‘The Orville’ Season 1 Spoilers: Episode 5 Synopsis, Trailer Released

Charlize Theron is guest starring in Season 1, episode 5 of “The Orville.”

According to the synopsis for next week’s episode of the Fox series, Theron plays the role of Pria Lavesque, the attractive captain of a stranded ship saved by the Orville crew. When Pria boards the Orville, Ed (Seth MacFarlane) quickly becomes smitten with her. But Kelly (Adrianne Palicki) suspects that Pria is hiding something from them.

“She may not be what she seems,” Kelly says of Pria in the trailer for the episode.

Apparently, Kelly is right. At the end of the promo clip, Pria has seemingly taken over the Orville, prompting Ed to tell her: “Give me back my ship.” It’s unclear what Pria’s actual objective is, but the video promises that the episode features the Orville’s “most surprising adventure yet.”

Elsewhere in the episode, Gordon (Scott Grimes) attempts to teach Isaac (Mark Jackson) the art of pulling off a practical joke.

Theron was MacFarlane’s co-star in the 2014 western comedy film “A Million Ways to Die in the West,” so convincing the Oscar-winning actress to appear on the show wasn’t that hard for him. “I have worked with her on the western [film] that I did and had one of the best experiences of my life,” series creator MacFarlane told Entertainment Weekly at the San Diego Comic-Con in July. “[So] I called her and asked her to do the show. Charlize is awesome. She’s the best, and she astonishingly said yes, and yes I’ll come to your little TV show. She was great.”

Theron isn’t the first big star to make an appearance on “The Orville.” Just last episode, Theron and MacFarlane’s “A Million Ways to Die in the West” co-star Liam Neeson made a surprise appearance as Dorahl, the captain of a derelict bioship who had been worshipped as a god-like figure by the vessel’s inhabitants.

Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Tambor and Emmy winner Holland Taylor also appeared as Ed’s father and mother in the second episode of the series.

In addition, during a Reddit AMA session last month, MacFarlane revealed that “Star Trek” actor cameos were being planned for future episodes of the shows. “We got one or two in the lineup.…” MacFarlane replied in response to a question about cameos.

“The Orville” Season 1, episode 5, titled “Pria,” airs on Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox.