The episode opens with the Orville getting a mission to take Admiral Christie through Krill space. In Season 2, the Krill started negotiations with joining the Planetary Union. Dr. Finn seems distracted by the news of the new mission, and we find out there is a history between her and Admiral Christie. Later, there is a party to celebrate the Krill signing the peace treaty. We see the tension between Dr. Finn and Admiral Christie seems uncomfortable. Dr. Finn asks Kelly to join her for a drink, and then we finally get some answers. Dr. Finn and Admiral Christie were once married. He used to be her professor and they married right after she graduated.
(Admiral Christie greets Dr. Finn after years apart)
Later, the episode takes a dark turn when the Krill ambassadors warn Ed, Kelly, and Admiral Christie of exploring a dangerous Expanse in space. Apparently their version of the Bible speaks of the expanse as a gateway to “Shadow Realms.” The crew seems to be skeptical and after some conversation with Admiral Halsey they eventually come to the conclusion to explore the expanse. Admiral Christie joins Dr. Finn at dinner and tries to rekindle old feelings. He shows her the ring that he gave her and says he keeps it for luck, foreshadowing events yet to come I’m sure.
(The Orville and Krill ship dock together as negotiations are underway.)
We finally see the Orville prepare to start exploring new, uncharted space. Captain Ed Mercer gives a short speech to the ship and I love how he finishes it with “May the force be with you!” As the Orville arrives at a star cluster they get a distress signal from the Expanse, When they arrive at the expanse they notice there are no stars. Cautiously they enter and arrive at a menacing looking ship. The scene is haunting with the mystery ship's red glow being the only light in the area. When they arrive on the ship they find nothing other than blue orbs. One of those orbs opens quickly when Admiral Christiegets close, it gives off a heavy “Aliens” feel. It turns out that the blue orb may have infected Admiral Christie somehow, as he collapses and starts to mutate.
(The Orville approaches the mysterious ship in the Expanse.)
This is where things start to get really creepy. The admiral's mutation has gotten worse and a few moments later he disappears from sick bay. It turns out he activated a dampening field on the ship. Moments later we see one of the nurses investigate a sound. The scene adds tension by being completely silent and in the dark. Finally the nurse comes face to face with the newly fully mutated Admiral Christie and WOOO BOY is he scary! Dr. Finn had left to check on her kids, who of course went to sick bay to find her. The rest of the crew is busy trying to get power restored while Marcus and Ty try to find their mother. They make it to the mess hall when they come face to face with the monster. They hide from it and thankfully they run into another crew member. He attempts to get them to safety when the creature jumps on him and sprays him with a goo. The goo quickly mutates him and now there are two of these things on board, maybe even more!
(The first glimpse of the newly mutated creature!)
Lt. LaMarr is successful in restoring power but he is unaware of the quickly growing numbers of these new creatures on board. In a scene that is ripped straight from the first Alien film we see LaMarr in a vent when he too comes face to face with one of these new monsters. Thankfully he manages to escape only to be chased by more! He traps himself in the brig where the monsters can’t get him. Thankfully Talla shows up and gets the monsters to follow her. She has an epic fight with them using her strength to the fullest! She manages to bring one of their bodies to sick bay and Dr. Finn discovers they have incredibly weak immune systems, so weak in fact that the common cold would be enough to kill them. Before they do anything they would regret though, they decide to try and negotiate with the mutated Admiral Christie. The crew is able to find him through his ring, which he still wears on his pinky. After threatening him with releasing the common cold virus into the ventilation system, the mutated admiral Christie agrees to leave but he says “Not forever” so I assume we will see these creatures again.
(The crew entering the mysterious ship. Reminded me of Alien.)
This episode was awesome! Being a huge Aliens franchise fan, this episode was clearly inspired by the films. It was creepy and the score even had tones of Jerry Goldsmith's score in Alien. New Horizons is off to a great start in my opinion. Keep watching and keep exploring!