The crew prepares for a unique celebration.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Summed up by Kelly telling Lysella that she can't just give advanced technology to her world and think it will work out.Kelly: You can't pull them into the future. They have to do it on their own.
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: Invoked by Kelly to explain to Lysella how sharing their matter synthesizer technology with Sargus 4 would be a bad idea, noting how that same technology can be misused and the Union has no right to choose if a society should be changed that way. She later demonstrates why the law was drafted by showing how the Union once shared technology with a divided world in 2235, and in a mere five years that society turned their world into a wasteland.
- Back for the Finale: Alara returns to attend Isaac and Claire's wedding, although she's late for the actual ceremony and only turns up at the reception. This is the second consecutive season finale to feature a surprise reappearance by Alara, after "The Road Not Taken".
- Big "SHUT UP!": Bortus eventually snaps "You will be silent!" when the traditional tapping on a wine glass fails to draw everyone's attention. He also barks at Klyden during the bachelor party.
- Breather Episode: After the emotional and political roller-coasters of the previous two episodes, wherein Moclus was kicked out of the Union and allied with the Krill while the Kaylon made peace with the Union, this episode mostly deals with developing the interpersonal relationships of the crew, and further explains the workings of the Union through Audience Surrogate Lysella.
- Brick Joke: The sandwich that Gordon sent forward in time in "Twice in a Lifetime" appears in front of him without warning. It did indeed make him very happy.LaMarr: This is a goddamn weird ass place we work in, lemma tell ya.
- Broken-System Dogmatist: What the people of Sargus 4 have become, since the absolute-democracy system they've been using hasn't been abolished or looked-into.
- The Bus Came Back: Lysella returns for the whole episode, asking asylum from her planet.
- The Cameo: During the last few minutes of the episode, Alara comes back to celebrate Finn and Isaac's wedding.
- Cassandra Truth: One of the reasons why the officers agree to take Lysella back to Sargus IV is because no one is likely to believe her if she tries to talk about the Orville (as she was a barista/waitress before she came to the Orville and has no way to prove what she saw was real).
- Chekhov's Skill: Lysella managed to swipe a comscanner in her last appearance and uses it to contact the Orville when they drop by to check up on the planet. When she tries to go back home, it's shown that she repeated the trick with another comscanner that she has loaded with schematics on Union tech. This time, the shuttle wisely has a scanner active to make sure she isn't trying to smuggle anything.
- Continuity Nod:
- The ship returns to Sargus 4, with Ed noting that LaMarr won't want to step foot on the planet again.
- Kelly compares sharing technology to playing God, a situation she is personally familiar with.
- Claire says that Alara can only spend a limited time outside Xelayan-level gravity, in a nod back to the condition that led to her departing the Orville.
- Custom Uniform: The main cast (aside from Claire and Isaac) are in a white dress uniform for the wedding ceremony, which serves as a stark contrast to the rest of the (non-Kaylon) attendees, who are either wearing the standard duty uniform or appropriate civilian attire.
- Didn't Think This Through: Isaac decided to invite his people to his wedding... as in the entire Kaylon race. It takes Claire pointing it out for Isaac to grasp that there's no way to fit them all into the simulator, so he decides to simply broadcast the event to the majority and only take a small party aboard. Ed also quickly sends off a warning to make sure the Union doesn't think it's an invasion.
- Do Wrong, Right: Talla half-seriously compliments Lysella for having the foresight to only include schematics for things that would improve quality of life and not weapons on her stolen comscanner.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: After LaMarr suggests to Isaac that he sow his oats before settling down with Claire if he wants the marriage to last, Isaac approaches Kelly and asks if they can date and have sex, before trying to reach Talla with the same inquiry. Claire sets him straight after Kelly relays what happened.
- Easily Swayed Population: What causes Lysella to abandon her planet, since no one can speak out about the broken social system there.
- Elvis Impersonator: This is how Bortus decides to entertain the guests at the bachelor party. His singing leaves something to be desired, in contrast to his last performance in "A Tale of Two Topas".
- From Bad to Worse: Apparently, things have gotten worse on Sargus 4, with people afraid to come out and say or do anything that might cause them to be downvoted. Lysella has already lost two friends, who apparently did nothing to deserve it.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The Union's attempt to uplift Gendel III in the 2230s ended in catastrophe; the planet tore itself apart fighting over the Union's advanced technology, resulting in a worldwide nuclear war that destroyed Gendel and its nine billion inhabitants.
- Happy Ending Override: "Majority Rule" ended on a hopeful note, with the Orville crew encouraging Lysella to tell the other people of Sargus 4 they could do better, and her opting not to take part in the voting system. Here, however, we find out that things have actually gotten worse on the planet.
- Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Of a non-lethal variety; Moclan weddings involve one spouse chasing the other after a Mercy Lead and attempting to tackle them. Pulling an I Let You Win is considered bad luck, and Klyden actually beans Bortus with a huge rock to keep him at bay.
- I Choose to Stay: Lysella, despite being the one to ask for asylum on the Orville, begins to feel guilt for experiencing the wonders of the galaxy while her friends and family remain in the hostile society of Sargus IV. When she tries to leave with Union technology in the hopes that it would help her people, Kelly shows her what could happen to Sargus IV if Lysella's plan succeeded. After, Lysella decides to remain on the Orville, knowing that it's up to her world to fix itself.
- Innocently Insensitive:
- Isaac, of course, not grasping why his talk of Claire reaching "a certain age" might offend her.
- It turns out Moclan "humor" consists of Bortus making savage lines on everything from Isaac's part in the Kaylon attack on Earth to how Isaac and Claire's marriage is doomed, with a flat "all kidding aside" after each unwitting insult. Klyden, of course, thinks he's hilarious.
- Jump Scare: When Kelly shows Lysella the eventual fate of Gendel III after the Union shared its technology with its people, a severely-mutated inhabitant of that planet suddenly jumps in front of them from nowhere, giving Lysella quite a shock, complete with a Scare Chord.
- Literal-Minded: Isaac is told to invite guests for the wedding, and reasons that because biologicals invite family, he should therefore invite Kaylon. All the Kaylon. The crew is quite annoyed that Isaac didn't think to explain his arrangements before 4,000 ships suddenly drop out of quantum on top of them.
- Married at Sea: Similar to Star Trek, Planetary Union captains such as Ed Mercer have the privilege and honor of conducting marriages, as Ed does with Claire Finn and Isaac. The beginning of Ed's speech about the privilege of a ship's captain marrying people is almost word-for-word from the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror", where Captain Kirk was marrying together two of his crew.
- Maybe Ever After: In the final shot of Ed and Kelly, she takes his hand and they smile at each other, though whether it's just the emotion of the moment or might lead to something more is left ambiguous.
- Mildly Military: Malloy and several crew members have a short debate about why they can't play music to fly to while on the bridge.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In its early diplomatic overtures, the Union happily tried to uplift civilizations in an attempt to help them skip the growing pains they went through. Gendel III immediately fought over the technology and destroyed themselves in five years, convincing the Union to adopt strict protocols in sharing technology with less advanced societies.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Kelly tells Lysella how one major reason people still pursue goals in their Post-Scarcity Economy is it's boring to just sit around and do nothing of value. Even becoming skilled at what would now be viewed as menial labor, like being a waiter, qualifies in their society as well rather than just more lofty things such as pursuing science or the arts.
- Oh, Crap!: Lamarr's reaction when Claire comes to tear him a new one over giving Isaac advice that led him to asking Kelly out on a date.
- Claire: LAMAR!!!Lamarr: O_O;
- Properly Paranoid: The shuttle has a scanner that detects Lysella's attempt to smuggle out a comscanner, as she has already stolen one before and this time is motivated to do more than just have a potential line to the Orville.
- Revisiting the Roots: The overt humor and use of Cringe Comedy makes this episode closer in tone to the show from Seasons 1 and 2 rather than the more earnest approach of most of New Horizons.
- Scare 'Em Straight: When Lysella claims her people can handle Union tech, Kelly shows her a hologram of a world much like hers in 2235. She then advances it five years in the future to show how, thanks to the Union sharing technology, that planet destroyed itself. Lysella realizes that not only can she not share the technology, but her very knowledge of the Union can affect her world in the worst ways, convincing her to stay on the ship.
- Scenery Censor: Subverted for Bortus and Klyden. Although Bortus says he and Klyden will be naked during the Renewal, they are both wearing a speedo-type garment. Whether this is for the sake of the assembled crew (including their young daughter) or for the viewers is unstated.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Things have gotten so bad on Sargus IV that Lysella is ready to bail on everything she's ever known and take her chances on the Orville. She mentions that two of her closest friends were downvoted to the point of "correction" for no good reason, which appears to have been the final straw for her.
- Sequel Episode: To Season 1's "Majority Rule".
- Shout-Out:
- Kelly showing Lysella the fate of another world uplifted by Union technology is shot similarly to the Diviner demonstrating the fate of his world in the Star Trek: Prodigy episode "A Moral Star, Part 2". The simulator is set on a hill overlooking a prospering city, the timeline is accelerated, and suddenly all that remains is devastation. It even shares similar inciting incidents, that being the Union / Federation making contact and it going horribly wrong.
- The crew's dress uniforms, with the front flap and belt, resemble the "Monster Maroons" worn by the original Star Trek crew from Wrath of Khan to Undiscovered Country.
- Ed's wedding speech sounds quite similar to the speeches given by Captains Kirk and Pike in "Balance of Terror" and "A Quality of Mercy". Fortunately this wedding doesn't end in tragedy.
- Skewed Priorities: Gordon says that he's more upset about Bortus replacing him as Isaac's best man than he was about the Kaylon invasion. It's unclear whether he's joking.
- Special Guest: Halston Sage is credited as a Special Guest Star for her appearance as Alara Kitan.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: While "Majority Rule" had ended on an optimistic note and the hope that Lysella would spark a reform of their twisted legal system. But she's just one woman, of no prominence or influence in their society, and is unable to tell what she knows about the outside galaxy. Even if she try to convince others, railing against the system would risk her being mass-downvoted. A couple of years later, the system has apparently gotten worse, to the point where she just wants to leave the planet.
- While Klyden takes an early lead due to his headstart and a few tricks, he is a stay at home parent with a penchant for eating ice cream and watching musicals. Conversely, Bortus is an active duty military member and keeps himself in top physical shape. Thus, the chase ends rather quickly once Bortus is able to corner Klyden at a fallen tree.
- Survivor's Guilt: Lysella develops this as she comes to realize just how backward her people are compared to the Union and how lucky she is to have effectively jumped ship at the worst point in their history. It drives her to attempt to bring Union tech back to her world to fix things, though Kelly talks her out of it.
- Take That!: Over the decades, the Star Trek franchise has taken some criticism for the supposed immorality of the Prime Directive, as well as how unrealistic the Federation's socio-economic model seems, to the point where the latter was even lampshaded in various episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This episode delivers strong rebuttals to both arguments, with Kelly delivering a detailed and wholly plausible explanation of how the Union (and by extension, the Federation) can actually work as a non-currency-based economy, while pointing out that giving technologies to societies that haven't yet evolved to the point where they can handle them would at best result in said technologies being hoarded by the rich and powerful, and at worst would lead to disaster.note
- Tempting Fate: Subverted. When Lysella wishes to return home, Kelly reasons that, regardless of the technological wonders she's seen, Lysella lacks the technical skill to reproduce any of it or even the scientific background to truly understand the underlying principles. Ed likewise notes that anything she could relate to those of actual skill would be little different than something a science-fiction writer could cook up. Nevertheless, it's anticipated that she might just download the schematics and they're prepared for when she tries, showing Kelly didn't underestimate her resourcefulness.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Everyone (except Klyden, naturally) feels this way about Bortus as Isaac's best man. They're right. Claire quietly convinces Isaac to pull a last-minute swap during the reception when his attempts at humor fall flat.
- Too Many Mouths: Claire treats a patient with three mouths arranged vertically.
- Wedding Episode: Bortus and Klyden remarry via the... unique Moclan traditional wedding ceremony. It then turns into one for Claire and Isaac.
- Wham Line:Isaac: I have a query for you.
Claire: What is it?
Isaac: (gets down on one knee to show a ring) Will you marry me? - You Can't Go Home Again: Subverted. When Lysella asks for sanctuary, Ed and Kelly make clear that she won't be allowed to return home. Nonetheless, when she begs to return they're willing to take her back, but unwilling to let her bring any technology or information with her.
