When I first watched Orville, I thought it was fun, but I couldn't figure out what it wanted to be...was it a parody, a comedy, a legitimate sci-fi drama? It obviously borrows so heavily from Star Trek that I thought it was a straight up parody. Then I began to realize that regardless of what it was, I liked it far better than any version of Star Trek. It stood well on it's own right. And the later episodes have been getting better and better. This one had by far the funniest comedy, thanks to smoking Bortus, and yet it was easily the most touching of the episodes to date. I think we can all relate to Gordon...he's likeable, and down to earth, and things rarely go his way, just like many of us. I think he reacted to the circumstances in this episode just about exactly as any of us would have, and that's what made it great.