Strange New Worlds – Terrarium Review

As someone who has been harping on my desire for an Ortegas standalone episode – one that addresses the lingering trauma from her encounter with the Gorn in the season premiere – you’d think I’d be over the moon about this episode. And yes, I did enjoy it for both what it was attempting to do and how it finally brought home a lot of Ortegas’ storyline throughout the season. And kudos to Melissa Navia for showing us the different beats of Erica’s journey. What I was less thrilled about, however, was our literal deus ex machina at the close, bringing in the Metron (who you might remember from The Original Series episode that dealt with the Gorn) as a means to tie Strange New Worlds and their encounters with the Gorn tightly to the encounter Kirk will have in the future.

But first, the good. And there was a lot. Was this the flashiest episode or the most well-written? No. And for all my desire to get an Ortegas episode, I had forgotten that her exterior bravado (which of course masks her insecurities, that naturally emerge once she realizes she’s safe and/or she has no more reason to hide) can be pretty annoying. But once we got into the heart of the episode, with Ortegas and the Gorn working together for survival? That’s where things got good. We got to see that Ortegas – for all her boasting about being an incredible pilot – is actually pretty darn good at a lot of things. It’s just that she lacks the self-confidence to see how great she really is and hides behind her skills as a pilot as the one thing she knows she can make her calling card. She’s afraid of being seen as weak, as being seen as not as smooth or as smart or as charming as her friends*, so she’s the pilot – something she knows she’s the best at – so she doesn’t have to take the chance that she might not measure up in some way. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, out of every main cast member (save Scotty), Ortegas is the one character we haven’t seen in a romantic relationship yet on the show. (It might also be that she’s queer-coded and the series doesn’t necessarily want to wade into that pool – but I hope it’s more that her character isn’t someone who wants to be seen as vulnerable at this point in her development.)

*When your closest friends on Enterprise are Chapel, Uhura, and La’an, it can be pretty easy to see why Ortegas doesn’t necessarily feel she measures up. That’s a pretty intimidating group to be friends with.

It was also nice – even if it was a pretty cliché story – to see Ortegas overcome her trauma through realizing that perhaps all the Gorn aren’t as blood thirsty and terrifying as Starfleet assumes. After all, species contain multitudes, and while I suspect the Gorn might have tried to hunt Ortegas in another scenario, seeing two enemies work together for survival always makes for an interesting bit of drama. It’s having the Metron be the puppet masters with that particular bit of growth that cheapens it a tad for me. For one, the experiment of seeing if the Gorn and humanity could coexist is a worthy one within the series – even if it’s just meant to be a stepping stone into TOS. However, with only Ortegas making it out alive and retaining her memories as to how the Gorn was an ally, well, doesn’t that make the experiment moot? I mean, the Gorn is dead (thanks, La’an – always quick on the trigger finger, especially when it comes to the Gorn) so she cannot report back to her people that there are humans that can be allies out in the universe. And we don’t know if the Metron removed the total mental breakdown Ortegas had once the landing party arrived from their collective memories, so it might look like Ortegas has lost it a bit.

And that’s one of the major reasons I’m never a huge fan of a deus ex machina ending. While this particular one didn’t totally negate the action that came before it – the “god” was willing to let the mere mortal retain some agency over her actions – it cheapens the resolution. One assumes the gambit with the flaming atmosphere was allowed because the Metron let it happen, the rescue happened for the same reason, and the death of the Gorn at the hands of La’an could have been prevented but it would have interfered with the experiment being held (to prove that some humans will shoot first and ask questions later, unlike Ortegas). It takes the story we just saw and makes us break it down in a new light, second guessing the story beats, the character development, and how it might impact the characters moving forward. After all, we’ll never know how much was manipulated by the Metron and how much was genuine.

All that said, I suspect we’ll see a more confident but less cocky Ortegas in the finale (and in the final two seasons). She finally got her chance in the spotlight and got the character development she so richly deserved. And Navia was really great in her starring role. In an ensemble cast – especial one that includes a host of legacy characters who need to remain in the spotlight to push them forward into their positions in TOS – it can be hard to get enough screen time for everyone. I assume that’s why it took a full three seasons to get Ortegas this type of episode. But it was worth the wait – even if the Metron were more of an annoyance than a necessity in my book. Excited to see how this season ties together next week.