The Orville season 2, episode 3 recap: Home

Jerald Raymond Pierce

The third episode of The Orville gives us the chance to learn a little more about Alara’s home planet of Xelayah and the stressful family dynamics in which she was raised.

This episode of The Orville opens with Gordon and John grabbing Isaac in the cafeteria so he can compete against Alara in an arm wrestling competition. This is a new tradition on the ship where everyone gathers around and places bets on who will win.

Isaac wins, but unintentionally (and inexplicably) breaks Alara’s arm in the process.

Alara visits Claire in the medical bay. It’s strange that Isaac was able to break her arm since they’re usually so evenly matched. Apparently, Alara’s strength is deteriorating, which includes a loss in bone density.

Claire tells Alara, Kelly, and Ed that this sort of deterioration has previously been recorded in astronauts. However, it’s strange for a Xelayan to be deteriorating this quickly. Alara needs to return to her home to try to recover. Recovery could take anywhere from weeks to four years. There’s no way to tell how long (if ever) it’ll take for her to regain her strength.

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If she doesn’t go home, she may completely acclimate to earth gravity. If that happens, she’ll never be able to go home because the gravity on Xelayah would crush her. They need to leave as soon as possible.

Later, Ed visits Alara and says that the final decision is up to her. He’s willing to give her as much staff as she needs to compensate for what she’d lack in strength. But Alara knows she needs to go home. She worries about how long the process will take, but Ed assures her that no matter what, her job would be there for her.

Alara visits the bridge as the Orville approaches her planet and promises she’ll beat what’s happening to her and she’ll come back stronger than ever.

Ed and Gordon accompany Alara in a shuttle down to Xelayah’s surface. As they land at Alara’s house, Ed suits up to accompany her off the ship. His suit can last an hour in Xelayan gravity. Outside of the shuttle’s gravity shield, Alara immediately collapses under Xelayan gravity. Her parents say it’s worse than they thought and are completely condescending to Ed.

Ed tries to talk up all that Alara’s accomplished, but Xelayan’s don’t think very highly of the military.

In her home, Alara, getting around in a floating chair, has breakfast with her parents and older sister. Her parents say she already looks better simply by being away from the ship. Alara tells them she likes working on the ship.

Her father suggests she go back to school since there’s no telling how long recovery will take. He says he put in a word with the teachers so they can look after her since he says she always struggled in school compared to other kids. Again, looking down on the life she had chosen for herself.

Alara’s sister mentions that it can take a long time for some people to recover and Alara snaps. Her family, she says, is rooting for her to fail.

Changing the subject, Alara’s sister says she’s getting married and Alara can be the maid of honor. Of course, this leads to Alara’s mom saying that, now that Alara’s home, she may actually have success in the romance department.

Later in Alara’s room, Alara bickers with her father because it seems like her family pities her. He talks about how she was slower than other children and intellectually inferior to them. They, apparently, did the best they could with her.

Alara fights back by saying that everyone on the Orville was much more supportive of her than anyone on Xelayah ever was.

In order to pull the family back together, Alara’s dad suggests they take a trip to their beach house.

Alara’s family travels to their beach house on an island that is supposedly deserted other than their family. But, in the distance, Alara spots a light on in a house. Which is a bit suspicious considering they should be alone.

To get this (honestly unnecessary) side plot out of the way: On The Orville, an interim security chief joins the crew. Ed clearly misses Alara. It’s an awkward introduction. The new guy is kind of a bro and Ed is a bit caught off guard. Later, the new security officer walks on the bridge with food and pounds away at it at his station. He declines Ed’s suggestion of taking a break to eat somewhere else. It’s disturbing.

The only important thing that happens on the ship is that John and Claire say they have an idea on how to help Alara. They ask Ed and Kelly to join them in the simulator room.

Ok, back to Alara.

At the beach house, surrounded by her mom and sister, Alara tries to stand. She still can’t support her own weight. Just then, a couple knocks on their door and say they live up the beach. They say they think someone broke into their house and wondered if Alara’s family had seen anything.

Alara immediately starts asking questions to try to help. She’s in full detective mode.

The strange couple suggests that maybe Alara’s family caretaker was responsible. But when Alara’s mom tries to call him, there’s no answer.

Alara suggests that she can go check his cottage. Her mom says she shouldn’t in her condition, but Alara’s sister says she’ll go with Alara. The sisters take an awkward trip in their shuttle to check out the caretaker’s cottage.

As they travel, Alara’s sister seems genuinely interested in Alara’s life and career. She speculates that intellectuals and soldiers secretly envy what the other has. Alara asks why people can’t have both.

Alara’s sister admits she’s proud of Alara.

At the caretaker’s cottage, Alara finds all his stuff still there. He never left the island. But where is he?

Later, Alara’s family has invited the new couple over for dinner. They speculate that the caretaker may have broken into their house. They talk about the strange couple’s family. Of course, they have a son who is a bit of a prodigy. Both groups of parents start bragging about their children and Alara is obviously uncomfortable.

As Alara’s dad is serving dinner, the strange couple pulls their guns on the family. The man forces Alara’s dad to stick his hand into boiling hot sauce which leaves his hand scalded and discolored.

The couple reveals that their son committed suicide last year. Apparently, Alara’s dad destroyed their son’s career by critiquing his scientific find and saying the findings were incorrect because he rushed his scientific process (not peer-reviewed, etc.). They want Alara’s dad to issue a statement saying he was wrong and their son was correct.

The couple threatens to cut off Alara’s sister’s pinky to send a message to her dad that they’re serious.

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Before they have a chance, a union shuttle lands outside the house. The couple tells Alara’s dad to get rid of them. It’s Ed who had come to tell Alara about John and Claire’s treatment idea. Ed persists with Alara’s dad and says he’s not leaving until he talks to Alara.

The strange man then shoots Ed. Alara, who has regained some of her strength, then jumps out of her chair and fights with the woman of the couple and manages to wrestle her gun away and shoot her. As Alara and the man exchange gunfire in the house, Ed’s gravity shield is failing as he lies immobile on the grass outside. Gordon calls the Orville for help, but it might not arrive in time.

Alara, who has gathered her family in a bedroom and locked the door to hide, tells her dad that he has to help Ed. This whole situation has overwhelmed her dad and he seems very nervous about doing anything. He eventually climbs over the balcony to find Ed and sees their caretaker’s dead body on the ground in the bushes.

Eventually, the man breaks into the bedroom where Alara’s family is hiding, but Alara manages to get the drop on him and shoots him.

Alara’s dad is able to get Ed back to the shuttle’s gravity shield just in time, but both of Ed’s legs break due to the gravity getting through his failing shield.

As he rejoins the family, Alara’s dad is emotional. He says he doesn’t know her. He now sees what she really does. He finally tells her he’s proud of her and apologizes by saying he’s sorry she got him as a father.

Alara takes his hand, silently accepting his apology.

Back on the ship, Claire and John’s new treatment in the simulation room will simulate a stronger gravity than even Xelayah has so Alara can continue to regain her strength. It’ll be painful, but it will allow Alara to remain on her post.

However, later in Ed’s office, Alara tells Ed that she won’t be doing the treatment. She says that she joined the fleet because she didn’t feel like she had a family. But now, she says, she wants to spend time with her family. It’s something she feels like she missed out on before.

Ed’s goodbye—saying that if she ever misses her chair on the bridge, it’s there for her—shows that there’s no telling if or when Alara will return to the Orville.

The entire bridge crew meets Alara in the shuttle bay to see her off. One by one, Alara hugs them all. It’s an incredibly emotional goodbye. She sheds a few tears as she boards the shuttle and leaves the Orville.

The episode ends with Ed going back to his office and opening a gift Alara left for him. A call back to every time Ed wasn’t strong enough to do something and asked Alara to “open this jar of pickles” for him, she’s left him with a jar of pickles.

Is that Alara’s last time on the Orville? Who will open these pickles for Ed? Let us know your thoughts on this emotional episode in the comments.

Jerald Raymond Pierce

Jerald Raymond Pierce is a writer and journalist whose work has appeared in American Theatre magazine, the Seattle Times, the Charleston Post and Courier and the Syracuse Post-Standard. He has his BFA in Acting from Ohio University and MA in Arts Journalism from Syracuse University.