The Orville

[Middle-aged Europe]

I see that some people are still mistaking this show for a comedy, parody, or whatever.

That was The Orville's concept back in Season 1 which by now probably counts as a case of "Early Installment Weirdness" (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EarlyInstallmentWeirdness). In other words, I think you can stop looking for "jokes".

It's obvious that the series has become a fully fledged TNG clone and that was perhaps MacFarlane's plan from the start. And it's a good TNG clone, actually. Better than Voyager anyway IMO.

[Middle-aged Europe]

A common theme this season seems to be that the Union loses its allies... first the Krill, now the Moclans. The underlying issue is: How much are you willing to compromise in order to keep the peace? An astonishingly timely question these days if you see it against the backdrop of relations with Russia or "problematic" NATO member Turkey. I have also gotten the feeling that they're setting up a finale in which the Union suddenly stands alone in the face of a re-emerged Kaylon threat, possibly leading to rushed efforts to reconstitute the alliance.

I've also noticed that they've gone the Stranger Things route and producing movie-length episodes now. I for one approve of that development since it enables to tell more epic stories.

I also appreciate the casting gag of having Bruce Boxleitner - who portrayed the President of the Interstellar Alliance on Babylon 5 twenty-five years ago - play the Union president now, albeit in heavy alien make-up this time around.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Well, this week's WHAM episode was quite something. I was right about the Kaylon, Krill, and Moclan storylines coming to a dramatic culmination - just not quite in the way that I had anticipated. They found a far more Star Trek-ian solution for it (the main battle itself certainly also had some shades of Star Wars to it though).

One episode still to go, although it is unclear how and with what they're possibly gonna top it at this point.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Well, this week's WHAM episode was quite something. I was right about the Kaylon, Krill, and Moclan storylines coming to a dramatic culmination - just not quite in the way that I had anticipated. They found a far more Star Trek-ian solution for it (the main battle itself certainly also had some shades of Star Wars to it though).

One episode still to go, although it is unclear how and with what they're possibly gonna top it at this point.

I definitely agree that that had to come to a reckoning point, but I have to say I was expecting it in the season finale (which I have yet to watch). It really has been an extraordinary season. Some people say season 3 was when TNG really started hitting the mark. Shows like these can mature so well. (When I watched season 4 of ENT, I was really left wanting more. I think it really started hitting its stride there, but unfortunately it was too late.)  I'll be very disappointed if they don't renew this for another season.

The season finale could almost be considered a bit of a letdown compared to the penultimate episode because it serves as more of a coda or epilogue. Still not a bad episode in itself, although a bit unexpectedly placed within the season.

[Middle-aged Europe]

It was definitely an enjoyable episode. I absolutely loved the throwback to the first season (I think that episode was one of the best, if not the best, episodes of the first season). I was almost expecting something bigger to happen with that particular storyline. It definitely reminded me of at least a few Star Trek episodes, though going even further with that latter scene in their version of the holodeck.

Yeah, this was an episode in the vein of TNG's Who Watches The Watchers and First Contact (the episode, not the movie) in the sense that it provided us with an actual reason & backstory for the Prime Directive that goes beyond "it would probably be a bad idea". Unlike the examples on TNG this was much darker though.