The Orville’s Holodeck Does What Star Trek’s Never Could

The Orville’s Holodeck Does What Star Trek’s Never Could

Warning: SPOILERS for The Orville season 3, episode 3, “Mortality Paradox.”

The Orville season 3, episode 3, “Mortality Paradox” offers up a deadly, unused upgrade to Star Trek‘s holodeck technology. Written by Seth MacFarlane’s Family Guy colleague Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, “Mortality Paradox” finds an Orville landing party experiencing simulations of various near-death experiences, orchestrated by a godlike, omnipotent species. These simulations are seemingly the work of a rogue holographic projector that suggests dire consequences for The Orville universe.

Once the Orville’s landing party are safely back on board the ship, it becomes clear that this holographic projector is the work of their enemies – the Kaylon. Deploying them on planets that may have strategic importance, The Orville‘s version of the Borg have tapped into the deadly potential of Star Trek‘s Holodecks. Arriving on a seemingly uninhabited planet, the holographic projector distracts Captain Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and his crew from their ongoing mission by trapping them in mind-bending simulations. While it too is eventually revealed to be a simulation, The Orville season 3, episode 3’s climactic battle with the Kaylon suggests a deadlier use for Star Trek‘s holodeck technology.

Seemingly back aboard the Orville, the crew believes that their enemies are using holographic projectors as weapons in their ongoing war with the Planetary Union. It soon becomes apparent that this too is a simulation, orchestrated by The Orville‘s Q-like new species, it still suggests a hostile usage that the Star Trek franchise has never deployed. While the Kaylon’s use of holographic technology is revealed to be merely another near-death simulation, The Orville briefly taps into the potential for Star Trek‘s holodecks as deadly weapons. Arriving on the seemingly barren planet of Narran 1, the Orville’s landing party is subjected to hallucinogenic experiences involving high school bullies, plane crashes, and terrifying sea monsters. When the crew refuses to play along with the near-fatal games, they discover a holographic projector that they believe to be the cause of their misfortune. It’s a worrying development for Star Trek‘s hologram technology that suggests it can be used as a weapon of psychological warfare.

The Orville’s Holodeck Does What Star Trek’s Never Could

This potential as a weapon is taken a step further as The Orville season 3, episode 3 progresses. Believing themselves to be back aboard the Orville, Captain Mercer and his crew alert the Planetary Union about this new weapon. Notifying Admiral Halsey (Victor Garber) about this worrying development, Ed and his second-in-command Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) are told to await reinforcements. When they arrive, it’s swiftly revealed that the ships are adopting these holographic projectors to hide their Kaylon origins.

When Kaylon crewmate Isaac warns Ed and Kelly that all is not as it seems, new helmsman Charly (Anne Winters) demonstrates her prejudice against the Union’s enemies and pleads with them not to believe Isaac. While continuing The Orville‘s dark Star Trek subversion, the scene also hints at the Kaylon’s holographic projection as a means to play on people’s fears and prejudices. When it turns out that Isaac is correct and the Orville is under attack from Kaylon spheres, it becomes clear that this new hologram technology can make Star Trek‘s cloaking technology even more dangerous.

Hiding a battleship is deadly enough, but if a battleship can pretend to be an ally during a hostile situation, it means that nothing is safe. Even though this particular situation is revealed to be the creation of the omnipotent species who want to experience near-death, it’s still a chilling realization of the technology. It’s a plot point that affirms The Orville‘s place as reimagining tried-and-tested Star Trek tropes for modern audiences.

The Orville: New Horizons releases new episodes Thursdays on Hulu.