The Orville's Isaac Does What Data Never Could
Warning! SPOILERS for The Orville, season 3, episode 10 «Future Unknown»
The Orville season 3 finale sees android Isaac (Mark Jackson) do something that Star Trek's Data (Brent Spiner) never could. Seth MacFarlane's sci-fi comedy-drama is both a loving homage to and thematic modernization of 1990s Star Trek. The most obvious touchstone for The Orville is Star Trek: The Next Generation and the crew of the titular ship is made up of a number of analogs to those classic characters.
As an artificial lifeform, Isaac is the closest analog to TNG's Data and is similarly curious about human emotions and customs. The Orville's season 3 finale, «Future Unknown,» is very similar to Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 11 «Data's Day,» in which the Enterprise android observes the wedding of Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and Keiko (Rosalind Chao). The Orville updates TNG's android story by having Isaac marry his on-off romantic partner Doctor Finn (Penny Johnson-Jerald) rather than just observing another couple's wedding.
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Isaac's marriage proposal addresses Data's own concerns about committing to marriage in «Data's Day.» When Claire challenges Isaac on the fact that, as an organic lifeform, she has a finite lifespan, the android promises to continue to be a part of Claire's family for generations to come. It's this romantic idea that finally convinces Claire to take his proposal seriously, showing that Data could have been capable of making the same promise if he'd met the right person. Unfortunately, Data sacrificed himself to save the life of Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis before he had a chance to seriously pursue a romantic relationship.
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