‘The Orville’ Recap: ‘Deflectors’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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You know a television show is truly something special, when you outright miss it when it takes a tiny break from the airwaves and that’s precisely how I felt last week when it comes to The Orville. Because it was downright strange to not have it be a part of my Thursday night viewings. But thankfully, the series is back on the air and my goodness, did Seth MacFarlane and company plan something special for its Valentine’s Day return because ‘Deflectors’, ended up being another powerhouse tale, one that quite frankly broke all of our hearts with a story that once again took an uncomfortable and honest look at our world today.  
 
However, as this series is wont to do, it seemed like it was headed in a different direction early on, because at first glance it seemed as though this story was going to pick up from where ‘A Happy Refrain’ left off and explore the other side to love, the parts we simply don’t like, since the story opened up with Commander Grayson giving Cassius the news that their relationship was coming to an end since they both wanted different things out of life. And while it was fascinating to learn why the Commander chose duty over love, and hilarious to see how far a man will go to win a woman back, since the talking plant was impressive, all of that served to provide levity in this tale. For a story involving Lieutenant Talla Kiyali and a brilliant Moclan engineer named Locar is where this episode dug into far more powerful matters.
 
Yet, the story also handled the arrival of Locar in innocuous fashion early on, since his mission to upgrade the ship’s deflectors seemed like no big deal outside of the fact that he and Bortus were once a couple many years ago. But his arrival on the Orville ended up becoming quite the big deal. For as the story rolled on, we came to learn that Locar had eyes for the Lieutenant and eventually, he was happy to express his desire to date her, but his attraction to her was actually quite the conundrum for Locar. For on Moclus, it is only socially acceptable for men to be attracted to other men, so having feelings for the Lieutenant was a dangerous admission from Locar, the kind that could ruin his life and his family for all time and unfortunately for Locar, his desire for Talla was discovered by Klyden and it seemed as though the only acceptable Moclan way to handle this matter…was through murder. 

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But, while the investigation into Locar’s murder eventually absolved Klyden of any wrongdoing, since Locar faked his own death, it’s what this storyline had to offer that continues to haunt me a day after watching it. Because let’s be honest, this story was through and through an allegory for how LBGTQ people are viewed by some segments of the population in America, and how sexual orientation engenders all kinds of prejudice and hate and well, this was a powerful place for this series to go since it went beyond mere commentary on such matters and placed us right smack dab in the middle of Locar’s jumbled life since this poor man was forced to do everything that felt natural to him in secret in order to maintain his status on Moclus. And it was equally as stunning to ponder upon the fact that he was so terrified of coming out of the closet to his family and friends that he was willing to do whatever was necessary in order to enjoy some semblance of peace and happiness in his life.
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Yet, what truly impressed me about this episode, was the simplicity of its overall message when it comes to this matter in that, it really isn’t our place to judge others. People should be allowed to live their life and love whomever they love because in reality it doesn’t impact anyone else in the slightest, and it is ignorance and prejudice that truly causes harm for the LGBTQ community, and Klyden served as the allegory for that point. Because if he had kept his mouth shut, and left things alone, just as Bortus had done when he learned of Locar’s orientation years ago…everything would have turned out just fine, and Locar would never have had to stand before a judge because he loved differently than the rest of his kind and really, when all is said and done, this will likely go down as one of the finest episodes of The Orville to ever hit the airwaves.
 
Because David A. Goodman’s script not only offered up a powerful and poignant story, it offered an answer to this problem as a whole as well, in that…this kind of hate and this kind of ignorance will persist only for as long as we allow it to and really, I have to tip my cap to David and Seth and everyone involved with this show for making an honest and earnest attempt to show the rest of the world the kind of prejudice and fear that the LGBTQ community has to face every day. If anything, this just goes to show that The Orville is hands down one of the smartest television shows out there, and I’ll be honest, this is one of those stories that’s going to stay with me for quite a while. Because its depiction of prejudice was raw and powerful and this one, will leave me with plenty to chew upon since it did a fine job of reminding us of just how far we still need to go, when it comes to treating others with understanding and kindness. Until next time.  

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