'The Orville' Recap: 'Pria'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

While utopian style science fiction often provides its fans with inspirational and uplifting storytelling, it comes with one inherent flaw; a false sense of security for the people enjoying the story. After all, regardless of how wonderful a future one can craft, there are inherent dangers that still exist out there in the void. Enemies that simply don't believe in what the good guys are trying to accomplish, or the rogue being that doesn't believe in anything but themselves and quite frankly, it is the latter of those possibilites that are far more dangerous and a renegade in that vein showed up on The Orville last night, and holy cow, did this little twist turn out to be quite the game changer.

After all, this entire series has been a wonderful and lighthearted romp through the galaxy, one that shown us a wonderful and beautiful future for all of mankind, and by adding a selfish character that will stop at nothing to achieve their own personal goals, The Orville accomplished something that quite frankly I didn't think it was capable of...it went into darker territory. Not in the traditional sense that Seth MacFarlane has tried to avoid, because there was no shift toward an ultra gritty storyline or suffering for the characters to be found here. No, instead, MacFarlane introduced a character in Captain Pria Lavesque that in many ways was the foil to everything the Planetary Union stands for and by dropping that kind of person into the story, it made 'Pria' another brilliant episode that challenged our intrepid crew in new and exciting ways.  

Because Pria is exactly what I made mention of a moment ago, someone who is in it for herself and nothing more and it was simply fascinating to meet someone in this universe who had zero regard for life in this manner. She didn't give a damn about the crew of the Orville, or what they wanted to accomplish in their lives. It was all about profit for her and sometimes we forget that the best villains don't necessarily need to topple institutions or murder with impunity. Sometimes pure evil comes from apathy and that's exactly what was on display here and it made life difficult for Ed because when someone simply doesn't care, how do you reason with them? How do you find common ground or make them believe in something greater, like the Union? The answer is, you don't...you outsmart them like Ed did and really, major credit goes to Charlize Theron for bringing Pria to life with an engaging and powerful performance. 

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Yet despite the darker nature of this episode, there were plenty of bright moments to be found. Take for example the fact that this episode really took the time to examine the inner workings of Captain Ed Mercer, something the story really hasn't allowed for since the series premiere and goodness, did this make for some beautiful storytelling. Because despite the strides Ed has made in working with his ex-wife, the pain from that whole mess is still buried deep within his soul and it was heartbreaking and wonderful to see him open up to Pria and try to start something special with her and while it is unfortunate to see him hurt once again...it was wonderful to see him face his fears and speaking of that, something Pria said shortly before vanishing is still at the top of my mind because while it appeared to be ominous at first, the more I ponder on it, the more hopeful I'm finding her words to be. 

Because we cannot forget that there was quite the sobering moment in this story when we came to learn that the U.S.S. Orville was supposed to have been destroyed in that dark matter storm, and because Mercer and his crew fought back against being dragged to the 29th Century, their fate is now their own and there's something supremely hopeful about the fact that Ed and the crew get a second chance now and it makes Pria's attempt to insult Ed about never quite getting over what happened with he and Kelly seem more like a challenge. Because now that the future is in essence unwritten, Ed can do anything and everything he pleases and now that we've seen him open up and try to love again, perhaps he can finally find the internal peace he is looking for and considering the hints we've seen all season long when it comes to the chemistry that still exists between Ed and Kelly and the feelings they still have for one another...maybe they too will get a second chance down the road as well.

If anything, this episode turned out to be quite the character study and I also love the fact that this tale put the crew and how close they are becoming on full display, plus...holy cow the whole Prank War between Issac and Malloy was utterly incredible and the laughs were so good when it came to that, I had to pause the show and get all the giggles out of my system before moving on when it came to the whole leg thing. But truly, what made this episode so special, is the sheer fact that this story stood on its own. There were no major homages to Star Trek that I can think of here and that's a sign that this show is becoming its own unique entity and considering the fact that Seth MacFarlane is basically putting on a screenwriting clinic by delivering a story with this many layers and nuances, the future for this show is as bright as the future it inhabits and this particular tale is going to stay with me for some time thanks to its utter brilliance. Until next time. 

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