Don’t start passing out penises just yet.

We currently live in a hostile social environment that celebrates conformity of thought and stifles debate in favor of partisan orthodoxy. In the finest lineage of sci-fi social commentary, The Orville soared right into that toxicity, literally putting on trial some of the most controversial and contradictory issues facing society right now: the agency of the individual; the value of cultural relativity; oppression by patriarchy; celebration of diversity; and ableism.

In my real life I’m a folklorist, which means I study how culture looks to traditions for guidance. Bortas, a Moclan in a human-dominanted environment, is faced by contradictory cultural currents. His native Moclan belief is that being female is a “birth defect” and it’s criminal for parents to not correct the newborn’s condition. There are a few uncomfortable comparisons between gender reassignment surgery and being born with a cleft palate or an extra leg, but it’s stated overtly that Moclan society is built around this fundamental belief that women are incapable of contributing in their hyper-masculine and hyper-industrialized world.

On the other side is the human celebration of diversity and gender equality. Through Alara and Gordon, the point is dramatized that strength and intelligence are not linked to gender. Although the human side is treated as the “correct” position, the episode takes great pains to show the logic of both sides. The resulting negotiation between the two is no easy task for Bortas or the audience:

Does Mercer or the Doctor have the right to override the parents and impose human ethics onto Moclan culture and tradition?

Does Moclan culture have the right to uphold its own laws that declare absolute gender superiority?

Thankfully, the humans have a secret weapon who is able to cut through the blizzard of emotion and reach Bortas: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Those are words of great power.

For two weeks I’ve been telling everyone who will listen that The Orville is a fun spaceship show with a heart. At this point, my phone autofills the phrase. But with its third episode, The Orville transcended into a science fiction show with something to say. And I couldn’t be happier.

One of the appealing aspects of this show has been that the characters feel realistic. Where Star Trek is a show about the best captains and the best ship, The Orville is about a screw up captain and his crew of misfits. They speak to each other in crass language, they make stupid mistakes, and almost all of them are drunks (except Kelly, who’s a pothead); real people having realistic relationships and lives.

In a depressingly realistic conclusion, that also completely subverts the genre, Episode 3 ends with our crew’s second officer and walking muscle-man defeated and dejected, standing next to a husband he loves but resents, staring at a baby he believes in but doesn’t want.

Critics who wanted Family Guy in Space have most likely given up on this show. But those of us who were desperately in search of a science fiction show that gave us fun action, relatable characters, and an intelligent exploration of ourselves… my friends, we’re home.

One-liner of the week: You can be the thimble.