In Review: The Orville – Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes

Synopsis: Ed finds himself behind enemy lines when he crashlands on a mysterious planet; Kelly questions why Gordon wants to take the Command Test.

Review: In the wake of Alara’s departure. Life moves on and Ed and his new girlfriend  Lt. Janel Tyler have to cut their holiday plans short.

The Story

When Ed and his newfound girlfriend Janel Tyler decide to take a holiday their shuttle is attached by a Krill ship. Now a prisoner of the Krill Ed learns that his whole relationship was a fake and that Tyler is really Teleya. The Krill that they captured in season one of the series.

Meanwhile, aboard The Orville Gordon is having a crisis of self-confidence and decides to take the command test in hopes that it will lift him out of his rut and maybe give him a little more luck with the ladies. Kelly is pretty much onto him right away, but also quite sympathetic.

The Acting

Michaela McManus puts in a fantastic performance in the dual role of Lt. Tyler and Teleya. This is a pretty clever twist given that Tyler was introduced in the opening episode of the new season and established herself as the fresh-faced eager to please new officer. McManus’s chemistry with  Seth MacFarlane was really good in both her human and not so human guise. The scene where she reveals her true identity on the Krill ship was masterfully played out.

Overall

This was a really strong episode, which continued a character arc for Teleya, which was first established in the opening season of the show. I really enjoyed having the wool pulled over my eyes, which is something that doesn’t happen all that often with me.

I also thought the command storyline with Gordon was fun and loved his rather clumsy attempt as trying to be a Captain Kirk-like figure in The Orville’s version of The Kobayashi Maru. I also had a little chuckle at Gordon’s reaction to The Rorschach test.