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The Orville: A Tale of Two Topas (2022)
Powerful issue-handling episode without the axe to grind...
Gene Roddenberry pitched Star Trek as "'Wagon Train' to the stars". His delivered pilot was rejected for being more intellectual than action-packed, but when it eventually aired as the story-within-a-story in "The Menagerie", it was praised for just that reason.
The best thing that science fiction has going for it is that it can explore sensitive topics of the time in well-written allegories, in which Roddenberry did on many occasions, including racial prejudice in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield". We also saw compelling drama in "The City On The Edge Of Forever".
For "The Orville", this episode rates right at the top along Star Trek's best - a story arc that began with an "all male" Moclan species thrown into conflict with the birth of a female child, who is immediately surgically altered to preserve the "norm", followed by the public acknowledgement (by trial over the child) that Moclan women do exist (with the realization that their most revered author is female), with a follow up that there is a secret colony of female Moclans who the "normal" males want to eliminate, but are forced to leave in peace. Along the way, the child (Topa)'s parents, Bortus and Klyden show the extreme differences in their existential viewpoints - Bortus is more accepting that their past is no longer what it seems, while Klyden is stuck hard and fast in the ideological past, for reasons which will eventually become clear.
Which brings us to this episode. Not only does the child Topa, feel that something is wrong with himself, but by discovering who he really is, wants to be who he was born to be - female, while battle lines appear to be drawn over those who want to help vs. Those who oppose, either for very personal or very political reasons. Klyden maintains referring to Topa as "he/him", while those who wish to help use "she/her", and it is revealed here that Klyden was actually born female (which in a way reveals who really 'birthed' the egg resulting in Topa) and has had to live with resentment his entire life, while maintaining, to the end, his belief in the preservation of the manufactured way of life, so much so that his relationship with both Bortus and Topa is ultimately and definitively severed.
This episode is also a tour-de-force in character development for Ed, Kelly, Clair and Issac - Ed and Kelly are berated by the Admiralty for disobeying orders, while Clair is willing to sacrifice her commission over the corrective surgery, and Isaac (not being a commissioned officer) is willing to perform the operation (because he is intellectually and clinically able to do so without any prior ability) as he believes it will earn the trust of crew who remain suspicious of him since the Kaylon attack.
For those who are eye-rolling in "anti-woke" sentiment, this entire story arc handles a sensitive issue in a more grounded way than so many other shows that want to hit you over the head with a message hammer to accept their point of view ("the beatings will stop when moral improves"). Do these people also have issues with the fact that Clair has a romantic relationship with an appliance?
The only weak part of the episode is the throwaway b-story of the archeological expedition which bears no relationship to the main story and wastes the use of top billed supporting cast.
In conclusion, this episode ranks atop along any classic Star Trek episode that triumphs with dramatic storytelling over "shoot-'em-up" or "alien of the week" stories. Especially moving is Peter Macon's Bortus, who gives a powerfully emotional performance which unexpectedly brought me to tears.
Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972)
I'll defer to the Ice Cream Bunny for comment...
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The Doberman Gang (1972)
Great B-movie caper, with the dogs as the big stars...
Considering that the main cast are primarily television bit actors, they gel together very well. Even director Byron Chudnow's primary work was producing and editing in television, which probably goes a long way to explain why the film is so economically paced. Julie Parrish was most recognized for appearing opposite Elvis Presley in "Paradise, Hawaiian Style", and briefly in Star Trek's "The Menagerie" (part 1).
The film is notable especially for being composer Alan Sylvestri's first motion picture score (alternating between dramatic and humorous), with absolutely no prior composing experience, and a two week deadline. He would eventually be linked regularly to director Robert Zemeckis, enjoying a working relationship similar to Steven Spielberg and John Williams.
Extremely entertaining and generally a well paced film, rated GP on original theatrical prints (re-classified PG) for a couple of bloody sequences.