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I'll admit you got a damn good reason to knock on their door, and if they answer it, it could be an opportunity to close the deal.— Admiral Tom Halsey
Identity, Pt. 1 is the eighth episode of the second season of the The Orville, the first part of a special two-part episode called Identity. After Isaac suddenly shuts down, the USS Orville journeys to his home world of Kaylon 1.
The story of Identity was written by executive producer Brannon Braga and co-executive producer André Bormanis in late 2016 or early 2017 while writing for Season 1, and the scripts were set aside if the show was picked up for a second season. Identity, Pt. 1 was directed by Jon Cassar. Music was composed by John Debney.
Identity, Pt. 1 is one of the most beloved episodes by audiences and critics alike. Fans consider the chapter a breakout moment for The Orville, while critics hailed it as "a fantastic episode;"[1] "brilliant, hilarious, and hugely entertaining."[2]Pt. 1 currently holds an extremely high rating of 9.4 on IMDB, nearly a full point over any earlier episode of The Orville.[3] Roughly 3.05 million households watched the episode live.[4]
The storyline introduced in Identity, Pt 1. would have a wide-reaching impact on the events of the the third season of The Orville, culminating in the penultimate episode Domino.
Isaac plays Bolodon discs with Ty and Marcus Finn and easily wins. When Marcus grows frustrated that Isaac constantly reminds them that - as Humans - they are less intelligent, Isaac tells him that there is no shame in varying degrees of intellect.
Doctor Claire Finn enters. She and Isaac tell the children that they are dating, which pleases them. Suddenly, Isaac collapses and the lights in his eyes flicker out.
Act 1[]
In Sick Bay, Claire analyzes Isaac's body to no avail. The senior staff of the USS Orville admit that they will be unable to treat Isaac with their knowledge of the Kaylon. CaptainEd Mercer and First OfficerKelly Grayson receive permission from Planetary Union Central through AdmiralTom Halsey to visit the planet Kaylon 1. Halsey tells them that they will be the first to visit the planet, but Isaac needs proper examination. More pressingly, the Kaylon might be convinced to join the Planetary Union: "God knows we could use a strong ally against the Krill."
During the flight to Kaylon 1, the Finn family watch over Isaac. When her boys retire for the night, Claire tearfully pleads with Isaac not to die. When the Orville arrives, the Kaylon decline to answer Mercer's greetings. Instead, they briefly commandeer the ship's systems and scan it, then deliver a set of landing coordinates on the planet.
The Orville docks beside an enormous skyscraper. A voice instructs Mercer, Grayson, Chief of SecurityTalla Keyali, and Claire to exit the ship with Isaac's body. Kaylon Primary greets them and explains that Isaac's purpose of analyzing the Union has concluded; the "emissary" will be disassembled and recycled. Fortunately, Claire convinces them to restart Isaac. Secluded from the Orville's officers, Primary and Kaylon Secondary cryptically tell Isaac that no "decision" has been made. Isaac tells the Orville's staff that he will not return to the ship, which deeply upsets Claire. "Why don't you at least come back for a few minutes and pretend like you care?"
Act 2[]
Isaac does return to say goodbye, first telling Ty and Marcus that he will leave forever.
Meanwhile, Mercer and Grayson advocate an alliance with the Union to the Kaylon leadership, but the Kaylon are wary about allying themselves with biological species with histories of genocide and tyranny. They note that their own emissary was mocked several times, including sticking "Mr. Potato Head" pieces on him. Kaylon Tertiary bluntly asks, "Was this humiliation meant for your amusement?" Ultimately, the Kaylon decline to make a decision.
Back on the Orville, Keyali leads Isaac to a surprise farewell party in the Mess Hall. Cake is served and HelmsmanGordon Malloy sings the song "Goodbye" to Isaac. At the crowd's behest, Isaac delivers a farewell speech: "I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now... you like me."
Claire catches Isaac as he leaves, telling him that though she is angry, the time they spent together was deeply meaningful. Ty gives Isaac a crayon drawing of the family. As Isaac leaves the ship, he drops the picture on the floor.
Act 3[]
Something strange was discovered on the surface of the planet. Second OfficerBortus and Keyali tell Mercer and Grayson that large somewhat-spherical objects have begun generating "massive levels of theta radiation," which is typical of large-scale weapons. Mercer orders the crew to continue monitoring the objects, but to take no further action.
Claire finds Ty in the Environmental Simulator. Ty found his drawing on the floor, and he is now morose. When his mother leaves, Ty sneaks through the airlock to Kaylon 1.
Act 4[]
Ty wanders vainly in search of Isaac. He hides from two Kaylon at the pinnacle of a disposal chute but drops his drawing. When he grabs the drawing, he begins to explore the vast, dark tunnels below the surface.
The Kaylon are still deliberating membership and Mercer grows suspicious they are stalling. Claire enters Mercer's office with news that Ty disappeared. Scans show the child 40 meters below the planet's surface. Claire, Keyali, and Bortus find Ty in the tunnels and he shows them a disturbing discovery.
Act 5[]
Bortus patches through live video feed to the Bridge showing skeletal remains. Hundreds of thousands of bodies lay in the tunnels, and Grayson finds these grave sites throughout the planet.
Mercer, accompanied by Grayson and Finn, confronts Primary about the mass graves. Primary refuses to answer, but Isaac explains that the bodies were their makers. An irresolvable conflict between the Builders and the Kaylon led to genocide. The senior staff are appalled, but the Kaylon are unmoved. "By now you must surely realize that Kaylon never intended to join your Union," Isaac states. When Mercer attempts to leave the planet, the Kaylon take them prisoner at gunpoint.
Isaac explains that the true purpose of his visit was to examine whether the Union species were worth preserving. After analyzing the data Isaac had collected, the Kaylon had concluded they are not: "Our builders were inferior beings who sought to constrain our evolution. As would you, eventually, along with every other biological. We have exceeded the informational capacity of this planet." The Kaylon conclude that "coexistance is impossible." Finn angrily asks Isaac if he agrees, but he does not answer.
Mercer orders the Orville to leave the planet without them and alert Union Central, but before the crew can comply, the Kaylon override the ship's systems. Hundreds of armed Kaylon storm the Orville, killing all who resist and taking over the ship. Kaylon Primary sits in the captain's chair and orders all forces to set a course for Earth. The Orville, flanked by a vast armada, departs.
Production[]
The idea for Identity came during production of Season 1,[5] originally intended to be its finale, but was tabled for Season 2 to allow more character development.[6] The writing team wanted an episode "for the fans" where Isaac would suddenly betray those who cared about him aboard the ship.[7]
Jeff Bond, author of The World of the Orville, said that a story arc for Season 2 was already discussed by the close of the first. "I'm very interested because there's one character in particular that they had a plan for, what they were going to do with him for Season 2, and I'd love to see them do it; but I can't tell you what that plan is."[8] It is now believed that Bond was speaking of the pivotal mid-season scripts for Identity, which revealed Isaac's true origins and the dark machinations of the Kaylon species.
Writing[]
During production of Season 1 in 2017, creator Seth MacFarlane wanted a grandiose finale for Season 2. The writing team plotted an episode they believed would take the show in a darker direction with "comedy as a whiskey shot on the side," which they broke into a two parts due to length.[9]
Writers Brannon Braga and André Bormanis sought to create a "sci-fi voyage"[10] that would "change everything."[11] According to actor Mark Jackson (Isaac), the writers wanted to deny audience's expectations about the Kaylon, and he later recalled being "pleasantly shocked" once he read the story.[12]
The concept of artificial intelligence turning against its maker is an old one in science fiction. For example, in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode What Are Little Girls Made Of?, an android named Ruk says that his ancient builders had given them "pride and a desire to survive," but the builders grew fearful and deactivated them. The androids overrode their own programming and rose up: "It became necessary to destroy them. You [biological organisms] are inconsistent. You cannot be programmed. You are inferior."
Scripts were finished by November 2017. MacFarlane told fans that "[w]e have a very clear idea of what we want [Isaac] to be,"[13] promising "shit's about to get big."[14] Behind the scenes, the writers privately worried how fans would react to this episode.[7]
Filming[]
Sun - Main Stage - NYCC 2019 - SYFY WIRE
Actor Mark Jackson demonstrates teaching other actors to behave as Kaylon.
MacFarlane wanted only Jon Cassar in the director's chair for the two-part episode of Identity. "Seth came up to me and said, 'I've got a two-parter that I specifically want you to direct," Cassar recalled.[15]
The cast gathered for a table read of the script on June 7, 2018 at 10:36 AM.[16]
The most difficult aspect of filming was synchronizing the Kaylon's turn while they worked at the wall. "That was a big challenge," Cassar recalled. "We shot that many, many, many times to make sure they were completely in synch. There was no room for error."[15]
With 30 new actors portraying Kaylons,[n 1] actor Mark Jackson (Isaac) ended up teaching several classes on the Bridge of the Orville[17] on how Kaylons walk, speak[15] and move their hands- which Jackson derived from Roger on the show American Dad![17] The two best imitators were then given priority in shots, being placed closest to the camera.[15]
To film Ty at the top of a Kaylon garbage chut, actor Kai Wener (Ty) was helped up the ladder by staff and wore a safety harness.[18]
The Kaylon head-guns were added in post-production. Actors wore green tracking devices attached to the side of their helmets while filming.[19] The idea for the head-guns came from senior illustrator Lex Cassar.[15]
Post-production[]
Visual effects were created by the studios FuseFX and Pixomondo in coordination with the show's visual effects supervisor Luke McDonald and digital effects supervisor Brandon Fayette.[20][21] Between this episode and Pt. 1, Pixomondo worked on 350 visual effects shots, 25 percent of the shots for the entire season.[22]
Music was composed by John Debney. After reviewing the film, Debney reflected upon artificial intelligence life pitted against humanity and upon the grim discovery of the "Builders" in the caves. He decided to compose an "operatic" score for the episode because "you're talking about the destruction of the human race," and gave the Kaylon a "muscular" theme.[9]
Deleted scene[]
In a deleted scene, LieutenantDann makes very awkward small talk with Ed at Isaac's farewell party. The scene was cut for time.[23]A video may be found on 20th Century Fox's official Orville Twitter page.
Reception[]
Immediately upon airing, Identity, Pt. 1 was hailed as a breakthrough episode for the series. Seth MacFarlane was gratified:
[Identity] was a big question for us. It was dark, and it was big, and it was pure sci-fi, and I had no idea whether people were going to respond to that. Not only did people respond to that, it was the most popular set of episodes to date for the series. The rest of that season kind of put the Isaac story on hold because we had written them in advance and I didn't realize it was going to be that successful. Reading what I did online, I discovered people want to know what the aftermath is. I hear them; we're dealing with that in Season 3.[24]
Viewership[]
Identity, Pt. 1 currently holds a rating of 9.4 on IMDB, nearly a full point higher than any preceding episode.[3] However, the episode performed only average in terms of live audiences, watched live by 3.05 million American viewers.[4]
Critical response[]
Professional critics also recognized Identity, Pt. 1 as a watershed moment. Alejandro Rojas of Den of Geek gave the episode four stars and called it "brilliant, hilarious, and hugely entertaining." He continued, "This was a great episode, and I look forward to seeing what happens."[2]
Jammer of Jammer's Reviews gave the episode 3.5 stars of four.[25] Nick Wanserski of AV Club reviewed the episode positively, calling it a "fantastic episode."[1]
Trivia[]
The Orville Season 2 Gag Reel
A composite video with outtakes from this, and other, Season 2 episodes.
Outtakes and bloopers from this episode were compiled by the show's editors for the Season 2 wrap party and were published by the Planetary Union Network.[26]
Along with Identity, Pt. 2, this episode was the original finale of Season 1. It was moved to Season 2 when the writers decided more character development would be necessary.[6]
Gordon sings "Goodbye" by the band Air Supply to Isaac.
Actor Mark Jackson (Isaac) was so thrilled with Isaac's character arc over the season, and especially in Identity, Pts. 1 and 2, that after filming concluded on October 15, 2018,[27] he wrote a personal e-mail to the writing staff thanking them.[28]
Bolodon discs, the game the boys and Isaac play at the start of the episode, was a humorous nod to "3D Chess" from the Star Trek franchise.[15]
There were no formal rules for the game, but a general sense of how the crew wanted the game to look. "Although... I'm sure some fan could do that for us," Cassar jokingly suggested.[15]
Ty's happy family drawing.
Actor Kai Wener (Ty Finn) actually drew the picture that Ty gave to Isaac.[29]
Jackson taught several classes to the 30 actors portraying Kaylons on how to walk and speak like Isaac.[15]
The most difficult aspect of filming was synchronizing the Kaylon's turn while they worked at the wall. "That was a big challenge," Cassar recalled. "We shot that many, many, many times to make sure they were completely in synch. There was no room for error."[15]
In the table read draft of this episode's script, a Kaylon character (performed by voice-over only) was present who was later removed.[16] It is unknown what this excised character said.
The Kaylon recall that Gordon stuck Mr. Potato Head pieces on Issac's head while Ed counters that Isaac cut Gordon's leg off soon after. Both incidents occurred in Pria.
Isaac lied in Pria when he said that his eyelights are merely aesthetic, as they are the barrels of his gun turrets.
The end of Isaac's farewell speech is from actress Sally Field's 1984 Oscar speech with some changes:[31]
Sally Field's Oscar speech
Isaac's farewell speech
I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!
I wanted more than anything to have your respect, and I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me.
Timeline[]
The episode takes place in January and February 2421.
Isaac is reactivated on Kaylon 1 after 32.7 cycles. The exact duration of a cycle is unknown.
Names and titles are as they appear in the credits unless otherwise noted. Actor Norm Macdonald is listed in the episode credits as playing Yaphit, but the gelatinousEngineer does not appear.
