As The Orville travels to Bortus' home planet for an annual purification ceremony Ed discovers that Kelly has started dating someone. Gordon asks John for help asking out the new dark matter cartographer, and Claire's parenting is put to the test.
Bortus' preoccupation with the simulation room impacts his marriage. Meanwhile the ship's observation of the natural end of a solar system leads to the discovery of a small colony in desperate need of rescue.
Ed's vacation with his new flame is interrupted when their shuttle is captured by the Krill, leaving him face-to-face with and old foe. Gordon informs Kelly that he wants to take the Command Test.
When The Orville responds to a radio signal the crew is eager to make first contact with a technologically emerging society – only to see two of their own taken into custody by the superstitious government.
Claire decides to take her affection for Isaac to the next level by asking him out on a date, initiating a relationship that she knows he might not be capable of.
Bortus is disrupted when an old boyfriend, a Moclan engineer, arrives to upgrade the Orville's deflector systems. Kelly takes her relationship in a new direction, and Lt. Keyali makes a new friend.
Isaac's sudden deactivation prompts the crew to undertake a risky mission to his home planet, where they hope to convince the Kaylon to join the Union. But they soon learn that the artificial species has plans of their own.
Forced to escort a hostile alien fleet towards Earth, Captain Mercer and his crew struggle to find a way to avert a coming catastrophe – and Isaac must decide once and for all where his loyalties lie.
Ed and the crew are sent to initiate peace talks with the Krill, but the mission is complicated when they take on board an old friend of Gordon's – held prisoner for 20 years and set on sabotaging the peace.
When the Orville crew opens up a time capsule from the year 2015 Gordon is smitten by a woman who left her cell phone for the future to find – even creating a simulation of her life so that he can meet her.
A mishap with a piece of cutting-edge technology brings a second Kelly onto the ship from seven years in the past, when her relationship with Ed was brand new – stirring up conflict with Commander Grayson and who she has become.
In an alternate timeline Ed Mercer and Gordon Malloy fight to survive in a galaxy overrun by the Kaylon – until Kelly shows up with a pirate ship and a plan to undo her fateful decision.
