At this point, I honestly have no idea what to make of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After a slew of mostly middling episodes this season, which hit a nadir with last week’s travesty, “Terrarium” comes in as an episode that is not only quintessentially “Star Trek,” but also helps adjust some of the departures from continuity that have confused fans since SNW’s inception.
“Terrarium” begins with Lt. Erica Ortegas preparing for a solo flight mission in a shuttlecraft. During the mission, she is sucked into a wormhole and crashes onto a moon orbiting a massive gas giant. While the Enterprise tries to find Ortegas before departing for a rendezvous with the Constellation, Ortegas tries to survive on the moon, which periodically has toxic storms.
After a few survival scenes in the shuttlecraft, reminiscent of Andy Weir’s The Martian, Ortegas ventures outside to look for food. Instead, what she finds is an injured Gorn pilot, who is also stranded on this moon. While Ortegas is frightened of the Gorn at first, she soon realizes that the Gorn is not threatening her, and the two gradually become friends and start working together to survive.
Through a series of successes and setbacks, the unlikely pair eventually manages to get the Enterprise’s attention by setting off a flare. The joy of this success is short-lived when a rescue team arrives, however, as La’an Noonien-Singh shoots and kills the Gorn pilot on sight, assuming that she is attacking Ortegas.
In the instant of Ortegas’s shock and grief, time freezes around her, and a noncorporeal being takes shape, claiming to be a Metron. The Metrons are the aliens who pit Kirk against a Gorn in the classic TOS episode “Arena,” and in this instance, they are studying what a Gorn and a human would do when they must survive together.
The Metron also explains that, because of La’an’s actions, it may be necessary in the future to adjust Humanity’s memories and perceptions of the Gorn, to study the interactions further. Then, back aboard the Enterprise, Ortegas grieves the loss of her friend.
There are echoes in this episode of other Star Trek episodes, like TNG’s “The Enemy” and “Darmok” or TOS’s “Arena.” Even so, “Terrarium” is an incredibly good episode in its own right. Ortegas overcoming her PTSD and prejudices towards the Gorn in order to not only find common ground but forge a friendship represents the kind of Humanist ideals that Star Trek stands for.
The tragedy of the Gorn pilot’s death at the end further drives that message home. Understanding takes time, and the time you took to understand doesn’t instantly transfer to others. What La’an did at the end is what Ortegas would have done at the beginning. The difference was time. Again, this feels very much like a Star Trek message of how it’s often better to be patient than impulsive.
Beyond the themes and plot of the episode, though, it was nice to finally get an episode that really focuses on Lt. Ortegas. Melissa Navia does a great job in the spotlight, and her performance with the Gorn pilot (which looks like it might be a practical puppet) is riveting. Every time there is a scene back on the Enterprise, I want them to return to Ortegas on the moon.
Of course, the appearance of the Metron at the end of this episode is also a much-appreciated salve for continuity. While it may feel hand-wavy in a way, the idea that the Metrons may change people’s memories down the line can explain why Kirk, Spock, and the others are unfamiliar with the Gorn in “Arena.”
The Metrons’ appearance here also makes me wonder if SNW is building to a larger story involving Star Trek’s cosmic and noncorporeal entities. With the appearance of Q and Trelane earlier this season, as well as the Vezda, it could be interesting to see if we learn more about the various god-like beings scattered throughout the franchise.
Granted, as much as I love “Terrarium,” Strange New Worlds Season 3 has largely been a series of misses for me. Episodes of this caliber are absolutely the direction the show ought to go in, but I’m not sure how likely that is. We just have to see what happens next, I guess!