Cassius

Cassius
Aliases	Two-hand Tea Man
Relatives	Unnamed ex-wife (main timeline) Kelly Grayson (wife) (alternate timeline)
Affiliation	Planetary Union
Occupation / Position	Paleontologist (before 2420) Teacher
Portrayed by	Chris Johnson
First Seen	Ja'loja (production) New Beginnings, Pt. 1 (chronolgical)
Biographical information
Marital status	Single (divorced) (main timeline) Married (alternate timeline)
Status	Alive (main timeline) Deceased (alternate timeline)
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male

Cassius was a human school teacher in the Planetary Union. While stationed aboard the USS Orville, he dated First Officer Kelly Grayson. Cassius left the Orville to lead the education program on the USS Watson.

In an alternate timeline, Cassius married Kelly and worked aboard the USS Jefferson. He died on Outpost 73 when the Kaylon attacked.

Cassius is portrayed by Chris Johnson.

Life

Cassius introduces himself to Kelly.

Before he was a school teacher, Cassius had been an aspiring paleontologist. "I wanted to discover the next unclassified species," he later recalled to Captain Ed Mercer. "Make a name for myself."

Cassius married, but his commitment to succeed in his work gradually "drove a stake" through his marriage. They eventually divorced, and Cassius left paleontology to become a teacher. By his own account, he was independent and single for most of his adult working life until meeting Kelly in June 2420.

Cassius originally taught biohistory to children on Antares 2. While living there, he became friends with the Katrudian, Groogen. (Groogen later said that he owed his friend two favors from that time.) After, Cassius transferred to the USS Orville where he taught children living on the ship.

Kelly and Cassius met in July 2420 after she ordered him to admit Topa into his classroom. While initially upset, he realized Kelly was right and apologized. It is implied that Kelly asked Cassius out thanks to the prodding of Chief of Security Alara Kitan.

Kelly and Cassius began a relationship, though it was not publicly announced until a month later so as not to upset Kelly's ex-husband Ed.

When Kelly was imprisoned by the Regorians for being "Giliac" in November, Cassius advocated using the Orville's advanced weaponry to forcibly retrieve her. A month later, the two celebrated her birthday on the ship's Bridge.

In early January 2421, the two went on a date in an Environmental Simulator program where he stated he wanted "to keep growing, getting closer; maybe, someday, get married." (Kelly also implied he wanted a family as well.) Kelly realized she was not ready for those things and ends their relationship.

Cassius briefly attempted to win Kelly back, first with a cookie bouquet, but he grew increasingly persistent, sending her hourly messages by comscanner and even by Groogen, all of which annoy her.

Several days later, Cassius accepted a standing offer from the USS Watson to direct their education program.

Alternate timeline

In an alternate timeline where Ed never becomes captain of the Orville, Cassius was supposed to join the Orville as its new teacher but met Kelly in a "terminal" and introduced himself. He learned Kelly worked on the USS Jefferson and petitioned for a transfer to her ship, never having joined the Orville. The two eventually married.

Kelly confided in Cassius that they lived in a distorted timeline. He believed her, largely because Kelly had stated that he was originally a teacher on the Orville without knowing about his original assignment on the ship. However, Cassius advised Kelly not to warn the admiralty because they would not believe her and "the universe will take care of itself" anyway.

As the impending Battle of Earth drew near, Kelly and Cassius decided to leave the Jefferson to find the crew of the Orville from the main timeline. The quickly recruited Doctor Claire Finn and her sons, then picked up a scavenger ship at Outpost 73. However, the Kaylon attacked the outpost as Cassius was picking up supplies. Kaylon Sphere weapons fire killed Cassius as he attempted to run back to the ship.

Personality

Cassius was a very calm and stable individual, rarely angry and never raising his voice. He believed that "the universe will take care of itself." When James Duncan and Marcus Finn did not complete their homework and answered his questions with snide remarks, Cassius quietly assigned them 1,000-word essays on the Moclan digestive system.

However, Cassius did feel insecure that Kelly believed her job as Commander was more demanding or important than his own. "You've said little things in the past without even realizing it," he told her. When she apologized and said that she respected what he did, he snapped, "It's just not what you and your ex-husband do."

Cassius admitted that his long time as an independent bachelor had made it difficult to empathize with others, occasionally leading to relationship problems.

While on the surface his emotional stability appears to be a positive trait, Kelly Grayson found it off putting. Claiming it made her feel guilty and unsophisticated when she was not able to control her emotions to the same extent.

Production

Chris Johnson was announced to portray a recurring character on February 21, 2018, shortly before filming of the second season began. Soon after, actor J. Lee (John LaMarr) inadvertently revealed the character's name to be "Cassius" two days later after he posted a public Snapchat video of an episode's table reading for the Season 2 premiere. After the leak, the crew became especially tight-lipped about Johnson's role and nothing more was revealed.

In December, 20th Century Fox officially announced that Cassius would first appear in Ja'loja.

Costume sketch (Ja'loja)

Costume sketch (Ja'loja)

Costume sketch (Ja'loja)

Trivia

• He sips tea with both hands.
  • Ed finds the quirk pretentious and calls Cassius the "two-hand tea man."
• Cassius' name is pronounced CAH-shus [kæ.ʃəs], not CAH-see-us [kæ.siəs]. The latter of which Ed Mercer mistakenly calls him more than once.
• He was originally a paleontologist before teaching.
• He taught biohistory on Antares 2 prior to joining the Orville.
• Cassius is a divorcee.
• Some of Cassius' students include Marcus Finn, James Duncan, and Topa.
• Cassius and Kelly attend a performance by the Union Symphony in the Shuttle Bay in December 2420.

Appearances

• Episode 1.5x01: New Beginnings, Pt. 1
• Episode 1.5x02: New Beginnings, Pt. 2
• Episode 2x01: Ja'loja
• Episode 2x04: Nothing Left on Earth Excepting Fishes
• Episode 2x05: All the World is Birthday Cake
• Episode 2x06: A Happy Refrain
• Episode 2x07: Deflectors
• Episode 2x13: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (mentioned only)
• Digressions, Pt. 1
• Digressions, Pt. 2