There’s weird stuff going on in an uncharted region of space, and the Enterprise needs a closer look. To figure out why gravity waves are being especially weird, the crew strip down a shuttle to make it light as possible, and keep the crew levels down to one pilot: Erica Ortegas. But all their caution isn’t enough as a wormhole appears out of nowhere and sucks the the shuttle into a dangerous, far sway hellscape from which there is no escape.
Writers: Alan B McElroy
Director: Andrew Coutts
Erica Ortegas is one of the most under utilised characters in Strange New Worlds. Giving the sarcasm and being the annoying one who argues – a point they hammered home is a family trait earlier this season – she’s often laid out as a star pilot and war hero, but the most focuses stories we’ve seen have had her shouting affirmation that she flies the ship or heroically saves the day (or heroically causes a scuffle, as seen earlier this season). Giving her the A-Plot was a nice change of pace and it’s good to spend time with, and build on, Erica Ortegas.
The set up for everything was fairly cool. A lot of the season so far has felt a little bottled up, so having Ortegas fly into some space oddities (while Spock stayed home not jealous at all) let us see some cool visuals while the wormhole appearing out of nowhere let us whisk her away into isolation, crash landing on one of many planets that gave us a new, if simple, landscape. Though the best part was seeing her survival instinct kick in. The way she’s been presented so far, from the original drops of her combat experience to this season showing off her tinkering with model planes and a space bike in her quarters, it was nicely done to have her written as a soldier lost in an unknown land, chatting away to herself as she improvises any way to stay alive and get home.
Finding out she wasn’t alone felt inevitable. The story itself is one we’ve seen a billion times, both in and out of Star Trek. Most notable with Next Generation’s ‘The Enemy’ that saw Geordie and Romulan officer Bochra have to work together to escape from a dangerous trap. Here, with the Gorn threat in the rear view and Ortegas’ brush with death and PTSD thanks to the scrap with the Gorn early in the season, it made sense for her to find herself stranded with a Gorn. Not just any Gorn, of course, but her equal; another female pilot who’s jkust struggling to survive and surprises Ortegas by reaching out a hand of friendship. Well, a lump of meat more than a hand…
The whole thing gives a humanising touch to the Gorn. La’an hammered home that the Gorn were nothing but monsters, emphasising her belief that they’re evil. And Erica, who’s always had a very black and white focus, has only seen them as wild, murderous killing machines. Early on she see’s another side. The Gorn, clearly stranded before her, takes pity on Ortegas, offering food and help against the planets aggressive animal inhabitants. Offering to share food and shelter, it becomes the classic enemies surviving together moments who in just a few games and a montage realising they’re more alike than they realised.
It’s a nice episode that lets Melissa Navia take on most of the one-sided dialogue and maybe through her own idealism and empathy, quickly becomes protective of her new found friend. Especially once the penny drops that the Gorn’s maybe just showing this side of herself because due to injury and mission failure, she can’t go home without being outcast or killed. It’s also another example of how Strange New Worlds thrives with a simple concept, even if it’s not original, and worked incredibly well with the more intimate and quiet core story. Especially thanks to the use of practical make up for the Gorn over CGI.
Back in the B Plot, the Enterprise has a good old fashioned ticking clock with Uhura arguing for saving Ortegas at all costs, even to the point of lying to Pike by manipulating simulations for a dangerous mission to retrieve their pilot. That involves jamming the Enterprise into the wormhole to stop it collapsing and then of course finding Ortagas just in time with moments to spare before they have to leave. Ortegas managed to turn the planet into a firey beacon, shielding herself and her Gorny pal in a makeshift shelter so the Enterprise can find them. Then La’an pops down to come save Erica, see’s the Gorn and all that goodwill is undone by fear, panic and a phaser rifle. It’s a massive downer of an ending that leaves Ortegas with a positive experience, a new outlook and probably a dodgy conversation ahead that La’an’s own feelings about the Gorn won’t quite let her wrap her head around.
The only down side for me was how it all happened. Just as she was being beamed off, the Metrons revealed themselves ot have been mysterious twinkling lights watching them the whole time. The Metrons were the aliens who organised Kirk and the first on screen Gorn to fight in original series episode The Arena and here they reveal this is their first attempt at experimenting between the two species to see what happens. While it does make sense to let the episode become a direct Arena prequel, it’s also extremely frustrating that – at the point the episode has everything it needs and has told it’s own story – the show again bends itself backwards to tie together with the original series when it doesn’t need to or add any significant depth other than yet another reference.
Episodes like this that just let us focus on a simple plot, expand on character and have some cool – if a tad awkward – science in the background, work just as well on their own. It shows we don’t need to rely on past stories, tying everything together, and just have a good hour of storytelling.
Highlights
- Starfleet rations being kept within the ships machinery seems silly. Surely there's a safer storage locker?
- Having The Gorn understand English was a nice touch to let the plot flow a little freely and let Navia lead the dialogue and story.
- Ortegas' starship models carry on the fine tradition of real world model kids for ease!
All Connected...
While Ortagas is stranded, Pike hammers home that they have a time limit to how long they can search for her as the Enterprise has to meet with the USS Constellation to deliver medical supplies for a time sensitive mission. The Constellation, and it’s name dropped Captain Decker, would both find their end in original series episode The Doomsday Machine that would see Decker lose his ship, then his marbles as he commandeers the Enterprise to fight back.
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