The Orville: New Horizons (Season 3) Review

 Hey everyone! How's it going? I'm doing pretty well. Today I'm here to talk about the third season of The Orville, New Horizons. The season finale dropped today and I am really excited to talk about it all. That means there will be spoilers so if you're not caught up on the season then please do so before reading this review. So with that out of the way, let's get into it.

Whoever came up with the byline for this season, New Horizons, was 100% right in calling it that, because they did a lot of really cool, new, stuff on the show this season and REALLY opened up the universe that Seth MacFarlane, Brannon Braga, David A. Goodman, and Andre Bormanis created. We met some new characters and got to see some old friends come back too. And it was wonderful. I don't think there was a single episode that I didn't like. There also wasn't an episode that was bad in this entire season.

I was a bit worried that the show would go too big now that it's moved from old network television to streaming as many Sci-Fi shows tend to do. And Seth did go big, and boldly too, but never too big for episodic television the way the Disney+ Star Wars and Marvel shows have. And because the writers no longer had network restraints on them, they were able to do things they weren't able to do when the show aired on Fox. But they never forgot that this is a TV show, not a movie split up into ten parts. Which is a problem that the Marvel and Star Wars Disney+ shows seem to have.

One of my favourite things about this season is that it wrapped up so many storylines from seasons 1 and 2. For example in episode 5, Topa discovered that he had been born female and had been altered to be male, and she decided to return to her natural state, against Klyden's wishes, though Bortus was 100% supportive of her choice. That episode was probably Klyden's lowest moment in the first two and a half seasons. He'd already started to become pretty unlikeable during season 2, but episode 5 took it to an entirely new level. Which is amazing given this is Klyden we're talking about here. He did try to murder Bortus for his porn addiction back in season 2 after all, instead of talking things out like a sane person would.

I've heard that the fandom is split on this character, but I actually really liked Charly Burke this season. She was a great addition to the cast, and her whole thing about being racist against Isaac because his betrayal in season 2 led to the battle with the Kaylon, and the destruction of the ship Charly had been on, along with her girlfriend, was solid. I know, people didn't like her because she hated on Isaac worse than Doctor Pulaski hated on Data in season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but unlike Pulaski, Charly had a good reason to distrust and hate the Kaylon. Same with Marcus in the season premiere. I mean the poor kid had nightmares about the battle with the Kaylon and to have Isaac there to remind you of that horrible event was hard on Marcus, even though Marcus knew Isaac. Charly didn't. I loved watching her progress to the point where she gave her life to save the Kaylon from the Moclans and the Krill in episode 9. 

While the show got more serious this season, it didn't lose the humour. It was more subtle this season and very much played to the natural comedic talent of the entire cast. And that's what kept the show from becoming bleak and cynical as many other shows and movies have become in recent years. For example in episode 7 when Talla was explaining that the Janisi are a matriarchal society that consider men to be second class citizens, Bortus asked why they would ally themselves with such a close minded society. Both Claire and Gordon give him funny looks given that the Moclans are extremely prejudiced and close minded, though Bortus is the most open minded Moclan anyone has ever seen. So that was funny.

None of the characters got shafted this season. One of the advantages of making episodes that are fifteen to twenty minutes longer is that you can do stories featuring all of the main characters and nobody will be overlooked. And that's exactly what happened in season 3 of The Orville. Everyone got really awesome stories this season. Including Topa, who was basically absent from seasons 1 and 2, aside from a couple of episodes here and there. Seeing her grow this season was amazing, especially once she was restored to the gender she was meant to be, despite what Moclan society claimed she should be.

There was so much action this season and it seemed to get bigger and more intense as the season went on, culminating in the new Union/Kaylon alliance against the new Moclan/Krill alliance and Charly's death in episode 9. That twist happened so fast. At first it seemed like the Union would end up in an alliance with the Krill. But then Teleya, played by the wonderful Michaela McManus (One Tree Hill), pulled her little stunt and the Union and Krill are enemies again, the Moclans are kicked out of the Union and the Kaylon joins the Union. And all of that happened within the span of three episodes spread out across the entire season. I loved it.

Because of how intense this season was I was grateful that we got a smaller, more fun, season finale. It was much lighter in tone and short on action. But that was the perfect way to end this season because of how action packed the season 2 finale had been back in 2019. The entire episode focused on Lysella, the young woman the crew met on Sargus 4 back in season 1, episode 7, "Majority Rule", who decides to flee her homeworld due to the hate and greed dominating it, similar to what's happening in the real world these days. It also focuses on Claire and Isaac's getting married. Yes friends, Claire and Isaac got married in the season finale. Alot of hijinks happened before the wedding, like John LaMarr telling Isaac he should sleep around before settling down, against the advice of both Jenny Turco, who is now a lieutenant instead of an ensign, and Gordon. I'm still laughing at how Claire handled John once she found out what he'd told Isaac. But the best part of the episode was the wedding reception where the entire cast was together, and we got a little surprise visit from Alara Kitan, played by the always amazing Halston Sage. The last time we saw Alara was in the season 2 finale, in an alternate timeline where the Kaylon won the battle and conquered the galaxy, and she never got to interact with Talla. Here though they have a brief exchange before Bortus's attempted best man speech, which resulted in Gordon giving his speech and singing.

Overall this was a fantastic season of The Orville. It was so well written, so well produced, and so well acted that I was excited for it to drop every week. In fact, without fail I watched every episode on Thursday mornings right after breakfast, aside from the season premiere, which I watched with my sister in the evening. The show hasn't been renewed for a fourth season yet, but it also hasn't been canceled either. So hopefully that's a good sign. Whether it gets renewed or not I want to thank Seth MacFarlane and the entire cast and crew of The Orville for giving us such an incredible season. It was worth having to wait three years for it.

Alright my friends that's going to be it for me for today. I'll be back tomorrow for my review of the Lego Star Wars Summer Vacation Special which drops tomorrow on Disney+, and then I'll have my review of Lightyear up for you on Saturday, as that dropped on Disney+ yesterday and I'm gonna watch it tomorrow night. So until then have a great night and I will talk to you all later. Take care.