Dr. Finn and her two sons, Ty and Marcus, depart the Orville aboard a shuttle bound for a vacation planet. A last-minute pilot replacement leaves Dr. Finn with Isaac in the pilot’s chair rather than Gordon, and Isaac confesses complete bewilderment about the seemingly disrespectful behavior of the Finn children. But there are bigger problems than brothers picking on each other: the shuttle falls through a rift in space, suffering significant damage along the way. As the shuttle plummets through the sky of a habitable planet, Isaac tries to bring it in for a controlled landing while Dr. Finn tries to restore auxiliary power in the rear section of the shuttle, which is torn off by the shuttle’s rough landing with her inside. Dr. Finn, still unconscious, is dragged away by a being named Drogen, who seems to want to keep her prisoner, and won’t give in to her demands to find her children. Isaac finds himself trying to ride herd over the feuding Finn brothers, gather resources the power up the shuttle wreckage enough to send a distress call, and fending off a relentless horde of cannibals.
written by Brannon Braga & Andre Bormanis
directed by Brannon Braga
music by Joel McNeely
Cast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Halston Sage (Lt. Alara Kitan), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Larry Joe Campbell (Chief Newton), Brian Thompson (Drogen), Norm MacDonald (voice of Yaphit), B.J. Tanner (Marcus Finn), Kai Di’Nilo Wener (Ty Finn), Rachael MacFarlane (Computer Voice), Brett Easton (Feral Alien Man), Heidi Pascoe (Feral Alien Woman), Brandon Melendy (Feral Alien #5)
Notes: Guest star Brian Thompson is the latest Star Trek veteran to appear in the Orville; his lengthy list of genre credits includes The Terminator, Otherworld, Knight Rider, Star Trek: The Next Generation (A Matter Of Honor), Alien Nation, Superboy, two episodes of Deep Space Nine, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Seven Days, the Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade, The X-Files, and episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Dr. Finn’s children were neither seen nor mentioned prior to this episode.
LogBook entry by Earl Green
