The series is set in the year 2418, where
the world has transformed into an ultra-futuristic
place.
Humans are now able to visit other planets
through space travel, and the entire galaxy
is explorable.
In the galaxy, there are low gravity planets
like earth and high gravity planets like Xelayan.
In order for humans to travel to high gravity
planets, they need to use protective suits.
Xelayan has 10 times stronger gravity than
earth, and even a spaceship needs to activate
a gravity shield to protect the humans.
Moving out of this shield will make them instantly
fall to the ground as their weight becomes
10x heavier.
Even a material from earth thrown to this
planet will instantly get flattened and crushed.
Moreover, if a person’s protective suit
is damaged, their body parts will be destroyed.
However, the species born on a high gravity
planet possess high density bones and muscles
which makes them stronger than the species
from other planets.
Due to the comparatively high gravity of their
home planet, the Xelayans are known as one
of the strongest beings in the universe.
One such powerful Xelayan is Alara Kitan.
She can knock down doors and walls, and crush
a solid block of titanium or reshape it into
a sphere with her bare hands.
She is a security member of an exploratory
spaceship known as the USS Orville.
The Orville is tasked is to maintain order
across the planets, and also repel any dangers
from other galaxies if needed.
The Orville is operated by several other personnel,
most of them are humans and some aliens.
Its leader; Cpt.
Mercer is a human, who is known for getting
things done one way or another.
The series then shows a planet named Sargas-4,
where 2 people are being interviewed.
It appears as if they have committed some
sort of crime, and the interviewer keeps asking
them if they are sorry.
Everyone is wearing a strange badge, and it
has an ‘upvote’ and ‘downvote’ option
on it.
Soon after, the public begins voting if the
2 criminals should be punished, and the live
vote count is displayed on TV.
Later, the criminals are brought to the punishment
room, but when one of them tries running away,
the cops shoot him down.
Following this, the second criminal is sat
on a chair, and a device is placed on his
head.
As soon as the downvotes reach 10 million,
he is electrocuted, and the scene changes.
A few days later, the Orville approaches Sargas-4
in order to look for two of their missing
researchers.
The strange thing about the planet is that
its culture is almost identical to that of
21st century earth.
Before initiating the mission, Cpt.
Mercer reveals to his group that the two researchers
had been sent to Sargas-4 to study the place,
but since one month, they have become contactless.
He then assigns a team of 4: Commander Kelly,
Dr. Claire, Lt. Lamarr, and Lt. Alara to head
down to Sargas-4.
Since Alara is different and has unusual patterns
on her face, she wears a traditional Sargas
hat and covers her nose with a band-aid before
leaving.
When the 4 arrive on the planet, they notice
that it is awfully similar to 21st century
earth.
Strangely, the people use their badges as
if it is a daily part of their life.
For instance, a man compliments his friend’s
weight loss, so he is given an upvote, and
another man accidentally spills his coffee
onto a stranger, prompting him to get a downvote.
In short, the Sargas-4 is a completely democratic
country, where the general population decides
everything, including a person’s fate.
However, the Orville group doesn’t pay much
attention to it and simply proceeds with their
mission.
A while later, they come across a book stall
and inquire about the researchers.
But instead, the owner hands them 4 badges,
mentioning that it is a crime to walk without
it.
As the 4 are walking through the streets,
Lt. Lamarr tries to have some fun and starts
dancing with a nearby statue.
Commander Kelly immediately tells him to stop,
but Lamarr being Lamarr, continues showcasing
his weird moves.
Just then, some people around them start clicking
videos of the dance, and as a result, Lamarr
finally gets down from the statue.
Shortly after, the group reaches a cafe, where
they notice a woman being turned down because
of her massive downvotes.
It turns out that the people with a large
number of downvotes are shunned by the society
in this world.
Meanwhile, the group approaches a cafe employee;
Lysella, and shows her the picture of the
two researchers that went missing.
Surprisingly, they are told that the two are
popular people, as they had been ‘corrected’
recently.
But before they can interrogate any further,
all of a sudden, the downvotes on Lamarr’s
badge start increasing at an exponential rate.
The group is perplexed on what’s happening,
and just then, a TV report displays the footage
of Lamarr dancing with the statue.
Strangely, the reporter comments that Lamarr
was ‘humping’ the statue, which turns
out to be a deity on that planet.
Confused, the group decides to return back
to their planet but when they reach outside,
a large mob of people surround them.
Lamarr tries his best to claim his innocence
but sadly, a bunch of officers show up and
take him away.
He is then brought to prison, where a man
named Williks, who is a publicity officer
by profession, approaches him.
In this world, publicity officers are the
equivalent of lawyers, but their jobs are
contrastingly different.
Williks tries to ask Lamarr his side of the
story, but the latter mentions that he was
simply dancing.
He also claims to be unaware of all the rules
in the world, prompting Williks to tell him
everything.
He mentions that in Sargas-4, everything is
democratically run, so if a person commits
a crime, the public will determine his/her
fate by a voting system.
If the said person receives 10 million downvotes,
they will be ‘corrected’.
A correction is a procedure in which a criminal
is electrocuted, until all his memories are
wiped off.
Hearing this, Lamarr becomes terrified, and
begs Williks to help him, but the latter mentions
that there is a legal process.
Lamarr will have to go through a series of
interviews, which will be displayed on live
TV, and if the audience likes his apology,
they might upvote him and save him.
Hence, their best chance to escape the ‘correction’
is to prepare a perfect apology speech.
A while later, the Orville group visits Lamarr
in the waiting room and finds out about the
‘correction’ that he is going to face.
Hearing the word ‘correction’, Alara remembers
that the cafe employee; Lysella, also mentioned
that their 2 friends had been corrected, and
that is why they are so famous in this world.
Hence, Alara, along with Dr. Claire, decides
to interrogate Lysella, while commander Kelly
stays behind with Lamarr.
In the next scene, Lamarr is being readied
for his first apology interview, while Williks
and Claire try their best to motivate him.
However, the session goes awfully wrong when
Lamarr makes a mockery out of himself.
Soon, the people start the voting system,
and Lamarr receives a whooping 4 million downvotes.
Elsewhere, Lt. Alara and Dr. Claire approach
Lysella and start interrogating her about
their missing colleagues.
Lysella mentions that one was corrected and
sent to a facility, while the other one was
shot and killed, as he tried to run away.
A while later, when Alara and Claire are in
the bathroom, Lysella approaches them and
accidentally notices Alara’s uncovered face.
Scared, she tries running away, but the Orville
duo calms her down and takes her out for a
drink.
There, Alara and Claire finally reveal that
they are aliens, and that they have to come
to take their friends back.
Soon, Lysella also starts feeling comfortable,
and she tells them that the researchers were
apprehended for not giving up their seats
to a pregnant woman.
After this, the three head to the correctional
facility and finally find one of the researchers
that was corrected.
He appears to be very calm, and has no recollection
of what he did.
Seeing his terrible state, Dr. Claire immediately
takes him back to the Orville.
On the other hand, Lamarr goes to his second
apology interview, but once again, things
go wrong when he forcefully high-fives the
audience.
This time, the downvote count reaches 9.3
million.
Back at the Orville, everyone is anxious about
Lamarr, as time is running out.
Just then, Cpt.
Mercer comes up with a plan.
He realizes that in order to defeat the voting
system of Sargas-4, they need an inside person.
Hence, he takes the tough decision to bring
Lysella to their base.
After she is brought to the Orville, she is
taken aback to see the facilities and employees
inside it.
Wasting no time, Captain Mercer conducts a
meeting and asks Lysella if there is any way
to change the people’s perception towards
Lamarr.
The girl thinks for a while and responds that
they might have a chance if the people get
to know the good facts about Lamarr.
Hearing this, the Orville scientist; Isaac,
puts forth a plan to hack into the voting
database, and Mercer gives him the heads up.
Elsewhere, Lamarr is brought to the ‘correction’
room, where a live vote count is being displayed.
The entire population will have 10 minutes
to vote, and at the end of the duration, if
it reaches 10 million, Lamarr will be corrected.
As expected, he gets off to the worst start
possible.
Meanwhile at the Orville, Lysella mentions
that the people on Sargas-4 have sympathy
for the criminals who take care of their grandmothers,
have a military record, and love their dogs.
Hearing this, Isaac uses his alpha tech skills
and hacks into the voting database.
He then fabricates the good facts about Lamarr
and spams it in the system.
Surprisingly, the plan works, and several
people start upvoting Lamarr.
With this, the votes are equally divided,
and Lamarr is saved.
Few weeks later, the group again decides to
inspect another planet, which resembles medieval
earth.
This time, Commander Kelly, Isaac, and Lt.
Malloy are tasked with the mission.
Since the planet consists of very medieval
people, the group is strictly ordered to not
come in contact with any people, as it may
result in ‘cultural contamination’.
Shortly after, when the shuttle reaches the
planet, they notice that it looks just like
earth, however, it is several millennia in
the past.
Commander Kelly ventures out first, and when
she peers through her binoculars, she notices
a village nearby.
After a while, as she is inspecting the place,
two little girls suddenly spot her.
Weirded out by her look, they immediately
start running away, but one of them trips
and falls, causing her head to bleed.
Although Kelly is under strict commands to
not come in contact with anyone on the planet,
her maternal instincts can’t simply let
the girl bleed out.
Hence, she approaches the little girl and
introduces herself.
She then takes out one of her futuristic devices
and heals the girl’s wound.
Unfortunately, when Kelly turns back, she
notices that several medieval people have
noticed her, prompting her to run away from
the place.
Later, when the entire crew is back to the
base to conclude their findings, the mysterious
planet vanishes in the blink of an eye.
This leaves everyone stunned, but Isaac, being
the smartest guy in the Orville, proposes
a theory.
He mentions that the planet is locked in a
multiphasic orbit.
Such orbits are very rare, because half of
it lies in a universe and the other half in
a separate universe.
This is why the planet suddenly disappeared,
as it has now been teleported to another universe,
where it can complete its orbit.
Finally, Isaac concludes by saying that based
on the geometry and mass of the orbit, the
planet should return to this universe in exactly
11 days.
Hearing this, Cpt.
Mercer and the group decide to wait for the
planet to return.
In the next scene, Isaac’s assumption comes
out to be true as after 11 days of waiting,
the planet finally returns back.
However, he senses something very weird.
On further inspection, he finds out that although
the planet has returned after 11 years, it
has become significantly populated and advanced,
and now, it resembles 14th century Earth.
This shocks everyone in the room, and Isaac
simplifies the phenomenon in a simple way;
11 days have passed for the Orville, but 700
years have passed for the planet.
This means that 700 years have passed since
Commander Kelly and her team visited the planet!
Astonished by the finding, the team again
ventures into the planet, and this time, Cpt.
Mercer also joins them.
At first, they decide to find some clothes
so that they can blend in with the people.
Hence, they approach a nearby hut and try
stealing some clothes but just then, a lady
emerges with her child.
She confronts Kelly and begs her to bless
her child.
Although confused, Kelly hesitantly obliges.
Because of the incident, the group realizes
that something really bad has happened.
Later, when they put on their new clothes
and continue their journey, they come across
some corpses hanging on a pole.
When Cpt.
Mercer inquires about it, a man reveals that
they were hanged for spreading blasphemy about
their god ‘Kelly’.
That’s not all, the group also finds out
that the whole village worships Kelly, and
criminals are executed in her name.
Even a small kid is forced to study, when
his mother mentions that Kelly is watching
him.
Stunned, the group reaches a religious temple,
where they find an enormous statue of their
God, ‘Kelly’.
This is when they realize that Kelly’s contact
with the people, 700 years ago, changed everything.
Since she looked modern and healed the girl
using her device, rumors spread around this
planet that Kelly is a God.
As a result, they started worshiping her,
and even after 7 centuries, they still regard
her as their savior.
This is a big problem for the group, as they
have breached a major rule of the Orville.
Hence, they try to sort out the problem before
it reaches the higher authorities.
After a bit of thinking, Kelly decides to
confront the head of state; Volantis, and
reveal that she is a mortal.
Shortly after, she reaches a large mansion,
and when the guards and Volantis recognize
her, they immediately drop to their knees
as a sign of respect.
Kelly tells them to get up and starts explaining
that she is not a God.
Expectedly, no one believes her, so Kelly
cuts her own palm, and draws out some blood.
She then uses the same device to heal her
wound.
Volantis is baffled by her healing ability,
but Kelly asserts that anyone is capable of
doing it with the help of the device.
She then suggests Volantis do the same, and
when he cuts his palm and uses the device,
it works.
This, along with the fact that Kelly bleeds
like any other being, finally convinces Volantis
that she is not a god.
He then promises to spread the news to his
people, claiming that they, too, should know
the truth.
After Kelly and the group leaves, Volantis
proceeds to prepare his men to spread the
news throughout the world.
However, one of his greedy assistants, who
believes that Kelly is necessary to maintain
control over the people, stabs him in the
back and kills him.
Following this, the scene fast forwards by
11 days, where the group is seen waiting for
the planet to reappear.
Soon, Isaac detects some movements, and the
planet, which has now transformed into 21st
century earth, emerges.
Without wasting any time, he conducts some
tests, and finds out that the people are still
worshiping Kelly.
However, she has also become controversial
as thousands of people are being killed by
terrorists in her name.
The group is devastated to learn that their
plan didn’t work.
Just when it seems like they are in trouble,
Kelly comes up with an idea.
She proposes that she, herself, will head
to the planet, and stay there her entire life,
so that she can prove that she’s not a God.
However, Cpt.
Mercer immediately forbids her, explaining
that it is too risky.
Just then, Isaac steps forward and declares
that he’ll do it.
Since he’s a robot and knows a great deal
about science, the people will believe him.
Furthermore, he will also survive for the
next 700 years, as it is only 700 seconds
for him!
Although Cpt.
Mercer and his group are still skeptical,
they decide to let him go, as it is the only
way to repair the damage.
After this, the scene again skips to 11 days,
where the planet reappears.
This time, it has transformed into a highly
futuristic world, with gigantic cities in
it.
Meanwhile, a spaceship approaches the Orville,
and asks for permission to enter.
Cpt.
Mercer approves of it, and 2 futuristic-looking
aliens, along with Isaac enter.
At first, the two thank Cpt.
Mercer and the group for sending Isaac, as
he was one of the driving forces behind their
planet’s development.
When Kelly inquires if she is still being
worshiped, the aliens reply that they stopped
doing it long ago.
However, the people are still grateful that
Kelly and the other aliens visited their planet,
as it gave them the motivation and willpower
to make their planet similar.
The episode ends as the aliens return to their
planet, while the Orville continues its journey
of exploring.
