The Orville takes viewers on a powerful journey in “A Tale of Two Topas”

We’re rounding the halfway point on the third season of The Orville, and the journey continues to be filled with top-notch storytelling and gorgeous special effects. The latest episode, “A Tale of Two Topas,” is a tighter episode than those preceding it, spending the majority of its time on the U.S.S. Orville itself with a very important character we haven’t seen in quite a while. It was an emotional ride that didn’t let up until well after the credits rolled.

As always, there are SPOILERS for this week’s episode of The Orville: New Horizons below.

The Orville: New Horizons Episode 5 review

As has been the case with most of The Orville: New Horizons, “A Tale of Two Topas” wastes no time taking our breath away with some of its gorgeous special effects. The episode begins with the crew of the U.S.S. Orville excavating an ancient Egypt-inspired alien tomb, and the treasure trove inside is pretty magnificent.

Despite the flashy opening, “A Tale of Two Topas” is more subdued. The episode trades in much of the action from last week in favor of a couple of character studies that allow the actors and writers to take the lead. At the center of it all is Topa (Imani Pullum), the Moclan child of Bortus (Peter Jerrod Macon) and Klyden (Chad Coleman). Back in season 1, Bortus and Klyden had a child who was a girl; it turned into a huge court battle, since on Moclus all female children are surgically modified to become male. They view being female as an aberration. It was one of The Orville’s more thought-provoking episodes early on, and a significant plot point that we’ve always known would come back around someday. Now Topa is a teenager and has some questions.

When Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) discovers that Topa is training to join the fleet, she offers to let the young Moclan shadow her. But despite Topa’s drive to succeed, it soon becomes clear that something isn’t quite right with him. We come to learn that Topa is not sleeping well and feeling like he doesn’t fit in his body. Kelly’s conflict over the topic is clear; she understands exactly why Topa feels this way, because she knows that his body was changed without his consent. Topa, however, has no idea.

Much of the conflict revolves around whether or not the young Moclan deserves to know the truth about his/her past. Klyden, who was also born female before being surgically altered, is firmly against it because he wants to spare his child the psychological damage. Bortus believes Topa deserves to know the truth, and so does Kelly.

Eventually, Topa does find out. Topa wishes to have the surgery reversed, but due to the fragile political situation in the Union — which relies on Moclus for much of its military might — the Orville crew is ordered not to perform it under any circumstances. But they find a loophole that allows Isaac to perform the surgery. Topa’s final moments of the episode, where she sees herself for the first time and smiles before walking up to the bridge, made me tear up. It was beautiful, there’s just no other word for it.

The Orville is science fiction at its best

At an hour and fifteen minutes long, “A Tale of Two Topas” had plenty of time to explore the various aspects of Topa’s complicated situation. From Klyden’s fervent denial of his child’s suffering to Bortus’ steadfast determination to stand by her to Kelly and Claire Finn’s (Penny Johnson Jerald) desire to just do what’s right for a teenager in pain to the conflicted position the Union Admiralty is in (they want to support Topa, but their hands are tied), there’s not a single dropped ball in this complex juggling act.

Beyond the excellent storytelling, The Orville deserves credit for using science fiction to tell a deeply human story. Moclans age faster than humans. In season 2, Topa was played by Blesson Yates; New Horizons made the really excellent decision to cast a female actor as the older Topa instead. We’re introduced to the character at first by herself in a training simulation, without any context. It allows the viewer to see Topa first as a young woman, before pulling the rug out and reminding us that, in fact, she has been forced to be a young man by a society that has no tolerance for those who are different. By the end of the episode when Topa’s prosthetics change slightly to accent her new female body, it’s a profound relief not just for her but for the viewer. Finally Topa is allowed to be the person she feels she truly is, and because of how the show gives us time alone with her as well as time to see how she’s perceived by others, we go on that journey with her. It’s extremely powerful.

This is the kind of story science fiction was invented to tell. The Orville: New Horizons continues to kill it this season.

The Orville: Bullet Point Horizons

• A big nod needs to be given to Adrianne Palicki, Peter Jerrod Macon, Chad Coleman, and Imani Pullum for their acting in this episode. Kelly and Bortus had their best scenes of the season so far, and Palicki and Macon really elevated it with their performances.
• Speaking of Bortus, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to unsee him crying after he reveals it was him who sent Topa the code to the files containing details about her origins. Easily one of the strongest scenes of the season.
• The simulator callback to the courtroom scene in season 1 was also great to see, both as a reminder of those events and also for what it meant to Topa to witness it in this crucial moment.
• The music was once again fantastic. The Orville’s score has had a classic ’80s sci-fi feel to it.
• We finally got to hear Bortus’ singing voice! And lo and behold, it’s pretty great. On top of that, the way the scene of him singing was cross-cut with various empty rooms on the ship before fading out into silence as Isaac and Topa arrive at the medbay for her surgery was haunting.
• The foreshadowing has been insanely good this season. Did you catch how Isaac triggers the trap in the tomb at the beginning of the episode because the booby traps that would have killed the rest of the crew are harmless to him, bouncing off his robotic body? It’s a very subtle parallel to the fact that in the climax, Isaac volunteers to perform Topa’s surgery because he’s not technically a Union officer, and is therefore the only one on the ship that’s immune to any repercussions for disobeying orders.
• It’s to The Orville’s credit that it pulled back on its special effects a bit this week to focus on a very character-driven story. Both have always been a part of the show, and it’s nice to see that balance reassert itself in the middle of New Horizons.

Verdict

From its powerful storytelling to its flawless presentation, The Orville: New Horizons yet again crushes it in its latest episode. In this flooded summer television landscape, The Orville: New Horizons has become the show I most look forward to every week. Maybe that bubble will burst someday — it’s hard to imagine how the show can keep this streak going all season — but not today.

Episode Grade: A+

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels