Last week’s episode of The Orville promised a new security officer to finally replace Alara. Plus, the Orville crew gets to make first contact with a new alien race, but there’s something suspicious going happening on this new planet.

This episode of The Orville opens with a small group of unknown leaders standing around a prefect’s desk. They’re discussing whether or not they should send a message into space to see. The prefect in charge tells them to go ahead with the plan, despite some reservations from others in the room and without telling the public.

As they prepare to send the message, the prefect says the message should simply ask “is anyone out there?” And with that, they send their message.

On the Orville, Ed and Kelly meet with their new head of security. The new officer, Talla, explains why she punched out her commanding officer. (It was for a good reason.) Kelly commends her for her quick thinking and Ed welcomes her on board.

As she leaves, she notes that she knows they really liked Alara and she promises that she’ll defend them. After, Ed still is nervous, but Kelly likes their new Xelayan security officer.

Back on the bridge, Ed convinces Kelly to finally ask Bortus a question she’s been having reservations about. She gets up the courage and asks Bortus about having a joint birthday party (since their birthdays are mere days apart). Bortus asks if it’s an order. Since Kelly says it isn’t, he says he doesn’t want to share.

Just then, Talla picks up microwave signals from an unknown planet. After reading out the message, everyone gets incredibly excited about the possibility of the first contact. Gordon sets a course and they head off to meet the new race.

Ed, Kelly, Bortus, Talla and Claire lead a landing party. A large crowd has gathered on the planet to meet them and they are welcomed to Rigor 2 by the prefect.

As they walk through the city, Ed explains to the prefect that it is Union policy to make the first contact when (and only when) new groups reach out. They want to make sure they’re there first since there are a lot of unfriendly species out there.

The prefect shows the landing party around, starting with showing them the satellite array they used to send the message. They say they never expected anyone to answer as quickly (it’s only been a few years) as the Orville did.

Talla and Claire tour the medical ward and Claire notes that there is an unusual number of premature births at the moment. A doctor says that their “technology” is improving as if that explains the premature births. Before Claire can clarify with him what he means, the doctor is called to an emergency.

Claire and Talla follow the doctor into an operating room where he performs a c-section.

Claire does some scans while in the room and sees no reason for them to need perform the c-section. The doctor says it’s to prevent the baby from being born “gilliac” (the spelling is my best guess). This would make the new person more prone to violence. Claire is suspicious and asks to see the research they have on the disease.

Later, the landing party sits at a lavish banquet hosted by the prefect. As they talk, Kelly offhandedly mentions that it’s her and Bortus’ birthday next week and the prefect freaks out.

His security team immediately jumps into action and take the crew away and locks them up with little explanation.

Claire, Ed, and Talla are locked up together with Bortus and Kelly nowhere to be seen. Claire tells Ed about the unnecessary the C-Section and says that she thinks there’s something off about the planet. Just then, guards and a doctor come into the cell to take some extraction from each of them. Talla jumps the doctor, but Ed calls her off.

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The man takes a portion of a tooth from each of them.

Ed, Claire and Talla are then taken to the prefect’s office and are accused of bringing “gilliacs” to the planet. Claire then puts the pieces together and realizes that this race is afraid of certain astrological signs. They believe the stars can predict future behavior traits, in this case, that means this star sign is more prone to violence. Kelly and Bortus are to be taken to a gilliac camp. The other three are permitted to leave since their non-gilliac birthdays have been confirmed.

The camp is very prison-like, with everyone dressed in red jumpsuits and surrounded by armed guards and high walls.

Kelly and Bortus are first taken to see a warden. Kelly tries to reason with him, but she has no success. They’re told that they’ll never be allowed to leave. They try to fight their way out but aren’t able to get away. They’re taken to barracks.

Back on the Orville, Ed calls into an Admiral (oh hey, Ted Danson) to talk about possibilities for rescuing Kelly and Bortus. He’s told they can negotiate, but they’re not allowed to take Kelly and Bortus back by force.

The bridge crew (plus Claire and John, of course) discusses how to go about getting them back. Isaac observes that while the planet has satellites, they’re situated for astrological purposes only. Without any better ideas, Ed says he wants to talk to the prefect again.

Kelly and Bortus break up a fight in their barracks when a man tries to steal rations from a pregnant woman who is squirreling them away for her baby. (Apparently, it’s not uncommon for gilliacs to be denied food on a whim.) The man finally backs down when confronted with Bortus.

They talk to the couple they defended and ask about finding a way to escape. Unbelievably, the people in the prison have never tried to escape or even thought about it. They believe they belong to be there. They, too, believe the stars are right about their predispositions (even though they don’t seem violent).

The prefect gives a state of the union type televised speech because they’re entering the sign of the gilliacs. He tells the people that any children born must be turned over to the state or taken to the camps.

After the speech, Ed returns to try to negotiate. The prefect thinks that, because they’re from the stars, they should know why gilliacs are so bad and has no interest in Talla trying to explain that people should be judged by actions, not star signs.

The prefect says he now regrets sending the message and he has no interest in being part of a universe that doesn’t believe in the order they believe in.

Ed tries to explain to him that looking for patterns in life is natural, but sometimes it’s possible to see patterns when they’re not really there. The prefect is done listening and tells them to leave, forget about Kelly and Bortus, and forget about Rigor 2.

Again Ed returns to the Orville to get the Admirals to sign off on them getting Kelly and Bortus. The Admiral says they have other work they need to be doing and orders them to leave orbit within 24 hours. A diplomat will be sent to keep trying to get Kelly and Bortus back.

The bridge crew again sits down to find a loophole that could get their people back, but they’re still coming up empty.

Back on the planet, the prefect gives another televised speech. They’ve exited the sign of the gilliac and he welcomes a more prosperous sign.

The pregnant woman is in labor in the prison camp, but she refuses to see a doctor. Kelly steps in and delivers the baby, with Bortus helping by getting blankets and supplies. The baby is successfully delivered and is a healthy baby girl.

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The Orville now has only 12 hours left with no solution in sight. Thankfully, Talla comes in. She has Isaac do a scan of the gilliac star system to search black holes. They find one and determine that a collapsing star freaked out the primitive people and they took it as a bad omen ever since.

In the camp, the woman hides her baby under the floorboards, knowing that they’ll take her child since she wasn’t born gilliac. The husband thinks it’s a bad idea since there’s no way to hide the child forever. Right then, the warden bursts in for an inspection. Soldiers turn all the beds and find nothing.

Before the soldiers can leave, the husband stops them and turns the child over. The warden calls the baby a future leader and takes the child. Kelly tries to comfort the weeping mother and tells Bortus that things need to end. Now. Since this race already thinks they’re violent, she says they’re within the first contact rules if they behave exactly as the race expects them to.

John, brilliant as always, has come up with an idea that will make it look like the star they saw disappear has reappeared. They’re setting up a decoy that could stay in place indefinitely. Additionally, it can be done in less than 12 hours.

On the ground, Kelly and Bortus work to get the main gate of the compound open. They try to stealthily take out the soldiers, but they get caught and wind up in a firefight with a group of soldiers. After taking many of the soldiers out, they manage to blow open the compound’s door.

But just as they start to make a run, the warden pulls up in a jeep and stops them. They’re surrounded and stuck.

Little do they know, the pressure is on for the Orville crew as John and Gordon take a shuttle out to put John’s plan into action. John deploys the decoy sail. It falls into place perfectly.

Kelly and Bortus are tied to steaks for their escape attempt. They’re facing a firing squad as their punishment. Before they’re shot, Kelly tells the other prisoners that they’re all worth more than what people say. Just as the soldiers are about to fire, someone notices the new star in the sky.

The prefect is informed of the star and calls an emergency session, saying, essentially, that the star reappearing changes everything.

Back on the Orville, Kelly and Bortus finally celebrate their birthdays on the bridge (four weeks late, by the way). During the party, Ed tells Kelly that the last of the camps were opened down on the planet.

Talla comes up and asks a great question: what happens when they figure out the star is fake. Ed has no idea. But Kelly hopes that, by the time their tech is far enough along to figure it out, their mindsets will be different.

The episode ends with Ed commending Talla on her performance through this situation, though she had big shoes to fill. He says that if she ever needs to punch him in the face, she can.

Do you miss Alara? How do you think Talla will fit in with the crew? Let us know your thoughts on this episode of The Orville in the comments.