All The 'Star Trek' Easter Eggs In 'The Orville' Premiere
11/09/2017 05:09 pm EST
The Crew of The Orville
The crew also seem to fall into familiar Star Trek archetypes as well. Lt. Commander Bortus, the ship's second officer, is cast in the same mold as the stern Klingon Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Isaac, the artificial intelligence from Kaylon, is the science-minded officer representing "the other," much like Spock and Data from Star Trek, though Isaac subverts the expectations of this kind of character by looking down on his crewmates rather than aspire to be more like them, as Data did.
Gordon Malloy and John LaMarr serve as helmsman and navigator, providing occasional commentary on what's going on onboard the ship much like Sulu and Chekov sometimes did in Star Trek: The Original Series.
It is also probably no coincidence that it is Captain Ed Mercer, First Officer Commander Kelly Grayson, and Dr. Claire Finn who go on the show's first away mission as they mirror the core trio of Captain Kirk, First Officer Spock, and Dr. McCoy from Star Trek: The Original Series.
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When Mercer goes searching for Malloy to recruit him onto the Orville, he finds his friend enjoying a game in a holographic simulation chamber that is clearly based on the holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The comedic scene of Mercer and Malloy chatting as they approach the docked Orville may be a send up of the lengthy sequence from Star Trek: The Motion Picture in which Kirk and Scotty approach the retrofitted Enterprise.
Other more subtle and playful references to Star Trek include Malloy referring to his piloting skills as being "like threading a needle in a hurricane," much in the same way that complicated science is often explained with a simple analogy on Star Trek, and the moment when Mercer brings up a Krill on the ship's viewscreen and has to ask him to step a little to the side so that he'll be centered in the frame, which is a nod to one of Star Trek's long-standing narrative concessions.
The Orville is sure to contain more Star Trek Easter Eggs in future episodes. The two-night premiere concludes this Sunday on Fox. The series will then move to Thursday night after Gotham.
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