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Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x09 - "Terrarium"

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They were both coming out fast, Erica certainly not looking calm, with the Gorn right behind her. And yeah, it’s a Gorn, in a context where up to that point we’ve never seen them in any mode but instant-attack. Yes, it’s “profiling”, but in the context of (1) La’an & co have literally never seen them in any other mode, and (2) “obviously, my friend will be dead one second from now if I don’t fire!”. It’s sad and turns out to be wrong, but La’an had no way to know that this would be the first Gorn ever to not be instantly attacking.
Well yes, that's why my first line said "I know I'm not holding a gun making a split decision and have had the benefit of watching the episode." I do concede those points.
 
When it turned out that Erica was on a planet alone with a Gorn, I said to my wife "I hope this isn't a reboot of 'Arena'!..." JFC. It was a reboot of Arena. The episode was fun until the Metron showed up (though it was still a variant of 'Enemy Mine', which itself was based on Arena). You know, they can have some original ideas now and then. I was half hoping we'd see the Constellation and SNW's take on Matt Decker. Anyway, still enjoying the season for what it's worth, but wish there was some more 'strange new worlds'...

And even if it had been - so what? The two visiting Organians did the same thing to Archer's crew in "Observer Effect(ENT)" and half of Trekdom didn't have a meltdown over it.
Observer Effect is one of the neatest Ent episodes.

I knew La'an would kill the Gorn.

I also figured there'd be some big reveal at the end, especially given the episode's title.
 
It was fine if not derivative. But the ending basically just ruined it. Like I don't know who that was for... because it was just groan inducing as fan service.

Even the thing with the light was silly, but if they just left it at that at least it would have been an "easter egg" instead of the info dump we got at the end.

I feel the same way. From the looks of it, there's great consensus on this. But despite this fumble, this is still my favorite episode this season because it's FINALLY a Star Trek episode. No gimmicks, no comedy, just a straightforward, focused Trek story that managed to make its philosophical point (which is of course not a new one) while developing a character that had previously been rather one-note. So that is the new and exciting aspect of this for me. Uhura too had many good scenes.

If SNW were always like this, it would be among my favorite of all the series. Alas...
 
So just a thought without having rewatched the episode...Erica 'ignites the air' to alert the Enterprise?

So what exactly are they breathing after that?

No doubt I missed some excuse or explanation in the dialogue.
 
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So just a though without having rewatched the episode...Erica 'ignites the air' to alert the Enterprise?

So what exactly are they breathing after that?

No doubt I missed some excuse or explanation in the dialogue.
The rescue was very quick so I assume there was some air left. And maybe it only burned stuff higher in the atmosphere or something.

I was kinda shocked that there was any atmosphere on that planet at all. Certainly didn't seem to be a place capable of generating or maintaining one. I suppose it was some Metron trick.
 
I was just thinking about the landing party La’an led at the end there - why did Pike send a party of nothing but security officers?

M’Benga or Chapel should’ve been part of it, maybe also Spock. That would’ve lessened the chances of folks shooting first and asking questions later.
 
The rescue was very quick so I assume there was some air left. And maybe it only burned stuff higher in the atmosphere or something.

I was kinda shocked that there was any atmosphere on that planet at all. Certainly didn't seem to be a place capable of generating or maintaining one. I suppose it was some Metron trick.
Heh ... The whole episode was "...some Metron trick".

And if you watch carefully, you'll see a very bright bluish-white glow separate from the gas being ignited which was more yellow, during that scene.

The Metrons keep the two of them alive pretty much the whole time by interfering with and maintaining the atmosphere.
Just like they set up the whole planet that Kirk and the Gorn Captain fought on.

(the Metrons essentially recreated Vasquez Rocks) :lol:
 
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I'm surprised at how popular this one is. But I enjoyed it, too. I was waiting for the Metrons to show up from the first moment Erica noticed the strange lights in the sky.

They turned "Arena" on its head starting with "This part of space has a lot of sailors ghost stories connected with it."

And grafted on a bit of the setup from "Galileo Seven:" "We've lost a shuttlecraft, but we have to be somewhere else on a deadline..."

An arena is an artifical structure used, usually, for the observation of competition and/or staged combat...

A terrarium is an artificial environment enclosing a miniature ecosystem where, usually, a number of species are intended to grow and thrive together.
 
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They've worked up to this all year, starting with Ortegas losing part of her hand to the Gorn and dealing with that.

Really, they've been building her up in bits since "A Quality of Mercy," when people were so startled that she was edgy and hostile and suspicious and militant.

And then, "Under the Cloak of War," when we see her align with M'Benga because of what seems to be war trauma.

She's been a pretty consistent, solid character all along. Not just one more Sulu.
 
I'm surprised at how popular it is. But I enjoyed it, too. I was waiting for the Metrons to show up from the first moment Erica noticed the strange lights in the sky.

They turned "Arena" on its head starting with "This part of space has a lot of sailors ghost stories connected with it."

And grafted on a bit of the setup from "Galileo Seven:" "We've lost a shuttlecraft, but we have to be somewhere else on a deadline..."

An arena is an artifical structure used, usually, for the observation of competition and/or staged combat...

A terrarium is an artificial environment enclosing a miniature ecosystem where, usually, a number of species are intended to grow and thrive together.
Yeah, this episode really does add a lot of interesting new context to ARENA.
Haven't' watched it a second time yet, but I'm going to pay more attention to the little clues scattered throughout this episode when I do.
 
They've worked up to this all year, starting with Ortegas losing part of her hand to the Gorn and dealing with that.

I did wonder "Is this it? Is the end of that arc?" Because if so, I don't feel it was satisfying.
 
Probably not, we still have another season and a half (3/4's?) to go.
I really like Ortegas but fear she'll be canned at some point. They don't seem to know how to integrate her very well with other cast and stories. It feels like an ensemble crew - then we have the Ortegas episode. And they'll want to gradually shift to TOS.
 
She's been pivotal in several stories and featured in a couple.

Oh, and they did a great job of evoking the original Metron with the character design and vocal effects.
 
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