When The Orville was first announced, I expected the series to be more of a crude, slapstick comedy, like Family Guy meets Galaxy Quest. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the series was a much more serious, straight-forward homage to Star Trek: The Next Generation, with a little more humor. The series does an excellent job of blending the ongoing character drama of the ship’s crew with mission-of-the-week storylines. These missions often revolve around one of the characters, but ultimately serve a larger story. For example, in the season opener, the crew is headed for Moclus to celebrate Lt. Cmdr. Bortus’s (Peter Macon) annual Ja’loja release ceremony. The crew have all been invited to bring a guest to the party, and so the episode explores the relationships, or lack thereof, among the crew. Capt. Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) still loves his ex Cmdr. Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki), but she has been secretly dating a new guy, ship teacher Cassius (Chris J. Johnson). Meanwhile, Lt. Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes) is struggling with how to ask out the ship’s new dark matter cartographer, Lt. Janel Tyler (Michaela McManus), and seeks the advice of friend Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr (J. Lee). As a single parent, Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald) feels alone in trying to control her increasingly disobedient teenage son, and gets some parenting advice from an unexpected source, with whom she also strikes up a romantic relationship, one that is explored over the course of the season. And finally, single crew members Lt. Alara Kitan (Halston Sage) and Dann (Mike Henry) find themselves set up on awkward blind date, in hopes of avoiding lifelong loneliness.

In the first season, the show took a look at several social issues, but never felt preachy, offering a look at both sides of the issues. And it continues to follow the same approach in the second season. In one of the first season storylines, Bortus reluctantly had sexual reassignment surgery preformed on his baby daughter when his partner Klyden (Chad Coleman) insisted on following standard Moclan practices. The repercussions and aftermath of this decision play heavily into some of the storylines of the second season. The second season also sees the exit of Lieutenant Alara Kitan, who is replaced by another Xelayan crew member, Lieutenant Talla Keyali (Jessica Szohr), who takes over as Chief of Security. There are several other new and returning recurring characters this season, many of whom were already mentioned above.

Some of the other topics this season include Bortus forming addictions to both porn and smoking as well as dealing with other martial issues, Alara dealing with losing her strength as her body acclimates to Earth’s gravity, the return of the Krill who are seeking revenge for the death of their crew, visiting an alien culture with an astrological-based faith that results in sending a large portion of their population to interment camps, a murder-mystery aboard the ship, and the season’s most ambitious episode, an action-packed two-parter that pays to Next Generation‘s “Best of Both Worlds”. Other second-season storylines include Gordon falling in love with a woman named Laura (Leighton Meester) whose phone is found in a time capsule from 2015, finding a secret civilization that threatens the Moclan way of life, and a two-part time travel episode where a younger Lieutenant Kelly Grayson finds herself aboard the Orville, altering history and threatening the crew as we know them.

Despite this being a DVD-only release, the episodes still look quite good, with a clean, bright and colorful picture that looks just a little less sharp than the original HD airings on FOX. The 5.1 audio track provides clear dialogue and an immersive experience, especially during the action sequences. The season is split evenly across four DVD discs, each of which offers a play all option. All of the bonus material can be found on the fourth disc. This includes four deleted scenes, two short character recaps, a gag reel, and footage from the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con panel. The discs come packed in a standard multi-disc DVD keepcase without a slipcover.

I am happy to see that FOX has continued to release this series on disc, though I wish they would also offer the series on Blu-ray for those who would prefer to own it in its original HD format.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (11:16:01)

• All 14 episodes of the show’s second season (2018–19):
  Disc 1: “Ja’loja”, “Primal Urges”, “Home”
  Disc 2: “Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes”, “All the World Is Birthday Cake” ,”A Happy Refrain”,”Deflectors”
  Disc 3: “Identity, Part I” ,”Identity, Part II”, “Blood of Patriots”, “Lasting Impressions”
  Disc 4: “Sanctuary”, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”, “The Road Not Taken”
• 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
• Closed Captions

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (4:17)
  Collection of 4 deleted scenes:
  • “Ja’loja” – Bortus deals with kids running in the corridor.
  • “A Happy Refrain” – John, Gordon, Isaac, Bortus and Klyden play golf.
  • “Identity” – Ed has an awkward conversation with Dann at a party.
  • “Lasting Impressions” – Bortus and Klyden are smoking in the mess hall when Talla informs them they are disturbing the other crew members.
• Character Recap: Kelly (1:10)
  Star Adrianne Palicki (“Cmdr. Kelly Grayson”) talks about Ed and Kelly’s relationship.
• Character Recap: Bortus (1:20)
  Star Peter Macon (“Lt. Cmdr. Bortus”) talks about the complicated family storylines regarding Bortus and his spouse from the first season.
• Gag Reel (2:11)
  A humorous gag reel that finds the cast flubbing lines, dealing with prop malfunctions, and having fun on set..
• The Orville at Comic-Con 2019 (16:27)
  The main Q&A from the show’s panel at Comic-Con 2019, where it was announced that for the third season, the series would be moving to Hulu. (The fan Q&A portion of the panel is not included.) The panel is moderated by executive producer/writer David A. Goodman, and features executive producer/director Jon Cassar, executive producer/writer Brannon Braga, stars Jessica Szohr (“Lt. Talla Keyali”), Chad L. Coleman (“Klyden”), J. Lee (“Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr”), Mark Jackson (“Isaac”), Peter Macon (“Lt. Cmdr. Bortus”), Scott Grimes (“Lt. Gordon Malloy”), Penny Johnson Jerald (“Dr. Claire Finn”), Adrianne Palicki (“Cmdr. Kelly Grayson”) and Seth MacFarlane (“Capt. Ed Mercer”).

Final Thoughts:

In its second season, The Orville continues to provide thought-provoking storylines, mixed with humor and interesting character drama. The show has a nostalgic Next Generation look and feel, but also a modern, fresh take. I really enjoyed revisiting the series via this DVD set, savoring the episodes all over again. The DVD provides satisfactory picture and sound (I wish there had been a Blu-ray release), and contains a small assortment of bonus material. The release is recommended just based on the quality of the show itself.