"If we are not willing to stand up for the values that this Union was founded on... what exactly are we defending?"
REVIEW: Spinning out of the Kaylon plot and building up to it as well, The Union is getting its ships' weapons upgraded by the Moclans and we're reminded that the Moclans aren't really on Team Union. They keep a separate fleet and don't really hold the Union's values dear to their hearts, so Bortus seems to be a man apart. As this is a Moclan story, it stands to reason we would revisit Topa's gender reassignment and Klyden's rearing him to respect the Moclan orthodoxy. The first act lulls you into thinking this will largely be a domestic affair, in which Topa misbehaves in school (the teacher is - SQUEEE! - Marina Sirtis, but sadly the character lacks a name), violently disrespecting a lowly female in class. Bortus confronts his mate about his misogyny and so it goes. Enter the plot du jour, a Moclan couple smuggling their infant daughter off Moclus, and Bortus seeing it as an opportunity to show Topa females aren't so different and that the Moclan patriarchy is built on a lie (that there are no females). Surprisingly, the smugglers get off the Orville without a hitch, though Topa later reveals his secret to Klyden who of course turns Bortus in. What are these two still doing together?
And overly cautious Captain Mercer, wanting to make sure a child hasn't been kidnapped, is the one who takes this into another sphere entirely. From the domestic to the galactic. Heveena, who seemed like a hermit in About a Girl returns as the leader of a hidden world of Moclan females, numbering some 6000 individuals. It appears Moclus has been lying about the proportion of female births (consider also that most are probably gender-reassigned). Discovered, Heveena's people start packing immediately, but Mercer wants them to try a political option. What if they were recognized as a sovereign world? Then they'd be afforded the same rights and protections as everyone else, even from the Moclan homeworld. As one can imagine, that doesn't sit right with the patriarchy, and while Heveena, Mercer and the Admirals fight for the "sanctuary" in open council (so we get to see a lot more of the Union than ever before), the Orville remains behind to protect the planet. As it happens, a Moclan warship quickly tracks them to the nebula...
Classic Starfleet--I mean Union--"disobey orders for the greater good" action ensues. Kelly goes down to the planet, ready to end her career over this, and Bortus accompanies her, just as ready. I like this duo. Earlier, Bortus took Klyden to task for not even acknowledging her presence, showing he, and he alone, has come to respect women as equal (no really, why ARE these two still together?!). And remember, these two were an internment camp together for a month in All the World Is BIrthday Cake, and there too took up arms and made a good team. Up above, Talla is given command and her main trait is her recklessness, so yeah, why not have her risk her career as well. But while she's a badass in these moments, the MVP is really Gordon who comes up with a couple of tricks (first to follow the smugglers' ship, then to evade the Moclans') around that nebula. Jonathan Frakes likes odd angles, and here gives us a dogfight where you feel the deck lean hard to the side. And he also puts Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" over it, which gives what is otherwise a serious action sequence some levity, and highlights Heveeta's plight since that song (somewhat ackwardly) has become her anthem.
Ultimately, the Union and the Moclans come to a compromise, and it's not a great one, but it keeps the peace. Kind of a zero sum game, but with the Kaylon bearing down, it's not really the time to break alliances. So everyone goes on as they are, and maybe later, the female Moclans can get some political power in the galaxy. At least they get to live unmolested, if not to increase their numbers. And then we go back to the domestic. Bortus visits his son's class again, and stands in the doorway, proud to see Topa getting along with the little girl he'd pushed earlier. Seems there's hope for the next generation (no pun intended).
WHERE SOMEONE HAS GONE BEFORE: Every Star Trek planet of note has a dissident faction, so why not the Moclans? The Ferengi's own feminist movement was spearheaded by Quark and Rom's mom, who was not unlike Heveena. The government lies about the proportion of females born mirrors the Trills' about how many are compatible with symbionts. While everyone will remember Kirk taking his ship into a dirty nebula to confound a foe in The Wrath of Khan, Riker did the same thing in Insurrection which has more than a little in common with this episode (one sub-species rounding up their brethren on a planet inside a nebula). It's extra fun because that movie was directed by Jonathan Frakes, as is this episode, and featured F. Murray Abraham (here as the Council President). He's not the only Trek alumnus either. We get Marina Sirtis as the teacher, Tony Todd (who has been every tall species on Trek, but most memorably Worf's brother Kurn) as a Moclan, and the return of Ron Canada's Admiral Tucker.
REWATCHABILITY: Medium-High - The plot is somewhat run of the mill, but exciting action sequences and political speeches make take it a notch higher.
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