‘The Orville: New Horizons’ Recap – ‘Mortality Paradox’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 303 of ‘The Orville: New Horizons’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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It is definitely safe to say, that mankind has quite the complicated relationship with the reality and the concept of death. Largely because this is something… we outright fear, and understandably so. For the thought of losing a loved one to the end is terrifying, as is reaching our own end. For there is a harsh finality that accompanies death, and the thought that everything just ends for us and that we leave behind a void... is incredibly unsettling, as are the unknown aspects of what awaits us beyond. Because we haven’t a clue if there is an afterlife after all or if a burst of hyperactive brain activity and silence are await us when we draw our last breaths.
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But at the same time… we also celebrate and revere death. For knowing that we have a finite time on this Earth, serves as powerful fuel. The kind that reminds us that the clock is ticking, so we should go out there and seize the day and get what we’re worth and enjoy every single moment we can, and build stunning memories along the way, and hopefully leave our mark on this world. So that we are remembered fondly by others for ages after we depart into that unknown. If anything, our complicated relationship with death does beg quite the important question… in that, what kind of species would we become if the fear was removed from the equation, and we properly understood death?

Because that could… change a great deal about our world, and how we conduct ourselves and our lives. Not to mention, coming to learn if there is or isn’t an afterlife would change things as well. But how exactly would we better come to understand death? Since there is of course, no way to really explore its trappings without actually dying. An act from which there is no return. But it just so happens that the next episode of The Orville: New Horizons takes the time to ponder upon just that. For ‘Mortality Paradox’ is a tale that offers up a wild method for potentially exploring the power and gravity of death and how we might better understand it, and it accomplished that feat by way of a unique plot.

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Wherein the crew of the Orville dropped by Narran 1 to investigate how a dead world had come to life out of the blue and well, what the away team found was stunning to say the least. For this world played by no rules and kept putting the team in dangerous situations, the kind that brought them close to the brink of death and well, it turned out that they were being subjected to a unique experiment. One conducted by the time shifting species they encountered in ‘Mad Idolatry’. For they were no longer able to die and had lost sight of its meaning and decided to live vicariously through the away team to understand its power and gravity again. A move that speaks volumes to the possibility that virtual reality and metaverses… could in fact allow for us to explore the nature of death in a safe environment and perhaps come to understand it and no longer fear it and change our world in the process.
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But at the same time… the show asks an equally pertinent counter question to that solution. In that, should we take the time to try and understand death? Because to do so, could in fact… make us as complacent as those very beings. Since a finite answer denotes finite behavior, where we would know the endgame and what it entails and would live our lives according to that. Which means that the message inherent here from this tale, is that it is up to the individual to really examine what death means to them. So that we find our own purpose from it and act accordingly and that is… perhaps the best perspective one can offer on such matters. Since our worries about death have been with us from the beginning and will likely persist long into the future.

However, what’s truly amazing about this wildly philosophical tale, is that it handled this powerful exploration, in a supremely relaxed and entertaining manner. A feat that it accomplished by offering up a little surprise mystery involving Talla and the visitor, alongside some wild and crazy scenarios for the crew to handle regarding that exploration of death. Plus, that ending, and its musings were also quite welcome, since it helped to put a great deal into perspective for the audience and we’d be remiss to not point out… that it was amazing to see a call back come into play and really, in the end, this is just… another brilliant episode from an already brilliant show. Because it takes serious work to make a topic this serious palatable and entertaining, but this show pulled it off no problem and once again left us curious… as to what other corners of the human condition this series is going to explore in the weeks to come. Until next time.  

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