I’m fine with the Metron stuff (and with the shoutout to Captain Decker on the Constellation), but overall I felt this was an awkward script that tried really hard to be ambitious, but was still awkward. There was more than one “Wait, what?” moment. Why does Ortegas think the Enterprise will see her signal when she already knows she’s on the other side of a wormhole? Why does a moon in a chaotic system bursting into flame make them absolutely certain that it must be a signal from Erica? And I admit, much as I like the character, I did find it grating that Ortegas just would not stop narrating — I get that it’s for the audience, but a lot of it seemed unnecessary, and could’ve been demonstrated wordlessly just by watching what was happening.
Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x09 - "Terrarium"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
Would have been simple to add a line about needing to stay awake and not lose consciousness, but then she sleeps anyway.
^^^
Quoted an earlier post of mine in this thread because I'm honestly surprised I called it pretty much on the nose...
8
Overall I liked it but I can't say there was anything that I really loved, and I do have some nitpicks:
- it's surprising it took them 2 days to even try and send a probe Through the Wormhole. That's a real WTF moment.
- the appearance of a Metron and said Metron openly stating the metrons are somehow experimenting with Humans and Gorn to see if they will one day find common ground/ peace with each other.
The above said, the fact that TOS S1 Arena implies that the Gorn have real in-depth knowledge of the Federation to the point they can convincingly mimic a Federation Commodore in a live real time conversation with Captain James T. Kirk..
^^^
This episode now implies that it was the metrons themselves that did all that to set up the encounter between Kirk and the Gorn Captain. IDK but honestly, it's as good an explanation unless you want to think that the Gorn had all this knowledge of the Federation, believe that they were going to invade Gorn space, and still ruthlessly wiped out women and children on a civilian research colony.
I think it's a bit much, but hey, there have been other posters here who saw TOS S1 Arena and don't think the Gorn were portrayed as absolute monsters, and have been arguing that since SNW first brought the Gorn in as an enemy to Captain Christopher Pike, and the Enterprise crew.
In the end I guess the Metron's appearance here makes as much sense as the setup for TOS S1 Arena itself. But boy are they reaching to try and make this all make some sort of sense and maintain aspects of TOS Federation/Gorn continuity.
But yeah I gave it an 8.
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I liked it. It’s the episode every Star Trek show does eventually— two enemies stranded, no way to communicate except through sign language, working together for a common cause. It’s too bad the Gorn died, though it’s hard to blame La’an given all her past experiences. She thought she was rescuing Ortegas from her captor. The Gorn likely did not have a happy future awaiting her in either the Federation or with the other Gorn.
tbf, the Gorn had to die in order for TOS to make sense, I just assumed it would pull a Darmok and sacrifice itself.
They could have very easily created a new species for these storylines.
I get it, continuity be damned.
But after these, all episodes of TOS that are set in SNW's future seems redundant.
At this point it's all just a retread of things we've seen multiple times.
They actually had to get the most naturally Vulcan/Romulan/Mintakan looking guy as a Metron?
He has perfect Vulcan eyebrows and ears.
At least it wasn't another Spock's romance episode.
He has perfect Vulcan eyebrows and ears.
At least it wasn't another Spock's romance episode.
I gave it a 4. Too much dumb.
Ortegas talking to herself non-stop is pretty cringe, especially pre-crash.
The yes/no translator was lame. It can give yes or no responses... uhh okay. Wait how did you know what I was saying? I guess the plan was for this particular magic translator to just say yes and no back at each other? And I guess it was just at that very moment that the Gorn was willing to let on that she understands Federation Standard? Because coming up with a way to communicate just yes and no wouldn't really take a translator. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra September '91 this ain't.
The ending was predictably stupid. If you hadn't already come up with the "I guess they're gonna shoot the Gorn" all on your own, it couldn't be more obvious once you see the rescue team with their phaser rifles doing their best Seal Team 6 impression.
There probably was a way for the Gorn murder (ACAB, lol!) to make at least some sense... but they apparently couldn't find it. Hey Gorn buddy, when the rescue team shows up just stay under the heat shield for a few seconds while I explain that we're cool. Agree.
Or... ya know... could just have had the Gorn make an actual threatening move that La'an Chauvin would have to respond to... and give the poor lizard some dying breaths to agree agree to Ortegas's musing about how she wanted to die honorably Klingon style on account of her bum appendage's effective death sentence within greater Gorn society.
And the less said about the Metron at the end, the better.
Seeing as she won't get the well-deserved court martial for faking the numbers for Cap'n Cuck, maybe they could have suspended her from duty and then conveniently had the next episode take place after said suspension. But they decided to rob us of such hard-hitting drama they were willing to give us earlier in the season.
Ortegas talking to herself non-stop is pretty cringe, especially pre-crash.
The yes/no translator was lame. It can give yes or no responses... uhh okay. Wait how did you know what I was saying? I guess the plan was for this particular magic translator to just say yes and no back at each other? And I guess it was just at that very moment that the Gorn was willing to let on that she understands Federation Standard? Because coming up with a way to communicate just yes and no wouldn't really take a translator. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra September '91 this ain't.
The ending was predictably stupid. If you hadn't already come up with the "I guess they're gonna shoot the Gorn" all on your own, it couldn't be more obvious once you see the rescue team with their phaser rifles doing their best Seal Team 6 impression.
There probably was a way for the Gorn murder (ACAB, lol!) to make at least some sense... but they apparently couldn't find it. Hey Gorn buddy, when the rescue team shows up just stay under the heat shield for a few seconds while I explain that we're cool. Agree.
Or... ya know... could just have had the Gorn make an actual threatening move that La'an Chauvin would have to respond to... and give the poor lizard some dying breaths to agree agree to Ortegas's musing about how she wanted to die honorably Klingon style on account of her bum appendage's effective death sentence within greater Gorn society.
And the less said about the Metron at the end, the better.
Not for this episode anyway. Apparently it's Uhura who's gonna talk about retrofitting shuttle engines and using a warp bubble to wedge open a wormhole.
Seeing as she won't get the well-deserved court martial for faking the numbers for Cap'n Cuck, maybe they could have suspended her from duty and then conveniently had the next episode take place after said suspension. But they decided to rob us of such hard-hitting drama they were willing to give us earlier in the season.
I was enjoying it until the very end. Why would they have their phasers set to kill? That made no sense. La’an should be in trouble for that.
Besides that, it was nice for Ortegas to get an episode finally. Only took 29 episodes.
Is it me or did the Metrons sound like the Goa’uld?
Besides that, it was nice for Ortegas to get an episode finally. Only took 29 episodes.
Is it me or did the Metrons sound like the Goa’uld?
I think we are long past TOS making sense with this show.
She should have thrown Erica back into shelter, ran to activate the device and gotten killed by the resulting explosion.
My grade? I'm hovering between an 8 or 9. I may even say a 10, final grade comes after a second watch but this one was a bit more on the level I like.
The Enemy and Dawn, both good episodes in their respective series and ones I'd give high grade (though in The Enemy I really like the story arcs with Geordi, Worf and Picard with their respective Romulans.)
La'An firing on the Gorn with a weapon on kill seems extreme... Can we say her phaser was set to stun but the Gorn was so injured stun was enough to kill her?
But, I liked this one, more in the grove of episodes I like and a focus on Ortegas, also actually liked the use of the Metron (though it wasn't needed and just seemed to be there for the reference.)
So, yeah. Good little episode.
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Galaxy is full of those.
Above average episode for me. I like the "Enemy Mine" theme of it but the plot was over complicated. Why did you need the Metrons in this episode ? I just don't see the need for them.
The idea of a Gorn pilot and Human pilot crash landing on a remote planet and then trying to work together in order to survive is good enough for the story itself.
The idea of a Gorn pilot and Human pilot crash landing on a remote planet and then trying to work together in order to survive is good enough for the story itself.
That is the problem with TOS prequels, I knew this Gorn wouldn't make it from the moment it first appeared. And those Big Brother aliens are a deus ex machina for Gorn to be forgotten and keep the canon intact.
All this made me not enjoy the episode as much as I wanted to, but still it was much better than the last two.
I like Ortegas, but is quite annoying how the writers have her speak using 20th /21th century expressions for almost everything. I was surprised the Gorn Lady could make sense of her.
I also didn't like Uhura in this one. I just didn't feel her angst about her friend and the whole thing came out cringey for me, could be the direction, dunno.
I did giggle when Pike said its ok to blur the rules sometimes. "Sometimes" captain? Sometimes?
"the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few" it is something SNW (and ST) uses at will, whenever it fits the writers needs. Right Una?
All this made me not enjoy the episode as much as I wanted to, but still it was much better than the last two.
I like Ortegas, but is quite annoying how the writers have her speak using 20th /21th century expressions for almost everything. I was surprised the Gorn Lady could make sense of her.
I also didn't like Uhura in this one. I just didn't feel her angst about her friend and the whole thing came out cringey for me, could be the direction, dunno.
I did giggle when Pike said its ok to blur the rules sometimes. "Sometimes" captain? Sometimes?
"the needs of the many outweight the needs of the few" it is something SNW (and ST) uses at will, whenever it fits the writers needs. Right Una?
Strange New Worlds truly is something this season. Last week’s episode was my least favourite that the series has yet delivered. This week’s might be my favourite. At minimum, it’s the best chapter that season three has delivered.
I, too, thought Ortegas’ nonstop monologue was pretty rough. But it felt in-character, so I let it slide. Everything from the moment she met the Gorn onward was terrific, though. And man - those visuals. Such a beautifully hostile environment.
The Metron at the end is going to weigh this thing down hard for some people. It didn’t bother me. I’m not as attached to TOS as many here, which helps, I guess. The important thing is that I’m okay with what the writers were trying to do here.
Also, the music this week? Frequently understated. A companion piece. It begs comparison to how over-the-top it’s been in a few previous episodes this year. This is my jam.
What a show Strange New Worlds has become. For all its press tour chatter about “big swings”, it’s at its most divisive during the buzziest bits. Whereas “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans” lost me hard, “Terrarium” pulled me back with just as much vigor. I don’t like to parrot “true fan” nonsense, but like… “Terrarium” felt like the Star Trek that I know and love. Its predecessor did not. I guess that kind of thing matters to me more than I realized.
10.
I, too, thought Ortegas’ nonstop monologue was pretty rough. But it felt in-character, so I let it slide. Everything from the moment she met the Gorn onward was terrific, though. And man - those visuals. Such a beautifully hostile environment.
The Metron at the end is going to weigh this thing down hard for some people. It didn’t bother me. I’m not as attached to TOS as many here, which helps, I guess. The important thing is that I’m okay with what the writers were trying to do here.
Also, the music this week? Frequently understated. A companion piece. It begs comparison to how over-the-top it’s been in a few previous episodes this year. This is my jam.
What a show Strange New Worlds has become. For all its press tour chatter about “big swings”, it’s at its most divisive during the buzziest bits. Whereas “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans” lost me hard, “Terrarium” pulled me back with just as much vigor. I don’t like to parrot “true fan” nonsense, but like… “Terrarium” felt like the Star Trek that I know and love. Its predecessor did not. I guess that kind of thing matters to me more than I realized.
10.
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