orville
THE ORVILLE: L-R: Adrianne Palicki, Seth MacFarlane, Scott Grimes, Chad L. Coleman, guest star Kyra Santoro, Peter Macon J Lee, guest star Blesson Watson and Jessica Szohr in the ÒA Happy RefrainÓ episode of THE ORVILLE airing Thursday, Jan. 31 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2018 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Jordan Althaus/FOX

It’s almost time for a new episode of ‘The Orville!’  This week’s episode, titled ‘A Happy Refrain,’ is described thusly by Fox:

The Orville crew is surprised when Claire’s personal life takes an unexpected turn, and Gordon makes an unusual grooming suggestion to Bortus in the all-new “A Happy Refrain” episode of THE ORVILLE airing Thursday, Jan. 31 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Check out the trailer for the episode below, along with 9 still photos from the episode, also provided by Fox.

OBSERVATIONS:

  • Between the episode description and the trailer, it seems fairly clear that Claire and Isaac are going on a date together.  Neither character is shown in the photos of the concert, so it may appear that their date happens either while something else is going on for the rest of the crew, or they are seated in a different area for the concert.  Perhaps they are off bowling in the holodeck, as a picture below seems to suggest Isaac does at some point?
  • The “unusual grooming suggestion” seems pretty plain from the photos: Bortus has a rockin’ moustache!
  • Jessica Szohr, who plays new Chief of Security Talla, said this in a recent interview: “There is a little flirtation that comes maybe this week or the following, and it’s the whole underlining issue in the episode. It’s really good. I had to take some dance lessons for that episode.”  It sounds like she has her episodes mixed up a bit mentally, so it’s hard to say if she’s speaking about this week’s episode or next week’s.
  • In the main photo shown above, you can see a guest-star sitting in the second row in between Klyden and Bortus: it’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kyra Santoro, who was shown in one short-but-memorable scene last season as Ensign Turco, after she “hooked up” with LaMarr.  No word if she’s back for an expanded role or just another quick scene, but it’s fun to see Seth MacFarlane’s committment to his secondary characters!
  • The concert in question is apparently the Union Symphony, according to captions from the Fox photo.  No word on if the symphony has come to The Orville, whether the ship is at an outpost or back to Earth, if this is some sort of holodeck-recording like a TV show, or something else entirely.