On paper, this can be a cool twist for a lot of causes. Wormholes are neat, usually, and the concept Ortegas has been despatched a long way throughout the galaxy into unknown house on her personal is thrilling stuff. It helps that the survival component comes with actual stakes hooked up, as Ortegas is without doubt one of the few members of the principle Unusual New Worlds crew who doesn’t have the plot armor that comes with a identified future (or a minimum of a job to play in some capability on Star Trek: The Unique Collection). She may simply die right here. She doesn’t, however there are various moments the place you surprise if she may, and that’s a particular form of pressure this present doesn’t get to bask in fairly often.
Crash touchdown onto the moon of a fuel big whose elliptical orbit means its floor can be raked with poisonous fuel frequently, unable to speak with the Enterprise, and going through a disconcerting lack of meals and water, Ortegas has loads of issues to resolve, and that’s all earlier than she discovers {that a} Gorn pilot has additionally crash landed on the identical desolate world. (The comfort of this is greater than slightly pat, however “Terrarium” a minimum of bothers to provide a motive for it by the top of the hour. Credit score the place it’s due.)
As quickly because the badly injured Gorn is revealed, it’s form of obvious the place this episode goes. It helps that, for no matter motive, the Gorn makes the primary transfer towards kindness, saving Ortegas from a big centipede-like creature, and sharing the meat along with her afterward. (Perhaps this is the place the suspension of disbelief is supposed to come back in, since we’ve probably not seen something, nicely, ever, that signifies a Gorn may behave this fashion.) At any fee, the 2 stranded vacationers finally appear to resolve that they want each other, and attain a state of comparatively peaceable coexistence that finally—with the assistance of a montage, as a result of why not—-become one thing like associates. The pair shares meals and shelter, learns to speak in a rudimentary approach, and teaches one another video games from their respective cultures.
It’s all unusually cute, and draped in a ragged cloak, the Gorn appears to be like extra like a creature from The Darkish Crystal reasonably than a bloodthirsty killing machine. And although it’s a bit reluctant in regards to the prospect of rescue, Ortegas is assured it will probably come again to the Enterprise along with her. Collectively, she says, they’ll train her folks that not all Gorn are monsters. This…appears wildly idealistic given how many individuals we’ve seen the Gorn assault, kidnap, violently kill, or protect as dwelling meals shops within the three seasons this present has been on. However, hey, if Ortegas can change her thoughts, something is feasible, proper? Her insistence that she’s not leaving her new pal behind to die definitely feels real, and whereas her sudden acceptance of Gornkind is definitely narratively handy, it’s additionally largely plausible for the scenario she at the moment finds herself in.
Regardless of all this, what most individuals will seemingly keep in mind about this episode is its ending. Because of dodgy science, a captain prepared to take dangers within the identify of his crew, and quite a lot of luck, the Enterprise manages to search out the needle in a haystack location the place Erica has crashed, ship a rescue occasion, and save the day. Properly, not completely. As a result of, in fact, La’an instantly shoots and kills Ortegas’s new Gorn pal, assuming it was attacking or harming her. Erica is distraught, a scenario that’s made even worse by the sudden revelation that her presence on the planet was all half of a bigger setup outdoors of her management.
Seems that the Metrons—the dramatically dressed beings who will later seem in The Unique Collection episode “The Area,” the place Kirk infamously fights a Gorn trial by fight type—are the supply of the unusual flashing lights seen all through this episode. They engineered the arrival of each pilots within the identify of an experiment: To find out whether or not two barbaric races like people and Gorn may co-exist in peace. Ortegas, it might appear, handed their take a look at, however La’an didn’t, although her rapid choice to decide on violence is one thing the hour doesn’t actually tackle immediately. Uhura claims she was defending Ortegas, and that’s the place the episode leaves it, however we don’t see La’an’s response to any of this for good or unwell.
