That was a great way to end the season, with a proper 2-part time travel story.
Unfortunately, it could also be construed as a series finale, but hopefully Deadline was correct when they said it was expected to be renewed.
I want to say that every episode starting with S2, E8 "Identity" until the end of the season was good Star Trek. The bad news is that the season started off so horribly, with two extremely bad episodes that I think contributed to a massive drop in the live ratings. It began with 5.68 million and then lost half of its live audience after the premiere with that ridiculous Bortus pee storyline and the move to Thursday nights. There is a bit of a silver lining though. When you account for DVR viewing (Live+7), total average viewership is only a bit lower than last season (5.5 mil. vs. 6.5).
Still, it's concerning we haven't heard any news yet. If this show doesn't get renewed and Discovery still goes ahead with its planned third season, I guarantee there'll be a riot. And at this point, even if Orville does get the renewal, it's not coming back this year. Guaranteed Fall 2020 at the earliest, so unless The Expanse or Lost In Space fills the void in the meantime, it's going to be a long drought for sci-fi fans yet again.