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The Orville Just Succeeded Where Picard Season 2 Failed
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Orville season 3, episode 4, "Gently Falling Rain."
The Orville season 3, episode 4, "Gently Falling Rain," is a political thriller set in a dystopian society that succeeds where Star Trek: Picard failed. An affectionate homage to episodic sci-fi adventure shows of the 1990s, The Orville regularly uses the genre to tell allegorical stories about contemporary society. This was the original intention of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but many of the recent Star Trek series have shifted toward the long-form storytelling of modern prestige television. As a result, it can become harder for these Star Trek shows to satisfyingly tell a pointed, punchy, sci-fi allegory when it's stretched over 10 weeks. The Orville's episodic approach avoids this problem with momentum, and it's evident from the success of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' similar storytelling style that there's an audience appetite for these more contained stories.
In The Orville season 3, episode 4, the crew transport a diplomatic delegation to the Krill homeworld with the intention of ratifying a historic treaty with their old enemies. However, there is political unrest on the planet, and the future of the treaty is put in jeopardy when a populist leader defies expectations to win an election. The parallels with the election of Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton in 2016 are clear, and The Orville explores the extreme consequences through a sci-fi lens. Star Trek: Picard tackled a similar issue, with Patrick Stewart namechecking Trump in interviews to promote season 2's trip to a dystopian future. Strangely for a comedy-drama series that has often leaned more toward comedy, the dystopia of The Orville is darker than Star Trek.
The Orville season 3, episode 4 is a political thriller about the perils of populism and the politics of isolation. Over the course of the episode, veteran Star Trek writers Brannon Braga and André Bormanis tackle themes of fake news and the use of algorithms to shape public opinion, and it even touches on the Krill's chillingly draconian policies on abortion. It feels like a more robust portrayal of how a society can fall into the thrall of extremist politics than the dystopia Q created for Picard. Both The Orville and Star Trek: Picard spend one episode each in their respective utopias, but "Gently Falling Rain" has more to say about contemporary society than Star Trek: Picard season 2 does.
The problem with Picard's dystopia is the obsession with how the extremist Confederation changes Star Trek's timeline. It's partly a problem caused by long-form storytelling, Picard can't fully expand upon the cause of the dystopia as that will be the core mystery of season 2. So rather than making an astute comment on contemporary politics, the episode lingers on the various fan-favorite characters that the evil Picard has killed in this dark new timeline.
Because The Orville doesn't have decades of continuity to pull from, it gets on with the business of delivering a sci-fi allegory for the rise of populism. There are references to previous The Orville episodes with the return of Ed's former lover/nemesis and the new Krill chancellor, Teleya. However, her involvement in the plot lends The Orville season 3, episode 4 more thematic heft in exploring the outdated and oppressive traditions and laws that many politicians and voters are hell-bent on protecting.
The introduction of Ed's half-Krill daughter leads to a discussion about Krill perspectives on abortion. A chilling scene follows where a couple is presented with the hologram of the child they could have had, who asks the couple the reasons for their choice to abort the pregnancy. This scene from The Orville does more to comment on the Trump presidency's legacy than anything in Star Trek: Picard.
