The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Twice in a Lifetime
Diana Keng
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Sorry, The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 6, I'm still not a fan of Burke.
Not that her lost love reason for hating on Isaac was the point here, but I wanted to get that out of the way. Not buying into the play for sympathy, and the character is still all sorts of annoying.
In other news, Scott Grimes shows once again that he's so much more than a funny face as Malloy revisits his The Orville Season 2 Episode 11 love by basically living out his own Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 25, "Inner Light," plotline.
Compared to other offerings this season, there's something about the set-up for this adventure that feels more contrived than usual.
Setting aside the fact that the quantum accelerator is called the Aronov Device when that was what it was called in the alternate timeline, not the prime timeline where Dr. Janice Lee invented it, how bored is LaMarr that he's messing with time travel?
Perry: It's undeniable they've achieved something extraordinary. But I have to admit, I wish they hadn't.
Grayson: March of progress. Can't stop it.
Perry: The weaponization of time travel has always been the unthinkable horror. If the Krill or the Kaylon ever achieved it, they could skip the galactic brinkmanship and simply destroy the Union at its inception.
I'm totally with Admiral Perry on this.
And then there's the Kaylon attack. How did they learn about the souped-up temporal device? And why destroy the research station when it probably contains many other valuable bits of tech?
Finally, I don't think LaMarr and Isaac's explanation of a temporal paradox is a throwaway line.
Combined with Malloy's insistence that his family will survive despite being erased, I suspect we'll be seeing Laura, Edward, and Baby Malloy down the line.
No matter what, I will always love you both. Do you understand? Always. This family is stronger than Time.
Malloy
Rescued 2015 Malloy is just too okay with everything.
Knowing how deeply he felt for Laura, it doesn't ring true that he wouldn't regret losing the chance to live out a life and raise a family with her.
Malloy: Look, I know that there's nothing that's going to make you feel better, but for what it's worth, you did the right thing. As hard as it was, you put your duty first.
Mercer: Yeah, you're right, I don't feel better.
Maybe, 2025 Malloy figures out how to send a message back to himself in 2015 and creates the split universe where he can play happy families and earn that fantastic obituary. (Seriously, go back and pause on that obit. Anyone would love to live the life described there.)
A few crew developments seem to be subtle on-ramps for future shenanigans.
LaMarr and Keyali? Can't say we didn't see it coming after their flirty flirts at the Wild West pub simulation at the start of The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 4.
That their relationship levels up within hearing range of the entire Engineering department is a little surprising, though.
Talla's appearance at Malloy's door is also unexpected. Did Mercer and Grayson fly the shuttle back to the ship to get her? Did she pilot her own shuttle down on Mercer's orders?
Not sure where they're going with Burke's thing, but I'm sure we'll hear more about her issues with Isaac.
I'm also wondering what part of Isaac's programming is directing him to thank Burke for her role in his reactivation.
Without knowing, we can't interfere. We don't have the wisdom. We don't have the foresight.
Mercer
The dilemma presented here is one of temporal order.
The Orville operates on a linear time theory. Anything that changes the past directly affects the present: Butterfly Effect and all that jazz.
And yet, they also present the temporal paradox scenario where the potential exists for whole universes to branch off. You'd think those two theories would conflict.
In any case, 2025 Malloy seemed to have a good life going, and I'd be lying to say I didn't wish he could've kept living it.
The warmth between him and Laura is a stark contrast to his lone-wolf life aboard the ship.
Laura: I had just broken up with this guy, Greg, and the last thing that I wanted was another douchebag.
Malloy: But she went out with me anyway.
Laura: That's right, yeah. Look at us. Seven years later, that douchebag's my husband.
Malloy: I'm her douchebag.
Scott Grimes and Leighton Meester were adorbs together when she was only a simulated Laura Huggins; it's not surprising they conveyed such blissful domesticity on this outing.
For those who need a refresher on just how sweet they were together:
A few continuity quibbles:
Does anyone else wonder why Malloy landed on Earth in 2015 when the ship had to travel to Earth after traveling back in time? Shouldn't Malloy have ended up in the same space where the destroyed research station would be built in a few hundred years?
I mean, he'd DIE almost immediately, but it would make more sense.
Also, when the Orville returns to their time, are they not concerned with Admiral Ozawa's fleet still hiding from the Kaylons in the nebula? No? Okay, then.
It's interesting to note that of the six episodes we've seen so far this season, only The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 2 does NOT callback directly to an episode from The Orville Season 1 or 2.
The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 1, "Electric Sheep," is a direct follow-up to the Kaylon war, which was central to much of The Orville Season 2.
The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 3, "Mortality Paradox," is rooted in the happenings of The Orville Season 1 Episode 12.
"Gently Falling Rain" is a continuation of the Teleya story that begins with The Orville Season 1 Episode 6 and develops through The Orville Season 2 Episode 4.
The Orville: New Horizons Season 3 Episode 5, "A Tale of Two Topas," brings closure to the question of Topa's gender crisis introduced on The Orville Season 1 Episode 3 and touched upon on The Orville Season 2 Episode 12.
Is this a deliberate choice in the development of this first Hulu season? Is it an involved form of fan service to reward those who have waited so long for the return?
Or are these the stories MacFarlane and his team always intended to tell but which were too involved (and too expensive) for their original platform to produce?
Grayson: Seems like you've acclimated to this century.
Malloy: Yeah, you know, this time period gets a bad rap. But there's a lot to like about it if you look hard enough.
Mercer: Like what?
Malloy: Well, you know, 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 going to turn him into a smart guy.
In looking at how this season has unfolded, I suspect it's a little of both.
Your thoughts, Fanatics? Was a Malloy-centered time-travel rescue right up your alley?
Where do you think LaMarr and Keyali's relationship will lead?
What about that Aronov Device slip? What if it wasn't a slip-up? Does that mean -- as some folks out there have postulated -- that we are seeing an alternate timeline, a branched-off universe?
Is this why we're now looking at New Horizons?
Hit our comments with your thoughts and theories!
Diana Keng was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is a lifelong fan of smart sci-fi and fantasy media, an upstanding citizen of the United Federation of Planets, and a supporter of AFC Richmond 'til she dies. Her guilty pleasures include female-led procedurals, old-school sitcoms, and Bluey. She teaches, knits, and dreams big. Follow her on X.
