Midnight Blue

## Chronological Order

***Midnight Blue*** is the eighth episode of the third season of *The Orville*. When Kelly Grayson and Bortus visit the Sanctuary for an inspection, Topa tags along. But the leader of the Sanctuary has plans for Topa which jeopardize the delicate agreement between Moclus and the rest of the Planetary Union.

*Midnight Blue* was written by producers Brannon Braga and André Bormanis and directed by Jon Cassar. The title refers to the unique color of the blue luminite, a rare insect said to bring good fortune on the Sanctuary, which Heveena compares to Topa. Music was composed by Joel McNeely.

As of May 2, 2023, the episode holds a 8.1 rating on IMDb.

## Plot

### Act 1

Second Officer Bortus shows up late to drinks with First Officer Kelly Grayson in the mess hall. Bortus is having issues connecting with Topa. She is interested in a male but shuts Bortus out. Kelly offers her perspective, and Bortus quickly ropes her into speaking with Topa. Kelly finds Topa in her room. Topa asks how to tell if a boy likes her, proceeding to open up about her crush. Kelly advises Topa to talk with him. Topa enters Engineering and approaches Helmsman Gordon Malloy. Topa expresses her romantic interest in Gordon and asks him to dinner. Gordon slowly realizes Topa is asking him on a date and politely declines.

In the Briefing Room, Admiral Tom Halsey orders Kelly and Bortus to conduct a joint inspection with Commander Kodon of The Sanctuary - a refuge for female Moclans. The Moclans eye Heveena, leader of The Sanctuary, with suspicion, and Kodon will be looking for any indication that she is smuggling young females in.

In the Armory, Kelly and Bortus discuss whether to bring weapons to the Sanctuary, when Topa asks if she can accompany them. Bortus reluctantly agrees.

### Act 2

Topa, Bortus, and Grayson head to the Sanctuary. The Moclans have already landed on the planet. Upon landing, Bortus and Grayson confront Kodon for conducting his survey early. When Kodon learns Topa is present, he cruelly calls her a disgusting creation, then departs to his ship to monitor the Planetary Union's survey from orbit.

The three meet Heveena in the Sanctuary, who is listening to Dolly Parton. Bortus introduces Topa. Heveena calls her inspiring and teaches her about Dolly Parton, the voice of their revolution. That night, the women celebrate with food and dance. Topa wishes to stay longer, but Bortus promises they will return one day. Topa leaves to watch the luminites. Heveena shows up and says that luminites come in many colors, and blue ones are especially rare and bring good fortune. She gifts her a lava-stone necklace, then propositions Topa to help their cause. She makes Topa promise not to tell anyone. Heveena says that the Sanctuary is breaking the agreement by bringing in new females. The current way to bring in new females is slow, but if Topa relayed encrypted messages to a contact on Moclus, that process would be sped up. Heveena departs back to the party.

Topa follows a blue luminite into the forest. Suddenly, someone grabs her: A Moclan soldier, hauling her to a shuttle.

### Act 3

Heveena has been regaling Bortus and Kelly with stories all night, and it is time for the Union officers to return to the USS *Orville*. The two realize Topa is missing and The Sanctuary begins a frantic search. Kelly finds the lava-stone necklace on the ground.

As dawn breaks, Kelly and Bortus jump into their shuttle but realize someone has tampered with it. They detect an ion trail in space, which hints at Topa's location. They can either return to the Orville or try to find Topa themselves.

In the Moclan shuttle, Kodon mocks and threatens Topa.

On the Orville, Ed grows anxious after a lack of communication from Kelly and Bortus and orders entry into The Sanctuary, knowingly violating the agreement.

### Act 4

The Orville picks up Heveena. Ed tells her he is skeptical that she knows nothing about Topa's whereabouts. She reluctantly confesses that she enlisted Topa to help bring female Moclans to the Sanctuary. Topa knows the name of the contact on Moclus and the details of their encrypted conversations. Ed is furious for so egregiously violating the agreement, jeopardizing a precarious peace. Ed reports the problem to Admiral Tom Halsey. Tom suggests that Heveena testify before the Planetary Union Council, but Heveena throws a wrench in the plan when she vows to deny everything.

Bortus and Kelly follow the Moclans to the Zonari system.

Talla takes Heveena to Simulator 1 for a program featuring Dolly Parton in her cabin. After a bit of probing by Dolly, Heveena admits that she has put Topa's life in danger for a greater good. They connect when the two learn they were each raised in the mountains, and Dolly shares an anecdote about her childhood. Dolly sings a song, "Try." After, Heveena changes her mind and agrees to testify.

The Moclan shuttle arrives at a secret military facility in the Zonari system. Topa is taken to a room with a single chair and a disfigured Moclan male. He tells her she has conspired to undermine the foundations of their society and she knows the identity of a secret contact on Moclus. He asks for the traitor's name and strikes when she refuses.

Bortus and Kelly arrive at the planet, cloak their shuttle, and land. They grab weapons and approach the facility on foot.

Meanwhile, the Orville arrives at the Union Dockyard in orbit around Earth. Heveena confesses her crime to the Council in the hope Topa will be saved. President Alcuzan announces an investigation, but the Moclan delegation protests.

Bortus and Kelly attempt to jump a riven on their way to the facility, but Kelly falls and tears a ligament in her shoulder. Kelly apologizes for talking Bortus into bringing Topa. Bortus says he values Kelly's presence in his daughter's life. They look into each other's eyes before marching out. The interrogator beats Topa. He produces a Krill torture device which creates "unbearable agony" in a victim, and he begins to hurt her. Kelly and Bortus take out the guard in front of the facility and enter, clearing out soldiers along the way. Meanwhile, a beaten Topa gives up the name and the encryption frequencies. The Moclans plan to kill her, but Kelly and Bortus rescue her just in time. Bortus is enraged to see Topa hurt, and, ignoring Kelly's order to stand down, he beats the interrogator severely and blinds him by shoving the torture device into his eye. Bortus leaves the interrogator alive, and the three of them abscond to their shuttle. They take off, hotly pursued by *O'kta*-class fighters, but manage to escape.

In a conference room in the Council, the Moclan ambassador argues with Ed, Tom, Admiral Ozawa, and Helmsman Gordon Malloy. Gordon wearies of the ambassador's talking and yells at him. The incident incites the ambassador to appear before the Council to announce the agreement is off. Just then, Kelly, Bortus, and Topa enter. They reveal that Topa was tortured and nearly murdered at a Moclan black site. Delegates from other species silently stand in solidarity with Topa.

That night, Kelly, Ed, Heveena, and Bortus wait in a Council room. Heveena apologizes to Bortus. Tom enters and announces that a provisional vote reveals the Moclans have been expelled from the Union. Tom continues that the "divorce" is going to be messy, new political alliances will be forged and old ones tested. The Union will claim the Sanctuary as its own.

In Sick Bay, Doctor Claire Finn determines that Topa will be physically fine but psychologically scarred. Unexpectedly, Klyden enters. When he heard what happened, he boarded the first transport vessel he could find. Topa is happy her father returned. In tears, Klyden admits he has said "very hurtful things" and refuses to allow Topa to forgive him. He has recanted his beliefs and accepts her. They say they love each other, and Klyden kisses her forehead.

That evening, Klyden, Bortus, and Topa enjoy a meal. Kelly enters to welcome Klyden back. The Moclan family has renounced their citizenship and will remain on the Orville. Just as she is about to leave, Klyden invites her to dinner.

## Production

The preview of the episode was completed by March 13, 2020. However, due to the global Covid-19 pandemic shutting down production, this episode was not filmed until May 2021.

New restrictions and scheduling conflicts due to Covid-19, as well as three pregnant co-stars, made filming Season 3's remaining five episodes extremely difficult. As a result, the production leaders decided to shoot all of the five episodes at the same time, an unprecedented and surprising move. "It's unbelievably difficult," director Jon Cassar reported in May 2021. "But we're doing it. We're holding onto the tone."

Despite Cassar being credited for directing this episode, the challenges of shooting during a global pandemic meant both MacFarlane and Cassar directed scenes as time and schedules allowed. "It's almost like we're co-directing at this point," Cassar surmised.

## Trivia

* At approximately an hour and 27 minutes long, including all credits but not commercials, this episode is by far the longest of both the third season and *The Orville* to date, eclipsing the next-longest episode, *A Tale of Two Topas*, by approximately 11 minutes. The episode is approximately the length of two episodes of previous seasons.
* The song played during the nighttime festival is an instrumental version of, "Jolene", one of Dolly Parton's most famous songs.
* The episode is unusual in that several starring cast members are seen only briefly:
	+ John LaMarr's only lines come in the scene where Topa asks Gordon Malloy for a date.
	+ Isaac has only a single line regarding a scan he is running.
	+ Claire Finn appears only once, healing Topa and telling Bortus she will need counseling.
	+ Charly Burke only once appears on the Bridge, questioning Ed's orders to enter the nebula and thus violate the treaty.
* In "Inside Midnight Blue," a bonus feature available on Hulu, co-writer André Bormanis describes Topa as having hero worship for Heveena and her taking advantage of that, to her discredit. Creator Seth MacFarlane describes the relationship between Bortus and Kelly as a big one for the season, and one that snuck up on the show's crew, but nevertheless one of his favorite relationships in the series. Regarding the character of Klyden, actor Chad L. Coleman describes him as someone who is hurting tremendously and who just wants to make it right.
* The episode was Peter Macon's (Bortus) favorite of Season 3 to shoot.

### References

* Heveena became a fan of Dolly Parton the prior year in the episode *Sanctuary*.
	+ When Topa, Bortus, and Kelly first enter her home, Heveena is playing Parton's song "Nine to Five." The song features heavily in *Sanctuary.*
	+ The song that Parton performs in the Environmental Simulator is "Try" from her 2014 album *Blue Smoke*.
* During Topa's interrogation and torture, the interrogator says to her, "The wound is the place where the light enters you." This is a popular translation from the *Masnavi* by the 13th-century poet, Rumi. However, that translation into English is noted to be quite inaccurate. The line which supposedly says, "The wound is the place where the light enters you," is پرتو مرهم بر آنجا تافتست, in Farsi, which actually means, "The light radiates there and heals." The rest of the section is as follows:

```
*I said: what about my eyes? He said: Keep them on the road.*

```

```
*I said: What about my passion?*

```

```
*He said: Keep it burning.*

```

```
*I said: What about my heart?*

```

```
*He said: Tell me what you hold inside it?*

```

```
*I said: Pain and sorrow.*

```

```
*He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you.*

```

### Timeline

* *Midnight Blue* takes place in the year 2422.
	+ This episode takes places "almost a year" following the events of *Sanctuary.*
		- While the exact month is unknown, the episode Mortality Paradox probably took place in June or July 2422. If we assume about one month passes between episodes, then this episode takes place around November or December.
* Topa joins Kelly in Simulator 2 at 1800 hours.
* Two days pass from between the Orville's orders to go to the Sanctuary and its arrival.

## Cast

The following cast list is drawn from a variety of sources and is not officially confirmed.

### Main cast

* Seth MacFarlane as Capt. Ed Mercer
* Adrianne Palicki as Cmdr. Kelly Grayson
* Peter Macon as Lt. Cmdr. Bortus
* J. Lee as Lt. Cmdr. John LaMarr (*as J Lee*)
* Jessica Szohr as Lt. Talla Keyali
* Penny Johnson Jerald as Dr. Claire Finn
* Scott Grimes as Lt. Gordon Malloy
* Mark Jackson as Isaac
* Anne Winters as Ensign Charly Burke

### Recurring cast

* Imani Pullum as Topa
* Chad L. Coleman as Klyden
* Rena Owen as Heveena
* Victor Garber as Admiral Tom Halsey
* Kelly Hu as Admiral Ozawa
* Bruce Boxleitner as President Alcuzan
* Andi Chapman as Admiral Howland
* Wren T. Brown as Capt. Rechik
* Lisa Banes as Speria Balask
* Mike Henry as Lt. Dann
* Jim Mahoney as Brosk
* Noshir Dalal as Inquisitor
* Norm Macdonald as Lt. Yaphit
* Yvonne Senat Jones as Osaia

### Special guest cast

* Dolly Parton as Dolly Parton
* Mark Berry as Cmdr. Kodon

### Guest cast

* Mia Moore as Moclan Girl
* Henry Frost III as Moclan Soldier #2

### Uncredited

* Jaylen Davis as Moclan
* Frederick Falk as Delegate
* Gordon Tarpley as Alien Ambassador
* Corinne van den Heuvel as Ensign

## Gallery

### Videos

The Orville- New Horizons - Sneak Peek Episode 8 - Midnight Blue - HuluInside the Orville- Midnight Blue - Hulu

## References

1. ↑ *The Orville* Season 3 Episode List. IMDb. Retrieved on August 20, 2022.
2. ↑ This Too Shall Pass. Category5 TV Network. April 2020.
3. ↑ @imjaylendavis. "Don’t miss Orville next year! My first speaking role in 2021 all the way back in May and I had an absolute blast!! Catch it 3/10/2022
#actor #theorville". Instagram. Oct. 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jon Cassar Beams In To Chat The Orville's Third Season. Trekzone. May 19, 2021.
5. ↑ THE ORVILLE PANEL (Adrianne Palicki, Peter Macon) – Terrificon 2022. Terrificon. Aug. 3, 2022.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Episode #3.8. IMDB. Last accessed May 5, 2023.