(Warning: Spoilers ahead for this week’s “The Orville”)
Commander Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) wasn’t the only person with eyes for a certain blue-hued troublemaker on this week’s “The Orville.”
Rob Lowe returned as the surprisingly seductive Darulio on Thursday’s episode, and not only did Kelly end up back in bed with him, but Captain Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) also found himself unable to avoid the pheromones that Darulio was putting out.
Palicki appreciates that the episode helped further put her character in a more likable light by offering a potential explanation for her previous rendezvous with the charming blue guy.
“She’s tried to redeem herself in other ways, but absolutely this is that moment of going, ‘Oh, OK,’” the actress told TheWrap. “And the fact that Ed experiences it himself, there’s that level of going, ‘Hmm, maybe she’s not a cheater. Maybe she didn’t fall in love with the guy.’ I think that’s definitely going to lend itself to the will-they-or-won’t-they situation of the relationship.”
Palicki, who joked that her 12-year-old self would have loved that she got to be in bed with Lowe, told TheWrap that it took the show’s team a little time to perfect the blue goo that Darulio shoots out of his head when aroused.
“The second time around, they kind of got it down,” the “Friday Night Lights” alum said. “The first time, the first take, they did way too much, and I immediately broke because I was covered in head-to-toe blue. It was everywhere! So then they had to do it some more times, but it’s a big setup.”
Palicki teased that future episodes will continue to show the “ebbs and flows” of Ed and Kelly’s relationship. But the actress isn’t necessarily in a hurry to see the pair patch things up.
“It’s always that thing when people finally get together, it kind of ruins it,” she said. “It’s fun to have the banter of ‘maybe, maybe not.’ I think that’s more fun to play.”
“The Orville” airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Fox.