While piloting a shuttle to chart a region of spatial distortions, Ortegas is pulled through a wormhole and crashes on a small moon of a gas giant. Soon, she learns she is not alone -- a lone Gorn pilot is also stranded there. Can the two work together to help Enterprise locate and rescue them? Does the Gorn even want to be rescued? And are the constant pitfalls the two face some indication of something more at play?
Because Strange New Worlds does such a good job with character -- painting them in many dimensions and including them in episodes even where they aren't the focus -- it hasn't exactly felt like Ortegas was an "underdeveloped" character. Still, it's well past time that she gets "her own" episode. (Though I do find it interesting that it seems featuring her apparently means leaving many other characters out of the episode entirely; M'Benga, Chapel, and Scotty don't appear at all.)
Unfortunately, the writers kind of do the "Ortegas episode" on the highest degree of difficulty. Having a solo character talk to themselves is one of the toughest things to make believable on film. It's hard in the writing, and even harder in the performance. In my view, Melissa Navia does absolutely the best she can with it... but there are still moments where you just don't buy -- for example -- that Ortegas is going to stop and doodle in the sand to explain something she knows to herself.
Overall, the plot is very familiar. Star Trek has done "Enemy Mine" before, on the Next Generation and then even more directly on Enterprise. Even the plot twists here are familiar; the episode initially makes you wonder if they're going all the way back to classic Trek to do "Arena" before settling into "Enemy Mine" mode... then comes back around to very explicitly do "Arena." Because I was familiar with that original series episode, I figured out early on what the "mysterious light in the distance" really was -- but kept hoping I would be proven wrong and the they weren't going to do such a needlessly direct prequel to such an iconic episode.
Still, there are parts of the episode I did like more enthusiastically. Another classic Star Trek trope is not repurposed so exactly: the "holding out hope for a lost crewmember until the very last moment" trope. Here, it's packaged in an interesting subplot about Uhura coloring outside the lines a bit to get what she wants. And that subplot makes for nice moments with some other characters too -- Pike revealing that he knows exactly what Uhura is doing; Spock tempering cold logic with friendship and supporting her.
Also, I really could never say enough about how great this episode looks. You could easily take for granted how Strange New Worlds' use of an AR wall allows them to present alien landscapes that are far more realistic than the Star Treks of past eras could manage. You shouldn't take that for granted; this asteroid-like moon looks amazing on screen. But even more impressive is the realization of the Gorn pilot. She is truly alien, but also just expressive enough. She feels like a real character. And again, Melissa Navia gets a hard assignment acting opposite her. Her work here is a big contributor to being able to take the Gorn seriously. We've come a long way since William Shatner fought a guy in a rubber suit.
"Terrarium" wasn't a favorite of mine this season, but was yet another example of a "weak" Strange New Worlds episode not being bad at all. I give it a B.
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