‘The Orville’ Recap: ‘Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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At some point or another in our lives, we’ve all wondered, or will wonder, what it would be like to go back in time and impart a little knowledge upon our younger selves. Because we firmly believe that being able to accomplish such a feat, would do wonders for us as a human being. For we could offer up all kinds of tips to past us, the kind that will help us grow when we encounter roadblocks we were unable to figure out the first time around. Plus, we could warn our former selves what kinds of ugly moments await us so that we could avoid those problems or handle them better and we think about stuff like that because everyone out there would love to have a second chance with some of the moments we’ve dealt with in our lives and also because, it’s helpful to ponder upon what other options could have been available to us in a particular situation.
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Yet while we know such a voyage into the past is impossible, that doesn’t stop fiction stories from exploring them as well, and it just so happens that The Orville took the opportunity to dig into this notion during last night’s episode. For ‘Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’ saw Commander Kelly Grayson face her former self with some fascinating results. And all of this was made possible thanks to a side experiment that Isaac was working on, one that would make time travel a reality by way of the device introduced by Dr. Aronov in the series premiere of the show. But a gravitational wave pushed the results of this device to a whole new level, when it was able to pull Kelly from seven years prior into present day and that’s when an exploration on facing our younger selves, came into play. But of course, it would be too easy for present day Kelly to just meet and impart wisdom upon a younger Kelly, meaning this series took the time to explore all of this on a deeper level.

Case and point, the fact that younger Kelly and older Kelly simply didn’t mesh. Which is fascinating, since one would think that meeting one’s self would involve some level of adoration, but not for these two. For our Commander Grayson saw the arrival of her former self as a harsh reminder of her more carefree past, where she loved to spend her nights drinking and partying away and she wanted nothing more than to impart her wisdom upon her younger self, and ironically, the younger Lieutenant Grayson saw her older self as quite the disappointment. For a Kelly from seven years prior was stunned at the fact that her older self didn’t accomplish any of the goals she set for herself since at this point in her life she expected to be in love, and be the Captain of a starship, one that was extremely close and chummy with her crew, and being immersed in the opposite of all of that, completely and utterly left younger Kelly rattled and uncomfortable.

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If anything it was fascinating to have the show remind us that we are different people as the years roll on and while it was a tad jarring to see both Kelly’s have different agendas and ideas of what they want out of life, their mutual respect for one another, or…themselves, is what made this storyline worthwhile and it also helped to set up another notion that goes along with a story such as this; the opportunity for a second chance. Because Lieutenant Kelly still had a burning passion for Ed, and it is no secret that the Captain would do anything for another shot at a relationship with Kelly and well, he took this opportunity to try and do things right this time with mixed results. Because this move harkened back to the fact that we grow and change, and that kept the two of them from clicking, prompting Ed to back down. But, at least this part of the show did deliver some of the finest laughs of the night since we learned that Moclans love to dance. I mean, they really freakin’ love to bust a move.

But, outside of the laughs, this story served to remind us that second chances are rare, and often times don’t exist because everything happens exactly as it is supposed to, and challenging events also happen to help us grow and become more in life. Because if Kelly and Ed hadn’t gone down their respective paths, they wouldn’t be the people they are today and eventually, everyone involved in this wacky mess came to realize that and settled into their respective fates, or so it seemed. Because a happy ending would be too easy for this series and after John and Isaac finally figured out how to get Lieutenant Kelly back to her time, complete with memory wipe, this series dropped quite the bomb on us in that, younger Kelly remembered everything and when given the opportunity to walk the path she saw outlined, she refused, pushing Ed aside, leaving Kelly with an uncertain future…

So, yeah, I didn’t see that particular twist coming in the slightest and this decision lends credence to the dangers of being able to tell our former selves what we know because then, our lives would turn out differently and well, I’m quite curious to see what this means for the crew come next week. Will it change the relationship between Ed and Kelly since they were never married? And also, what of the Kaylon and their hunt for the U.S.S. Orville? Will they continue to pursue the ship since they seem to be aware of the Aronov device? It’s tune in next week to get those answers but before the season two finale arrives, we can bask in the wonder of this beautiful character study. One that really did offer some wonderful insight into what makes Kelly tick, and might I add, what a performance from Adrianne Palicki, since she was able to switch between a younger and older Kelly on a moment’s notice and well, this really was quite the unique little episode, one that calls back to The Next Generation episode, ‘Second Chances’ and one that reminds me of the fact that T.V. won’t quite be the same once season two of this series, comes to an end. Until next time.  

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