Otherworldly Odyssey: Week of 5/9/2019

This week we had lots of endings. Star Trek: Discovery and The Orville have had their season finales. Discovery is renewed, but The Orville is still in limbo. If you want to see more of The Orville, let Fox know. The hashtag I’ve seen being used is #renewtheOrville. Roswell, New Mexico has also been renewed. Let’s see what’s been happening.

The Twilight Zone – Replay

“A Traveler” was great and the first episode that has really left me wanting to know what came next. Don’t get me wrong, all the episodes have been great so far, better even, than this one. But, “A Traveler” built a great story and left us wondering what the world would look like once those ships land. “The Wunderkind” was a pretty obvious allusion to our current political situation, and scary for that, but not an overwhelmingly amazing episode. I did enjoy the way it seemed to reflect on

The Twilight Zone – 1.6 Six Degrees of Freedom

In the Twilight Zone’s “Six Degree’s of Freedom” the future is black women, and that is just fine. A sudden disaster leaves the first crew to travel to Mars with a dilemma that has repercussions they never expected. As they seek to make humans a species that exists beyond it origin planet, they are threatened with space madness and the finality of their choices. In this episode The Twilight Zone managed to yet again take a fairly familiar and well-worn sci fi trope and do something more with it. I love that the ending seems to answer the big question of the episode…or does it?

The Twilight Zone airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.

Star Trek Discovery – 2.14 Such Sweet Sorrow

Was anyone as disappointed in the 2-episode finale as I am? I love Star Trek Discovery, but I am pretty lukewarm about the finale. Much of what happened we knew had to happen, so the drama and suspense of the episode didn’t build in the way you’d expect. But, a jump to the future should help resolve many of the major issues people have with the show. I think it was a good choice to end up with Enterprise, closing out that chapter of the show. I don’t know that we’ve seen the end of some of the characters that stayed behind (I’m looking at you, Ash). I mean, anything’s possible, right? Now we wait to see if the future holds a better outlook for the Discovery. Season 3 will take place in the 32^nd century, much further than any past show in the franchise, so it could be exciting to see what changes the future holds.

The Orville – 2.14 The Road Not Taken

Ok, I have to get this off my chest first. You cannot just “dip” behind an event horizon. This is basic science, right? Anyway. End of season 2 for the Orville brought time travel into the show, and also managed to bring up the unresolved feelings between Ed and Kelly. Maybe I’m just up to my ears in time travel right now, but I thought earlier story arcs were much more compelling than this ending note. Perhaps it’s the 2 additional episodes season 2 had, but these last 2 episodes felt very tacked on, and not all that interesting. It does seem like the Orville is setting up some kind of resolution to Ed and Kelly’s lingering feelings. The Orville has not yet been renewed for season 3, so if you want to see more, get online and advocate for the show. I think it definitely deserves a third season after a pretty successful season 2.

Coming Up:

Thursday, May 9

The Twilight Zone: 1.7 Not All Men (CBS All Access)

A meteor shower spreads infection across an entire town affecting some of the inhabitants more than others.

Friday, May 10

The Society (Netflix) – Series Premiere

When everyone else mysteriously disappears from their wealthy town, the teen residents of West Ham must forge their own society to survive

Catch up on past installments of Otherworldly Odyssey here.