By Owen Quinn author
Photos copyright Fuzzy Door Productions 20th Television
Thanks to their new alliance with the Krill, The Orville becomes the first union ship to cross into unexplored space. But the Krill warn them that legend says demons await them; demons that can consume the most righteous of souls. Before long, they enter a region of space with no stars. At the heart of it lies a mysterious space station, one that contains a horror that will see every crew member consumed.
When it was launched The Orville was touted as a comedy version of Star Trek and while there was attempts at slapstick humour and puns, the show quickly fell into serious mode with storylines that were both intricate and intense.
Just like the show it homages, The Orville explored serious issues e.g. child mutilation as early as season one when we discovered that, the all-male race the Moclans, of which Bortus and Clem are members, surgically alter any girls into boys at birth. It is a literal crime to be born into a body society deems wrong. Soon we had human rights being explored in a way that stood with the best of Star Trek.
Through the three seasons, The Orville did indeed have superb episodes and with season three New Horizons would see the titular ship explore new space thanks to an alliance with former enemies, the Krill. However the religious Krill warn them that in the Kalan Expanse to which they are headed, demons dwell that consume men’s souls. Not eve the most righteous of souls can stand against them. The atmosphere is begun here as the fierce Krills seem rattled at the very thought of the humans going there. None of their ships have entered there for over a century such is their fear of it.
Before they leave they say a prayer over the crew; a prayer for those who are about to die. The monsters are foreshadowed when captain Ed Mercer reveals the Krill Bible speaks of eight eyed demons with big fangs. Hence begins an episode that thrusts the crew into a horror that they are almost helpless against.
It is interesting to see just how flippantly the Krill warnings are dismissed as religious hocus-pocus by all but Captain Ed Mercer (Seth McFarlane) and Admiral Halsey (Victor Garber). There is an arrogance among the crew in many situations and this episode will see that slapped down.
Every story needs a core of humanity to help the audience connect and in this case it is the arrival of one Admiral Paul Christie (James Read). He is to accompany the crew on this voyage. We discover he is the ex-husband of ship’s doctor, Claire Finn. There are unresolved issues for the Admiral who still has his wedding ring. He stood Claire up at the altar twenty five years ago and now is hoping they could possibly reconcile. he even consults her current romantic focus, Isaac.
Christie is excited to explore the Expanse especially when they detect a distress signal coming from within. But there are no stars and helmsman Gordon Molloy compares it to entering a haunted House.
Now all good horror movies entail a dark place with a mysterious something contained within. They find a space station made from some sort of semi organic technology. It is red in colour immediately giving the audience the message that this is something hellish. Indeed the horn like structure reminded me of the final shot of Maximillian at the climax of the Black Hole. Going aboard Admiral Christie finds some sort of jellyfish like flower that expands in his face then closes.
Returning to The Orville, they are examining the data they have collected when Christie begins convulsing badly and his face begins to change. Returning to the station they discover the jellyfish flower actually spat spores into Christie’s face and began rewriting his DNA into one of the creatures. Claire begins working on a cure but before long Christie has fully morphed into a spider like alien with eight eyes and fangs. it seems the Krill legends are all too true. He then uses his command codes to disable The Orville and plunges the ship into darkness.
It is again interesting to note that on their second trip to the alien station, the crew wear masks. Surely that should be standard before entering an alien environment as in the case here, alien spores almost destroy everyone. It’s a nice piece of character evolution as the crew have been almost complacent up to now. But now the threats are totally unlike anything they have faced before so extra measures must be taken.
There a quite a few references to other horror and adventure genres here. Alien of course with the alien face in the dark jump scares; the dash across the screen of something that you can’t quite see has been done in many shows and works every time. Jurassic Park is referenced when Claire’s kids, Ty and Marcus are hiding from the monsters à la the Jurassic kids avoiding raptors in the kitchen. Christie’s mutation make-up is disturbing to say the least and Read does a great job of a man helpless before his fate. The alien design is lovely and their agility makes them even more dangerous. Think of a spider hanging above your head as you pass waiting to drop down and bite you.
The Fly is echoed when the Christie alien vomits over a crewman’s face which immediately changes him into one of the aliens. Christie was the first so it took time to turn him but now in the dark, crew members are jumped and converted. Too late they discover the signal from the station has changed and is actually a mating call. With such rapid mutation, every one of the crew will be turned before whatever arrives to get them. Only the robotic Kaylon, Isaac, will survive but he may be attacked and destroyed by these things en-masse.
Putting kids in danger especially in the presence of such a horrible death gives a real fear factor so the scenes of ty and Marcus being pursued are on the edge of your seat stuff. Having them witness the graphic transformation of a crew member into one of the creatures up close is traumatising to say the least. credit to both young actors for convincing us just how scared they are having seen that. Horror movies can shock audiences by killing kids just as Mimic and Children of the Corn did.
The greatest threat is the one you never even knew existed. There is a genuine air of terror here as Chief Engineer John Lamarr, unaware of the aliens, is chased by several of them. Helpless against their speed and ferocity, he just about manages to seal himself in the brig, safe behind the force field. The acting here is spot on in conveying the fear the crew feel. Claire realises that the creatures are still forming when super-strong security officer Talla barely survives an attack but manages to bring a dead one for the doctor to examine. She is able to force them off the ship by threatening to release a virus that will kill the aliens before their ship arrives. Before they go, Christie warns they will go but not forever.
This begs the question has The Orville crew awakened an ancient evil just like the humans did with The Wraith in Stargate Atlantis. Sadly we will not know unless further season of the show are commissioned. these nameless aliens are by far the scariest the crew have ever faced.
These aliens can wait until a colony is asleep for example and by the morning not one human will survive. Indeed the inference is that aliens like Bortus and Talla can also be converted to swell the alien ranks. When examining the alien corpse, Claire says she can no longer tell what species it was to begin with; at least until she detects white blood cells that show it was once human. This is the clue Claire needed to create her virus. They simply need to vomit on you to turn you into one of their kind. Would this also de-stabilise the Krill alliance given the revival of these demons will be a galactic threat but more so to the Krill because their territory is on the demons doorstep.
Shadow Realms delivers on every count as a thrilling and frightening episode with cool design and direction. There is no reset button or magic cure à la Star Trek. In the end there is only death in the shadow realms.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 