The Orville Is Having Its Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Moment
Warning: SPOILERS for The Orville season 3, episode 8, «Midnight Blue.»
The war against the Kaylon in The Orville season 3 is allowing Seth MacFarlane's sci-fi comedy-drama to have its Star Trek: Deep Space Nine moment. First airing in 1993, DS9 was commissioned by Paramount in response to the popularity and success of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Set aboard a Federation space station, the show initially struggled to find its feet with the concept of a stationary outpost that was at odds with the exploration and discovery of previous Star Trek shows. It wasn't until the introduction of the Dominion, and the acclaimed Dominion War arc that Deep Space Nine found its groove and became one of the most acclaimed and influential of the 90s Trek shows.
The Orville has always been an affectionate tribute to this era of Star Trek and similarly struggled to find its feet in season 1. Now renamed The Orville: New Horizons, the show has moved away from its sitcom roots into the issues-led sci-fi allegories of the Star Trek franchise, but with jokes. This new approach finds its apotheosis in The Orville season 3, episode 8, «Midnight Blue,» a powerful political thriller about the moral compromises people make during wartime, drawing links with Deep Space Nine.
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Morality during wartime was a recurring theme in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, most notably in season 6, episode 19, «In the Pale Moonlight.» That episode saw Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) make moral compromises in an attempt to strike an alliance with the Romulans and turn the tide of the war. The Orville flips this Star Trek story in «Midnight Blue» and explores the moral compromises made to maintain
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