How much is our empathy informed by our memories?.
None of the parts are really great, IMHO, but the show somehow is greater than the sum of its parts.
I’ll put it down to the writing. The writing is sure-footed, accomplished, mature, tasteful.
I came to say just the opposite: the show is lesser than the sum of its parts. It’s not cerebral, it’s just boring.
The acting is above par, the characters are semi-interesting, the screenwriting shoots mostly above the bar. And yet somehow…yawn city. All the qualities you mentioned regarding the writing are exactly why it trods along; at the end of the day, the drama is just not gripping. And I so wanted to like it, don’t ask me why.
It can’t even get a theme song right. Go ahead…whistle/hum/sing it. I’ll wait. Five dollars say you can’t even remember it.
Oh, and I liked The Orville. A lot.