WARNING: This thread WILL contain unhidden spoilers for this episode and every episode before it. You are allowed to talk about future episodes of the series, but put ANY information that comes after this episode behind spoiler tags.
The Orville season 1, episode 8 "Into the Fold"
Written by Brannon Braga & Andre Bormanis, directed by Brannon Braga.
Escorted by Isaac, Dr. Finn takes her two boys, Marcus & Ty (BJ Tanner & Kai Wener), on vacation while the Orville docks for a major systems overhaul. Along the way, a fold in subspace pulls their shuttle in and throws it 1,000 lightyears away into uncharted space. The crippled ship is forced to crash land on an unknown world, separating Dr. Finn from Isaac and her children. Unable to contact the Orville, everyone must deal with dangers and interpersonal issues they are all unaccustomed to.
Originally released: 2 November 2017
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What did you think?
Incredible showcase for Mark Jackson (Isaac) here. It's impressive how much he is able to do without a face.
Future episode spoilers
While I imagine Jackson enjoys having so much more to work with in later seasons in terms of ... having a face, I do kind of miss this period where he just had to Mandalorian it up and give his performance with hand and body movements. Faceless Isaac was always done very well.Isaac learning to provide comfort by holding hands is done effectively and his understanding that Claire needs the same is a genuine moment. I love the Isaac and Claire/Finn family pairing, so this episode does great by me. Can't argue with the classic "stranded on a hostile planet" structure, either. It's definitely a cliche by this point and the episode doesn't do anything to subvert it, but it solidly executes the premise. To some extent, solidly executing an existing idea is the whole point of The Orville, so I think the show is achieving its goals here.
The episode seems to have been important, internally. Penny Johnson Jerald described the episode as her favorite at the time, and Seth MacFarlane said that putting together a show that was serious, dramatic and character-led charted the course for season 2: