This episode was one of the best when I thought maybe ,the best were behind us. This shows, maybe, The orville has matured, understands what it is, knows how it wants to tell a story, and is going from strength to strength.
They have the action down to an art, the characters are now finely tuned and fully dimensional, and the drama and situations are well thought out, and have reason and purpose.
There was a little bit of politics this episode but unlike other shows where a side is shown as stupid, and agenda expressed, the reasons why both sides are acting in the way they are was given equal time, allowing the viewer to make up their own mind rather than just preaching to them ... just like the Krill. The discussion about how and why what happened happened was almost political science.
The orville hasn't always done that but they are getting better in expressing something thast needs to be discussed in the old Star Trek way.
... and, as opposed to other shows, it wasn't at the expense of a great, entertaining episode which surely must be one of the best in a show with very high standards.