“Terrarium”

Strange New Worlds puts Ortegas in a survival situation with an enemy when she is isolated from the Enterprise.

Being stranded with an enemy is a classic source of tension. Survival demands cooperation between those least inclined to offer it. The situation often fosters mutual understanding and can even hint at the first steps toward peace. Star Trek has revisited this setup repeatedly, seen in episodes like The Next Generation’s “The Enemy” and Enterprise’s “Dawn” among others, with each side holding a vital piece of the puzzle and setting aside their differences to secure survival.

I’ve noted in previous reviews that Strange New Worlds tends to iterate rather than innovate in its storytelling, often reusing concepts without updating or reframing them. That is partly true here, as the episode combines the classic “stranded with an enemy” premise with the looming‑departure urgency that drives The Original Series’ “The Galileo Seven.” It is less of a drawback because this pairing supports engaging A and B‑stories that complement each other, making strong use of the characters and their established relationships. The show leans into its strengths and produces something that feels at home in this series rather than blandly imitating what came before.

Ortegas has long been underused and overdue for meaningful development. This season doubled down on those missed opportunities, setting up potential arcs and then abandoning them. Her Gorn-related PTSD was a key plot point in the third episode, ending with a reprimand, only to be ignored in later instalments and resolved off-screen. The introduction of her brother also offered opportunities to flesh her out, yet she remained largely a background presence. It’s refreshing to have an episode that finally builds on earlier setup and broadens her beyond her role at the helm.

She is chosen for the shuttle mission because of her piloting skill, but that becomes irrelevant almost immediately when the craft hits a wormhole and crashes on a desolate planet. From there it becomes a survival story, pushing her to draw on both her Starfleet training and personal ingenuity to stay alive until rescue. It’s a strong showcase of her resourcefulness, revealing how she handles herself under pressure. She maintains expected Starfleet professionalism, recalling her training in contrast to the Enterprise’s largely informal atmosphere. That contrast is a welcome reminder that its crew are highly trained to handle a variety of situations. Her coping mechanisms, such as talking to herself and making jokes, fit her established personality and keep the audience aligned with her problem‑solving process. Speaking aloud to break the silence is a relatable, logical choice that grounds the episode while broadening her character beyond flying the ship.

Stranding Ortegas with a Gorn is a smart choice, offering the potential to achieve several things at once. It’s a natural progression for her, given the PTSD she has grappled with throughout the season. While there has been some coverage of her struggle after the Gorn ship incident, the show undercut it by resolving much of the arc off-screen. In this episode, she mentions M’Benga clearing her for solo missions, yet this is the first sign her ability was ever under scrutiny. She was suspended in the third episode and reinstated in the fourth, but there has been no on-screen exploration of the issues behind her suspension, nor any real evidence of lingering PTSD since. Even so, this is a credible challenge for her, as being stranded with a Gorn is likely to affect her in ways other characters would not experience. It’s an opportunity to show how she has processed her ordeal and whether it clouds her objectivity. The setup also neatly serves the franchise’s ideals of understanding and empathy, since her survival depends on cooperation.

This episode also takes a long‑overdue step toward adding texture to the Gorn, showing them as more than monsters. Until now, Strange New Worlds has leaned on homages to Alien rather than developing them into compelling antagonists, but here they appear in a new light. The Gorn in question is cooperative, collaborative and even protective of Ortegas, proving they have qualities beyond the instinct to hunt and kill. Cultural glimpses extend past hunting, consuming and breeding, as shown in the games she plays with Ortegas. The custom of the winner eating the final game piece reflects those predatory roots, yet it is clear they are not the entirety of Gorn life. Ortegas initially resists but chooses to respect the tradition by pretending to eat the piece. It’s a small, endearing act of diplomacy that conveys both warmth and friendship.

Ortegas’ dynamic with the Gorn is consistently engaging. The rudimentary agree/disagree system is a workable solution to their language barrier, allowing her to receive clear yes or no answers even though she cannot understand the Gorn’s language. It creates a functional but reductive exchange, forcing her to clarify meaning through trial and error. As a first step, it begins a conversation while underlining what still needs to be overcome. Both must learn to see nuance in the other before they can truly move past their differences, and every sign suggests Ortegas is prepared to take that step toward ending the adversarial relationship that has defined all previous encounters.

Beyond the game, further insight into Gorn culture comes through discussion of her injury. She explains that her broken leg marks her as “too broken to fix,” meaning rescue would bring death at the hands of her own people for being weak. Ortegas recalls seeing one ship destroy another for the same reason, so she understands what is meant but responds with empathy. Unwilling to see her killed for such a reason, Ortegas offers to take her back with the Enterprise so she can share what she has learned. The exchange hints that Ortegas relates to her, often feeling “too broken to fix” herself, though her own people would never abandon her. Confronting that cultural contrast affirms for Ortegas that she isn’t alone, a truth she pays forward by telling the Gorn the same. Her later comment that they “aren’t broken any more” signals that she has overcome something and found inner strength she didn’t realise she still had. It’s a poignant display of healing, made more powerful by the fact that it came from being stranded with an enemy.

The collaborative dynamic works well, but the preceding conflict is resolved too quickly. Overcoming her hatred and PTSD should have been a greater challenge, yet Ortegas pivots to working with the Gorn almost immediately. While seeing her embody Starfleet ideals is satisfying, the episode sidesteps the chance to explore what happens when those values are truly tested. With more focus on her personal history making it difficult to see the Gorn as anything but monstrous, her eventual cooperation would have carried greater weight. It might have been more impactful to have her begin the encounter behaving monstrously while the Gorn does nothing but try to help. That reversal could have underlined their shared humanity, confronted Ortegas with her own unpleasant impulses, and shown both the lingering impact of her trauma and the potential for healing through self‑awareness. As it stands, there is little evidence of her having to actively shift her perception; the move to cooperation happens almost instantly.

Stakes rise organically as the episode progresses and space for key moments to breathe. Scenes such as playing games to pass the time or tinkering with technology to solve problems convey the length of the ordeal. Complications arrive at well‑judged intervals, building to a natural climax that forces radical action in a final bid for rescue. Every beat feels intentional, and the pacing shows a clear understanding of when to slow down and when to escalate the tension.

Meanwhile, the B‑story on the Enterprise is also well executed. Urgency comes from the wormhole shrinking and the ship being on a mission with a strict deadline. They must rendezvous with another vessel to hand over a vaccine destined for a planet in desperate need. Departure is not immediate, as the rendezvous is some time away, but there will come a point when they must leave or many more lives than Ortegas’ will be at risk. Una frequently voices this reality. She says the difficult thing, echoing the well‑known mantra, both in Star Trek and beyond: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. She is the pragmatic one, reminding everyone of the broader stakes. This does not mean she is unconcerned about Ortegas, far from it, but she remains mindful of their wider responsibilities and of Pike’s tendency to let his attachment to the crew affect his judgement. It is not stated outright, but it further suggests that Pike values Una because he recognises this in himself and relies on her to keep sight of the bigger picture.

Having the wormhole’s collapse hastened by every action is a smart touch. It heightens the tension by forcing the crew to think carefully before acting, since each attempt shortens their available time. Uhura throws herself into testing ideas with increasing urgency, driven by her determination to save Ortegas. That frantic energy risks burning through their limited opportunities, so Spock demands precision. His calm “Are you sure?” in response to one of her more hopeful than probable suggestions makes her pause and think more critically. The exchange sharpens her focus, ensuring that every move counts in a race where wasted effort could cost them any chance of rescue.

Pike also asks for precision, though never to the point of making it a demand. He insists on sensor clarity exceeding 60% before he will authorise Uhura’s high‑risk rescue attempt, which puts the entire crew in danger. This, along with the seventh episode, features some of the strongest writing for Pike, together offering a broad and positive view of his command expertise. Each example highlights different strengths: here he is firm in his authority while maintaining his approachable demeanour. He does not hide his concern for Ortegas as both a friend and her commander, but he treats the situation realistically. He sees that Uhura is grasping at straws to hold on to hope, yet he requires her to produce a workable plan that justifies the risks to the crew and to those awaiting the vaccine.

Uhura falsifies the data to secure authorisation for the mission, and it ultimately works out for the best. However, this was a missed opportunity for a teachable moment. The falsification could have caused a larger problem, perhaps injuring crew members, or the mission could have succeeded but still earned her a reprimand. Instead, Pike tells her he knows what she did and lets it go, saying he would have tried to save Ortegas regardless of the odds. This underlines his attachment to his crew but also makes the earlier insistence on a minimum success percentage feel hollow. If Uhura had given him the real figure, he would have authorised the mission anyway, so the tension created by her altering the numbers feels manufactured.

For the risks Uhura takes to be meaningful, there needed to be consequences. Punishing her for placing her friendship with Ortegas above the welfare of the crew could have created an opportunity to explore the importance of separating personal feelings from duty. While Pike is unlikely to have that conversation, Una has already shown she is comfortable with that aspect of leadership. The point would have been stronger if her plan had caused injuries, but even without that, the episode could have used the incident to underline the value of considering the bigger picture and calculating risk carefully. As it stands, the falsified‑data subplot becomes an artificial source of tension with no real payoff, emblematic of the show’s reluctance to let actions carry lasting consequences.

Uhura’s mindset is fully justified. One of the show’s strongest through lines is her friendship with Ortegas, brought vividly to life by the actors’ natural chemistry, which makes the bond feel deep and unforced. This is reinforced at the episode’s outset, with Uhura seeing Ortegas off, expressing concern for her mental state, and wishing her luck. Dynamics like this add welcome texture, and Strange New Worlds would benefit from leaning into them more often. The Enterprise is both a home and a workplace, so moments where friendships play out naturally, like Uhura and Ortegas bouncing off one another, strengthen the sense of lived‑in community. Here, it also serves the plot by establishing why Uhura is so determined to bring her back safely. There is an added layer in that Uhura has lost her family under similar circumstances, giving her an even stronger drive to prevent history from repeating. It is strong material, and the writing trusts the audience to infer it through organic interactions and well‑played chemistry.

The appearance of the Metron (Danius Zadeh) to reveal that the entire scenario was a test to see if Humans and Gorn could overcome their differences is completely unnecessary. All they do is state outright what was already evident. Explaining the lesson underestimates the audience’s intelligence, as the point was already clear and effectively delivered. It is yet another callback to The Original Series that adds nothing new or interesting to the reference and undermines the strong material that preceded it. The moment is further weakened by the fact that Ortegas’ memory of meeting the Metron will be erased, making the scene meaningless, though at least she retains her memory of the events on the planet.

La’an and her landing party gunning down the Gorn is a bold choice, cold but entirely understandable. She hasn’t shared Ortegas’ recent experience, so her perception remains fixed on the Gorn as a purely monstrous enemy to be killed before it kills her. Her own history with them predisposes her to hostility, making a shoot‑first reaction instinctive. It underlines how far La’an and, likely, the rest of the crew still have to go before reaching the understanding Ortegas has gained. The tragedy is acknowledged in a brief closing exchange between Ortegas and Uhura. Uhura urges her to remember her fallen friend, and Ortegas replies that La’an is also her friend and she does not know how to reconcile that.

It’s a sombre ending that suggests a rift between them, but given the show’s habit of abandoning such threads, it is unlikely to be addressed again. Recognising Ortegas’ difficulty in processing what happened just before her rescue is worthwhile, but more could have been done with it, for instance through a direct, charged conversation in which she tells La’an that things have changed between them and may not return to how they were. The series would benefit from delivering stronger consequences and allowing relationships to be permanently altered by events. La’an killing the Gorn is a bold choice weakened by the failure to follow through, underlining again the show’s aversion to lasting consequences.

“Terrarium” proves that Strange New Worlds is capable of delivering engaging variations on well‑trodden Star Trek stories. It doesn’t reinvent those concepts, but in this case, it isn’t necessary, as the elements at its disposal are well used. Systemic issues and an inclination to indulge recurring bad habits, particularly the reluctance to let actions carry lasting consequences, prevent it from achieving true greatness. More could be done to capitalise on episodic storytelling with character arcs that develop over time, but much of what is done here is captivating. It may be warmed‑up leftovers, yet they are undeniably tasty leftovers.

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Verdict

A strong episode blending classic Star Trek storytelling with sharp character work and confident pacing, playing directly to the show’s strengths.

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