In the next episode of "The Orville," Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and his crew encounter a massive spaceship that is about to collide with a star.

The trailer for the upcoming installment titled "If the Stars Should Appear," showed a large mysterious vessel adrift in space making its way dangerously close to a star. This prompts Mercer to investigate and board the craft along with Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki), Isaac (Mark Jackson), and Dr. Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald).

Mercer and his crew, however, encounter some setbacks as they are attacked by its inhabitants and Grayson even gets captured at one point at the hands of Hamelac (Robert Knepper). It remains to be seen how Mercer and company will escape from the dangerous territory and why they were greeted with such hostility.

The last episode was not marked with any hostility from other alien races but Mercer and Grayson had to deal with a controversial decision among a member of his crew. Bortus (Pater Macon) and his partner Klyden (Chad L. Coleman) had given birth to a female baby which their alien race considered a biological aberration. Thus, they wanted the ship's doctor to conduct a sex-change surgery to turn their offspring into a male.

Since Mercer did not agree with their decision, they decided to let a tribunal decide on whether the child should undergo the surgery or not. However, even after a heartfelt speech by Grayson about how a female can contribute to society and do great things, the tribunal decided that the child should go undergo the surgery to conform to their society.

After last episode's introspective narrative, the next one promises to pick up on the action at a faster pace.

The next episode of "The Orville" will air on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. EDT on Fox.