Dolly Parton (character)

> *I am a great admirer of your poetry.
> Oh, I'm not sure I'd call it poetry. It's just some songs, but I like doing it.*— Heveena and Dolly Parton
>
>

**Dolly Parton** was a singer, songwriter and actress active during the 20th and 21st centuries, known for her support of women's rights. Her songs and music would help to inspire a revolution lead by the Moclan female author Heveena to protect other Moclan females on a sanctuary planet. Dolly's works would continue to inspire Heveena during her writings and she would eventually have the opportunity to meet a simulation of Dolly.

## History

### Inspiring a revolution

In 2421, Heveena was introduced to the music of Dolly Parton by Ed Mercer of the USS Orville. As the two were riding together in a shuttlecraft, he explained to her that she could use the vessel's computer to access Earth's cultural database, where she would find centuries of art of all kinds from the women of Earth. She tapped the controls and ended up accessing a recording of Dolly's song "9 to 5."

Hearing the song, Heveena was inspired, stating that Dolly spoke with the might of a hundred soldiers. Despite Ed's discomfort with the idea, she declared that Dolly was to be the voice of her revolution to protect Moclan females. Later, Heveena addressed the Planetary Union Council, quoting lyrics from "9 to 5," much to the chagrin of Ed and the confusion of Admiral Tom Halsey, who was seated next to him. Later, after Heveena had established her sanctuary planet, she asked Ed if he supposed that Dolly Parton would be proud of them. He smiled broadly and nodded, agreeing that she would.

### Meeting a legend

In the next year, 2422, Heveena had settled into leadership on her sanctuary planet. She continued to be inspired by the works of Dolly Parton, listening to them while writing and playing them for the members of the colony. Her planet and the Moclans had reached an agreement, that Heveena was not to smuggle anymore females to the sanctuary and, in return, they were to leave it in peace. To enforce this, both the Planetary Union and the Moclan authorities were allowed an annual inspection to ensure that both sides were abiding by the terms of the agreement. When the time came for the inspection, the Orville sent a team consisting of Commander and First Officer Kelly Grayson along with Lieutenant Commander Bortus.

Bortus was himself a Moclan, but served the Planetary Union and did not always see eye-to-eye with the Moclan government. He had, in fact, recently permitted his child, Topa, to undergo surgery to transition back to female after having undergone surgery to change to male at birth. Topa pleaded to come along on the inspection, as she had learned of Heveena and was an admirer. After some cajoling and at the urging of Kelly, Bortus relented. Once on the colony, Topa met with Heveena and told her how much she admired her. Heveena in return told Topa that her story was an inspiration. She then entrusted her with a secret and a secret mission: that she was again secretly smuggling Moclans to the planet and wanted Topa to use the Orville's advanced communications array to send and receive transmissions from her contact on Moclus. However, the Moclan inspection team then kidnapped Topa in order to try to force the secret contact from her.

When the crew of the Orville were unable to raise the inspection team, Ed ordered the ship to the sanctuary planet. He then spoke with Heveena and became convinced she was hiding something. She admitted that she had enlisted Topa in her secret mission. Ed chastised her for using a child to do her work. He asked to her to go before the Union Council and reveal what she had done so that they could force the Moclans to cooperate in an investigation. She refused, stating that she would not risk revealing her contact and thus endangering the mission. Ed then had her escorted to the Environmental Simulator, telling her there was someone she wanted her to meet.

Upon entering the simulator, Heveena found herself in a homely country cabin. Shortly afterwards, Dolly Parton entered. Stunned, Heveena declared "By the gods!" She bowed, but Dolly told her that she didn't need to, that she wasn't all that. She told her that she was glad to meet her, that she had heard great things about her. Steeling herself, however, Heveena told her that she was not real, that she was an illusion and that she knew what Ed was trying to do. Dolly then revealed that she knew that she was, in fact, a simulation, saying that she had been programmed from historical records and data. She told Heveena that she might not be real, but was still all Dolly.

She told Heveena to sit and take a load off, that she heard she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She asked her if she wanted to talk about it and Heveena told her it was complicated. She admitted that she had put a young girl's life in danger to achieve a greater good and that saving her would put more female lives at risk. Dolly agreed that this was was complicated, asking her if she knew where she was. She explained that Heveena was in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee in a cabin much like she had grown up in. Heveena told her she had also been raised in the mountains. "Another mountain girl!" smiled Dolly, saying that she knew there was some reason she liked her.

Dolly then told Heveena a story of her youth, about having cut her toe and having been healed. She explained that because they were miles from the nearest doctor, her mother healed the wound herself. Heveena, however, told her that she didn't understand the meaning of the parable, but Dolly told her that it didn't really mean anything, that it was just a story. She said that one thing that was true, though, was that her mother knew something needed to be done right away and that if you do the right thing here and now, the future has a way of taking care of itself. She then asked Heveena if she minded her playing a little bit. Heveena told her that she would be honored, that she was a great admirer of her poetry. Dolly told her that she wasn't sure if it was poetry, just some songs, but she liked doing it. She then played her song "Try" from her 2014 album *Blue Smoke*.

Shortly afterward, Heveena went to Ed and agreed to testify. The Orville set a course for Earth, but Heveena's testimony only enraged the Moclans, who tried to have her arrested. Ultimately, however, Kelly and Bortus returned with a badly beaten Topa, who had been tortured by the Moclans and nearly killed. Seeing this, the Union Council expelled Moclus from the Planetary Union and placed the Sanctuary colony under Union protection.

## Behind the scenes

* Dolly Parton is credited as a Special Guest Star for her appearance as a simulated version of herself in "Midnight Blue."
* De-aging technology was used for Dolly Parton's appearance in "Midnight Blue." She commented that it was an honor to appear on the series, stating that "I might be as old as yesterday, but with all this new technology they make me look as new as tomorrow!" When asked in an interview following Season 3 which visual effect of the season he was most proud of, show creator Seth MacFarlane cited the Dolly Parton sequence, stating that it had been done exquisitely by FuseFX.
* Dolly Parton's appearance in the episode was described as a huge challenge due to COVID-19 safety requirements. In an interview with Screen Rant, director Jon Cassar describes Seth MacFarlane as being "a dog with a bone" when it came to Dolly Parton's appearance in the episode, stating that there was no way he was giving up on Dolly, "no way at all." As scenes were not shot in any particular order, wrangling went on for months until Seth got her to say yes and she was very excited about doing it. The cabin in which Dolly and Heveena appear was virtually built in Los Angeles, cut in half and then half of it sent by truck. Dolly knew her dialogue inside and out, loved the storytelling and connected with Heveena's actress, Rena Owen, almost right away.

## Appearances

* *Episode 2x12: Sanctuary* (first mentioned)
* *Episode 3x08: Midnight Blue* (first appearance, as simulation)

## References

1. ↑ Midnight Blue
2. ↑ Episode 2x12: Sanctuary
3. ↑ Episode 3x08: Midnight Blue
4. ↑ Peterpaul, Robert (July 22, 2022). Dolly Parton Comments On De-Aging Tech Used For The Orville Cameo. Screen Rant. Retrieved on July 24, 2022.
5. ↑ Mitovich, Matt (August 10, 2022). *The Orville*'s Seth MacFarlane Explains Drama-Free Finale — And Why the Hulu Series' First F-Bomb Was Defused. TV Line. Retrieved on August 13, 2022.
6. ↑ Levine, Gina (August 5, 2022). How Dolly Parton's The Orville Season 3 Cameo Happened. Screen Rant. Retrieved on August 7, 2022.