‘The Orville’ Season 1, Episode 7: Ed’s Crew Looks For Missing Anthropologists

‘The Orville’ cast — Kelly (Adrianne Palicki), Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald), Alara (Halston Sage) and John (J. Lee) look for two missing Union anthropologists in Season 1, episode 7 of “The Orville.” Fox/Michael Becker

Ed launches a search mission in the next episode of “The Orville.”

According to the synopsis for Season 1, episode 7 of the Fox series, two Union anthropologists go missing on a planet similar to 21st-century Earth, so Ed (Seth MacFarlane) sends a team led by Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) to find them. But the mission quickly goes awry when they find out that the society's government determines one’s punishment based on a public voting system.

The trailer for the episode reveals that Claire (Penny Johnson Jerald), Alara (Halston Sage) and John (J. Lee) are the ones who accompany Kelly in the mission. For reasons yet to be known, the quartet are mobbed by the planet’s inhabitants at the start of the video. But as they try to get out of the crowd, people appear to be taking photos and videos of John. One man off screen is even heard shouting, “That’s the guy!”

While it’s unclear why the planet’s inhabitants are seemingly upset with John, Ed acknowledges that the Orville’s navigator is in a really bad situation.

By the looks of the trailer, it seems that episode 7 is a huge installment for John. If that ends up to be the case, then the episode can easily become a defining moment in Lee’s career.

“The Orville” is a big career leap for Lee. The show is his first major acting project as well as his first foray into the sci-fi genre. As a matter of fact, as part for his preparation for his role on the series, Lee reached out to his friend and “Star Wars” actor Ahmed Best for some advice.

“I called him when I got the role and asked him some questions about sci-fi and the world and the fans,” Lee said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter last month. Lee revealed that Best — who did the motion capture and voice for Jar Jar Binks in the “Star Wars” franchise — told him to “just have fun no matter what people say or think.” “Because some people loved Jar Jar and some people hated him. But he did his job,” Lee said.

“The Orville” Season 1, episode 7, titled “Majority Rule,” airs on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox.