With its future still in doubt, The Orville needs a season 4 to resolve the plot threads left dangling by the season 3 finale. The Orville season 3 ended with a finale entitled "Future Unknown," which referred to the real-world status of Seth MacFarlane's sci-fi comedy-drama as much as it did the show's fictional universe. Since the finale aired in August 2022, there has been no confirmation of a new season entering production, but there's a glimmer of hope in the fact that The Orville's cancelation hasn't been officially confirmed either.
The ongoing uncertainty about future episodes makes the title of The Orville's season 3 finale more meaningful but it's also frustrating for fans who want answers to the show's many unanswered questions. For example, while Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald) and Isaac (Mark Jackson) have tied the knot, there's still a lot of dramatic and comic potential in stories about how the android adjusts to marriage. More than that, season 3 saw the Planetary Union lose two key allies to radical politics, resulting in an alliance that posed a huge threat to the future of the galaxy. There are many more stories to tell, and here just some of the unresolved storylines that make The Orville season 4 worth doing.
Ed And Kelly Need A Happy The Orville Ending
The relationship between Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and his ex-wife Kelly Grayson (Adrienne Palicki) has been at the core of The Orville from the very start. The breakdown of Ed and Kelly's marriage inadvertently created an alternate Orville timeline, and their brief romantic reconciliation resulted in Ed risking his career to protect Kelly. The central conflict between the former husband and wife went from anger over Kelly's affair with Derulio (Rob Lowe) to whether they could both have a romantic relationship and serve on the same starship in command roles.
It's clear that both Ed and Kelly still love each other deeply, but are prioritizing the needs of their crew and the Union by ignoring these feelings. At the end of The Orville season 3, there was a hint at yet another reconciliation when they held hands at Claire and Isaac's wedding. The Orville season 4 should be about Ed and Kelly finally finding a way to balance their dangerous jobs as Union officers with their relationship, completing their romantic arc and finally giving them a happy ending.
The Krill And Moclan Alliance Is Still A Huge Threat To The Orville
After the Moclans were expelled from the Union for their barbaric treatment of women, and more specifically Bortus' (Peter Macon) daughter Topa (Imani Pullum), they sought an alliance with the Krill. The war with the Kaylon had led to more peaceful relationship between the Krill and the Union, but this collapsed when the general populace voted in favor of Teleya (Michaela McManus), a radicalized fascist leader, and former lover of Ed. The alliance between the Moclans and the Krill almost led to genocide against the Kaylon, which was averted by the noble sacrifice of Charly, who was killed off in The Orville season 3's penultimate episode, "Domino".
The Moclans are clearly a strong military ally, which is why the Union turned a blind eye to their misogynystic culture for so long. Now that they're in league with the Union's enemies the Krill, the fierce alliance threatens the fragile galactic peace established by the end of The Orville season 3. Despite Teleya being arrested by the Union, there's still a lot of ground to cover in an overarching season 4 story about the Union attempting to destabilize the Krill and Moclan alliance. It would provide strong dramatic material for The Orville's Moclan family - Topa and her fathers Bortus and Klyden (Chad L. Coleman), who have all turned their backs on their species.
Ed's Daughter's Story Is Still Unresolved
It was revealed in The Orville's dark season 3 episode "Gently Falling Rain" that Ed had fathered a daughter with Teleya while she was posing as a Union officer aboard the Orville. The half-human, half-Krill child, Anaya (Charlie Townsend) was kept a secret from both Ed, and the wider Krill society. The Union hoped that Anaya could be a symbol of peaceful relations between humans and Krill, but Teleya refused to go public with the information and Ed was left believing that he may never see his daughter again.
The Orville season 4 should revisit this storyline because, with Teleya in a Union prison, it's unclear exactly what will happen to Anaya. Ed could use the absence of Teleya to rescue his daughter from living her childhood in hiding. Given that he risked his career to protect Kelly, it would be interesting to see just how far Ed would go to save his own daughter.
As evidenced by The Orville's high Rotten Tomatoes score, there's a lot of love for MacFarlane's show. And there's too much potential in the story of Ed rescuing his daughter playing out against the backdrop of the Krill and Moclan alliance to ignore. Better yet, the rescue of Anaya could be the very thing that finally brings Ed and Kelly back together, as they find responsibilities elsewhere. There are still so many stories to tell about the crew of the Orville that it would be hugely disappointing not to see them play out if The Orville season 4 never comes to pass.