This season has been arguably one of the best written seasons, but it feels like there's a common theme to the episodes:
"Gently Falling Rain" seems to be a commentary on multiple themes: Propaganda, political coups, and abortion.
"A Tale of Two Topas" seems to be a scathing indictment of forced transgenderism on children and a commentary on parental rights.
"Twice in a Lifetime" seems to offer an optimistic view of the post-Covid world as seen in the year 2025.
"From Unknown Graves" highlights the importance of empathy and understanding and trying to find common ground in the face of injustice.
"Midnight Blue" seems to be a commentary on making two many concessions to political allies and being taken advantage of in the name of cultural values (Perhaps an indictment of NATO?), not to mention the heinousness of torturing children
I feel like Seth MacFarlane is the definition of a classical liberal, as in while he is critical of the Republicans, he at least is willing to hear the other side of the story. Remember that he at one time was friends with Rush Limbaugh, and he was one of the first people to call out Harvey Weinstein, just to give an example. I think that Hollywood has forced him to take certain positions as a trade for him becoming the success that he has, but he's subversively fighting back against the system
Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter and see if there might be other examples that might justify this conclusion.
Yeah, I've gotten that impression, too. I'm sadly way behind on the show, but a friend of mine is a big fan. The Topa plot really strikes a chord with me because, whether or not the media will admit this, it comes off as correcting a terrible injustice that was done to the character when she was just a baby. She's a girl and always has been; pretending she was a boy and meant to be a boy is just vile. Worse, the parent who insisted on putting her through that was in fact born a girl, too, but made a "man" and now shows zero sympathy or understanding, insisting on clinging to the dogma and even abandoning the child and father at the end, wishing the former had never been born. It's a major middle finger to the lunatics in that movement.
I’ve watched a lot of his content over the years. He seems to genuinely be one of the few that highlights both the hypocrisy and success of both sides.
He has some surprising pro-gun content to go along with anti-gun content.
Orville feels like a genuine successor to TNG, in that humans get over their differences and amplify their strengths.
Yeah, he meant it to carry on the true spirit of Star Trek, since Paramount/CBS have dropped the ball so horribly. As William Shatner recently put it, Gene Roddenberry would be turning in his grave at what they've done.
I recall a line to the effect of "These children will never even be born" in the episode where Scott Grimes' character goes to the more current time and has his family. The parallels to abortion were there, in my inital take. I was surprised it would be included, and that's sad. Who knows- maybe he is slowly maturing. (I believe that line was from that show/episode.)
(Scott Grimes is a great actor. And Isaac's actor, Mark Jackson is supreme.)
Yes, that like was from "Twice in a Lifetime", good catch!
It never ceases to amaze me at the number of shows people are watching that I've never heard of.
It’s surprisingly well done. Not woke, and dropping the tiniest red pill seeds
Me too.
I had to click cause I thought maybe we had a new name for The Whitehouse. The Orville.
me too. last series I actually watched was the first two seasons of American Horror Story, started getting too creepy had to stop watching.
None of this is any indication anyone has taken over. Far from it. We are in the battle for our lives and posterity. There hasn't been enough territory reclaimed to declare any kind of victory. Seth MacFarlane is only willing to hear the other side because it has gotten that bad. Even some liberals can see this.
Let me ask you this. On a woke show, would Topa's forced gender reassignment be treated as a despicable act or celebrated as a victory for the transgender community? Would the commentary on abortion even be allowed? How about this line from the show from "Twice in a Lifetime"?
"Y'know, this time period gets a bad rap, but there's a lot to like about it if you look hard enough... it's like watching your little brother make a bunch of stupid mistakes. Yeah, he's an idiot now, but you can see him learning, and growing, and you know that someday all those mistakes are gonna turn him into a smart guy."
In a woke show? That line doesn't happen. It would be an outright demonization of our era. Look at Star Trek Picard as a comparison. They outright shit on this era.
I think there is a white hat element in this show, one that is focusing on emphasizing that humanity for its mistakes is ultimately good. Not the cabal spiel about humanity being a virus and needing a mass extinction to repair the earth.
it's the 85/15 rule. This is the golden rule that the propaganda sphere uses.
Oh, I thought they meant the Oroville Dam...no idea about tv shows either.