Orville vs. STD and Gifted vs. Inhumans

There are four new series I’ve been watching. Two of them are science fiction, one in the mold of classic Star Trek, the other actual Star Trek, but a very different take on it. The other two are series based on Marvel mutants, one in the X-Men universe, the other bringing the Inhumans to the screen for the first time. Both pairs offer interesting contrasts.The OrvilleStar Trek Discoveryis funnyis serioushas likeable charactershas unlikeable charactersuses science fiction to explore social issuesdirectly comments on social issuesgives multiple characters focus in different episodesfocuses on one or two characters to the exclusion of the othersrespects the source materialcontradicts the source materialstory over stylestyle over story

I’m hopeful that The Orville will continue to deliver solid quality, and haven’t written off Discovery yet, though it badly needs to improve.The Gifted

Marvel’s Inhumansfast pacedslow pacedsolid actingwooden actingcharacters have interesting abilitiescharacters don’t even use their abilitiescharacters are relatable: the oppressed minoritycharacters are unrelatable: alien royaltyvillain is evil, but realisticvillain is a jerk, and it’s unbelievable that anyone would follow him

The Gifted is (so far) the kind of show that, at the end of the hour, has me thinking “What, that was an hour?” The Inhumans, on the other hand, has been awful from the start, and four hours in, has barely improved.

#marvelsinhumans #StarTrekDiscovery #thegifted #theorville