POI got seriously constrained by the requirement it must stay as a police procedural. They had some pretty clever workarounds, weakening the procedural portion, but they really needed a couple episodes that was free of that. The budget apocalypse of the last two seasons did alot of damage no amount of creativity could fully mitigate.
POI last season was no doubt an achievement, but the potential wasn't fully realised, something the Orville will never have to contend with. Orville has so many advantages POI could only imagine. POI will always be MAXIMUM NOLAN but Orville is the new king. WestWorld had a good shot to overtake POI at the time, but that second season was just sloppy, it felt like JJ paid a visit.
Orville has achieved something I didn't think was possible, capture the full spirit of Trek, supplant it, add to it and have it's own complete universe. While you can argue STD(ST was already dead) being utter trash fire might have help boost the signal, Orville's quality is all it's own. It proved that a brand is only a brand.
The Orville is more than an homage to Star Trek, it's a love letter to sci-fi. It's beyond being a ST homage.
In an age of entertainment where we have reached a level of creative bankruptcy so horrific and insulting that it has killed many timeless franchises, excellent shows are more important than ever. Slop shouldn't be tolerated let alone rewarded.
Orville is definitely getting darker. It's the result of it dealing with society, people, ethics, relationships than this week's space hole of things. The heart of the finale is about how Kelly sees the world.