The Orville season 2, episode 4 recap: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes

THE ORVILLE: L-R: Scott Grimes and Penny Johnson Jerald in the ÒNothing Left on Earth Excepting FishesÓ episode of THE ORVILLE airing Thursday, Jan. 17 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2018 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Ray Mickshaw/FOX

Before they can talk more, the ship comes under attack and Ed’s cell opens. He manages to wrestle a gun away from a guard, which he pulls on Teleya. She agrees to help him find the fastest way to their shuttle bay just as the ship is boarded.

With walls and ceilings caved in and enemy soldiers around, they’re trapped with no way to get to the shuttle bay. Teleya takes Ed to an escape pod instead, but emergency power is dead. Working together to force the door open, Teleya and Ed are able to escape. (Though Ed notes that they’ll be easy to track by the group that boarded the ship.) They eject, trusting the pod’s built-in system that seeks out the closest inhabitable world.

The two crash-land and Ed wakes up propped up against a rock. It’s the middle of the night on the planet. As he comes around, Teleya pulls a gun on him. She says she wasn’t able to put out a distress signal and tells Ed they need to seek higher ground.

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Teleya says they were boarded by a race who had a planet on the boarder of Krill space that the Krill believe is Krill’s because of their divine right. The two races fought, and now this group seeks revenge for their dead.

In the simulator room, Gordon is sitting in the command seat with the Krill threatening him in a hostage situation. He is incredibly bad at negotiation and tries to bluff the Krill with random reasons why they shouldn’t fire. The ship gets blown up.

Kelly comes in and compliments him on at least thinking on his feet. But next time, he needs to come up with a diplomatic solution. Gordon wants to go again, but Kelly orders him to get some rest. She tells him that the command test takes time and preparation and can’t be done overnight.

As Teleya and Ed walk through the forest of the strange planet, Teleya tells Ed that the only reason she hasn’t killed him yet is because she needs him to carry the beacon. Teleya asks about the codes Ed gave and Ed admits that he gave fakes that would give false information and take a lot of time to work out. He gambled that he’d be rescued by the time they figured it out.

They continue to talk and Ed is struggling to figure out what of his relationship with Teleya/Janelle was real and what was fake. He simply can’t believe that there were no genuine moments. Teleya bluntly tells him that he’s too attentive and has no balance in his life. Her complaints sound like Kelly’s, Ed says.

Just then, they hear soldiers from the attack on the Krill ship approaching and hide in some shrubs.

In the clear, they keep moving, but the sun is coming up—which would kill Teleya because of the Krill’s photosensitivity. She wants to keep moving, but Ed is not willing to risk her life. Teleya reluctantly agrees to find shelter and wait until night.

In the mess hall, Gordon tells a woman that he plans to take the command test. She seems interested in him and by the end of the conversation, he asks her if she wants to have a drink “with a future captain.”

Kelly overhears and is suspicious, so she prods him more about why he wants to take the test. She finally asks him outright if he wants to take the test to pick up women. He admits that being a captain would change the way people look at him.

He’s been feeling bored with who he is, which makes him feel like he isn’t enough for other people. Kelly tells him that’s not true, but he needs to make sure he’s in this for the right reasons.

Ed and Teleya find a cave and start to settle in, but Teleya still has her gun pulled on Ed. Ed says that eventually Krill and Union will have to find common ground. Teleya doesn’t think that’s possible because the Union has no moral code.

The two discuss their differing views on the universe and religion and Ed says that the Krill were much less fanatic before they achieved space travel. He says that their idea of dominion over the universe is a myth created out of fear.

Teleya shoots back that he fell in love with a myth, Janelle. Ed still believes that the woman he fell for is still in her somewhere.

After sleeping for a while, Teleya wakes up to find Ed outside. Ed has realized that every day on the planet is 23 Earth days. With the sun up that long and nowhere near enough rations, Ed says he’ll have to go place the beacon and call for help himself.

Teleya reluctantly agrees to trust him to go alone.

Ed finally gets high enough to place the beacon and he sends out a distress signal. The Orville picks up the signal and heads to the planet to find him. When they arrive, they find a destroyed Krill ship. Kelly quickly orders Bortus and Gordon to take a shuttle down to the planet.

Heading back to the cave, Ed sees four enemy soldiers coming for them. Ed gives Teleya his jacket to put over her head so they can make a run for it in the sunlight. As they reach the beacon, Teleya realizes that Ed called a Union shuttle and again pulls her gun on Ed. She won’t be taken by the Union again. But before she can pull the trigger, the enemy soldiers catch up to them and start firing.

Teleya reluctantly gives Ed the gun and he fends the soldiers off just long enough for them to get on the shuttle.

Back on the Orville, Kelly argues that Ed doesn’t have the authority to decide what to do with Teleya. But Ed has his mind set. At Teleya’s cell, Ed tells her that he’s letting her go and she can call a ship to pick her up.

Gordon can’t understand why Ed would make this decision for someone who wanted him dead. Kelly explains that these are the choices command has to make and asks Gordon if he’s still interested.

This cuts to the shuttle bay. Before she gets on the Krill shuttle, Teleya says that it’s still a fantasy if Ed thinks his decision to let her go will change anything between the Union and Krill. But Ed says won’t give up hope. He asks her to take a message back to the Krill: they can keep fighting, or they can talk.

As a parting gift, Ed gives Teleya some music (the best of Billy Joel) and offers that, if she ever wants to do movie night again, she knows where to find him. They share one last long look before she gets on the shuttle and leaves for the Krill ship.

The episode ends with Ed back in his command chair watching Teleya and the Krill ship leave.

Do you think there’s something real between Teleya and Ed? Will the Krill ever agree to talk? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.