Stardate: 2198.7
Original Air Date: September 4, 2025
Writer: Alan B. McElroy
Director: Andrew Coutts
“Agree.”
In Erica Ortegas’s personal log, she reveals that the Enterprise is investigating an unusual area of space known for rumors of strange phenomena (the kinds of things Division 12 usually looks into). The ship has found a parsec of space so odd that even Spock can’t seem to figure out its inconsistent gravity waves. Ortegas has been cleared for a solo survey mission in the shuttlecraft Archimedes where she is instructed to drop a deep space buoy. But shortly after takeoff, a wormhole suddenly appears and Ortegas vanishes before crashing onto an unknown moon, all of her rations destroyed. Just before crashing, she deployed the buoy and a message relaying her coordinates.
Luckily the atmosphere on this barren moon is somewhat breathable and Ortegas fashions a water-generating machine for herself. But the asteroid experiences periodic seismic activity, orbital storms, and there is a nearby gas giant set to collide with the moon. To add to these problems, Ortegas spots a shrouded Gorn wandering around on the moon. Following a brief confrontation, she discovers that the Gorn is wounded and she gets the feeling they are being watched, with a blinking light continually flashing on the horizon. Miraculously, the Gorn offers her some food, a protective deflector shield, and it has a damaged comms array. Tragically, the Archimedes is swallowed by an earthquake. Ortegas fashions a universal translator of sorts that allows her to understand the Gorn – we learn this Gorn is a female, she is skilled at chess, and that she studies her enemy’s language (the Gorn understand English). Ortegas’s translator can only repeat “agree” or “disagree” which leads to some amusing banter between her and the Gorn.
Back aboard the Enterprise, the crew desperately tries to find a way to trace Ortegas but they are scheduled to rendezvous with the USS Constellation to deliver a vaccine to the colonists on Epsilon Indi III who are fighting a pandemic. Time is running out. Uhura and Spock devise a plan that involves sending the Enterprise through the wormhole’s aperture and wedging it open, but Uhura lies to Captain Pike in order to propel the plan into motion (she fudges the numbers for scan capability from 58% to 60%). Uhura refuses to give up on Ortegas, though we later learn Pike knows that Uhura fudged the numbers.
At the last moment, Ortegas and the Gorn create an explosion as a flare that incinerates the moon’s atmosphere so the Enterprise will hopefully spot them. La’an leads a landing party to the moon to rescue Ortegas but when the crew spot the Gorn, they quickly fire their phasers, killing her. Ortegas begins shrieking in agony, shouting into the void, wondering what the blinking light in the distance could have been. And suddenly – in a surprising twist – the Metrons reappear! They pause time and, as it turns out, this was all a test just to see if the Gorn and the humans could actually cooperate together in a survival situation (not unlike a “Terrarium”).
My Thoughts on “Terrarium”
I liked this relatively simple, self-contained Ortegas episode. It plagiarizes some classic science fiction tropes (see the film Enemy Mind), and Ortegas constantly speaking her inner monologue aloud is clunky, but it offers a nice resolution to her season-wide PTSD arc regarding the Gorn. This rare moment of altruism between Ortegas and the Gorn is welcome, even if it comes along too quickly and clumsily (and the two decide to play chess together while facing imminent disaster for some reason).
But what a strange twist! The Metrons make a surprising appearance at the end for more nostalgia berry fan service, which is the modus operandi for SNW. In my view, “Terrarium” is one of the better episodes this season, but that’s not really saying much. The highlight for me is the use of practical effects with respect to the Gorn pilot as well as the creepy, isolating atmosphere created with the use of color and landscape on the barren moon. It perfectly captures how lonely this little corner of space truly is.
Star Trek Trivia:
- Spock says he maintains his weight within 1.8 kilograms.
- Ortegas takes the shuttlecraft Archimedes.
- The Gorn have deflector shield technology.
- Uhura whispers a brief prayer in Swahili in this episode.
- Ortegas crash-lands on one of 396 moons around the gas giant.
- The Metrons were initially introduced in the TOS episode “Arena.” In this SNW episode, the Metron is played by Dariush Zadeh.