Trama

Newly promoted Captain, Ed, is taken aback when his ex-wife is assigned as his First Officer.

In the 25th century, gifted galactic alliance fleet officer Ed Mercer;, who went rogue after a divorce over his wife's adultery with an alien, finally gets a shot at a command due to lack of qualified officers. The new star-ship captain eagerly recruits maverick buddy lieutenant Gordon Malloy and is reasonably happy with his incomplete, multi-species staff, setting out to pick up a yet to assign first officer on their first mission. As Malloy predicts, he freaks when he learns his XO is his ex Kelly Grayson, but can't wriggle out. The mission is not actually delivering supplies to a spatial labs-spangled space station, that was leading Dr. Aronov's cover for seeking assistance with his local time manipulation device, which has great economic but also military potential. As feared, the enemy Krill empire got wind of it and his a ship waiting for them, even a traitor in the lab. The new crew works together so well, Mercer reconsiders splitting it up.—KGF Vissers

ACT 1

The show opens with an establishing shot of New York City in the year 2418. Ed Mercer arrives by commuter pod to his apartment. He hears his wife, Kelly Grayson, giggle from the bedroom. He opens the door to find Kelly in bed with a Retepsian named Darulio. She pleads to talk with him but he returns to the pod and leaves.

A year later, Admiral Halsey summons Mercer to his office in Planetary Union Central. Halsey acknowledges that Mercer's performance in the past year has markedly declined, tardiness and sloppy workmanship hurt Mercer's record, but "the Union needs captains" and offers Mercer command of the USS Orville, a mid-level exploratory cruiser. Mercer hurries to find Gordon Malloy, a former pilot, and enlists him as helmsman of his new ship.

Mercer and Malloy fly to the Union Dockyard orbiting Earth, where the Orville awaits.

ACT 2

In the ship's Shuttle Bay, Mercer introduces himself the crew of the ship. He meets the senior staff: Chief of Security Alara Kitan, Navigator John LaMarr, Second Officer Bortus, Chief Medical Officer Claire Finn, and Science and Engineering Officer Isaac.

Before departure in the afternoon, LaMarr meets Malloy in his quarters. Malloy explains that he was disciplined for damaging a Union craft with a risky flight maneuver. "I was trying to impress a girl," he admits. Halsey tours the ship's interior with Mercer one final time before wishing the captain good luck.

The Orville departs the Dockyard and embarks on its first mission under the new captain.

ACT 3

The bridge crew discuss their mission to resupply the Epsilon Science Station on the colony planet Epsilon 2. While on route, Halsey sends orders to briefly rendezvous with a nearby station to pick up their new First Officer. Mercer reads the new addition's name and stampedes to his office.

Mercer calls Halsey, incensed that the new First Officer is none other than his ex-wife, Kelly Grayson. Halsey dispassionately replies that complaining about the placement on his first day "will not look good," and Mercer is stuck with the decision.

Grayson tepidly enters Mercer's office and apologizes for her affair. She continues that she requested the transfer to Mercer's ship to atone for her behavior, but the conversation quickly devolves into an argument about their relationship prior to the divorce. Grayson concludes by saying that she will transfer to another ship as soon as an opening becomes available.

Grayson meets Malloy in the hall. She hopes that their relationship will be professional considering that Malloy and Mercer are close friends.

ACT 4

The Orville arrives at Epsilon 2. From the Bridge, Mercer speaks with the station's overseer, Doctor Aronov. Aronov looks panicked; the station needs no supplies, but the request was sent for an urgent matter that he will only discuss on Epsilon's surface.

A small away team to the planet is formed: Mercer, Grayson, Finn, and Kitan. Aronov gives them a brief tour of the facility, including giving Mercer a handful of modified redwood seeds that can can grow into a tree in any environment.

Aronov ushers the team into a wing of the facility where temporal fields are studied. A recent breakthrough has led to the creation of quantum accelerator, a device that can accelerate time inside a "quantum bubble." Janice Lee, a physicist researcher, demonstrates by aging a month-old banana to 100 years in only seconds. Kitan realizes that the accelerator is more than scientific equipment, it can be used as a weapon to turn "entire armies into frail armies."

Suddenly, a nearby lab technician pulls out a PM-32 and demands the accelerator.

ACT 5

The technician is Derek Ashton, an undercover Krill spy. He calls for a Krill destroyer to raid the facility and steal the device. From the Orville, Bortus attempts to communicate with Mercer, but Ashton forces Mercer to say the Krill come in peace.

Kitan manages to subdue Ashton. The team grabs the accelerator and flees to the shuttle, pursued hotly by Krill soldiers. In space, the Orville (now aware of the situation), distracts the superior Krill ship by firing on it.

Safe on the shuttle, Finn dresses Mercer's shoulder injury--he was shot while running to the shuttle. Nearly at the Orville, the team is interrupted by a Krill soldier who managed to board the shuttle and hide.

ACT 6

The soldier holds the shuttle at gunpoint with a Plasma Rifle, demanding the device. Mercer decelerates rapidly and the inertia sends the soldier flying into the front of the ship. The shuttle parks in the Orville's Shuttle Bay, and the away team hurries to the Bridge.

Though the Orville was able to distract the Krill destroyer, the spatial coils are badly damaged and the ship is no longer able to match the destroyer in battle. The Krill captain demands the device lest the Orville be destroyed.

Grayson schemes to place a redwood seed inside the quantum accelerator and send the device to the Krill by remote shuttle. Mercer gives the activation code to the Krill captain, which activates the device and causes the seed to grow rapidly into a massive redwood tree, destroying the enemy ship.

In Mercer's office, Grayson announces that she will transfer to another ship. Mercer admits that Grayson is a brilliant officer, whose talents the Orville cannot afford to lose. Problems stemming from the divorce can be overlooked.

Grayson meets Halsey in his office in New York to thank him for her position. It is revealed that she requested that Mercer was promoted to captain of the Orville.