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Notes on Season 2 Ep 5 - All the World's a Birthday Cake

posted 6 years ago by Jes' Sayin' (6398)
23 replies | jump to latest

1. The episode title is "All the world's a birthday cake". Of course, Shakespeare wrote "All the world's a stage, all the men and women merely players". But on this planet, all the world is run by astrology, hence the birthday reference..

2. The planet is called Regor, the people Regorian. This is similar to Gregorian, the calendar system we still use, named for Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it. Obviously, calendars are very important in this astrologically-oriented episode. Incidentally, when we hear Captain Mercer say "Regorian" it sounds like "Gregorian".

3. Alara's replacement, Tala, made her first appearance. She is another Xelayan. This speaks to the probability that the departure of Halston Sage occurred after the scripts had been written. They made the character another Xelayan because certain scripts must depend on it, including this one.

4. Whereas Alara was underconfident, it appears Tala may be overconfident. Jessica Szohr seemed fine in the role, if not outstanding. Open minded about the character and want to see more.

5. Would a society advanced enough to send messages to space still adhere so strongly to astrological ideas? On Earth the Nazis were very into astrology. Maybe we can imagine it if they had won World War II. Certainly the gray uniforms in this episode would have fit in with that regime.

6. The episode seemed hampered by a lot of incongruous choices:
- The people on the planet seem just like humans, even down to their birthing practices.
- Kelly, Bortus and the Regorians all come from different planets, which see different stars. How could the Regrians conclude that Kelly and Bortus are part of the undesirable Giliac astrological sign? Indeed, the birthdays of Kelly and Bortus would vary -- possibly quite widely -- depending on the relative lengths of years between Earth, Mochlis and Regor. But nobody even brought this up.
- The Regorians don't even have the ability to leave their planet. Was it really wise to make first contact at this time? It would seem to be much wiser to simply observe until such time as they develop warp drive, as they did in Star Trek. It would have been nice if at the end they made a resolution to learn from this and change their policy.
- In particular, why didn't the Union monitor communications on the planet and learn its culture before announcing themselves? They would have at least known about the astrology stuff in advance.
- Given that the Union is considerably more advanced than the Regorians, why don't the Regorians have more admiration and respect for them?
- An admiral played by Ted Danson tells the Orville they cannot rescue Kelly and Bortus and they just accept it. This seems very different from what any version of Star Trek would do. They would at least make a show of force, maybe use the ship's weapon to demolish a mountain or something. Certainly Captain Kirk would have arranged a rescue. Is it believable here that they would just have left their people in a prison camp?
- The solar sail is an interesting idea, but you wonder if it could really work. Regor already has satellites in orbit that could look at it from different angles. Probably the fake star would not withstand the scrutiny.

7. Interesting topic to think about is whether it was wise to reveal the baby or not. Which is more important: being raised in a positive environment or being raised by one's own parents? Seems it could go either way.

8. Considering that our planet's SETI project is trying to contact alien life, it's also interesting to think about what it would be like if an Orville were to land on our planet. What would we think of them and what would they think of us?

9. A knowing point is that the Giliac prisoners don't even want to escape. This shows the trap of typing systems. When people read their descriptions, they start changing their own natures to fit those descriptions. This seemingly throwaway scene was perhaps the most important message of the show.

10. The climax of the episode happens extremely quickly. But that's good. We can imagine everything that happened because of it without having to see it all being played out.

11. Planet filming appeared to be at Cal State Northridge.

12. Overall a decent episode, but because of the many problems above, of less quality and interest than previous ones this season. The script should have had a troubleshooter read it over, though possibly the problems are insoluble.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

1: It is also a lyric in the George Harrison sung Beatles song It's All To Much: "All the world is birthday cake, So take a piece but not too much," given Seth's liking for older music it may have also come from that.

5: I think they would, a civilisation like ours that can land on the Moon and explore space (to a small extent sure) can still adhere to the various Religions of the World, * something made them want to reach out, maybe it was in the stars or some such thing. Plus you only have to look back to 1966 in Japan when there was an increase in abortions and people not having children because it was the Year Of The Fire Horse. Prior to that when it was in 1906, those Women born then found it near impossible to get married because of their birth date and year and those superstitions still persist there, and it'll be interesting to see what happens in 7 years in 2026 when it's Fire Horse time again.

Read here: https://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/15/world/japan-s-zodiac-66-was-a-very-odd-year.html
And Here: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/07/08/national/science-health/how-astrology-and-superstition-drove-an-increase-in-abortions-in-japan/

6: They were reacting to Kelly saying her birthday was next week which on that Planet was going to be during the Giliac phase, so the month lined up and really they didn't get much of chance to be able to try and explain anything to the Regorian's. Plus if you look at how Mercer has gone trying to handle Religion (Kelly as Jesus even), he has failed miserably, so I think they are basically writing these Religious type episodes as one of Mercer's failings as he has no understanding of how Religion/Worship works (he even calls them: "These nuts," in this episode).

9: Totally agree, it is like in parts of India where I saw beggars who believed they are beggars because that is what Karma has given them for this lifetime because they did something wrong in a previous life, so they need to serve through it to get a better life next time (so no will to make their lives better as karma gave them this life).

N.B: * When the two scientists were asking for the signal to be sent, one of them said "You didn't tell them what it would be used for," and the leader guy says "It doesn't matter if it's classified or not," before giving approval, what if those two scientists want to reach out to the stars to start debunking Astrolatry. Would have been good to have them do that in the episode though, a bit like in the 1968 Planet Of The Apes how Zira and at first reluctantly Cornelius do against the all humans are bad/protect the doctrines stuff, it would have fleshed the script out more and maybe taken away from Bortus and Kelly having to try the "murderous" escape.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6398) 6 years ago

1. Hey, good catch, thanks!
5. Yes. Another Fire Horse year coming as well.
Good thought on the scientists!

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Yeah like I say the Scientists could have been behind helping Kelly and Bortus escape and possibly clued them all in on why Galiac's were seen as evil and put in the camps, hence why Mercer and Co., bring the Star back, negating the need for a kill fest.

Again that thought of mine goes back to the previous episode when Mercer said: "Look, from what we've seen, when planets first achieve space travel, and they venture out into the galaxy, and discover that they're just one single species among a vast diversity of life-forms, they usually react in one of two ways. They embrace and adapt to the fact that they're no longer the center of the universe, or they ratchet up their xenophobia."

So Regor discovering they weren't the only Species could have played on that by having some (in this case the Scientists) question the belief system and help the Orville's crew out, basically I keep getting continuity thoughts in my mind as I watch.

This at the end of the episode would have also played into that:

"What's gonna happen when the Regorians figure out the star is fake?
That's actually a really good question.
We just lied to an entire planet, and I don't know what the ethics of that mean. But that lie meant freedom for an entire portion of the population, so the short answer is: I don't know. By the time their technology advances to the point where they know the jig is up, they may not even care anymore."

Those two Scientists could have been mentioned as a catalyst to that not caring anymore happening, basically just said with a simple as if there are two questioning now, there may be more type of mention.

[–] brux (14730) 6 years ago

Not really that great an episode.

[–] duckofprey (1557) 6 years ago

This was one of the worst episodes of any series I have liked. I have do many problems with it I would not know where to start.

One point though that I have not seen mentioned anywhere...the planet’s name...Regor 2.

If the inhabitants did not know if “anyone is out there”, why the hell would THEIR planet be called that? They know of Regor 1 somewhere? It’s as if we, earthlings (who really do not yet know for certain if we are alone or not), would be calling our planet Earth 2.

This episode is really full of problems.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 6 years ago

Yep, another irk is that so many aliens look human, this episode and Primal Urges had uninspired human looking aliens, I can understand why Star Trek of the 60's and 80's had to have so many aliens that looked just like humans, and whilst Orville is a homage and far superior to Discovery, it takes the worst of Star Trek along with the best of it too.

Season 2 so far has been disappointing excluding Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes, I'll stick with it though as its far better than Discovery.

[–] Costumer (1824) 6 years ago

That type of alien is still the cheapest and easiest thing to do. And Orville has been good about pushing those boundaries. Quite of few of the humanoid aliens have faces that depart a lot from the "ridges on the forehead" aliens that are so typical. And there are Lt. Unk and Yaphit that depart a lot.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6398) 6 years ago

You mean you don't live on Sol-3? ;)

I think they are aware of Regor I. They are very astronomy-oriented due to their intense interest in astrology, so maybe. Not every culture is going to view things exactly the way we do.

Anyway, I thought there were far worse problems than this.

[–] Costumer (1824) 6 years ago

Okay, the terminology Regor 2 does not refer to another planet Regor; at least in most SF series. It would normally refer to what planet it is in the system. So Regor 1 would be the planet closest to the star, which would be called Regor. Regor 2 is the 2nd, and so forth.

For instance in our own solar system, our sun's name is generally listed as Sol.
So Sol 1 is Mercury
Sol 2 is Venus
Sol 3 is Earth
Sol 4 is Mars
and so forth. Now, I will admit that referring themselves as Regorians would be unusual. But I have seen stories (don't ask me to list them. I read them years ago.) that have referred to us as Solarians.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Was going to mention the Sol 3 thing as well. However, the complaint is still somewhat valid as what civilization would name their sun first and be aware of how many planets are closer than them to it before they named their own home?

[–] Costumer (1824) 6 years ago

We would find it unusual. However, two things:

Do not apply human propensities to another species. What may seem odd to us may be completely normal to them.

Also, we know the written records of this civilization go back at least 3000 years. The planet may have had another name (or several if the likely pattern of many languages occurred there). Since it seems (by what clues we can discern in the episode) that the planet now has a world government. It could be posited that the several/many civilizations decided to use the terminology Regor 2 rather than choose one of the many names that existed. (Of course, there would also be the thought that the sun would have many names as well.)

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Yep as this convo happened:

"Can you tell me exactly when the star collapsed?
3,122 years ago.
According to Regor 2's history, that's right around the time their astrological system emerged.
The disappearance of a star in the night sky to a civilization that young would've been a terrifying omen."

So around then when "their astrological system emerged," may have been when they named it Regor 2.

[–] Keelai (34973) 6 years ago

I'm surprised so many didn't enjoy this episode. I liked the concept of being born under a wrong horoscope to be a federal offense great as well as its origin and the solution.

This show is really Star Trek therefore we're going to see plenty of humanoids which doesn't bother me. Maybe in a future episode we'll find out the reason is similar. I believe it had to do with an ancient alien species spreading humanoid DNA across the galaxy.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Yes there were two explanations first in Star Trek TOS: Return to Tomorrow.

https://infogalactic.com/info/Return_to_Tomorrow

Sargon repeatedly refers to the landing party as his children. When Kirk asks why Sargon refers to them as "my children", Sargon says it is probable that human beings actually are descendants of his people. Six thousand centuries ago, they explored and colonized the galaxy just as Earth people do now; he speculates that Adam and Eve were two of their travellers. Dr. Mulhall objects that life on Earth evolved independently, but Spock says the colonist idea would explain certain enigmas in Vulcan pre-history.

and second in Star Trek: TNG:

https://infogalactic.com/info/The_Chase_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)

They (the Federation, Klingons, Cardassians, and Romulans) locate the final DNA fragment, which completes and runs the program. The program reconfigures the tricorders emitter to project a holographic message. The recorded image of an alien humanoid (Salome Jens) is projected to the assembled company, and it explains that its race is responsible for the presence of life in the Alpha Quadrant. When the alien race first explored the Alpha and Beta Quadrants there had been no humanoid-based life other than themselves, and so they seeded various planets with their DNA to create a legacy of their existence after they had gone. The alien ends its message by saying that it hopes that the knowledge of a common origin will help produce peace.

So yep will probably be something similar as I would think FOX haven't given The Orville a huge budget to work with so hence the humanoids in reality. Which in my mind is fine as to me The Orville fits as happening between the Original Series and Next Generation, basically a crew still a bit out of their depth.

[–] Keelai (34973) 6 years ago

This show is basically Star Trek so I could understand why they are going the humanoid route. Besides, humanoids make it easier for viewers to relate to the social commentary plots.

[–] DarthJJ (342) 6 years ago

The Orville crew can kill a dozen guards in a failed escape attempt, but still get released without any additional issues.

[–] TandyMan (11119) 6 years ago

I found the murder spree pretty disturbing. Like oh. We can't use future tech but we can blast a hundred holes in em, that's cool. Also, wow, they were totally experts with those primitive firearms they've probably never handled anything like before.

[–] TiaTamaragohomee (91) 6 years ago

Very good episode.

[–] McQualude (4231) 6 years ago

So much effort gone into every part of this show except the writing. The writing is dumb, headed toward Enterprise level dumb.

[–] maximmm (3344) 6 years ago

Agreed. On the net, everyone keeps saying how orville is so much superior to STD - but really - I'd say thus far both series have been dismal this season.

[–] Satan2016 (25572) 6 years ago

I didn't like it. Kirk would have ignored the Admiral, and Spock would have reminded him about court martial.

The solar sail idea is the worse flaw. It would move away!

For a reflector to stay in one constellation, it would have to orbit the planet synchronized with the planet orbiting its sun. That means far away and huge.

[–] strntz (12459) 6 years ago

Uh oh Andy, someone understands relativity...

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 6 years ago

Yes! Thank you!Drove me crazy how close they dropped it not to mention the complex maneuvering aperatus it should have had.