After a very, very, very, very long wait, The Orville: New Horizons - as it's now called - didn't disappoint.

And we feel that the new name is justified. This season's longer format is much more impactful than we were expecting. Spoilers ahead.

In a TrekMovie interview director and executive producer Jon Cassar talked about how they used the extra time.

So they have the time to do what we call “shoe leather,” where it’s just visually telling the story. And in our case, we use it when we go to a new planet. It used to be like one or two shots flying in. Now there’s five or six and you get to really see what this planet looks like. And that’s world-building.

What was more in evidence in the first episode Electric Sheep were substantial scenes involving the ship's exterior while docked at a station for a refit.

Those scenes feel both gloriously cinematic in scope and also languorous in pace.

Instead of every episode scene serving to tell part of the focused story it feels like you're looking over someone's shoulder as the ship's crew go about their business.

And a story unfolds.

When The Expanse experimented with longer show lengths in its fourth season the effect felt like they'd simply failed to adequately edit.

A case where less would have been more.

The Orville's first longer episode is a totally different beast and we wouldn't be surprised to see other shows - especially sci-fi - adopting a similar format.

Electric Sheep is also another great Orville story which deals with topical issues like war, hatred, suicide, grief and difference.

The first episode of The Orville: New Horizons is streaming now on SBS on Demand, with new episodes releasing weekly.

Seasons one and two of The Orville are available now on SBS on Demand and also Disney+.

[ Main Image: The Orville. Credit: Hulu via IMDb.com. ]