conflict and require him to heroically save the day.

Mel nominated Halston Sage for Woman of the Week last week for her performance in Alara’s final episode. You can read what she had to say here.

Photo Courtesy of Fox

The Orville 2.5: All the World is Birthday Cake

The crew makes first contact, but it doesn’t go as planned when Bortus and Kelly are taken prisoner. The planet is governed by an astrological system that holds that persons born during a particular period are prone to violence. Ed can’t do an extraction in the middle of a first contact, so he’s desperate to find a way to get his people. Kelly and Bortus befriend an expecting couple, and when the baby is taken, Kelly and Bortus decide to take action. Meanwhile the ship has been working on a plan to trick the planet into thinking a new star has appeared. It works, but what will be the long term impact? The episode’s an interesting way to discuss the injustice of birth, in this case when a person is born, but the parallel to where a person is born isn’t that hard to make.

Catch up on The Orville on Fox.

Roswell, New Mexico (The CW)

New show Roswell, New Mexico premiered last week on the CW. It has the CW’s characteristic light but awkward approach to serious topics, and looks like it’s going to be typical CW fair, but with a sci fi twist. The show plays on the term “aliens” by having Liz’s family deal with being called illegal aliens while Max, Isobel and Michael have to hide they are actual aliens. Cute.

1.1 Pilot

Last week Liz Ortecho (Jeanine Mason) returned home to her father’s café, just in time to take a bullet. The Ortecho’s are haunted by an accident where Rosa, Liz’s sister, killed two people and herself while she was driving drunk, and it looks like someone wants to get some revenge. Fortunately, Max Evans (Nathan Parsons) was there to bring her back to life when she’s shot, but he revealed something he and his siblings have been hiding for years. When Liz gets hot and heavy with high school boyfriend Kyle (Michael Trevino), he sees a pearlescent handprint left by Max during the resurrection, and this sends him off to the military based on information his father gave him year before. Michael had it harder than his siblings growing up, and now he’s being evicted from the land he lives on by someone he’s got feelings for.

Photo Courtesy of the CW

1.2 So Much for the Afterglow

The anniversary of Rosa’s accident is bringing those who would do the Ortecho’s harm out of the woodwork, and Max wants to protect Liz and her family. He manages to intervene when a group of racists, including the brother of a girl killed by Rosa, attacks Papa Ortecha. Unfortunately, he risks revealing his secret again, but Isobel and Michael arrive in time to prevent things getting too out of hand. However, Liz learns another secret when Max accidentally reveals something that send Liz in search of her sister’s autopsy. Now she knows that he saw Rosa the night she died, and she’s going to stay in Roswell to find out more. Kyle isn’t interested in helping the military in their top-secret mission to find aliens, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to get to the bottom of what’s happening. At sunrise, Liz and Max meet, but not for the planned kiss. Instead, Liz backs away because she knows Max lied to her. Max seeks solace in Jenna’s arms, which is apparently not a new thing. In the end, Michael and Alex seem to be reconnecting, but Liz is out to find out who killed her sister.

Prediction: It’s not Max. I mean, it’s the CW. We’re gonna find out that it was a tragic accident, or that he tried to save her, or that Michael killed her and he’s protecting him…who knows. But, no matter what happens, CW will bring the drama.

Catch up on Roswell, New Mexico on the CW. 

Doctor Who (BBC America)

New Year’s Day Special: Resolution

This is delayed, but Doctor Who’s New Year’s Day Special brought back a classic baddie, and I was surprisingly happy with it. It was as refreshing a take on Dalek’s as possible, given that they’ve been covered in just about every way possible, and it was a nice way to take our new Doctor back to her roots. In the mix was Ryan’s father, Aaron, who turned out to be slightly more complicated and sympathetic than I’d expected. It reminded me a lot of Rose Tyler’s similar encounter with her missing father.

Won’t return until 2020, which is disappointing because I am in love with Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor. She’s charming and clever and just a little ridiculous, the Doctor through and through. Chris Chibnal has said that he’s more open to the return of some classic monsters when the show returns, and it sounds like there might be something in store for Yaz as well.

Read the Nice Girls Roundtable for Doctor Who: Resolution. 

Catch up on all our Doctor Who content here.

Coming This Week

Tuesday

Roswell, New Mexico: Tearin’ Up My Heart 9/8c on the CW

Thursday

The Orville: A Happy Refrain 9/8c on Fox

Star Trek Discovery: Point of Light on CBS All Access.

Saturday

Counterpart: In From the Cold on Starz.

Catch up on past installments of Otherworldly Odyssey here.