Otherworldly Odyssey: Week of 3/6/2019

After an unexpected absence, I’m back to talk about what’s going on in the world of sci fi. This week we saw the season finale of the Orville, as well as some important developments in other shows. Let’s see what’s been happening.

The Orville (Fox) – 2.9 Identity pt. 2

**Edit: A reader noted that this was NOT the season finale, which I had claimed it was. I’m not sure why I thought that, but I’m happy to say I was wrong and that there is more of The Orville to come this season. **

The Orville went out on a high note, managing to redeem Isaac and forge a connection with the Krill. Heck, the show even managed to make Yaffet a hero. Overall it’s been a strong season and made me a believer in the show.

Faced with the Kaylons’ mission to commit genocide on all biological life forms, the crew had to draw on their strengths and act. I enjoyed the way the show spread the responsibility for defeating the Kaylons around and even managed to forge a connection to the Krill. Seth McFarlane’s choice to make the show about a crew, and not his own character, has served the show well. The show has also benefitted from a light touch when it comes to the “lessons” each episode offers. As much as I would like to see every show take on an analogy of the world’s problems, The Orville has done a nice job of incorporating complex and serious topics without being heavy-handed or off-putting. It’s all managed with the same light-hearted touch that makes this show work.

While it hasn’t yet been renewed, the odds are good that we’ll see the Orville return for a third season. See past coverage of  The Orville here.

Star Trek Discovery (CBS All Access) – 2.7 Light and Shadows

The investigation into the Red Angel takes the crew close to a time rift, and Captain Pike takes it on himself to get closer. Ash is right there with him, much to the Captain’s dismay. The two find themselves trapped in a temporal distortion, but Stamets and Tilly get them out just in time. The situation seems to helped Ash and the Captain understand each other a little better.

 Michael’s search for Spock sends her home, where she relives her memories in her effort to find her brother. She finds that her mother has been keeping a big secret about his location. Michael brings Spock back to Star Fleet, but Michael doesn’t trust her brother in their hands, and Georgiou unexpectedly helps Michael to escape with Spock. But where he’s leading her, we don’t yet know.

Star Trek Discovery airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.

Roswell, New Mexico (The CW) – I Saw the Sign

Through a series of flashbacks, we’ve finally learned what happened the night of Rosa’s death. We know that Isobel was blacking out when Rosa died, and that Isobel killed Rosa and the other two women. Now she’s blacking out again, and that has Liz scared, so she begins working on something that can take away the aliens’ power. To prevent harm, Isobel agrees to be locked in a facility for the time being, but Max doesn’t seem certain that it will truly eliminate the risk.

Jenna is working with Manes and it looks like she is starting to put some pieces together about Max. He thinks she’s his friend, but we don’t yet know much about Jenna, or her loyalties. It looks like now that the truth is out about Rosa, Manes might be closing in.

Roswell airs at Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW. See all our coverage of Roswell here.

Coming Up:

Tuesday

Roswell, New Mexico: Barely Breathing (CW)

Thursday

Star Trek Discovery: Is Memory Serves (CBS All Access)

Friday, March 15

Love, Death, and Robots (Netflix) – animated anthology series of dark, funny shorts.

Catch up on past installments of Otherworldly Odyssey here.